Despite being stacked with talented ball clubs, there were some other quality teams left out of the USA Today preseason top 25 poll that was released on Thursday. Here are some of the teams that could have made the rankings, in no particular order.

  1. Dayton - The Flyers made it all the way to the Elite 8 last season and are still a fairly young team. They return three guys who averaged double digits points, and still include a great shooter who transferred from Ohio State last season in Jordan Sibert. With an eventual matchup with UCONN, they can show that they are not just some Cinderella story.

  2. Harvard- The Crimson are no longer a Cinderella story when they are in the NCAA Tournament. They will still be a giant killer this season and are hungry for more. Their schedule has improved, but they will not have a problem winning the Ivy League.

  3. Utah- The Utes brings back the basic starters at every position from a team that went .500 in a very solid Pac-12. Delon Wright is ready to show that he is one of the best players in the country and has a pretty good forward playing beside him in Jordan Loveridge. They have plenty of opportunities to be even better than before.

  4. Kansas State- This will be one of the deepest and better teams that Bruce Weber has had at Kansas State. Marcus Foster is looking to come over a great season last year and still become an All-Big 12 guard. He will have some solid players playing with him in Thomas Gipson, Justin Edwards, and Brandon Bolden.

  5. Minnesota- Richard Pitino is only in his 2nd season with the Gophers but it is looking to be his best yet. He returns four starters who won the NIT Tournament, including stellar guards in Andre Hollins and DeAndre Mathieu. They have a looming matchup with Louisville early on that could set the tone for the entire season.

There are other teams that have a chance to sneak into the Top 25 like Colorado, Stanford, or UCLA. This is the 1st poll to come out and there should be some shakeup as the season draws closer. The Madness is coming, it is just a matter of time.