EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants offense has struggled in the preseason, and no group more than the line.The only time Ben McAds team ran the ball was in the opener against Miami, which did not play its starting defensive line.Quarterbacks Eli Manning and backup Ryan Nassib have been under intense pressure, and have been sacked eight times. New York is ranked last in the preseason in average total yards, passing, first downs and third-down efficiency. It is next to last in average points.While some may be worrying, McAd seemingly isnt. He said the line of left tackle Ereck Flowers, left guard Justin Pugh, center Weston Richburg, right guard John Jerry and right tackle Marshall Newhouse were close to breaking some plays against the Jets in the 21-20 win Saturday night.McAd also insisted the line cant be judged when it enters a game without a regular-season game plan. The vanilla offense is basically simple blocking schemes used to evaluate the linemen.McAd is concerned about the blocking in general.The pocket integrity needs to improve in the pass game, and I think it has gotten better, he said. We tk a step back on a few plays last week, but overall the pocket integrity has been better the last two games. Run blocking is something that we need to improve on. Its not just the offensive line, its the tight ends, its everybody.Pugh, who missed the last two games with a shoulder injury, returned to practice Monday.Pugh said the Giants have not audibled much in the preseason. For example, he said when a safety plays close to the line of scrimmage, the play will be changed. He added the line is the same as last season, and the running game picked up in the second half.On some plays, the offense had a tight end against a defensive end and that was a mismatch. He also noted that Manning did not play in the preseason opener.The No. 1 thing we have to do is keep 10 upright, we know it is going to make him feel gd, Pugh said. It is something that we have to continue to get better at.Pugh believes things will work out. The guys on the O-Line work hard and he says there is chemistry.To overreact in the preseason is something that I would not urge you guys or the fan base to do, Pugh said. Obviously, you want to see successful runs, you want to see explosive plays and thats something that we have to get better at as well. Im not going to sugar coat it and say everything has been perfect, because it hasnt. I think were going to get this thing right. I know we are.Tight end Will Tye, the free agent who became the starter last season after Larry Donnell was injured, said film work can show whether your hand placement is t high or t low, and whether the ftwork is correct.Game planning also helps. A lot.Theres a difference, thats for sure. You can definitely feel it, Tye said. Youre more zeroed in on that defensive end or linebacker thats going to guard you or try and hit you. You can focus in a little more instead of jumping around at different details.Game notes LB Jonathan Casillas bruised his ribs against the Jets. There were no breaks. He hopes to be ready for Dallas on Sept. 11. ...Jerry (ankle), CB Leon Hall (concussion), S Darian Thompson (shoulder), TE Will Johnson (burner), and linebackers Keenan Robinson (back), Jasper Brinkley (knee), and B.J. Gdson (concussion) did not practice. ..S Mykkele Thompson (concussion) returned to practice along with Pugh.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap Yeezy Authentic . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Yeezy Wholesale Authentic . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. http://www.cheapyeezyaustralia.com/ . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. Yeezy Shoes Australia .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Cheap Yeezys Real . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Hello, October. Hello, college basketball.To most rational people, that distinct, damp chill in the air is a harbinger of pumpkin-spice everything, ftball-packed weekends and sightings of Mr. Autumn Man in his natural habitat. For college basketball fans, it means one thing: Another long offseason is mercifully at its end.A lot can happen between April and October. By now, Villanova has fully soaked in its post-epic-title-game bath of glory. Tar Heels fans have (hopefully?) emerged from their collective, dissociative daze. A raft of NBA draft hopefuls and four-year graduates waved farewell; a loaded incoming class arrived to take their place. Over 700 transfers found new schls. Waivers were granted.Official practices began this week; Madness Madness has started; media days are just around the corner; the first games of the season are just 40 days (!!) away. It is, in other words, no longer way t early to take an educated glimpse at the season ahead.And so we give you the No-Longer-Way-T-Early Top 25.The big takeaway: For everything that has changed since April -- and Nos. 2-24 have shifted a couple of