NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga, Houston lead in updated way-too-early top 25 ranking
By Joey Loose
5. Creighton
Drink the Kool-Aid, because this Creighton team is coming and this certainly looks like the best team Greg McDermott has ever helmed. The Blue Jays were playing great basketball at the end of last season, giving Kansas quite the challenge in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and should be even better next year.
Even with Ryan Hawkins and Alex O’Connell gone, they both averaged more than 11 points per game, there’s optimism galore in Omaha, with a trio of rising sophomores looking to breakout next season. Guards Ryan Nembhard and Trey Alexander and forward Arthur Kaluma, all top 100 recruits from 2021, should each take steps forward. Additionally, the Blue Jays landed one of the best pieces from the Transfer Portal a month ago, nabbing Summit Player of the Year Baylor Scheierman, who departed South Dakota State after a couple of impressive shooting seasons.
It’s a really high ceiling for Creighton this season, especially if everything comes together. With each passing day, the Big East seems to get stronger, but we’re still leaning towards the Blue Jays as the team to beat in this talented conference. We didn’t even mention 7-foot center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who could also break out as a junior and will certainly be a feature part of this offense. With all this talent, there’s a reason Creighton keeps showing up near the top of these kinds of lists.