Author: Aidan Joly

By Aidan Joly

Heading into the Christmas break in college hoops, six teams remain undefeated: Michigan, Arizona, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Nebraska and Miami Ohio.

The first three of that group are the top three teams in the country right now. Miami Ohio has benefitted playing largely a mix of non-Division I teams and teams ranked in the 300s in KenPom.

That leaves the other two – Vanderbilt and Nebraska, two of the sport’s biggest surprises of the season. How did each of them get here?

Let’s start with Vanderbilt.

Second-year coach Mark Byington has done a yeoman’s job of turning the dormant program around. He reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last year in year one and has an even better squad this time aroumd.

The Commodores have done it with a fantastic group on offense. Byington’s style of play has wielded excellent results from the likes of Duke Miles, who has quietly become one of the best players in the country to the tune of 17.1 points per game while dishing out nearly five assists per contest. He hits nearly half of his shots. Tyler Tanner has 15.4 PPG on 52% shooting. Tyler Nickel shoots 52%. Devin McGlockton shoots 60% and leads the team in rebounds.

Sensing a theme here?

Vanderbilt is one of the most efficient teams on offense in the nation with an effective field goal percentage that ranks in the top 10 in the country and is doing it with experienced players who know what they are doing. The Commodores rank in the top 10 in the country when it comes to Division I playing experience.

To note, Vandy is sixth in the country when it comes to field goal percentage inside the three-point line. It doesn’t take a lot of two-point shots, but when they do they go in.

Vanderbilt has scored at least 83 points in all but one of its games. It doesn’t play particularly quick – 44th in the nation when it comes to adjusted tempo, fast but not too fast – but when it gets the ball moving it takes shots with the best. The wins on its resume so far include UCF, VCU, Saint Mary’s, SMU, Memphis and Wake Forest.

Now, Vanderbilt has one more non-conference game before it moves into the SEC portion of the schedule, possibly the toughest conference in all of college basketball. Right now, it seems like the Commodores are the top jobber to Alabama to win the SEC.

Moving onto Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers are now 12-0 on the season and have won each of their first two Big Ten games, including an incredibly impressive road win over Illinois on Dec. 13. It doesn’t matter how the Illini are – going into Champaign and winning is one of the tougher things to do in all of college basketball.

Fred Hoiberg’s job had been in jeopardy for seemingly multiple years and it felt like he always did just enough to hang onto his gig. In his first four years in Lincoln he went 17-63 in Big Ten play. Most places, that will certainly get you canned.

Now, he has a squad full of guys who are having the best years of their career. Rienk Mast has returned after missing all of last season due to injury and has become one of the most important players in the Big Ten, to the tune of 17 PPG and nearly seven rebounds per game. Pryce Sandford at 16.3 PPG is not far behind him and has become an excellent option. Freshman Braden Frager is in double figures. Jamarques Lawrence has become an impact portal add. Sam Hoiberg and Berke Buyuktuncel are both playing their best basketball since they arrived in Lincoln.

The stars seem to be all aligning for the Cornhuskers. Multiple players having career years at the same time will do that. Dating back to last season Nebraska has the nation’s longest active win streak at 16 in a row and have wins over Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas State, Creighton, Wisconsin and the aforementioned Illinois during the 12-0 start.

One more non-conference game awaits them before resuming Big Ten play against Michigan State on Jan. 2.

Famously, Nebraska is the only power conference program in the country that has never won an NCAA tournament game. Does that have a chance at changing this year? It certainly has a lengthy path ahead of them but that path is getting shorter and shorter by the day.

Both of these teams have been big-time and unexpected storylines in college basketball. It will be very interesting and fun to see how the rest of their seasons play out.

By Aidan Joly

It is one of the stranger coincidences in college basketball – every season since the 2003-04 season, a team ranked in the top 12 in the week 6 AP poll has gone on to win the national championship.

On Monday, the all-important week 6 AP poll dropped. It went as follows:

• 1. Arizona
• 2. Michigan
• 3. Duke
• 4. Iowa State
• 5. UConn
• 6. Purdue
• 7. Houston
• 8. Gonzaga
• 9. Michigan State
• 10. BYU
• 11. Louisville
• 12. Alabama

History tells us that one of those 12 teams will win the national championship in April in Indianapolis. Now, a quick look at each team and how they can be the ones to cut down the nets.

Arizona

The Wildcats are off to an 8-0 start to the season, including wins over four ranked teams in Florida, UCLA, UConn and Auburn.

The key for the Wildcats is to continue to have the balance between youth and experience. Freshman Koa Peat is the team’s best player, to go along with a fellow freshman in double figures in Brayden Burries, but it also has plenty of experience Jaden Bradley, Anthony Dell’orso and Tobe Awaka.

Heading into the tournament the Wildcats will certainly be battle-tested after playing an 18-game Big 12 schedule. That will only help this team come March.

Michigan

A case can certainly be made that the Wolverines are the best team in the country.

Michigan has an absolutely explosive offense that has been unstoppable since Players Era, winning each game by at least 30 points, and then beating Rutgers by 41 in its conference opener last weekend. That’s not even talking about the defense either, which is the No. 1 KenPom defense in the country.

Yaxel Lendeborg has become one of the best players in the country and has a fantastic cast in Morez Johnson, Roddy Gayle, Trey McKenney and Aday Mara.

The Big Ten has not won a national championship since 2000. The Wolverines will have a great chance to be the ones to end that drought.

Duke

The Blue Devils are 10-0 on the season and have four wins against teams that were ranked at the time of the game: Kansas, Arkansas, Florida and Michigan State.

The key for Duke has been defense. It ranks No. 3 in the nation in KenPom in that category and is the top team in the country in terms of opponent effective field goal percentage. Point is, Duke doesn’t allow its opponents to take many good shots.

Freshman Cameron Boozer feels like not only the best freshman in the country but the best player in the country, while Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster have all had great games. The key for Duke will to get more strong performances from that cast of characters, and doing so consistently.

Iowa State

The Cyclones are another team that went 3-0 at Players Era and is coming off its most impressive win of the season, an 81-58 drubbing of then-No. 1 Purdue in a true road game.

It is top five in the country in both offense and defense, and No. 2 in the country in effective field goal percentage. Milan Momcilovic, Justin Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey and Killyan Traore all average more than 12 points per game.

Leaning into its experience is the way for the Cyclones to win the national title. Traore is a freshman, but the other three have all played a ton of college basketball, much of it in Ames in TJ Otzelberger’s system.

Much like Arizona, it will be battle-tested in the Big 12 and ready for a deep postseason run.

UConn

Last season, by UConn standards, was a down season.

The Huskies are back this year and are off to an 8-1 start to the season with wins over BYU, Illinois and Kansas, its only blemish coming from a home loss to Arizona.

Alex Karaban and Jaylin Stewart are the only guys still around from at least the 2024 national title team. The two of them take a back seat to guys like Tarris Reed and Silas DeMary, who have the largest roles on the team. Karaban is still in double figures though.

Dan Hurley knows how to build a championship-winning roster. He has done it twice now. All of the guys on this team know their role, from Reed and DeMary, to Solo Ball, to a role guy like Stewart. Playing into the roles and strengths of the roster will be the way for the Huskies to win a third title in four years.

Purdue

The Boilermakers were the No. 1 team in the AP poll up until last week until the aforementioned Iowa State had something to say about it.

Despite the loss, Purdue has the No. 1 KenPom offense in the country ran by Braden Smith, who has a strong argument for the best point guard in the country, and Trey Kaufmann-Renn, who is potentially the best No. 2 guy in the country. Fletcher Loyer and Oscar Cluff have also been very, very important.

The Boilermakers have the best point guard in the country. It is the most important position on the floor. Let him do what he needs to do, and he has a very real shot at guiding this team to a title.

Houston

The Cougars were a couple bounces away from winning a national championship last year and certainly have a great chance at finishing the climb to the top of the mountain this year.

Houston is 8-1 on the season, its only blemish coming against Tennessee during Players Era in a game where somebody had to lose.

Its offense does leave a little something to be desired and has likely taken a little bit of a step back as compared to last season. Still, Houston teams lean into its defenses and that is something the Cougars should continue to do, led by Milos Uzan, to win the title. Getting a little better on offense wouldn’t hurt though.

