VW: Losing Ruoff hurts, but they were actually only 227th in the nation in 3P% last year, so they'll be fine if Butler and Bryant improve a little bit in that area. Despite a 48.5% eFG%, which was good for just 193rd in the nation, the offense was 18th in the country thanks to outstanding rebounding and few turnovers. It's sort of strange to project them since I don't think many people ever saw them as the #9 team in the country last season, but there's just not a whole lot pointing toward the Neers getting worse.

RM: This is my pick for the BE title. Huggins is a great regular season coach, and he returns almost everyone. Ebanks has only scratched the surface of his potential and will anchor the defense from the middle with prototypical Huggins guards like Truck Bryant and Joe Mazzulla hawking the perimeter.

Final rating: .951

2. Villanova
2009 rating: .946
Returning 63% of minutes, 62% of points
Lost Dwayne Anderson, Shane Clark (seniors), Dante Cunningham (draft)
Incoming freshmen: Dominic Cheek (6'5, 175; 5*), Mouphtauo Yarou (6'9, 235; 5*), Isaiah Armwood (6'7, 185; 4*), Maalik Wayns (6'1, 175; 4*)
Initial ratings: ML .950, VW .948, JP .938, RM .920

RM: It feels like people are slightly overrating Villanova based on their F4 run and the incoming class (which, granted, is nasty). The returning guard play is excellent with Reynolds, Fisher and Stokes, but the loss of Dante Cunningham inside shouldn't be overlooked. He did everything for Nova inside, and to expect a talented freshman like Yarou to walk in and fill his shoes immediately may be too much to ask.

VW: The Cats may be historically tough in the coming season. Their RetMin% isn't all that impressive, but if they replace Cunningham, Anderson and Clark with 18 stars of recruits I can't see it being a huge drop off.

Final rating: .948

3. Connecticut
2009 rating: .975
Returning 39% of minutes, 37% of points
Lost Jeff Adrien & Craig Austrie (seniors), Hasheem Thabeet & A.J. Price (draft)
Incoming freshmen: Alex Oriakhi (6'9, 225; 5*), Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (6'7, 185; 4*), Darius Smith (6'2, 180; 4*)
Initial ratings: ML .910, VW .915, JP .905, RM .885

VW: They lost a ton obviously, but UConn should still be pretty strong. Robinson's rebounding numbers aren't as good as I would've guessed, but that's probably inevitable when you're playing alongside Adrien and Thabeet. Walker famously came on strong at the end of last year, and Dyson is a serviceable two guard, although his 3P shooting has been pretty weak throughout his tenure in Storrs. If the freshman class lives up to the hype they might have something here.

Final rating: .912

4. Georgetown
2009 rating: .908
Returning 69% of minutes, 68% of points
Lost Jessie Sapp (senior), DaJuan Summers (draft), Omar Wattad (transfer)
Incoming freshmen: Hollis Thompson (6'6, 180; 4*), Vee Sanford (6'3, 175; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .920, VW .905, JP .908, RM .895

VW: A lot of their struggles offensively last year could be attributed to terrible 3P shooting: 33.2%, just 206th in the country. If Wright and Freeman get their acts together in that department -- and the latter did shoot 40% two years ago -- then the offense will be excellent, with those two on the perimeter and Monroe inside. They'll miss Summers, but the defense was 22nd in the nation last year, led by Monroe's impressive numbers across the board. I think it's reasonable to stray from the projection here as I can't see how they regress from last season's disappointing showing.

Final rating: .911

5. Louisville
2009 rating: .968
Returning 55% of minutes, 55% of points
Lost Andre McGee (senior), Terrence Williams & Earl Clark (draft)
Incoming freshmen: Peyton Silva (5'11, 160; 4*), Rakeem Buckles (6'8, 200; 4*), Stephan Van Treese (6'9, 220; 3*), Mike Marra (6'4, 190; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .915, VW .900, JP .921, RM .870

VW: I don't doubt their defense -- the rebounding is somewhat worrisome, with Clark and Williams gone, but they have enough size that they should be alright. How are they going to score though? They weren't great in that department last year (31st in the nation), and things revolved around T-Will a good deal. They're going to be dependent on Samuels inside and the excellent shooting of Knowles and Smith again, which doesn't seem like the greatest of plans.