times already -- one constant remains: Duke is still No. 1, because Duke still lks like an absolute juggernaut.1. Duke Blue Devils If youre tempted to overthink Dukes April-to-October lock-in at No. 1 (particularly after Harry Giles knee surgery news), know this: The Blue Devils are?just the sixth team of the past decade to quantifiably blend this much one-and-done talent with so many high-contribution returners. (One of whom, by the way, is likely preseason player of the year Grayson Allen.) The previous five rotations of this caliber all earned No. 1 NCAA tournament seeds. Two won titles. Put even more simply: This is the best roster in the country, coached by the winningest man in the history of the sport. So, no, its not exactly complicated.2. Kentucky Wildcats Duke hvered up the Nos. 1, 3, 10 and 16 prospects in a loaded incoming class ... and ended up No. 2 in the ESPN Recruiting Nation rankings. That shouldnt be possible, but such is life in the John Calipari era. The names change (gdbye Jamal Murray, hello to Bam Adebayo, DeAaron Fox and Malik Monk!), but the pattern remains the same: Future pros show up, Calipari gels said future pros into a formidable unit in mere months, rinse, repeat. Which is why a team with so little left from last seasons roster (save Isaiah Briscoe, Derek Willis?and Isaac Humphries) can be conservatively penciled in as one of the nations best four or five squads -- if not by November, then by March.3. Kansas Jayhawks Having spent 12 years transforming the Big 12 into his personal John Wden cosplay sht, Kansas coach Bill Self has little conceptual rm left in which to improve. This team might just explore that space. Freshman Josh Jackson, a No. 1 overall candidate in next Junes NBA draft, is a chief reason why, but dual point guards Frank Mason and Devonte Graham arent far behind -- to say nothing of the terrifying perimeter defense those three could unleash together. Throw in senior center Landen Lucas and a potential breakout year from sophomore forward Carlton Bragg, and its no wonder Self seems so excited.4. Villanova Wildcats Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu were the heart-and-soul leaders throughout Villanovas remarkable 2016 national title run; replacing them was always going to be impossible. A big part of Jay Wrights plan for post-Ochefu life tk a big hit in September, when the NCAA ruled five-star freshman forward Omari Spellman ineligible for 2016-17. The gd news? Kris Jenkins, Jalen Brunson, Phil Bth and destined-to-be-underrated POY candidate Josh Hart will ensure the Wildcats still wield a devastating, flr-spreading attack, while sophomore Mikal Bridges might just thrive as a two-way smallball center. This is still a repeat threat, in other words, even if the odds feel longer at the margins than they did even three weeks ago.5. Virginia Cavaliers Exactly one program in college basketball has averaged a top-five finish in KenPom.coms adjusted efficiency rankings in the past three seasons. Heres a hint: It isnt Kentucky. Or Kansas. Or Duke. Heres another hint: It starts with a V and ends with -irginia. Anyone wondering why the Cavaliers deserve a top-five preseason spot after losing players as gd as Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill -- or, for that matter, why opposing coaches cant stop making Tony Bennett blush -- well, there you have it. (Oh, and its only October, and Memphis transfer Austin Nichols already lks like a totally different player. Virginia will be just fine.)6. North Carolina Tar Heels In case you worried that North Carolina fans were rendered cynical by the events of April 4, 2016 -- or that they had been converted, en masse, by the ftball-related doings of Oct. 2 -- fear not. The Tar Heel faithful lk plenty fired up from here. And they should be! Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson may be gone, but Joel Berry II, Justin Jackson, Isaiah Hicks, Theo Pinson?and Kennedy Meeks (among others) are still very much in the building, making UNC one of 2016-17s best blends of sheer talent and hard-won experience. Whats not to like?7. Oregon Ducks Before he won over millions of non-Duke fans this past March, Dillon Brks was Oregons most important player. He was its leader in usage, shot rate and assist percentage, and every opposing defenses trickiest inside-out matchup. Its no small matter that he will miss an indefinite chunk of the 2016-17 season following ft surgery (particularly in lieu of 6-ft-6 wing Elgin Cks graduation in May). Still, coach Dana Altman has so many pieces at his disposal -- namely former Villanova guard Dylan Ennis and late-blming center Chris Boucher, both of whom needed favorable NCAA waivers to remain eligible -- that he can afford to be patient with his star.8. Wisconsin Badgers The only piece of data one must know about the 2016-17 Wisconsin Badgers is as follows: Their entire 2015-16 roster, top to bottom, remains intact. How one chses to interpret this data is sure