NCAA Basketball: Power rankings of all teams (363-1) for 2022-23 season

20. Illinois Fighting Illini- Last Season Ranking: 8

Conference: Big Ten

Heading into the 2021-2022 season the Illinois were picked to win the Big Ten, have the Big Ten Player of the Year, and for some win the National Championship. I never saw the National Championship, but I did believe the other two. Illinois should have had the Big Ten player of the year on their team as well. They had a fantastic offense, played fast, took, and made a ton of threes and averaged about 75 points per game.

Even with all that Illinois was upset in the Big Ten tournament by Indiana and they didn’t play well in the NCAA tournament for the second season in a row. They were a trendy pick to win the National Title when the NCAA tournament. They were likely picked to win it all by those same individuals who picked them as National Champions in the preseason. Illinois is ranked to start the year again even though they did lose a lot of talent last season they still have a ton of talent on the roster. Head coach Brad Underwood doesn’t have rebuilding years he just reloads.

RJ Melendez is not likely the first name you will hear when talking about Illinois, but he should be. In his very sporadic minutes, he received last year he flashed a lot. Melendez shot 60% from deep and 60% overall from the field and yes it was a small sample size, but he is extremely athletic, has a repeatable stroke to his shot and can get anywhere he wants to be on the floor with ease. Melendez is going to have a breakout year and he is one of my favorite players to watch in the Big Ten.

19. Alabama Crimson Tide- Last Season Ranking: 12

Conference: SEC

Everywhere that head coach Nate Oats has been known for one thing and that is offense. The Crimson Tide had one of the best offenses in the country during his tenure. Alabama plays as fast as possible and gets their shots up. All their players are comfortable shooting from the outside and playing fast. The Crimson Tide are always going to be able to score at will and last year Alabama had three of the best wins in the country when they beat Miami, Gonzaga, and Houston three games in a row.

Alabama won enough games to get into the tournament but once they headed to the tournament it was shaky given that the team had one of the worst defenses in the country. Previous Alabama teams have also been great shooting teams and last year’s team was not. Alabama only shot 30% from deep but they did a ton of attempts from deep. The lack of defense and the overall poor shooting from deep is why Alabama struggled at the end of the season. Heading into this season Alabama may take a slight step back but should still find themselves in the NCAA tournament. They do not have nearly as high expectations as they have had in the past and that is due to the production, they have lost over the last two seasons.

Brandon Miller is one of two five star prospects to sign with Alabama and like most other five star prospects Miller is going to jump right into a starting role. The forward is one of the highest ranked recruits to ever sign with Alabama and he will have an impact this year and then it is likely off to the NBA.

18. Villanova Wildcats- Last Season Ranking: 5

Conference: Big East

Welcome to a new era for Villanova. Legendary head coach Jay Wright announced his retirement at the end of last season and to fill the void, which will never be filled, the Wildcats hired Kyle Neptune. Neptune was most recently the coach at Fordham for one season before moving back to Philly to coach the team that gave him his start coaching. Neptune is not likely to change the Wildcats much. They are still going to shoot tons of threes and they are still going to play full court aggressive defense.

Coach Neptune is a good recruiter and is going to continue to infuse this program with talent. Villanova also gave Coach Wright one last final four appearance before he left coaching, and he left coach Neptune a great roster. Villanova was in the top five to start the year a season ago and this year they are in the top 25 but the question marks around coach Neptune coupled with the questions of some key players starting the year with injuries has led to some speculation as to how good the Wildcats will be. Villanova is going to be fine and will easily finish in the top tier of the Big East.

Justin Moore is one of those injured players entering the year as he tore his Achilles tendon at the end of the Elite Eight win over Houston. Moore did not get to play in his only Final Four appearance. The guard is going to eventually come back this year and when he does, he is going to show that he is still one of the best guards in the Big East. The guard fit right in with the Wildcats game plan as he was a great three point shooter and good on ball defender. He was second on the team in scoring and was missed greatly in the Final Four game against Kansas.

17. Auburn Tigers- Last Season Ranking: 25

Conference: SEC

What can you really say about Auburn and their season last year other than it ended in disappointment?  The Tigers had two of the best big men in the country and the rest of the roster played up to their potential and you get a team who started 22-1 and was ranked number 1 in the country for most of the season.

Auburn did not end the season as they hoped, especially once you start 22-1. The Tigers are coached by one of the best coaches in basketball in Bruce Pearl. Pearl is a fantastic recruiter and is going to have Auburn at the top of the SEC for a long time. The Tigers shoot a ton of threes, and they play fast, they are more talented than most teams and are going to be a force again this year.

Coach Pearl has got it rolling at Auburn and a National Championship is going to come. The Tigers may win the title this year as they are going to have a chip on their shoulder. Auburn should have fared so much better last year. The coaching staff and the players remaining on this roster are going to be hungry to prove that last season’s early exit from the NCAA tournament was a fluke. The Tigers are going to be good again and are a top ten team entering the season.

