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The ITA’s first team rankings of the season should be out shortly so here is my top 20 along with a few questions for each team. I’m thinking that both Oklahoma and Baylor will have some January roster additions and Wake Forest should have their guys added in a few days. It seems like there are more teams counting on freshman this year than I can remember in the past. I can’t see anyway that Virginia isn’t the preseason #1 because they’ve got it all. Here is my top 20 – if you’ve done one yourself add yours to the comment section below – I’m sure we’ll all have many differences and opinions.

1. Virginia – how well will they do without Mitchell Frank?
2. Oklahoma – top 5 is strong but who is going to play #6 – waiting to see January admits?
3. TCU – how well do Alex Rybakov and Eduardo Nava adjust to the college game?
4. Ohio State – can Herkko Pollanen play in the spring like he did the fall and can Martin Joyce hold his own?
5. Georgia – can Paul Oosterbaan be a force at 3 or 4 and how does Walker Duncan perform?
6. Texas A&M – which Harry Adams do we see this season and does Arconada move up higher?
7. North Carolina – can this team stay healthy and can Kodali hold down the #6 spot?
8. Wake Forest – can the January admits, Petros Chrysochos/Dennis Uspensky, jump right in without missing a beat and can Bogaerts bounce back from a rough fall?
9. Stanford – can Maciek Romanowicz be solid in the middle of the lineup and how well do the freshmen (Genender/Kumar) compete against USC, UCLA, and Cal among others.
10. UCLA – if Brymer is back to form the Bruins would have a rugged top 3 but can they win enough down low at 5 and 6?
11. Illinois – we know the top half of the lineup is solid but what about the bottom half?
12. USC – can Max de Vroome and Nick Crystal perform as well up top as they did down low and which of the freshman (L Smith/DeVine/Boyd/Jaede) will have breakout seasons?
13. South Florida – can Gozun and Kalyuzhnyy bounce back from sub-par falls and can Cid and Cotrone help carry this team to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond?
14. Baylor – can Rios and Schneider play higher up and are there any January admits because the roster looks pretty thin after losing Lupieri, Galeano, and Zsiga?
15. Virginia Tech – is Monteiro ready to play at #1 (his fall results say yes) and can Corbett and Gomez hold down #5 and #6?
16. Cal – can Florian Lakat firm up the top half of the lineup and can Billy Griffith keep up his strong play to help anchor the bottom 3?
17. Texas Tech – can the January admits, Bjorn Thomson/Augusto Stodart, help firm up the lower half of the lineup and can Tech win enough in the top 2 spots?
18. Florida – can Maxx Lipman get back on track and how do the freshmen (Perez/Kessler) perform?
19. San Diego – solid top 4 Petronijevic, Vittek, Angus, and Kalaydjian but can USD count on Josh Page and Alexandros Araouzos to bring in enough wins at 5 and 6?
20. Duke – we know Alvarez is great but who can handle the load at 2 through 6 after losing Tahir, Semenzato, Hemmeler, and Mengel?