Gonzaga

The Zags are easily a top-10 team in the country this season following what would be considered a down year last year where it was an 8-seed in the tournament and ended its streak of going to the second weekend.

Which makes Michigan’s 40-point win over the Zags during Players Era that much more impressive. Gonzaga does have wins over Alabama and Kentucky, both on neutrals.

Gonzaga has the horses to make a deep run in March with the likes of Braden Huff, Graham Ike and Tyon-Grant Foster.

It doesn’t feel like the team that lost to Michigan is the real Gonzaga, but rather the team that beat Kentucky by 35. But, it will have to get rid of those stinker performances. Hopefully this was the only one.

Michigan State

Michigan State is 8-1 on the season, its only loss coming to Duke.

It feels like a similar story with the Spartans as it is with Houston, a very good defense and that overall this team would be even better if it improves its offense. National championship good.

Jaxon Kohler, Jeremiah Fears, Coen Carr and Carson Cooper all provide plenty of offense for Tom Izzo’s squad. It will come down to role guys such as Cam Ward and Kur Teng being more consistent. Teng is certainly capable as he had 15 against Kentucky in the Champions Classic.

BYU

The Cougars are down 21 at the half to Clemson at the half at Madison Square Garden as I type this, but perhaps this game is just a blip in the radar for the Cougars.

AJ Dybantsa came into this year as the top freshman recruit in the country for second-year coach Kevin Young. Richie Saunders and Robert Wright III are also pro-style players.

Young runs a pro-style offense at BYU. Sometimes teams are not familiar with it coming into games. If BYU can continue to lean into Young’s system and confuse teams with a pro-style offense, it can win a lot of games and make a deep run in March.

Louisville

How about this turnaround for the Cardinals? After being a laughingstock under Kenny Payne, second-year coach Pat Kelsey has turned the Cardinals into one of the top programs in the country again.

The Cardinals have one of the best offenses in the country led by the likes of Ryan Conwell, Mikel Brown Jr. and Isaac McKneely. The offense is good enough to win a national title.

The problem here is the defense. It let up 88 points to Kentucky, 81 to Ohio and 78 to Indiana. However, it won all of those games. Its one loss was 89-80 to Arkansas.

If you can shoot the lights out, fine. But a defense that lets up a lot of points, if you have a bad shooting night, it is the end of your season.

Alabama

The Tide are 7-2 on the season, with notable wins against St. John’s, Illinois and Clemson with losses to Purdue and Gonzaga.

It is another pro-style offense that Nate Oats runs at Alabama. That means speed and a lot of threes. Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway and Jalil Bethea have all been up to the task and have been great.

The defense has left a bit to be desired. It has to clean it up in that regard. Another key here will be simply finishing the job. Under Oats the Tide make deep tournament runs every year but have yet to win a title. They have the chance to do it this year.

By Aidan Joly

Michigan probably was not the team that many thought would win, much less dominate in the way it did, during the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas throughout the past week.

Dominate the Wolverines did.

Michigan won each of its three games by 30 or more points, two of them it won by 40, including in the championship game against a Gonzaga team that is a top-10 team in the country. On the way to that they beat San Diego State by 40 and Auburn by 30. That type of winning puts the Wolverines right at the of the conversation for who is the best team in the country.

Why is this?

The Wolverines have the No. 1 ranked KenPom defense in the country. They have the No. 3 defense in the nation when it comes to effective field goal percentage and they are the top team in defensive field goal percentage when it comes to shots inside the three-point arc. Quite simply, they don’t give up many two-point buckets.

When you look at the roster of this team, a strong argument was being made over the summer that the Wolverines landing Yaxel Lendeborg was the most important transfer addition of the off-season. That argument looks to be the right one as he has averaged 16 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as Michigan has gotten off to a 7-0 start. He is a guy who will be in the national player of the year conversation if he and the team keeps this up.

North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau has been better than expected. He dished out 13 assists in the win against Gonzaga. Morez Johnson has become an incredibly effective shooter to the tune of a field goal percentage of over 66%, he shot over 70% in Las Vegas.

Roddy Gayle has taken a major step in his second season with the Wolverines after transferring in from Ohio State in 2024. Trey McKenney has been very, very good right out of the gate as a freshman. Aday Mara has taken a step up to become a better player after transferring in from UCLA. Nimari Burnett was in double figures in all three games of the event. All in all, it creates an offense that is ranked No. 11 in KenPom as of Sunday night.

It is incredible what Dusty May has been able to do in just a short time with this program. Things were looking good in the first few years under former head coach Juwan Howard, but the program was something of a laughingstock two seasons ago when it went 8-24, resulting in Howard getting his pink slip.

Enter May, a Big Ten guy who everyone thought would be the heir apparent at Indiana, landing the job. Last year was an incredible year one, resulting in 27 wins, a Big Ten tournament title and a trip to the Sweet 16. This year, it looks like a contender to not just repeat as Big Ten champions, but win a national championship.

Certainly, there are arguments that can be made for a few other teams. Duke looks absolutely incredible and has the best player in the country in Cameron Boozer. Purdue is the No. 1 team in the country in the AP poll and has the top offense in the country. Arizona has wins in either neutral or road environments against Florida, UCLA and UConn.

All have great metrics, but when you look at it top to bottom, it makes sense to put Michigan at the top of the list.

A few other thoughts from the Players Era event…

Iowa State has upped its resume in a big way by going 3-0 in Vegas with wins against St. John’s, Creighton and Syracuse. At least two of those teams will have high seeds in the NCAA tournament and those wins could make or break if the Cyclones are seeded ahead of them or not.

Speaking of St. John’s, it might not be time to panic about the Red Storm quite yet but Rick Pitino’s squad going 1-2 in Vegas to drop t0 4-3 overall is a little bit concerning. The roster construction did leave a bit to be desired coming into the season and those flaws are showing.

Auburn’s only loss at Players Era came to Michigan but it grabbed wins against Oregon and St. John’s to go 2-1 in the event. The Tigers don’t seem to be missing much of a beat after a coaching change from Bruce to Steven Pearl just weeks before the season began.

By Aidan Joly

The Champions Classic doubleheader on Tuesday night followed by a Final Four-caliber twofer on Wednesday night highlighted the best back-to-back nights of hoops we have had so far this season.

When it comes to Tuesday night, Michigan State may have had the most impressive night. The Spartans kicked off the evening with a commanding 83-66 win over Kentucky in a game that didn’t even feel that close.

Michigan State outclassed Kentucky in every sense of the word. It shot better, rebounded better, played better defense and had better nights from its stars.

Jaxon Kohler was most impressive for MSU. He went for a game-high 20 points on 8-12 from the field and made both of his three-point attempts. Point guard Jeremy Fears dished out an incredible 13 assists in a clinic on passing.

On defense, it limited preseason SEC player of the year Otega Oweh to just 12 points on 4-12 from the field, giving him fits all night. It limited Denzel Aberdeen to 1-12 from the field. As a whole the Wildcats shot just 35% from the field and 23% from three, compared to the Spartans shooting an even 50% from the field as well as 50% from behind the arc. The Spartans won the rebounding battle 37-24.

The Spartans now have wins over two ranked SEC teams, Kentucky and Arkansas. It’s crazy to think of a Michigan State team as underrated, but that is certainly how it feels with this Spartans squad.

In the second game of the night, it was the Cameron Boozer show in a 78-66 Duke win against Kansas.

The freshman played like a player who was not in just his fifth game of college basketball, racking up 18 points and 10 rebounds, and dished out five assists.

The event is the type of event that can bring out the best and the worst in a player, especially so a freshman. If you remember one year ago, Cooper Flagg had 26 points in the Champions Classic against Kentucky, but had two critical turnovers in the final 12 seconds of the game as Duke lost. That’s not to say Flagg was not an incredible player for the Blue Devils last year – he was – but guys with little collegiate experience tend to struggle in those big moments. Boozer did not.

Moving on to Wednesday: Does Arizona deserve to be the No. 1 team in the country?

The Wildcats certainly looked the part in a 71-67 win in a true road game against UConn. It got key buckets when it needed to down the stretch and absolutely dominated on the glass, 39-19

Man oh man, does Koa Peat look like the real deal. The freshman scored 18 points on 7-14 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds. While he did struggle in Arizona’s game against UCLA on Nov. 14, he has been awesome when it has mattered most. In Arizona’s other notable game, the season opener against Florida, he had 30 points as the Wildcats knocked off the defending national champions.

