What the preseason college basketball rankings really tell us

This weekend begins the college basketball season as courts all over this country bring us those pounds of the ball, squeaks from the sneakers, swish of the net and roar of the crowd. College basketball is back!

As with any new season, we look at the Associated Press rankings to see who the teams to beat are and who we could see make a run to the top. However, is there anything really to these rankings? Do they really matter, or are they designed to just push the narrative of the season. Unlike college football, the rankings really don't determine how the NCAA Tournament bracket is made, nor do they portend who will be our next national champion. After all, defending champion Villanova started as the No. 11 team in the preseason rankings one year ago.

We will look at how the rankings could impact the teams as the season starts and goes along, but let's first take a look at those preseason AP rankings:

1. Duke
The Blue Devils have a great mix of experience and one of the best freshmen classes. Love him or hate him, Grayson Allen will be in the running for National Player of the Year.

2. Kentucky
As with virtually every year, we know the Wildcats are very young and very talented. They'll take a few lumps but will be a force come tournament time.

3. Kansas
In this jaw-dropping world that we live in, we can always count on death, taxes and the Jayhawks winning the Big 12. Josh Jackson may be the best player in the nation when it is all said and done.

4. Villanova
The defending national champions still have a ton coming back and are a defensive nightmare. Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins could get this team back to the Final Four.

5. Oregon
The Ducks will continue to be that team that most won't know much about before tournament time. Losing Dillon Brooks for a while after foot surgery will sting a bit, but this is still a very experienced team that got to the Elite 8 last year before running into Buddy Hield.

6. North Carolina
The Tar Heels regroup after coming so close to a national title. Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige are gone, but this is a very experienced team returning that could turn Justin Jackson and Joel Berry into stars.

7. Xavier
Last year's trendy pick will be back in the mix again. Edmond Sumner could carry the Musketeers to their first Final Four appearance. The status of Myles Davis will be a key development.

8. Virginia
Malcolm Brogden graduated, but this team has a lot coming back and that back-line defense isn't going anywhere. Inserting transfer Austin Nichols and a very nice recruiting class into the scheme quickly could take the Cavs deep into the tournament.

9. Wisconsin
The Badgers were a bit of a surprise last season, and with virtually the exact same team returning with a dash of some nice freshmen and without the coaching turmoil, much is expected from Wisconsin.

10. Arizona
The good news? Seven-footer Lauri Markkanen is the real deal and has had plenty of international experience so he should be ready to roll from day one. The bad news? Losing big-time recruit Terrance Ferguson will dent the chances Sean Miller can get to his first Final Four.

11. Indiana
Yogi Ferrell was the heart and soul of the Hoosiers, but in his place comes a top-notch center Thomas Bryant surrounded by a stable of capable shooters and wings.

12. Michigan State
Tom Izzo is one of the greatest coaches at piecing a team together, and he'll have another challenge replacing the much leaned-on Denzel Valentine and injuries to some key pieces. Michigan State will take some hits early on, but don't count out Izzo or Sparty.

13. Louisville
The Cardinals come back from a good season that ended with a self-imposed postseason ban with the usual tough, quick defensive squad that has an offense built around the athletic Donovan Mitchell and super frosh V.J. King.

14. Gonzaga
I know we tend to have Zags fatigue with the "this is finally going to be the year they break through" spiel, but this Bulldogs team has that potential. It may take time with the amount of transfers brought in, but Mark Few will have this team ready to roll come March.

15. Purdue
The Boilermakers are really talented. Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan are back with chips on their shoulders after their solid season ended with that stunning loss to Little Rock in the NCAA Tournament.

The rest:

16. UCLA
17. St. Mary's
18. UConn
19. Syracuse
20. West Virginia
21. Texas
22. Creighton
23. Rhode Island
24. Iowa State
25. Maryland

As usual, there are some top-tier teams, some teams with the goods and some outsiders who could make a run for a championship. Duke will lurk around the top spot all season long. The Blue Devils deserve to be the top-ranked team by a wide margin even when they lose a few games during their brutal schedule. They will lose a few games, and we will all be shocked and go nuts when we see that happen. The teams in the Final Four last year combined for 31 losses heading into the final weekend.

Kentucky's ranking is always a guess. The Wildcats continue on with the one-and-done reloading, but you just don't know how good they will be and how long it will take them to click. Some years, they go undefeated, while in others they get banged around and become one-and-done in the tournament. The Wildcats are usually ranked by potential and rarely by how they are currently playing.

The same goes to certain other programs. Kansas is always at the head of the class in the Big 12. We know this, and we don't even bother fighting it. North Carolina lost two huge leaders from a squad that lost the title game on a buzzer beater yet is ranked No. 6. Michigan State is replacing much of its team yet gets the benefit of the doubt with a No. 12 ranking.

You also have the ACC with five teams ranked in the top 25, including three in the top eight. There will be an ongoing story of the ACC's strength this season, and the rankings will capture that. No doubt that the league will pick each other off, but like the SEC in football, does that even hurt the teams that lose those games as it would teams in other leagues? Programs like Florida State, Miami, N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame also received votes, and we should see them dip in and out of the rankings as the season goes on.

Then you have teams like Gonzaga, St. Mary's and Rhode Island. They are the darlings that sit outside the power conferences and get just enough respect to make you notice them and entertain thoughts about how good they really are. That is despite Gonzaga and St. Mary's being on the national radar for some time now. People riff on Gonzaga because the Bulldogs haven't made it to a Final Four, but remember that Indiana has made exactly one Final Four in the last 24 seasons, Georgetown has been to just one Final Four in 30 years, and schools like BYU and Xavier haven't made a Final Four at all.

The rankings mainly give us some levity to games. More than college football, the college hoops rankings are a week-to-week deal where teams slowly rise up the polls only to inevitably lose and fall down the ladder. How they continue to climb back up determines how strong we think they are, and at this point, as nice as the rankings are, these initial rankings don't mean a whole lot come March.