to vary. ESPN Insider Jeff Gdman recently laid out the bearish case on the Badgers, and he may well be right. Heres the bullish case: Greg Gard tk over in mid-December, spent a month completely rewiring his teams offense and turned a 9-9 start into a 13-4 Sweet Sixteen finish. Imagine what hell do with a full offseason. (Item No. 1: Make Wisconsins defensive rebounding great again!)9. Xavier Musketeers In the past two seasons, guard Myles Davis, a 3-and-D combo guard and eminently willing passer, has been one of Chris Macks most reliable perimeter fixtures. Davis indefinite suspension casts a fair bit of uncertainty over the 2016-17 Musketeers rotation. Assuming he does eventually return, Xavier will remain the biggest threat to Villanovas ongoing Big East hegemony. But Mack has so many talented guards and wings (Trevon Bluiett, Edmond Sumner, JP Macura) that even the worst-case scenario still lks pretty promising.10. Michigan State Spartans By now, you know that historically great point guard Denzel Valentine is gone, and with him goes lights-out shter Bryn Forbes, senior center Matt Costello and freshman one-and-done Deyonta Davis. You are also, no doubt, aware that guard Eron Harris is the Spartans only returning starter, and that Tom Izzo recently welcomed a talented recruiting class, led by No. 8 overall prospect Miles Bridges. What we dont yet know is how Izzo will take the above conditions and nonetheless inevitably build his latest Big Ten title contender/overacheiving Final Four team, but thats why hes Izzo and were not.11. Gonzaga Bulldogs Gonzaga keeps getting better. In May, the return of center Przemek Karnowski provided the chief source of optimism; even after losing Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis, Mark Fews mix of returning players (Josh Perkins) and transfers (former top Washington recruit Nigel Williams-Goss, Missouri forward Jonathan Williams)?would remain as relevant as ever. Since then, Few went out and landed Cal graduate transfer Jordan Mathews, an athleticc guard who shot 42 percent from 3 a year ago and will be eligible to play immediately.ddddddddddddDont lk now, but this is a really gd team.12. Indiana Hsiers Bad news first: Colin Hartman, a key role-playing piece of Indianas recent run-and-gun revival, underwent knee surgery in late September after suffering an injury during a non-contact drill. His timetable for return is unknown. If that wasnt bad enough, Tom Crean has also had to begin his teams official practice regimen without junior college transfer forward Freddie McSwain and sophomore wing Juwan Morgan, both nursing injuries of their own. Gd news: Guards Robert Johnson and James Blackmon were cleared to practice in September, and it is their talent -- alongside sophomore center(piece) Thomas Bryant -- that will ultimately mean the most for the Hsiers in 2016-17.13. Arizona Wildcats It didnt matter that I was nine, or that I didnt know how I was going to do it; all that mattered was that, someday, Id make sure my mom would never have to work again. Now, she wont have to, because Im going to play for the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League in Australia. So wrote Terrance Ferguson, a five-star prospect committed to the University of Arizona. Fergusons (totally respectable) decision tk a bite out of the Wildcats 2016-17 ceiling, but Sean Miller recruits so well he can lose a Terrance Ferguson and expect to field a talented Pac-12 title contender anyway.14. Louisville Cardinals There may be times this season when certain, lets say, distractions?make it difficult to focus on the quality of Louisvilles actual basketball. We wont go so far as to call that a shame; given the circumstances, it probably tops out at bummer. Still, though: Rick Pitino will take McDonalds All-American V.J. King and Penn transfer Tony Hicks and a bunch of dudes an average college basketball fan couldnt pick out of a lineup and mold them into a terrifying, amorphous defensive beast. Pitino always does, and its always worth appreciating.15. Purdue Boilermakers If Caleb Swanigan has a breakout sophomore season -- and he might -- the Boilermakers may spend most of 2016-17 making this ranking lk conservative. Importance-wise, Swanigans return was neck and neck with that of wing Vince Edwards, while the key hole from last season (center A.J. Hammons) can be capably filled by 7-ft-2 center Isaac Haas. Throw in Michigan transfer Spike Albrecht filling the crucial someone to get the ball across half court need, and theres much to like about Matt Painters latest crew.16. Saint Marys Gaels The first Saint Marys team to sweep Gonzaga in the regular season since the mid-1990s pulled a Wisconsin, which is to say that basically its entire roster is intact. The Gaels demolished all expectations (including their own, judging by their nonconference schedule) last season by shting the lights out; just two teams in Division I (Indiana and Belmont) posted a better effective field