Next week marks the start of the 2022–23 college basketball season, which means Sports Illustrated’s annual preseason ranking of every men’s Division I team is back.
This year’s number of teams is up to 363 (from 358), a reminder of just how all-encompassing this sport really is. Just consider last season, when our No. 179 preseason team, Saint Peter’s, was one of the sport’s final eight standing in the NCAA tournament after a stunning run through March.
This year’s 1–363 ranking was put together by SI college basketball writer Kevin Sweeney, who set out to weigh the placement of every program in the country. Several factors were considered: returning production (and projected growth for those players), transfer additions, recruiting gains, program and coach reputation, conference strength and more. The hope was to capture a snapshot of preseason expectations, from the Power 5 down to the low mid-majors.
