NBA Power Rankings Roundup: The regular season is here

It's time Hawks fans, the season is back and we have our first power rankings roundup of the new season.  First on our list is John Schumann of NBA.com who slots the Hawks at No. 8.

Eleven of the Hawks' first 14 games are against teams that finished below .500 last season, which should give Mike Budenholzer some leeway in figuring out what combinations work best on either end of the floor. Kent Bazemore will start, but Bud could go big (Tiago Splitter), small (Dennis Schroder) or medium (Thabo Sefolosha) with his four All-Stars.

Next, Marc Stein of ESPN.com drops an #EventheHawks on us while place the Hawks eighth in this week's rankings.

Apologies to Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee or any other nominee you wish to submit. The Hawks -- yes, #eventhehawks! -- are still the second-best team in the East until someone proves otherwise. A dip in the win column is forthcoming, we agree, but let's not automatically assume they're going from 60-22 into the 40s.

Finally, USAToday.com also places the Hawks eighth in their initial regular season rankings

They’ll surely miss DeMarre Carroll at small forward, but as long as Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Al Horford produce close to the same level as last season, the Hawks can go ahead and book their tickets to the postseason.

That does it for this week's rankings.  As always let us know what you think in the comment section.