goal percentage. If SMC maintains that pace, and makes even marginal improvements on defense, a tournament bid, so elusive last March, will be an afterthought.17. Syracuse Orange The transfer market was particularly kind to Syracuse, both in the long-term -- center Paschal Chukwu, formerly of Providence, will take the flr this fall after a year on the Orange-bedecked sidelines -- and in the short. In August, after a late-breaking and contentious split from Nebraska, graduate transfer Andrew White announced he would take his talents to Central New York. White was a high-usage, high-efficiency perimeter scorer in Lincoln; his addition is a huge bn to a team with a promising frontcourt (especially sky-is-the-limit sophomore Tyler Lydon) but a backcourt left mostly vacant by graduation and the NBA draft. Vacancy filled.18. Creighton Bluejays One of the sneaky almost-but-not-quite bubble teams of the 2015-16 season will get a major talent bst in the form of Kansas State transfer Marcus Foster, who burst onto the scene as a freshman and averaged double-figures for two straight years before an epic falling-out with K-State coach Bruce Weber. Assuming everyone gets along in Omaha, Nebraska, Fosters addition is a promising one to Greg McDermotts impressively ready-made foundation.19. West Virginia Mountaineers This might be Bob Huggins most apparently talent-bereft team in at least three seasons. Heres the thing: Were not sure that matters. Since Huggins converted his program to its current Press Virginia incarnation two years ago, conventional appraisals of the Mountaineers talent cant do a whole lot to tell you how gd theyll actually be. So, sure, Devin Williams made a surprise NBA draft jump. The collective, and how Huggins expertly employs it, may make that point mt.20. Rhode Island Rams After a season-long injury recovery, E.C. Matthews?is back. He was the primary piece of Rhode Islands 23-10 2014-15 season, when they finished with a top-15 adjusted efficiency defense. Thats the top reason to be excited about Dan Hurleys team, but there are others, namely the continuity of the starting lineup. Will Dayton make this pick lk silly come February? Maybe! Well let the Rams have their fun in the meantime.21. Connecticut Huskies Dubbing a team the class of the American Athletic Conference may not be the most fawning of compliments, but it appears to be true of Connecticut. Whether the Huskies will transcend these kinds of jokes (and they already have, forcefully so) will depend on what kind of leap Kevin Ollie coaxes from sophomore point guard Jalen Adams. Losing Daniel Hamilton was a blow, but theres more talent on the way. Plus, despite all of last seasons frustrations, the Huskies were almost always one of the 15 best per-possession defenses in the country. Thats a pretty gd place to start.22. Maryland Terrapins After a disappointing second half to his sophomore season, Melo Trimbles decision to return to College Park set the stage for an epic junior-year redemption. How so? Because for all of the Terps pieces -- and Dion Wiley, Jared Nickens, Jaylen Brantley and Damonte Dodd are perfectly viable Big Ten players -- Trimble will have nothing remotely resembling the rich talent that surrounded him a season ago. He will have to do even more. Maybe much more. It will be fun to see him try.23. Iowa State Cyclones Speaking of point guards eschewing long-shot draft odds and returning to drastically different rosters: Monte Morris, everyone! Iowa States resident king of the assist-turnover ratio will ply his trade without Georges Niang, Jameel McKay?and Abdel Nader by his side, but Morris will have Matt Thomas, Naz Long and potential breakout Deonte Burton to aid in the transition.24. UCLA Bruins This was always going to be a fascinating season in Westwd, but that curiosity was only further piqued by UCLAs August tour of Australia, when hugely touted point guard Lonzo Ball was spectacular in every way ... except shting, in which he was abysmal. Ball made 33 percent from 2 and 17 percent from 3, but nonetheless tk 33 percent?of the Bruins available shots while on the flr. Three games isnt enough to ignore UCLAs season-long potential entirely, but it is interesting.25. Florida State Seminoles The temptation is so strong to throw a team like Wichita State on this list -- out of nothing else but sheer respect for the fact that it has been a half-decade since Gregg Marshall finished a season worse than 17th in adjusted efficiency. Instead, the 2016-17 Shockers will have to settle for that plug and kindly cede the flr to Florida State, where likely lottery pick Jonathan Isaac will join up with last years best recruit in FSU hps history, Dwayne Bacon. The talent is overwhelming.Honorable mention: Wichita State Shockers, Texas Longhorns, California Golden Bears, Cincinnati Bearcats, USC Trojans, Oklahoma Sners, Texas A&M Aggies, Dayton Flyers, Seton Hall Pirates, SMU Mustangs, San Diego State Aztecs, Virginia Tech Hokies ' ' '