He might be having the most impressive start of the season for a freshman anywhere in the country. He has looked the part and stood tall for all of Arizona’s games, practically willing them to a 5-0 start that has included wins over three ranked teams. Arizona will continue to play against ranked teams, playing Auburn on Dec. 6 and then on the road against Alabama on Dec. 13.

Can it be the No. 1 team in the country at some point this year? It surely has that chance.

As for the last game of the something of a quadruple-header: Alabama went to a quasi-road game in Chicago and wore down Illinois, ending with a 90-86 win.

It was an Alabama performance that we have come to expect from these Nate Oats coached teams. It used its pace and a barrage of threes to absolutely wear down and exhaust a team. The Illini did better than most in terms of keeping up but at the end of the day came up a couple buckets short. The Tide shot 45.5% from the field and made just over 36% of its threes, hitting 13 of them for the night.

Those threes were evenly distributed – Labaron Philon hit three of them as part of a 24-point night to lead the Tide. Taylor Bol Bowen, Aden Holloway and Amari Allen had two each as Allen had nine points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench. Bol Bowen had 12 points and Holloway had 11.

So far this season Alabama has the fourth-quickest offense in the country, second among high-major teams and has a top-10 offensive efficiency margin in the nation per KenPom. That comes after it had the fastest-paced offense in the entire country last season.

It was also a good bounce-back performance after dropping a game to Purdue six days before. The Tide do have a win against St. John’s.

Oats is another guy who is seriously challenging his team in the non-conference. Alabama will start on Monday in the Players Era Invitational, kicking it off against Gonzaga, then seeing UNLV on Tuesday before a third TBD opponent to finish off the event. As previously mentioned, Alabama vs. Arizona is on Dec. 13.

It will certainly be a team that is battle-tested heading into SEC play.

By Aidan Joly

The 2025-26 college basketball season will see more than 60 first-year head coaches across the country as the numbers of head coach vacancies seem to rise every year.

Does this have to do with athletic directors being impatient? Not exactly. It certainly seems like boosters have more say about what happens with programs and they get impatient.

Also, with the rise of the portal, coaches are more likely to head to new destinations quicker.

That all being said, here are eight coaches in the power conferences who could be coaching for their jobs this upcoming season.

Hubert Davis, North Carolina

This is the most obvious one on the list.

In four seasons in Chapel Hill after taking over for Roy Williams, Davis has made a national championship game, went to a Sweet 16 and made the tournament three times. Not to mention a regular season title in 2023-24.

Most programs in the ACC would take that, but this is North Carolina. The expectation is that the Tar Heels are a national contender every season. The Tar Heels have not been that consistently.

What would it take for Davis to go? He’s under contract through 2030, but his buyout isn’t exorbitant. It may take missing the NCAA tournament, or an early March exit for Davis to get his walking papers.

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State

It feels like Hurley is the king of the hot seat.

Arizona State has gone under .500 in four of the last five seasons, but Hurley has managed to stick around through all of that. Things bottomed out for a 4-16 season in the Big 12 this past season.

Hurley is entering the final season of his contract, in a rare move to let a guy coach into the last year of a deal. It signifies that if there is another rough season in Tempe, ASU can part ways with Hurley and be off the hook for a buyout.

Adrian Autry, Syracuse

Another guy who took over for a legend.

Autry’s two seasons at Syracuse have brought mediocrity and zero NCAA tournament appearances. The Orange took a step back and finished 14-19 (7-13 ACC) last season. Jim Boeheim never lost that many games in a season.

The talent has been there for Autry, but the results on the court have not. This is probably Autry’s best roster since he took over in 2023. If he misses the NCAA tournament again, the calls for him to get axed could get much louder.

Jake Diebler, Ohio State

Diebler was a surprise pick to get the full-time job after he took over on an interim basis when OSU fired Chris Holtmann mid-season in February 2024.

The Buckeyes missed the tournament in his first full season in 2024-25 and were mediocre throughout the season. Ohio State has not been to the tournament since 2022.

We’ve seen in the past that interim coaches who get the full-time gig often have a short leash. Texas moved on from Rodney Terry after just two full-time seasons after he took over for Chris Beard. If OSU misses the tournament, Diebler could see the same fate.

Earl Grant, Boston College

It is so, so hard to win at Boston College. The resources are not up to par with the rest of the ACC and its very much the third sport at the school behind football and hockey.

Grant gradually improved BC’s win total through his first three seasons, delivering a 20-win season and a NIT appearance in 2024, but the team fell off a cliff to 4-16 in the ACC last season.

Grant will need to show some improvement in his fifth season in Chestnut Hill. However, the question is always if Boston College and its boosters will care enough to make a move.

Mike Young, Virginia Tech

Young is entering year seven at Virginia Tech and has only made the NCAA tournament twice. The Hokies went 13-19 last season.

This year’s edition of Virginia Tech should be a little better thanks to some money being injected into the program that has allowed the Hokies to get some talented players.

Young is entering the second to last year of his contract. Complicating matters in Blacksburg is that the athletic department must conduct a football coaching search this fall and early winter. They may not want to do two major searches in that short of a timespan.

If Young can improve the Hokies, they probably won’t have to do it.

Wes Miller, Cincinnati

Miller was a hot young name in coaching a handful of years ago with his success at the mid-major level and was even thrown around for North Carolina a few years ago.

However, his time at Cincinnati has been underwhelming. After a promising start he now enters year five without a NCAA tournament appearance. Last season was most disappointing after a 10-1 start, but ended up going 7-13 in the Big 12.

There has been some additional investment into the program last spring, so the talent on paper is there to go to the tournament. If the Bearcats miss, it could be it for Miller.

Matt McMahon, LSU

In three seasons in Baton Rouge, McMahon has gone 14-40 in the SEC. That is simply not good enough.

The program has improved NIL dollars so there is some level of talent on this team. Still, significant improvement will need to be made for McMahon to get a fifth season.

One saving grace, though, is that LSU is on the hook for nearly $30 million on a buyout for recently fired football coach Brian Kelly. In a similar situation to Virginia Tech, LSU may not want to conduct two major coaching searches within months of each other.

Other names to monitor

Johnny Dawkins, UCF: Every season there are rumors that UCF will move on from Dawkins, but he has managed to hold on. UCF has not been to the tournament since 2019 and have gone 14-24 in two seasons in the Big 12.

Jeff Capel, Pitt: The Panthers had a rough season in 2024-25 and have only gone to the tournament once in Capel’s seven years at the helm. The roster probably isn’t good enough to be a tournament team this year. However, Capel has a large buyout and is under contract through 2030.

Steve Forbes, Wake Forest: Forbes dug Wake Forest from the depths of the bottom of the ACC during the Danny Manning era, but now is the time to start winning. It feels like Wake Forest is on the wrong side of the bubble every year. He has yet to make a tournament in five tries.

Kim English, Providence: It’s probably a year early to start talking about English, but he is 33-34 (16-24 Big East) in two seasons at Providence. He’s had some bad luck with injuries. Providence has a good enough roster to finish top five in the Big East. If they do that and make the tournament, English is safe.

Jerome Tang, Kansas State: Another guy where it is probably a year early to discuss. Tang burst onto the scene with a 26-10 year in his first season in 2022-23, but the Wildcats have been underwhelming in the two seasons since despite uber-talented rosters. If K-State has another down year, we might be talking about Tang this time next year.

Thad Matta, Butler: Matta’s return to where he had his first head coaching job has not gotten the program back on track. The Bulldogs have finished in the bottom half of the Big East in each of the past three seasons. Butler has a good recruiting class, but that group could take a couple years. This could be more of a situation where Matta retires.

By Aidan Joly

Experience, experience, experience.

That is the name of the game in this year’s version of the Atlantic 10.

Most of the teams in the league are full of players that have plenty of college basketball under their belt. That will create for a brand of basketball that will be fun and intriguing to watch all season.

Let’s get into each of the 14 teams that will vie for the conference title.

