Waaaay Too Early NCAAB Rankings 2026

#1
Volador

Volador

Orange you glad to be a Vol??
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#1
Not sure how the Vols are ranked in the Top 10 when none of the projected starters have ever played together. (?) But, I guess that is par for the course nowadays with most top rated programs, right? One & Done University.

Projected starting lineup

Terrence Hill Jr. (15.0 PPG at VCU)
Tyler Lundblade (15.6 PPG at Belmont)
Juke Harris (21.4 PPG at Wake Forest)
Jalen Haralson (16.2 PPG at Notre Dame)
Miles Rubin (11.3 PPG at Loyola Chicago)

 
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#2
#2
If the Vols end up facing the top three teams, the Vols are going to need Haralson, Lue, and Washington to be able to stretch the floor some to force the bigs those teams have at the 4 to have to step out and guard them.
 
#3
#3
I’ll be dumb and ask it… final 4 with shot at NC?

“Rick Barnes has amassed an alarming amount of offensive talent from the portal, headlined by Juke Harris (Wake Forest), Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU), Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame), Tyler Lundblade (Belmont) and Dai Dai Ames (California). If he can instill some level of defensive intensity in this group, the ceiling is incredibly high.”
 
#4
#4
MontyPython said:
I’ll be dumb and ask it… final 4 with shot at NC?

“Rick Barnes has amassed an alarming amount of offensive talent from the portal, headlined by Juke Harris (Wake Forest), Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU), Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame), Tyler Lundblade (Belmont) and Dai Dai Ames (California). If he can instill some level of defensive intensity in this group, the ceiling is incredibly high.”
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Offensively could be top 1-2 of Rick Barnes era. Final 4 probably comes down to defensive buy in and how this team is able to rebound/handle post
 
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#5
#5
I'd say, first RB has shown he can have major roster turnover like he really has the last 2-3 years, and still excel. Second, talent coming in, appears to be upgrade, as a whole, and third, with a few exceptions, major roster turnover is what every high level team is experiencing, so, when many high level competitors are going thru the same thing, you look at the first two things...Barnes has history of winning, while adapting to current landscape, and we landed some serious talent...and lastly, with 3 elite 8's the last 3 years we've become an expected top tier program...think Michigan State with a much smaller sample size.
 
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#6
#6
Volador said:
Not sure how the Vols are ranked in the Top 10 when none of the projected starters have ever played together. (?) But, I guess that is par for the course nowadays with most top rated programs, right? One & Done University.

Projected starting lineup

Terrence Hill Jr. (15.0 PPG at VCU)
Tyler Lundblade (15.6 PPG at Belmont)
Juke Harris (21.4 PPG at Wake Forest)
Jalen Haralson (16.2 PPG at Notre Dame)
Miles Rubin (11.3 PPG at Loyola Chicago)

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Wouldn't be surprised if Ames pushes Lundblade for a starting spot. Read that he was a high energy pressure the ball type player on defense as well.
 
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#9
#9
TheDirector said:
Wouldn't be surprised if Ames pushes Lundblade for a starting spot. Read that he was a high energy pressure the ball type player on defense as well.
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The only reason I would have Ames off the bench is to space out the ballhandlers a few more minutes per game. I would think they would play about even minutes. If you play Ames in the starting lineup, we don’t have any ballhandlers on the bench really
 
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#10
#10
Bigorangefan 98 said:
Think lundblade will come off the bench
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Agree, he is the perfect instant offense off the bench kind of player.

Rick has clearly shown that his teams tend to improve and gel as a season goes on and to be able to maximize the defensive capability of any group. It's all going to come down to health and matchups once we get to the NCAA's, which can be such a crapshoot.

the most important aspect of this season is how Rick can mitigate the size disadvantage this group will have against the Floridas and Michigans of the world with the advantages we have throughout the rest of the roster.
 
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#11
#11
Lankykong said:
The only reason I would have Ames off the bench is to space out the ballhandlers a few more minutes per game. I would think they would play about even minutes. If you play Ames in the starting lineup, we don’t have any ballhandlers on the bench really
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If Troy Henderson gets cleared and ready to play , he is above average ball
Handler
 
#12
#12
Lankykong said:
The only reason I would have Ames off the bench is to space out the ballhandlers a few more minutes per game. I would think they would play about even minutes. If you play Ames in the starting lineup, we don’t have any ballhandlers on the bench really
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100% agree with that. Ames will be 6th man with a ton of minutes.
 
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#16
#16
No disrespect to Henderson but there's 80 minutes between those 2 guard spots. Hill, Lundblade, and Ames will be getting all of those imo and I don't see him doing much to displace that. Jukes gonna eat minutes at 3, Haralson at the 3-4 and Lue at the 3-4 as well. I don't think Henderson sniffs being one of the top 9.
 
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#17
#17
Yeah, when the games matter and are close I think our top 8 are set with Hill, Lundblade, Ames, Harris, Haralson, Lue, Rubin and Brown. Barnes mentioned recently about the Celtics playing a 4-guard lineup. With Haralson at the 4 that is what we will see a ton and it's going to be beautiful.

The playing time battle is going to be between Rubin, Brown and Lue. I think Barnes is going to love Lue because he is athletic and can play and defend the 4 and 5, should be a great screener and keep the floor spread.

Can't wait. The SEC is going to be brutal with high level games throughout conference play.
 
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#18
#18
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#19
#19
I've always hated preseason rankings in CBB but especially CFB because of the bias toward initially higher ranked teams as the season progresses. In CFB, a top 5 team can lose two games and somehow remain in the top 10, while a team unfairly not ranked at all can be 5-0 and just scrape in to the top 25.

But preseason rankings in the NIL/Portal era are especially absurd, given that many teams (UT included) will have entire rosters who have never been on a court together. How on earth can you rank teams based solely on subjective opinions of the collection of individual talent with no real idea of how they will mesh and grow as the season progresses?

Well, it's called clickbait for a reason, except the poll voters will continue to put weight into these rankings, which can affect NCAA seedings down the line.
 
#20
#20
Namorto1 said:
Yeah, when the games matter and are close I think our top 8 are set with Hill, Lundblade, Ames, Harris, Haralson, Lue, Rubin and Brown. Barnes mentioned recently about the Celtics playing a 4-guard lineup. With Haralson at the 4 that is what we will see a ton and it's going to be beautiful.

The playing time battle is going to be between Rubin, Brown and Lue. I think Barnes is going to love Lue because he is athletic and can play and defend the 4 and 5, should be a great screener and keep the floor spread.

Can't wait. The SEC is going to be brutal with high level games throughout conference play.
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That absolutely sounds like a solid eight but there always seems to be an outside chance someone surprises and contributes more than anyone expects as Brown and Evans did this past season.
 
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#21
#21
I think Barnes may roll with a 10
Man rotation this season, know against his grain. But this roster is so deep n talented . This freshman class coming in is not getting much respect or much gossip even . Look for a surprise there
 
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