Eligibility issues — I get this one. It’s hard to know where to rank these guys until we know for sure who will play for them.

Who plays the point — this is a FAR easier question to answer than you are making it out to be. Larry Drew plays the point on defense. Kyle Anderson plays the point on offense. They swap responsibilities on the other end. Why is this so hard? Duke won a national championship doing this just a couple of years ago.

Smith is out of shape — big deal. He’s never been a solid contributor, and he won’t be this year. Look, if UCLA gets all of their players eligible, then they bring in within a hair as much talent as Kentucky, and return a zillion times more talent and experience. That Smith doesn’t count in that listing doesn’t change the truth of it.

Given that, the only reason to give UCLA a different ranking than Kentucky is the coaching. Historically, Howland is feast or famine — he’s taken teams to the final Four multiple times, and he’s had teams go down in flames. I don’t see a solid reason yet why this season will be flames instead of finals.