VCU Rams

2024-25: 28-7 (15-3 A10), lost in NCAA first round

Phil Martelli Jr. is the new coach of the Rams after former coach Ryan Odom moved on to Virginia. Martelli Jr. led Bryant to the NCAA tournament last season.

This nearly entirely new roster will have several players on it with high-major experience. That charge is led by Jadrian Tracey, who had 6.9 PPG with Oregon last season, and Tyrell Ward, who did not play last season but averaged 9.1 PPG with LSU two seasons ago. Ahmad Nowell had limited playing time at UConn, as did Jordann Dumont at Villanova.

Barry Evans, who had 13.3 PPG at Bryant last season, follows the new coach to VCU. As does Keyshawn Mitchell, who had 7.9 PPG last year.

Big man Christian Fermin, who had 4.6 PPG last season, is the lone notable holdover from last season.

Martelli’s teams always play fast. It will be about quickly coming to work with that and players adjusting to that. We will see how the Rams do off the bat.

George Mason Patriots

2024-25: 27-9 (15-3 A10), lost in NIT second round

George Mason had a breakout season in 2024-25 under second-year coach Tony Skinn, and appears to be using the same formula of experience in a revamped roster this season.

It’ll be mostly newcomers, but productive ones. Kory Mincy had 15 PPG at Presbyterian and joins the team. Masai Troutman (13.5 PPG at Northeastern), Dola Adebayo (13.2 PPG at Mount St. Mary’s) and Nick Ellington (9.9 PPG at Murray State) all should have large roles. Jermahri Hill had 15.8 PPG at Ball State and should also be a contributor.

Jahari Long (Maryland) and Malik Presley (Vanderbilt) come in with high-major experience. The only big-name returner is Brayden O’Connor, who had 9.1 PPG for the Patriots.

George Mason may not be as good as it was last year, but there is certainly a high floor. Expect the Patriots to be competitive night in and night out.

Dayton Flyers

2024-25: 23-11 (14-6 A10), lost in NIT second round

After a solid 2024-25 season for Dayton, it’s a nice mix of new guys and returners.

It’ll be a tough hill to climb to replace the likes of Nate Santos, Enoch Cheeks, Malachi Smith and Zed Key, but the top guys that come back are Javon Bennett (11.6 PPG) and Amael L’Etang (7.1 PPG). Both should be in the starting lineup.

As for new guys the top options here are De’Shayne Montgomery, who had 6.5 PPG on a Georgia team that went to the NCAA tournament, and Jordan Derkack, who had 5.7 PPG at Rutgers. Keonte Jones takes a step up in competition after he averaged 13.1 PPG at Cal State Northridge. Adam Nije Jr. had 12.4 PPG at Iona.

Malcolm Thomas is a former Villanova recruit who still has not played any college basketball. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of run he gets.

Overall, Dayton always feels like a team that surpasses expectations. This year the Flyers should once again be towards the top of the league.

Loyola Chicago Ramblers

2024-25: 25-12 (12-6 A10), lost in NIT semifinals

Coach Drew Valentine did a nice job of keeping a good core of talent around after the Ramblers got deep into the NIT last spring.

Miles Rubin (9.6 PPG), Justin Moore (7.7 PPG) and Kymany Houinsou (5.8 PPG) are all back for a team that ended up winning 25 games.

As for new guys, Deywilk Tavarez could end up being the best option after he averaged 12.9 PPG at Charleston last season. Dominick Harris, who had limited playing time at UCLA, should also be right in the mix. Joshua Ola-Joseph (Cal), Xavier Amos (Wisconsin) and Kayde Dotson (New Mexico) all had varying levels of productivity and should all see minutes.

Alexander Richardson is a freshmen who has professional experience overseas.

This is a team that will be solid on both ends of the floor and has a strong mix of players who can do different things. Loyola Chicago should find itself towards the top of the league. RIP Sister Jean.

Saint Louis Billkens

2024-25: 19-15 (11-7 A10), lost in NIT first round

After a solid year one at Saint Louis after jumping up from Indiana State, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the Billikens’ chances this season.

Of course, big man Robbie Avila is back for another year. He was the team’s best player last season, averaging 17.3 PPG and nearly seven rebounds per contest. He could wind up being the best player in the league this season. Kalu Anya is another solid returner and will probably be the first guy off the bench.

As for new guys, Quentin Jones is the best one of the crop after he averaged 16.6 PPG at Northern Illinois this past season. Paul Otieno had 13 PPG at Quinnipiac. Trey Green (Xavier) and Paul Dunlap (St. John’s) both come in with solid high-major experience in the Big East. Ishan Sharma (Virginia) and Dion Brown (Boston College) each had small roles on ACC squads.

There is a nice infusion of returning talent and star potential for the new guys on this team. It could end up being the squad to beat in the Atlantic 10.

Saint Joseph’s Hawks

2024-25: 22-13 (11-7 A10), lost in NIT first round

The Hawks underwent a coaching change very late in the cycle as Billy Lange left for an NBA assistant job. The keys are now turned over to Steve Donahue, the former Cornell, Boston College and Penn coach.

It’s a talented roster that features mostly returners, but adds in a nice small group of new guys too.

Derek Simpson (8.7 PPG), Anthony Finkley (7.1 PPG), Dasear Haskins (5.7 PPG) and Justice Ajogbor (4.7 PPG) are all back and will likely make up 80% of the starting lineup. The last spot should likely go to Deuce Jones II, who averaged over 12 PPG at crosstown rival La Salle last season.

In terms of other new guys, Jaiden Glover-Toscano played limited minutes at St. John’s but should see a nice role at a lower level. Jaden Smith should see some minutes after limited playing time at Fordham, and Al Amadou is a former Marquette recruit who is on St. Joe’s roster this year.

If things work out, this is a St. Joe’s team that will have a shot at finishing top five in the league. It had success with a similar group of guys last season. That would be considered a great season following a late coaching change.

George Washington Revolutionaries

2024-25: 21-13 (9-9 A10), lost in Crown first round

George Washington had its winningest season in a decade last year and should take another step this year.

The Revolutionaries return three guys who averaged in double figures and another guy who came pretty close. That group is led by Rafael Castro, who averaged 14 PPG last season while tacking on almost nine rebounds per game. To round it out, Garrett Johnson had 13.4 PPG, Trey Autry had 10.4 PPG, and Christian Jones had 8.7 PPG. Role guy Trey Moss is also back.

Tre Dinkins comes over to GW after being Duquesne’s best player last season and will be one of the go-to guys. It also brought in Jean Aranguren from Hofstra, Bubu Benjamin from Tarleton State and Tyrone Marshall from Western Kentucky, all of whom were in double figures.

There is good reason to be high on Chris Caputo’s team heading into this year. A top-three finish in the league certainly feels possible. The program has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2014. Can that drought end?

St. Bonaventure Bonnies

2024-25: 22-12 (9-9 A10), lost in NIT first round

The St. Bonaventure program has been a model of consistency over the years. A 14-1 start last season raised eyebrows, but the team went 8-11 the rest of the way and was never a real threat to win the league.

Dasonte Bowen is the main returner on this roster but he was limited to just 10 games last season due to injury. However, during that time he was in double figures at 11.1 PPG.

Joe Grahovac, who has never played Division I basketball, is the guy to watch here. He was an absolute star in junior college and his game translates well to the Division I level. He could end up being the team’s best player.

As for other transfers, Darryl Simmons II averaged 17.4 PPG at Gardner-Webb last season and Amar’e Marshall had 14 PPG at Albany. Frank Mitchell had limited minutes at Minnesota last season but was fourth in the nation in rebounds at Canisius two seasons ago. He can be a huge difference maker in the middle. Daniel Egbuniwe was in double figures at Tennessee Tech and joins this squad.

Two international freshmen, Achille Lonati and Ilia Ermakov, should have key roles off the bench for the Bonas.

Overall, it could be another middle of the pack finish for this team. However, it regularly exceeds expectations, and if things fall into place they certainly could do better than that.

Duquesne Dukes

2024-25: 13-19 (8-10 A10), no postseason

It was an interesting first season at the helm for Dru Joyce. He oversaw a team that started 0-6, won four of its first five conference games, endured a five-game losing streak in league play and finished just under .500 overall in A10 play.

