Mississippi State ranked No. 11 in Blue Ribbon preseason poll

Just as college football has gotten underway, college basketball season is creeping up. Preseason polls are coming out as reporters and fans get to see what teams will look like heading into the 2018-19 season.

For Mississippi State, this season has the added weight of expectation. Senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon and co. will look to make noise this season and sneak into the NCAA Tournament come March.

Blue Ribbon released its preseason top 25 poll on Tuesday with a top four that many are picking: Kentucky as the top team in the country, Kansas at second, Gonzaga third and Duke fourth. Admittedly, there’s some criticism of the poll when it was released, but that’s because of some of the teams outside of the top 10.

Speaking of top 10, just outside of it is Ben Howland’s Bulldogs, who come it at No. 11. This may be generous to State, but it emphasizes a theme that this season will cary: There are expectations now, and they need to be met.

According to Blue Ribbon’s poll, State is the fourth best SEC team out of six that are ranked. The ACC has the most teams in the poll with seven.

Personally, Villanova is ranked a bit low. Yes, they’ve lost a few key players, but head coach Jay Wright will do enough to make them a top 10 team. Of course, this is just the preseason. Fans still have a while to go before tip-off.

Here’s the full top 25 (You can view the whole article here):

https://blueribbonyearbook.com/blogs/news/blue-ribbon-college-basketball-yearbook-releases-preseason-top-25

1. Kentucky
2. Kansas
3. Gonzaga
4. Duke
5. Tennessee
6. Nevada
7. Virginia
8. Auburn
9. Oregon
10. Michigan State
11. Mississippi State
12. North Carolina
13. Kansas State
14. UCLA
15. Florida State
16. West Virginia
17. Clemson
18. LSU
19. Purdue
20. Florida
21. Villanova
22. Syracuse
23. Michigan
24. Virginia Tech
25. TCU