Allen Flanigan is a player that I would like to see get back to his 2020-2021 form. He was the first scoring option that year and would have been one of the top options last season if he did not get hurt in the offseason. Once the guard came back, he played a lot of minutes but could never get going on the offensive end. This season he should get back to being a double-digit scorer and could be one of the most improved players for the best backcourt in the SEC. Flanigan scoring in double digits would be important for Auburn and would make them hard to guard as they would be able to stretch the floor.

16. Virginia Cavaliers- Last Season Ranking: 22

Conference: ACC

We all thought that Virginia was still going to be good enough to make the NCAA tournament after a less than stellar regular season. The Cavaliers have done all of this before play smothering defense and have virtually no offense, but coach Tony Bennett always seemed to get his guys to play well enough to win the conference tournament and find a spot in the NCAA tournament.

I was saying all last year to not count out Virginia even though they were not a good basketball team for the majority of the year. The Cavaliers were fantastic on the defensive end again, but unlike past years they didn’t have a single player who they could rely on to get a basket when they needed it the most that had changed in the past years.

This season Virginia starts the year in the top 25 again and coach Bennett will get this team into the top tier of teams in the ACC and will make the NCAA tournament easily. We should all know what to expect from Virginia at this point. They are going to play at one of the slowest paces in the country, play clunky offense that likely will be predicated by the three and easy looks inside. On the defensive end the pack line is going to get dialed up and the Cavaliers are going to contest everything, rebound everything and rarely foul. They make scoring or even getting a good look at the basket a chore.

Kihei Clark is a Virginia legend because of the pass he made to secure the Virginia National Championship. Since that moment though Clark has not been as good as he looked like he might be. The fifth-year point guard is a great defender and passer. Last season the senior did not have a good year shooting the ball and the Virginia offense suffered because of it.

Clark is the most important player on the Cavalier roster if he is scoring while still maintaining the defense and the passing ability, Virginia will win a ton of games. If the guard has a year like he did last year, it will be another disappointing season for Virginia.

15. TCU Horned Frogs- Last Season Ranking: 73

Conference: Big 12

The TCU basketball program has been reborn under head coach Jamie Dixon. The Horned Frogs were one of the worst power programs in the country before they decided to hire coach Dixon. Since then, TCU has seen its recruiting pick up and they have become a consistent middle-of-the-pack team in the Big 12. TCU is always going to be good for one or two major upsets in the league as well. Last season this was true as the Horned Frogs beat Iowa State, Kansas, Texas, and Texas Tech.

TCU is physical and play hard and smothering defense. The Horned Frogs play slow and grind teams out. That style of play is a signature of coach Dixon’s style. That style is also the way that he turned Pitt into a power when he was the coach there. TCU has their top six players back from last year and they are going to be a top-tier team in the Big 12, will make the tournament and look like a second-weekend team. They also will likely be in the top 25 for most of the year.

Eddie Lampkin is a 6’11” 300-pound center who gave a lot of teams problems last season. Lampkin put himself on the NCAA basketball map when he dominated Arizona in the post in the second round of the tournament. The Horned Frogs ended up losing that game, but Lampkin had career-highs in points in that game. Lampkin shot 61% from the floor a season ago and is going to improve. The big man was a true freshman a season ago and will develop nicely for coach Dixon. He plays exactly like another great big man coached by Dixon, DeJuan Blair.

14. Arizona Wildcats- Last Season Ranking: 42

Conference: Pac 12

I had Arizona ranked at preseason number 42, they clearly outplayed that ranking and ended up as the team I picked to win the National Championship in March. Last year the Arizona roster was loaded with talent but was young and it seemed like head coach Tommy Lloyd was a year away from really being a National Title threat. I was a year off and Arizona entered the NCAA tournament at 31-3 had dominated the Pac 12 for most of the year, were ranked in the top 3 most of the season and were the 1 seed in the west region.

Coach Lloyd was the offensive coordinator for Gonzaga before he came over to coach Arizona, so it is no surprise the offense looked a lot like Gonzaga. The Wildcats were one of the most efficient teams in the country as they shot 49% from the floor for the season and 56% from inside the arc. There was so much more to them than just scoring though. The Wildcats averaged 20 assists per game which was the highest number in the country, they got to the line a ton, averaged over 40 rebounds per game, and had about 6 blocks per game. They were flat out awesome all year and were one of my favorite teams to watch. Arizona finds itself in the top 20 heading into the year so not going to miss on them this year.