The Dukes return five important players from last year’s squad in Jake DiMichele (10.9 PPG), Cam Crawford (8.6 PPG), Maximus Edwards (8.3 PPG), Jakub Necas (6.0 PPG) and David Dixon (5.7 PPG). All will be important.

As for new guys Joyce brings in Tarence Guinyard, who had 16.3 PPG at UT Martin, and Jimmie Williams, who had 7.5 PPG at South Florida. John Hugley IV had a small role at Xavier last season and could see a larger one this year.

Alex Williams from Furman and Stef Van Bussel from Charleston each did not play last season.

Overall, Duquesne probably should have won a few more games last year but the bounces didn’t go their way quite a few times. If the fortunes flip in their favor, the Dukes can certainly win a few more games than last year.

Rhode Island Rams

2024-25: 18-13 (7-11 A10), no postseason

Rhode Island began the season 9-0 and 11-1 heading into league play, but certainly didn’t do as well in the conference portion of the season.

This year’s roster is mostly new for coach Archie Miller, but it’s one to have some level of excitement about. The Rams feature four players who scored in double figures at their last stops, including Myles Corey (South Alabama), Tyler Cochran (Toledo), RJ Johnson (Charleston Southern) and Alex Crawford (Fresno State).

As for guys who weren’t in double figures, Mo Sow had 8.9 PPG at Saint Peter’s, Jonah Hinton had 8.4 PPG at conference rival St. Bonaventure, Jahmere Tripp had 7.9 PPG at Fordham and Keeyan Itejere had 7.3 PPG at Northern Kentucky.

The only semi-important returner is Drissa Traore, who played limited minutes last season and should have a larger role.

Rhode Island fans didn’t need to wait to see the best version of last year’s team, but might need to this year as this group gels. There should need to be some level of progress as the season goes on, and in comparison to years past.

Davidson Wildcats

2024-25: 17-16 (6-12 A10), no postseason

There’s some real buzz around the program right now to Steph Curry’s quasi-GM role with the program, but the results will need to happen on the court.

Josh Scovens (15.2 PPG at Army), Sam Brown (13.9 PPG at Penn) and Parker Freidrichson, who had a limited role at Wake Forest, will probably the guys to carry a large amount of the offense and shooting. JQ Roberts, who had a small role at Vanderbilt, should be asked to have a role too.

As for the returners, Roberts Blums and Sean Logan should have larger roles after being simple role guys as freshmen. Hunter Adam and Manie Jones are also back. Seven-foot Spanish freshman Ian Platteeuw should see some meaningful minutes from the jump.

Entering the fourth year of his tenure, Matt McKillop has yet to go .500 or better in league play. There’s some buy low pieces on the roster, but it could be an uphill climb to get to .500. The pressure is mounting for McKillop to show improvement to get close to what his father consistently did at Davidson.

Richmond Spiders

2024-25: 10-22 (5-13 A10), no postseason

After a down season last year, this year’s edition of Chris Mooney’s team will feature a decent mix of old and new guys.

Two mainstays in guard Mikkel Tyne, who had 9.3 PPG, and big man Mike Walz (7.4 PPG), are back for another season. Both will need to see improvements in order to move the needle. Key reserves Apostolos Roumoglou, Collin Tanner and Jonathan Beagle are all back too.

Three new guys were in double figures last season at their last schools: Will Johnston from Loyola Marymount, AJ Lopez from Maine and Jaden Daughtry from Indiana State. Daughtry is probably the most impressive as he averaged 12.9 PPG in less than 20 minutes with the Sycamores.

After a down season last year, the Spiders should have a better team this year. Just how much better will they be?

La Salle Explorers

2024-25: 14-19 (5-13 A10), no postseason

It is an incredibly deep roster for new coach Darris Nichols, who takes over for Fran Dunphy retired after more than three decades as a head coach in Philadelphia college basketball, the final three years of which were at La Salle.

Nichols brings two of his players from Radford with him, Truth Harris and Josiah Harris. Justin Archer also played for him at Radford before spending last season at Georgia State.

Four additional players, Jaeden Marshall from Niagara, Jerome Brewer Jr. from East Carolina, Noah Collier from William and Mary and Josue Grullon from Tennessee Martin, all were in double figures last season. Jaden Johnson had 8.6 PPG at Old Dominion and is also new.

Eric Acker, who played limited minutes last year, is the only notable returner. Nichols also brought in JUCO import Edwin Daniel, who will probably see a lot of minutes.

This is a very, very deep roster that will probably be 10 or 11 deep each night. It will have to be a gritty roster in order to win consistently in this league.

Fordham Rams

2024-25: 12-21 (3-15 A10), no postseason

Mike Magpayo, an up-and-coming name in coaching circles, is the new coach at Fordham after spending the past five seasons at UC Riverside.

He has a near entirely new team at Fordham and picked up a lot of productive guys. Of those, the ones to like the most are Christian Henry, who had 14.7 PPG at Eastern Michigan, Dejour Reaves, who had 17.3 PPG at Iona, and Zarique Nutter, who had 14.2 PPG at Georgia State. Magpayo also brings in Demetri Gardner, who was top 15 in the nation in scoring at Division II Augusta with 23.2 PPG.

He also brings in Louis Lesmond from Harvard and Hawaii teammates Marcus Green and Akira Jacobs. Jace Howard comes in from Michigan. Two role guys from UC Riverside, Jack Whitbourn and Rikus Schulte, follow Magpayo.

This roster is both deep and experienced. Magpayo and his staff need to figure out how everyone fits. The wins might not be there as much as Fordham fans would like, but the Rams should be difficult to play night in and night out.

By Aidan Joly

After its strongest season ever in the 2023-24 season the Mountain West followed it up with another strong performance in 2024-25, sending four seasons to the NCAA tournament.

The league is becoming consistently the best non-Power 5 league in the country, and now has a new addition in Grand Canyon that has been one of the best mid-major programs in the country in recent years. Let’s get into each of the 12 teams that will make up the league this season.

New Mexico Lobos

2024-25: 27-8 (17-3 Mountain West), lost in NCAA second round

After another strong season that resulted in the Lobos winning a game in the NCAA tournament, the program is doing a complete reset.

New coach Eric Olen, who came from UC San Diego, brings in an entirely new roster. The biggest losses are Donovan Dent and Tru Washington.

Olen brought Chris Howell (5.6 PPG) and Milos Vicentic (3 PPG) with him from UC San Diego, and both should have some solid roles. He also added Kevin Patton, who had 3.1 PPG at USC, Deyton Albury, who had 7.6 PPG at Utah State, Tajavis Miller, who had 10.6 PPG at North Dakota State, and JT Rock, who played at Iowa State.

JUCO All-American Antonio Chol also comes in. There are four freshmen, two of them international in Tomislav Buljan and Timeo Pons.

The Lobos could take a step back, which is to be expected after losing that much talent. But it still has a shot at being very competitive in this league.

Grand Canyon Antelopes

2024-25: 26-8 (13-3 WAC), lost in NCAA first round

One of the premier mid-major programs in the country the past few seasons makes it up to the premier mid-major league in the country.

Grand Canyon has made it to the NCAA tournament four of the past five years under coach Bryce Drew.

This year, the Antelopes have a shot at going again. The roster will hinge largely on transfers, most notably Dusty Stromer, who had 4.3 PPG at Gonzaga, Jaden Henley, who had 12.5 PPG at UNLV and Wilhelm Breidenbach, who had 4.5 PPG at Washington. In addition, Nana Owusu-Anane had 14.7 PPG at Brown, Brian Moore Jr. had 18.1 PPG at Norfolk State and Kaleb Smith had 11 PPG at Norfolk State.

As for returners, the most notable are Makaih Williams, who had 8.2 PPG, and Caleb Shaw, who had 6.1 PPG.

Overall, the Antelopes should be able to challenge. There might be some growing pains as it adjusts to the depth of the league, but should be right up at the top soon.

Colorado State Rams

2024-25: 26-10 (16-4 Mountain West), lost in NCAA second round

The Rams were a buzzer-beater away from going to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament last March and will be back for more.

The new coach in Fort Collins is Ali Farokhmanesh, of Northern Iowa vs. Kansas fame, as Niko Medved moves onto Minnesota.

He was the top assistant there. Big man Rashaan Mbemba returns, along with Kyle Jorgenson and Nikola Djapa, but that’s about it.