Final rating: .910

6. Cincinnati

2009 rating: .748
Returning 78% of minutes, 78% of points
Lost Mike Williams (senior), Alvin Mitchell (transfer)
Incoming freshmen: Lance Stephenson (6'5, 202; 5*), Sean Kilpatrick (6'3, 185; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .860, VW .830, JP .855, RM .860

RM: The Bearcats should be the upwardly mobile BE team of 2009-10. They return the core of a team that surprised in the league last year, plus they add five star recruit Lance Stephenson, and Cashmere Wright returns from an injury. If Stephenson can stay away from 17-year old girls and doesn't piss off the rest of his team with the Born Ready stuff, the Bearcats should be NCAA-bound.

VW: I'm fully prepared for five months of being a Lance Stephenson fanboy, and I'm actually a fan of their core on offense if Vaughn goes back to nailing 40% of his threes and Gates progresses in his sophomore season. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where the D, which was 104th in the country last year, is going to come from.

Final rating: .855

7. Pittsburgh
2009 rating: .963
Returning 34% of minutes, 27% of points
Lost Levance Fields & Tyrell Biggs (seniors), Sam Young & DeJuan Blair (draft)
Incoming freshmen: Dante Taylor (6'8, 215; 5*), Talib Zanna (6'8, 215; 4*), Lamar Patterson (6'5, 220; 3*), J.J. Richardson (6'7, 230; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .840, VW .870, JP .840, RM .870

RM: Wow, talk about personnel losses. Not only the four listed above, but also Dixon starting the season injured. There's some solid young talent here in Chase Adams (Centenary transfer eligible immediately), Ashton Gibbs and Gilbert Brown, along with some interesting recruits, and if anyone believes that a Jamie Dixon team will collapse, they're crazy - he's only had one sub-25 win season in six years of coaching.

VW: They bring back a bunch of solid ORtgs -- their offense was ridiculously efficient last year -- but how much of that will carry over with so much talent gone? Maybe this Taylor guy ends up being pretty good, it definitely looks to be a down year for Pitt though.

Final rating: .854

8. Marquette
2009 rating: .929
Returning 40% of minutes, 34% of points
Lost Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Dominic James, Dwight Burke (seniors), Pat Hazel (transfer)
Incoming freshmen: Junior Cadougan (6'1, 190; 4*), Erik Williams (6'7, 190; 4*), Jeronne Maymon (6'7, 185; 4*), Youssoupha Mbao (7'2, 215; 3*), Darius Johnson-Odom (3*), Dwight Buycks (6'1, 165; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .835, VW .850, JP .827, RM .825

RM: Jimmy Butler is interesting given how he came on at the end of last season (four double-figure scoring and two double-figure rebounding games in his last eight). The recruiting class is solid, but Marquette will have to figure out where points are coming from after losing so much offensive firepower.

VW: Who knows, with the trio of guards finally having graduated. Hayward had a great year all around last season, and Butler was outrageously efficient in limited time, but their success will probably come down to how effective the enormous freshman class is.

Final rating: .841

9. Seton Hall
2009 rating: .796
Returning 76% of minutes, 85% of points
Lost Paul Gause (senior), Mike Davis & Brandon Walters (transfers)
Incoming freshmen: Ferrakohn Hall (6'7, 200; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .835, VW .825, JP .850, RM .845

RM: If Cincy isn't the surprise team this year, Seton Hall will be. The additions of Keon Lawrence and Herb Pope as transfers makes this a very interesting squad when added to gunner Jeremy Hazell and several other returning contributors. The additional athleticism alone should help the defense improve from third-to-last in the BE last year.

VW: The Pirates return almost everybody after a respectable year in a tough conference. They have really struggled from beyond the arc and on the defensive glass each of the last two years; if they could just manage to be average in one of those areas for a couple months an above .500 finish in the BE isn't out of the question.

Final rating: .840

10. Notre Dame
2009 rating: .877
Returning 47% of minutes, 53% of points
Lost Kyle McAlarney, Luke Zeller, Ryan Ayers, Zach Hillesland (seniors)
Incoming freshmen: Tom Knight (6'9, 245; 3*), Mike Broghammer (6'9, 220; 3*), Jack Cooley (6'8, 210; 3*), Joey Brooks (6'5, 200; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .815, VW .835, JP .810, RM .850

VW: Transfer Scott Martin tearing his ACL hurts; he would've been a nice complement to Harangody inside. They do bring in The Other Hansbrough, but appear to have very little depth beyond him, Jackson, and the big guy down low. Not exactly promising for a team that has developed a reputation for not being able to stop anyone.

