Here's my preseason Top 25 and All-America team I just submitted to the Associated Press. First AP poll will move this Friday:

1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. UConn
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Vanderbilt
8. Florida
9. Memphis
10. Pittsburgh
11. Louisville
12. Baylor
13. Wisconsin
14. Kansas
15. Xavier
16. Arizona
17. Alabama
18. Marquette
19. UCLA
20. Michigan
21. Cincinnati
22. California
23. Texas A&M
24. Michigan State
25. Missouri

All-America:

Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
Jeremy Lamb, UConn
Perry Jones, Baylor
Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin


Carolina obviously has the most overall talent and deserves to be a near-consensus No. 1. Doesn’t mean the Heels will win it all, but it’s hard to believe they won’t at least reach New Orleans.

I like UConn at No. 4 right now. I completely agree with Jim Calhoun’s assessment that the Huskies are more talented than last year’s national champs (which, of course, finished 9-9 and in ninth place in the Big East). And I also completely subscribe to the notion that Kemba Walker is irreplaceable. Who’ll provide all that leadership, make all the big plays in crunch time, hit all those buzzer-beaters? Well, maybe no one will have to. Maybe, with a far more balanced attack, UConn won’t have to constantly lean on one great player to bail them out, time and time again.

Elsewhere:

*** I’m going along with the general notion that Vandy is for real this year. Yes, they’ve been popped from the NCAA tourney in the first round three years running, but there is a lot of talent here. It won’t take much for me to change my mind on the Commodores, however – and get more angry e-mails from Vandy fans.

*** I don’t like the Big 10, don’t like Bo Ryan and can’t stand Wisconsin’s style of play. But with Jordan Taylor at the point and some good talent around him, it’s hard not to rate the Badgers pretty high.

*** I’m not as high on Marquette and Cincy as some others seem to be, but I’ll always err on the side of the Big East until the conference proves me wrong. It’s time for Yancy Gates to live up to his talent and physical presence.

*** As far as the All-America team, I picked Harrison Barnes as preseason first team last year and regretted it the minute I hit “Send.” I’ll never again vote a freshman as preseason All-American, so that’s why I’m not going for potentially legit candidates like Kentucky’s Anthony Davis or Duke’s Austin Rivers.

And yes, I expect a huge season from Jeremy Lamb this year. He’s added confidence to his already impressive feather-soft jumper, smooth drives to the hoop and impressive athleticism.

Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi have been named to the Wooden Award’s Top 50 list. The Wooden Award is presented annually to the nation’s top college basketball player.

UConn was one of eight schools to have multiple players on the list. North Carolina had four players (Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller), Ohio State and Vanderbilt both had three and Cal, UConn, Memphis, SyrACCuse and UCLA all had two.

Transfers, medical redshirts and freshmen are not eligible for the list.

Speaking of Andre Drummond: UConn has officially concluded that no violation has occurred and that Drummond will suffer no eligibility consequence relative to the report last week about his appearance in an online video.

Goodbye, Tar Heels. You duped me early last season, making me think you were a top 10team, and you did it again this season, too. Had you ranked No. 8, and I feel pretty silly about that right now. Again. Consecutive losses to Minnesota and Vanderbilt drops you from my top 25 this week.

Welcome, Minnesota. Beating the Heels and West Virginia to win the Puerto Rico Classic gets you in. Do I really have five Big Ten teams in my top 25, including two of the top three? (Jared Sullinger is scary good, people. He’s what Harrison Barnes was supposed to be). Some would argue I should have six, but it's going to take a lot to get me to put Wisconsin in there. Never been a big fan of the conference, but it’s hard to argue that it’s not the best in the land right now.

Anyway, here's what I got this week:

1. Duke
2. Michigan State
3. Ohio State
4. Kansas State
5. Pittsburgh
6. Villanova
7. Kansas
8. Kentucky
9. BYU
10. Missouri
11. Illinois
12. Washington
13. Syracuse
14. Purdue
15. Memphis
16. Florida
17. Baylor
18. San Diego State
19. Virginia Tech
20. Gonzaga
21. Georgetown
22. Temple
23. Minnesota
24. Tennessee
25. Butler