New in Fort Collins is Josh Pascarelli, who had 15.9 PPG at Marist, Augustinas Kiudulas, who had 15.2 PPG at VMI, and Brandon Rechsteiner, who had 7 PPG at Virginia Tech. Jevin Muniz was in double figures at Florida Gulf Coast, and Jase Butler (Washington) and Carey Booth (Illinois) could have roles as they come in from high-majors.

The talent is here to be able to make a lot of noise in this league. Will they be able to do it?

Utah State Aggies

2024-25: 26-8 (15-5 Mountain West), lost in NCAA first round

The Aggies nearly lost both their head coach in Jerrod Calhoun and star player in Mason Falslev, but the program keeps both around with money being injected into the program.

It’s a nice group of returners for year two under Calhoun. Falslev averaged 15 PPG. Also back is Karson Templin, who averaged 7.4 PPG, Drake Allen, who had 7 PPG, and Tucker Anderson, who had 5.8 PPG.

The best portal add here is MJ Collins, who had 7.4 PPG on a Vanderbilt team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Garry Clark had 14.9 PPG at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and was one of the best rebounders on his team. Kolby King (Butler) and Zach Keller (Utah) should have crucial roles.

Overall, this is a deep team. Behind San Diego State, the Aggies will likely be the second best team in this league.

San Diego State Aztecs

2024-25: 21-10 (14-6 Mountain West), lost in NCAA First Four

After squeaking into the NCAA tournament as one of the last teams in, San Diego State can not only be the best team in this league, but the best non-Power 5 team in the country.

The Aztecs return Miles Byrd, who was an all-conference pick last year after he averaged 12.3 PPG. He has a shot at being the league player of the year. It also brings back Magoon Gwath, the league’s defensive player of the year last season while also chipping in 8.5 PPG on the other side of the floor. Reese Waters is also back after he missed all of last season but had 9.6 PPG in 2023-24. BJ Davis had 9 PPG last year.

The adds here are Sean Newman Jr., who had 9.9 PPG at Louisiana Tech, Latrell Davis (11.1 PPG at San Jose State) and Jeremiah Oden, who had 7.6 PPG at Charlotte. Top-75 prospect Elzie Harrington should have an immediate role.

Shooting will be an issue, but this is a deep, experience-laden team. It should be the one to beat in the Mountain West.

Boise State Broncos

2024-25: 26-11 (14-6 Mountain West), lost in Crown semifinals

Boise State is always a tough out in the Mountain West and this year will be no different.

It’s a nice mix of new guys and returners for coach Leon Rice. Tyson Degenhart does move on, but the Broncos bring back Andrew Meadow, who had 12.6 PPG last season, Javan Buchanan, who had 9.6 PPG, and Pearson Carmichael, who had 6.9 PPG. Role guys Julian Bowie and RJ Keene also return.

A pair of nice transfers come in in the form of Drew Fielder, who had 7.1 PPG at Georgetown, and Dylan Andrews, who had 6.9 PPG at UCLA. Four-star Spencer Ahrens and international prospect Aginaldo Neto have a chance at contributing as freshmen.

Overall, it’s a nice mix of players that is certainly good enough to keep Boise in the NCAA tournament conversation.

UNLV Rebels

2024-25: 18-15 (11-9 Mountain West), no postseason

Former Memphis and Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner is the new head man in Vegas after the program moved on from Kevin Kruger after four mediocre seasons.

It’s a near entirely roster in Pastner’s first season. Some of the top additions here are Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (5.9 PPG at Illinois), Al Green (10.2 PPG at Louisiana Tech) and Kimani Hamilton (13.1 PPG at High Point). In addition, Myles Che (UC San Diego) and Howie Fleming Jr. (UTRGV) each averaged in double figures.

Ladji Dembele (Iowa), Naas Cunningham (Alabama) and Emmanuel Stephen (Alabama) each have high-major experience and could be valuable.

The ceiling is high here if this group is able to gel, especially in conference season. UNLV has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2013.

Nevada Wolf Pack

2024-25: 17-16 (8-12 Mountain West), no postseason

After a disappointing season in 2024-25, the Wolf Pack will have a much different look this season.

The only notable returner is Tyler Rolison, who had 7.4 PPG and should start.

As for new guys, Fresno State transfer Elijah Price (10.5 PPG) is probably the top guy here. They also added Tayshawn Comer, who had 16.2 PPG at Evansville, Corey Camper, Jr., who had 10.5 PPG at UTEP and Joel Armotrading, who had 5.8 PPG at UC Riverside. Vaughn Weems was one of the most productive players in the country at the JUCO level and has a shot at seeing impact minutes.

It’s a decent rotation of players that will likely end up being in the middle of the pack in the Mountain West. The Wolf Pack will be a tough out.

San Jose State Spartans

2024-25: 15-20 (7-13 Mountain West), lost in NIT first round

It’s always tough sledding in the league for this program due to a lack of resources.

Coach Tim Miles doesn’t return much. The most productive player back is Sadraque NgaNga, who had 6.8 PPG. Jermaine Washington had 4.4 PPG and is also back.

It will rely heavily on the new guys. Colby Garland had 12.1 PPG at Longwood and JaVaughn Hannah had 12 PPG at Western Michigan. Yaphet Moundi had 9.8 PPG at Iona, and Marcus Overstreet had 6.2 PPG at Mercer. Adrian Myers played very limited minutes at Mississippi State two seasons ago.

Miles is a good coach and will develop this group. However, the ceiling can only be so high when there’s no go-to guy.

Wyoming Cowboys

2024-25: 12-20 (5-15 Mountain West), no postseason

Things did not go well in year one under coach Sundance Wicks, but granted he did not have much to work with.

The Cowboys lost star player Obi Agbim to Baylor. They do bring back Matija Belic (5.6 PPG) and Abou Magassa (3.2 PPG), but other than that it will be transfers.

Leading that charge will be Leland Walker, who had 9.2 PPG at Florida Atlantic, and Khaden Bennett, who had 10.3 PPG at Quinnipiac. Damarion Dennis had 6.7 PPG at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and Jared Harris had limited time at Memphis.

Wyoming will also rely on non-Division I transfers Adam Harakow (11.8 PPG at D2 Lake Superior State), Uriyah Rojas (25.5 PPG at CCCAA Chaffey College) and Kiani Saxon (7.2 PPG at D2 Missouri Western).

This team shouldn’t be expected to be competing at the top of the league, but should be better than last season.

Fresno State Bulldogs

2024-25: 6-26 (2-18 Mountain West), no postseason

This is a roster that is in rough shape. It had its first single digit win season in more than three decades and lost 12 players to the portal.

It will be nearly all transfers for second-year coach Vance Walberg. Jake Heidbreder is the best addition here. He averaged 4.1 PPG at Clemson this season but averaged over 15 PPG at Air Force two seasons ago. Cameron Faas had 9.7 PPG at Kansas City last season. Jac Mani comes in from UC Davis.

The Bulldogs do return Zaon Collins, who had over 12 PPG last year, but has a controversial past, including serving time in jail for a reckless driving conviction.

There are several international freshmen, including three from France: Bastien Reiber, Wilson Jacques and Nathan Zulemie.

Overall, Walberg has another tough season ahead of him. The talent just isn’t really there.

Air Force Falcons

2024-25: 4-28 (1-19 Mountain West), no postseason

It’s very, very tough to win at a service academy, but the wheels just totally fell off for Air Force in 2024-25. It managed just one win in league play and four overall.

Three of the top five scorers from last year return, that being Wesley Celichowski (8.7 PPG), Kyle Marshall (6.9 PPG) and Caleb Walker (6.5 PPG).

Being a service academy, it cannot add players from the portal. So, the improvement will have to come internally. It has nine freshmen on the roster. There is still a big mountain to climb in order to be competitive in the league.

By Aidan Joly

The 2024-25 version of the SEC was not only the best conference in the country, but one of the best top to bottom performances from an entire conference in recent history.

The league sent a record 14 of its 16 teams to the NCAA tournament, an unheard of number. Florida won the national championship. Auburn went to the Final Four. Two more went to the Elite Eight. Nearly half (seven) of the Sweet 16 was made up of teams from the league.

How can the league follow up this unbelievable performance? Let’s take a look at each of the 16 teams.

