CBSSports college basketball analyst Gary Parrish updated his preseason top 25 yesterday after the news that Illinois stars Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu both decided to withdrawal from the draft and return to Illinois for the 2020 season.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS: The 2020-21 @CBSSports Preseason Top 25 And 1 has been updated to reflect recent developments and the latest information.
VERSION 22.0
1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Villanova
4. Michigan State
5. Virginiahttps://t.co/2eHP9cIbNu— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) August 1, 2020
The news vaulted the Fighting Illini up 20 spots to No. 7 in the nation while the Badgers fell two spots from No. 9 to No. 11.
Parrish’s poll is now the only at this point that doesn’t have Greg Gard’s team in the nations top 10, as in his rankings the team is now slotted behind Big Ten foes Michigan State, Iowa and Illinois.
Here’s what Parrish has to say about the 2020 Wisconsin Badgers:
Wisconsin got better after Kobe King quit the team in January – evidence being how the Badgers won eight straight games to close the regular season and shared the Big Ten crown with Maryland and Michigan State. Now the top five scorers from the final-game roster are expected back. The best of the bunch might be Micah Potter, who averaged 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 52.8% from the field. He’s among the reasons Wisconsin will be positioned to secure back-to-back league titles.
The college basketball season is now scheduled to tip off in exactly 100 days with the Badgers entering the season with the most national hype they’ve had since the 2014-15 team that had just come off a Final Four appearance.
They do have another roadblock in the Big Ten now, though, as Illinois’ recent news will make it even more difficult for Gard and company to repeat as Big Ten champions, as well as it further aiding the Big Ten’s argument for the nation’s best conference.