Final rating: .822

11. Syracuse
2009 rating: .945
Returning 45% of minutes, 41% of points
Lost Kristof Ongenaet (senior), Johnny Flynn (draft), Sean Williams (transfer), Eric Devendorf & Paul Harris (tried to get drafted)
Incoming freshmen: DaShonte Riley (6'11, 220: 4*), Brandon Triche (6'3, 195; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .815, VW .830, JP .820, RM .840

RM: Major losses for the Orange, who will clearly struggle to find cohesion while implementing transfer Wes Johnson as the new best player in their lineup. Arinze Onuaku appears underutilized - even though he shot a ridiculous 67% from inside last year, he only received 18% of the shots available while on the floor. The expectation is that will go up significantly this year.

VW: They would've been excellent if Devendorf and Harris had decided to return rather than go undrafted, but that didn't happen. The Cuse could be tough down low with Onuaku and the 6'11" freshman Riley, but I'm not sure what the plan is in the backcourt.

Final rating: .820

12. St. John's
2009 rating: .626
Returning 94% of minutes, 97% of points
Lost Phil Wait & TyShawn Edmondson (transfers), Tomas Jasiulionis (overseas)
Incoming freshmen: Omari Lawrence (6'4, 170; 3*), Dwight Hardy (6'2, 175; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .780, VW .735, JP .795, RM .750

VW: The regression projection (.827) is absurd -- that'd put them 59th in the country, and they haven't even been in the top 100 since '05 -- but the Red Storm were dominated by sophomores last season, so they should be markedly better. They also theoretically return Anthony Mason Jr., who missed all but three games last season, but he's out for at least a few more weeks with an aggravated hamstring.

Final rating: .760

13. Providence
2009 rating: .773
Returning 36% of minutes, 34% of points
Lost Weyinmi Efejuku, Geoff McDermott, Jeff Xavier, Jonathan Kale, Randall Hanke (seniors), Alex Kellogg (transfer)
Incoming freshmen: Johnnie Lacy (5'10, 160; 3*), James Still (6'9, 210; 3*), Kadeem Batts (6'7, 215; 3*), Vincent Council (6'1, 180; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .735, VW .705, JP .725, RM .725

RM: The Friars need to improve defensively, which will be very tough to do after losing five seniors from an NIT team. It's Sharaud Curry and Marshon Brooks' team now, but neither player gets me very excited about this team.

VW: Curry, Brooks, and Hanke form a decent enough top three, but it seems like they're going to be giving way too many minutes to 3* recruits to be particularly competitive.

Final rating: .720

14. South Florida
2009 rating: .572
Returning 65% of minutes, 70% of points
Lost Jesus Verdejo, Mobolaji Ajayi, Aris Williams (seniors), Gaby Belardo & Eladio Espinosa (transfers)
Incoming freshmen: Jarrid Famous (6'11, 235; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .680, VW .700, JP .685, RM .700

ML: Dominique Jones is good. His 2009 rate stats aren't that impressive until you account for the fact that he accomplished them with no supporting cast while playing 93.3% of the minutes. USF basketball tends to become pretty popular in Contrarianville from January to March, but if something were to happen to Jones, I'm not sure I could support them in the way that I have in the past.

Final rating: .692

15. DePaul
2009 rating: .406
Returning 68% of minutes, 61% of points
Lost Jabari Currie & Matija Poscic (seniors), Dar Tucker (tried to get drafted)
Incoming freshmen: Tony Freeland (6'7, 180; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .610, VW .702, JP .605, RM .600

VW: Tucker was ridiculously high usage, but also horribly inefficient, with a 45% eFG%. Walker and Koshwal were better, and will be the focus of the offense this season. The defense will probably continue to be awful, as they were bad last season in just about every category except preventing their opponents from getting to the line. Last year was really a huge outlier for them overall though, so I'm projecting a return to respectability.

Final rating: .658

16. Rutgers
2009 rating: .558
Returning 53% of minutes, 55% of points
Lost Anthony Farmer, J.R. Inman, Jaron Griffin (seniors), Earl Pettis (transfer), Corey Chandler (dismissed)
Incoming freshmen: Dane Miller (6'6, 200; 3*), Austin Johnson (6'7, 200; 3*)
Initial ratings: ML .640, VW .590, JP .660, RM .675