Auburn Tigers

2024-25: 32-6 (15-3 SEC), lost in national semifinals

After getting to the Final Four, former coach Bruce Pearl surprisingly handed over the reigns to his son Steven in September.

Thankfully, the younger Pearl has a very good roster to work with. That group will be led up by Tahaad Pettiford, who had 11.6 PPG as a freshman and will be in the conversation for SEC player of the year.

As for additions the big ones are Keyshawn Hall, who had 18.8 PPG at UCF, and KeShawn Murphy, who had 11.7 PPG at Mississippi State. Kevin Overton also arrives after he averaged 7.8 PPG at Texas Tech. Three top-100 freshmen in Kaden Magwood, Sebastian Williams-Adams and Simon Walker should all have roles.

Overall, the Tigers remain a top-five team in college hoops coming into the season.

Florida Gators

2024-25: 36-4 (14-4 SEC), won national championship

Florida won its first national championship since 2007 under coach Todd Golden and now they return as the team to beat.

They did lose key pieces from the national title winning team in Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard, but they have a nice core returning. The leader of that is Alex Condon, who had 10.6 PPG, and Thomas Haugh, who had 9.8 PPG. Role guys Rueben Chinyelu and Urban Klavzar are also back, as is Micah Handlogten, who played limited minutes towards the end after missing nearly the entire year due to a broken leg suffered at the league tournament in 2024.

The key adds here are Xaivian Lee, who had 16.9 PPG at Princeton and was one of the top players in the portal, along with Boogie Fland, who had 13.5 PPG at Arkansas. AJ Brown had over 13 PPG at Ohio and figures to see some minutes.

The Gators add top-40 freshmen Cornelius Ingram Jr. and Alexander Lloyd.

Florida is the team to beat. The defending national champions usually are, and this is no different.

Alabama Crimson Tide

2024-25: 28-9 (13-5 SEC), lost in Elite Eight

Alabama has had a clear identity of playing fast and shooting a lot of threes and that will be no different in 2025-26.

The Tide return three double digit scorers in Latrell Whitesell Jr., Aden Holloway and Labaron Philon, along with Aiden Sherrill and Houston Mallette.

The best transfers here are Jalil Bethea, who had 7.1 PPG at Miami, and Taylor Bol Bowen, who had 8 PPG at Florida State. Noah Williamson had 17.6 PPG at Bucknell and Keitann Bristow had 11.3 PPG at Tarleton State. Two top-50 freshmen, London Jemison and Davion Hannah, come into the fold.

Alabama will have a shot to finish top three in this league, as well as make a deep run in March.

Tennessee Volunteers

2024-25: 30-8 (12-6 SEC), lost in Elite Eight

This roster features a lot of turnover with nine new players, but there is plenty of talent here on paper.

The high profile newcomer is Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who had 14.7 PPG at Maryland. Jaylen Carry had 8.0 PPG at Vanderbilt, and Amaree Abram had 12.3 PPG at Louisiana Tech. All should see playing time.

Felix Okpara is back in Knoxville after he averaged 7.1 PPG, JP Estrella is back after injuries knocked him out for most of the year, and role guy Cade Phillips is also back.

There are six freshmen, the most notable is five-star prospect Nate Ament. DeWayne Brown and Amari Evans are both top-80 type guys.

The roster may take a while to gel, but once it does, being a top 15 team in the country is certainly a possibility.

Texas A&M Aggies

2024-25: 23-11 (11-7 SEC), lost in NCAA second round

It will be a near entirely new roster for new Texas A&M coach Bucky McMillan after Buzz Williams left for Maryland. McMillan had seen much success at Samford.

Pop Isaacs will take shots in bunches, and he did that at Creighton on the way to averaging 16.3 PPG. Mackenzie Mgbako also arrives after he averaged 12.2 PPG at Indiana. Marcus Hill had 11.5 PPG at NC State. Rylan Griffen (Kansas) and Federiko Federiko (Texas Tech) also have plenty of high major experience. As for mid-major players, Jacari Lane had 17.3 PPG at North Alabama.

Josh Holloway follows McMillan after he averaged 7.9 PPG at Samford.

The questions here will be about cohesion and if McMillan’s “Bucky Ball,” one of the quickest styles in the country, will work in the SEC. We will see.

Kentucky Wildcats

2024-25: 24-12 (10-8 SEC), lost in Sweet 16

Things went well in Mark Pope’s first season at Kentucky after replacing John Calipari, and now the Wildcats will look to be national title contenders in year two.

Otega Oweh is the big returner here, the Wildcats’ leading scorer from last season. Brandon Garrison is also back after being an important role player for Pope’s Cats.

Jaland Lowe is the important portal add after he averaged 16.9 PPG for Pitt. Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), Denzel Aberdeen (Florida), Kam Williams (Tulane) and Mouhamed Diabite (Alabama) each averaged at least 7 PPG last season.

Blue-chip prospects Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno will have big roles for Kentucky as freshmen.

There is a lot to like about this roster. If it works, Kentucky will be a very dangerous team.

Missouri Tigers

2024-25: 22-12 (10-8 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

After a dismal 2023-24 campaign two seasons ago the Tigers made it back to the NCAA tournament in 2024-25, positive signs that coach Dennis Gates is building a winning program.

The Tigers lose a lot in this year’s roster, but do bring back Mark Mitchell, who had 13.9 PPG, as well as Anthony Robinson II, who had 9 PPG. Important role guys Trent Pierce and Jacob Crews also return.

As for portal adds, Sebastian Mack averaged 9.6 PPG at UCLA, and Shawn Phillips Jr. had 5.4 PPG at Arizona State. Jayden Stone (Detroit) and Jevon Porter (Loyola Marymount) both had a lot of success at the mid-major level.

If all of these pieces can fall into place, Missouri can certainly have a good season.

Ole Miss Rebels

2024-25: 24-12 (10-8 SEC), lost in Sweet 16

Chris Beard’s second season at the helm in Oxford was one of the best in program history, winning its most games since the 2009-10 season and getting to the second weekend for just the second time ever and first time since 2001.

It’s an interesting group of players coming to Ole Miss this season. AJ Storr should be the one to lead the way, a former Wisconsin star who had a disappointing year at Kansas and only averaged 6.1 PPG. James Scott had a solid campaign for Louisville, and Corey Chest was a nice role player at LSU. Augusto Cassia (Butler) and Travis Perry (Kentucky) had small roles last season but should be in the rotation.

Malik Dia returns after he averaged in double figures last season and was one of the better players in the league.

Top prospect Niko Bundalo should see a big role from the start, joining another pair of top 100 guys in Tylis Jordan and Patton Pinkins.

There is some depth to this team and guys who have played meaningful minutes at the high major level. We will see how it all comes together.

Arkansas Razorbacks

2024-25: 22-14 (8-10 SEC), lost in Sweet 16

There was a ton of hype coming into the Razorbacks’ season last year with John Calipari coming in to be the new coach. The regular season was something of a disappointment, but the squad turned it on in March and went to the Sweet 16 as a 10-seed.

Now, Calipari is back for more in year two, He returns a solid amount of talent headlined by DJ Wagner, Karter Knox and Trevon Brazile, along with Billy Richmond II.

A pair of solid transfer adds enter in the form of Malique Ewen, who had 14.2 PPG at Florida State, and Nick Pringle, who had 9.5 PPG at South Carolina.

In typical Calipari fashion he brought in two five-star prospects in Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas, both of whom will have big roles immediately. Paulo Semedo and Isaiah Sealy are both talented first year guys too.

There is talent here. If things go well, don’t be surprised to see Arkansas finish in the top four or five of the league.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

2024-25: 21-13 (8-10 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

After going to the NCAA tournament, coach Chris Jans and co. return with a strong identity of toughness.

Leading that charge is Josh Hubbard, last season’s leading scorer who is back for another year.

Joining him is a group of transfers who were all productive last season. Jayden Epps averaged 12.8 PPG at Georgetown, Achor Achor had a decent season at Kansas State but dominated at some lower levels. Quincy Ballard (Wichita State) and Ja’Borri McGhee were both productive in the American Conference.

Three top-100 prospects, King Grace, Tee Bartlett and Jamarion Davis-Fleming, have a shot at playing time.

This will be a good team, especially on the defensive end of the floor. That should keep it on the right side of the tournament bubble.

