It's an unbalanced schedule and tough to know today who has it the roughest or easiest, and that sorta thing could swing standings. + when you play somebody matters. Sometimes you catch a team with injuries, or desperate, etc, etc, etc.
With the portal a lot of teams and their fans feel they got a chance. I don't really get offended by mid-pack predictions because we have a first year HC and an entire new team just thrown together overnight. Everyone is guessing. I remember a couple years ago UNC returned 4 of 5 starters off a final game team and they didn't even make the NCAAT.
Keep in mind if you are picked to finish 9th here you're probably a bubble team, or close to it.