Azuolas Tubelis returning for Arizona is a big deal for coach Tommy Lloyd. Tubelis was a first-team all-Pac-12 player last season and absolutely would have been drafted. He heads into the season as one of the best forwards in the country. He is a very skilled scorer in the paint and will lead Arizona in rebounding. The biggest thing that set Tubelis apart from other bigs in the league and in the country is his passing ability. The Lithuanian forward is one of the best passing big men I have seen in a long time. He will lead Arizona in scoring this year while shooting over 50% from the floor.

13. Indiana Hoosiers- Last Season Ranking: 32

Conference: Big Ten

Indiana has expectations this year as they are the overwhelming favorite in the Big Ten. It’s a tough leap to figure that out of all the Big Ten teams that the Hoosiers would jump the 8 spots to the top of the league. I do believe the Hoosiers will be a lot better and find themselves in the top 25 to start the year. Head coach Mike Woodson has done a great job getting this program to play like they are capable. Indiana is talented, experienced, and has a ton of depth. It took coach Woodson one season to do something that former coach Archie Miller could not do in 4 years and that is make the NCAA tournament.

The Hoosiers did enough finishing in 9th place in the Big Ten to qualify for the tournament. The Hoosiers won the First Four game and then ended up getting smoked by Saint Mary’s but making the tournament again was the first step. It is time again for Indiana to become the Blue Blood program they once were. The Hoosiers have been down far too long and it is time to get Assembly Hall rocking and get the Hoosiers back to winning Big Ten titles.

Trayce Jackson-Davis still on the Indiana basketball team must give opponents nightmares. Everything I am going to say about the superstar big man is true but still hard to believe given the storied history of Hoosier basketball. Jackson-Davis is only the second player to don the red and white to score 1,500 points with at least 750 rebounds and 150 blocks.

The big man is going to be a 2,000-point scorer and will go down as one of the most prolific scorers in NCAA and Indiana history. If Jackson-Davis can guide his team to the Big Ten title, the NCAA tournament, and become a unanimous first-team all-American. Then he is going to have his name in the rafters of Assembly Hall.

12. Tennessee Volunteers- Last Season Ranking: 17

Conference: SEC

The first view of Tennessee this year was a dismantling of Gonzaga in Seattle in an exhibition. The Volunteers looked good, and they were hitting threes all over the place. I never take much from exhibitions because of the variables of those games and the teams working on different stuff. What you can take from that game is the Volunteers are going to be good and are a top team in the SEC again.

Coach Rick Barnes has rebuilt the Volunteer programs and they are now one of the most dangerous teams in the country every year. They play fast and shoot a ton of threes on offense and on the defensive end they slow teams way down and make it hard to score from anywhere on the floor. I do like Tennessee, and I have for a handful of years. They play the game the right way and are flashy which draws the viewer in, and I like that. The Volunteers are going to be a trendy pick for the second weekend this year and they are likely going to be favored to do that. The last two tournaments Tennessee has been eliminated early. Winning in March is difficult, and each team needs to learn to do that. Coach Barnes will get his team to its first Final Four, it is just now a matter of when.

Heading into the season the Volunteers find themselves in the top 10 in the country and ready to take their spot at the top at the SEC. Tennessee has most of its roster back from last season including point guard Zakai Ziegler. He’s only 5’9” but is one of the most relentless defenders in the SEC. Zeigler looked great in the exhibition game against Gonzaga.  He led Tennessee with 13 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals. The point guard is ready for a breakout now that he has the keys to the offense. If he can play as he did against Gonzaga all year, the Volunteers are going to be just fine.

11. Texas Longhorns- Last Season Ranking: 4

Conference: Big 12

Chris Beard took the job at Texas and got almost every big-name transfer on the market. Texas did have the most talented roster on paper a season ago, but since games are played on the hardwood none of that mattered. Even still it was hard to overlook the potential of the Longhorns and they were also a very trendy pick for the National Championship. I drank the Kool-Aid given the coach and the roster. There was no way the team could miss and no way the team wouldn’t get a one seed. What happened was the Longhorns never seemed to click on offense as there were a lot of guys who were used to being the alpha and then when it came down to their only being on ball it became a problem.

Texas was also fantastic on the defensive end as are all Chris Beard-coached teams. They ran the no-middles defense that coach Beard has made famous and ran it so well. The Longhorns do not have near the expectations this year even though they find themselves in the top 20. Texas has most of the roster back from last year when they have all had now two seasons to learn and accept their roles and develop a better chemistry with each other. These are the teams that Coach Beard has done his best work with.

Timmy Allen returns to Texas for his final year of eligibility. Allen led the team in scoring despite not leading the team in shots taken. He did shoot 50% from the floor for the year. He is not a good shooter from deep, but he is very skilled driving to the rim and getting easy baskets. Allen is likely going to be a 2,000-point scorer in college along with 800 rebounds and 400 assists. Those are tremendous numbers and given he played at Utah for 3 seasons before heading to Texas very few know he had those numbers.