Georgia Bulldogs

2024-25: 20-13 (8-10 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

Georgia had its best season in several years, getting back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015 and appearing in the AP poll for the first time since 2011.

This year’s edition of the Bulldogs has a chance at being successful. Coach Mike White was active in the portal, getting Jeremiah Wilkinson, who averaged more than 15 PPG at California, Marcus Millender, who did nearly the same at UTSA, Jordan Ross, who had 8.3 PPG at Saint Mary’s, and Kanon Catchings, who had a very good freshman year at BYU.

Blue Cain is the main returner here and will have a larger role. Expect him to average in double figures.

Georgia will likely be in the bottom half of the SEC, but some talent on paper should make them somewhat competitive.

Vanderbilt Commodores

2024-25: 20-13 (8-10 SEC), lost in NCAA second round

The first year under Mark Byington produced Vandy’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2017. The Commodores will have a chance to take a next step this year.

Byington returns a pair of double digit scorers in Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton. Role guy Tyler Tanner is also back.

As for newcomers the most interesting ones are Frankie Collins, who had 11.2 PPG at TCU, and Tyler Harris, who had 11.8 PPG at Washington. Mike James sat out last season but had 12+ PPG for Louisville two seasons ago. Duke Miles nearly averaged double figures for Oklahoma last year, and Jalen Washington carved out a nice role at North Carolina. George Kimble III was a star at Eastern Kentucky, we will see if he can get some consistent playing time in the SEC.

Vandy did suffer some losses. No doubt. But if this group can come together and click early in the season, noise can be made.

Texas Longhorns

2024-25: 19-16 (6-12 SEC), lost in NCAA First Four

After sneaking into the NCAA tournament Texas is making a change, hiring former Arizona and Xavier coach Sean Miller to take over the program from Rodney Terry.

Miller did get a pair of double digit scorers, Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark, to stick around.

As for new names in the portal Dailyn Swain follows Miller from Xavier after averaging 11 PPG for the Musketeers. Simeon Wilcher is a big add after he averaged 8 PPG at St. John’s. Seven-footer Matas Vokietaitis was in double figures in Florida Atlantic. Camden Heide was a great role guy at Purdue and should take on a similar role in Austin.

Miller will be tasked with getting the pieces together. He has a chance to do so.

Oklahoma Sooners

2024-25: 20-14 (6-12 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

It is an interesting mix of players for the Sooners this season.

Nothing of note returns. Saint Joseph’s transfer Xzavier Brown is a true lead guard and should have that role this year. Tae Davis (15.1 PPG at Notre Dame) will play alongside him. Nijel Pack, a college hoops vet who comes in from Miami, and Derrion Reid (Alabama) join them.

International freshman, seven-footer Andreas Holst, should see impact minutes from the start. Top-100 guys Alec Blair and Kai Rogers also come in.

The youth will have to develop quickly. If it doesn’t, there is a chance it will be a long season in Norman.

LSU Tigers

2024-25: 14-18 (3-15 SEC), no postseason

LSU had a bad season last year, but has a shot at having a better one this year.

Much of that is thanks to the arrival of Dedan Thomas, a proven talent who averaged more than 15 PPG at UNLV. He should be the go-to guy. Michael Nwoko has experience in the league, transferring in from Mississippi State. Marquel Sutton (Omaha), Rashad King (Northeastern), Max Mackinnon (Portland) and Pablo Tamba (UC Davis) were all in double figures at the mid-major level.

Jalen Reed, who averaged 11.1 PPG, returns. Freshmen Jalen Reece and Mazi Mosley should both have roles to start.

The youth on this team and the fits need time to develop and play together. Expect steps to be made throughout the year.

South Carolina Gamecocks

2024-25: 12-20 (2-16 SEC), no postseason

After a great 2023-24 season that resulted in a 6-seed in the NCAA tournament and a SEC coach of the year award for Lamont Paris, things came crashing down in 2024-25 with a last place finish.

It’s a true rebuilding year for the Gamecocks. They don’t have a single player who averaged in double figures at the high major level last season. However, they do bring back Meechie Johnson, who was perhaps South Carolina’s best player two seasons ago before playing at Ohio State last year. Chris Essandoko is a nice add after he spent last year at Providence.

As for other guys, Kobe Knox had 10.8 PPG at South Florida, Mike Sharavjamts had 7.2 PPG at Utah and Elijah Strong had 9.6 PPG at Boston College. Nordin Kapic was in double figures on a UC San Diego team that played in the tournament.

The Gamecocks return Myles Stute, who had 5.4 PPG.

South Carolina has a shot to beat some teams at home, but it will be a tough hill to climb for real upward mobility.

By Aidan Joly

For most of recent years, the Big 12 has laid claim to being the best conference top to bottom in college basketball.

In the 2024-25 season it was different, with the SEC overtaking the league in terms of top to bottom talent. A question this year is if the league can take back over that spot.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the 16 teams in the league to see if it has a shot.

Houston Cougars

2024-25: 35-5 (19-1 Big 12), lost in national championship game

The Cougars suffered a heartbreaking loss in the national championship game to Florida, but will have another chance to make it back there this year.

The losses of LJ Cryer and J’Wan Roberts are certainly tough, but a strong returning core led by Emaunuel Sharp and Milos Uzan, who could have been an NBA Draft pick, will give them a very real shot. Joseph Tugler has a shot at having a much bigger role.

A great recruiting class comes in, led by five-star Chris Cenac Jr., Isiah Harwell and Kingston Flemings, all of whom will have a chance to be great.

The reigning Big 12 champions should be the favorites to repeat.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

2024-25: 28-9 (15-5 Big 12), lost in Elite Eight

The Red Raiders had a good season in the second year under Grant McCasland and should be right back at the top of the league again.

And for good reason. The Red Raiders bring back the conference player of the year in J.T. Toppin, who will have a shot to repeat and win it again. Christian Anderson, who was an all-conference pick as a freshman, also returns.

McCasland brought in a nice set of transfers, led by LeJuan Watts, who had 13.7 PPG at Washington State. Donovan Atwell (UNC Greensboro) and Tyeree Byran (Santa Clara) each averaged in double figures last season.

All of this should keep Texas Tech squarely in the hunt for another deep March run.

Arizona Wildcats

2024-25: 24-13 (14-6 Big 12), lost in Sweet 16

Arizona’s first year in the Big 12 went pretty well, finishing in the top three in the league and getting to the second weekend of the tournament.

The Wildcats had some work to do in the portal following the losses of Caleb Love, KJ Lewis, Henri Veesaar and Trey Townsend, but coach Tommy Lloyd filled those holes nicely with a great freshman class led by Koa Peat and Brayden Burries. Dwayne Aristode, a top-40 prospect, is here, as well as four-star Bryce James, younger son of Lebron.

Lloyd will also have returners Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka, Motiejus Krivas and Anthony Dell’Orso to help form a deep team. Evan Nelson, who had 9.1 PPG at Harvard, comes in from the portal.

BYU Cougars

2024-25: 26-10 (14-6 Big 12), lost in Sweet 16

BYU had a breakout season in 2024-25 in the first year with Kevin Young at the helm, and will have a chance to possibly be the second-best team in the league this year.

That is because Young was able to bring in the top recruit in the class of 2025, AJ Dybantsa. He is an elite player who will have an immediate and large impact.

BYU returns all-conference pick Richie Saunders as well as Dawson Baker and Keba Keita, who will all have big roles this season.

BYU brings in Kennard Davis Jr., who had 16.3 PPG at Southern Illinois, but the impact add here is Robert Wright III, who had 11.5 PPG at Baylor and was always one of the better players on the floor.

It wouldn’t be surprising if BYU is in the top 10 in the country at the beginning of the year. It should be.

Iowa State Cyclones

2024-25: 25-10 (13-7 Big 12), lost in NCAA second round

Coach TJ Otzelberger has a great ability to retain talent and he did it again this off-season, retaining three double digit scorers from last year’s team in Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic and Tamin Lipsey. The Cyclones also bring back Nate Heise.

As for adds, Dominick Nelson (Utah Valley) and Mason Williams (Eastern Washington) both averaged at least 13 PPG last season. Blake Buchanan was a role player at Virginia who should have a similar role in Ames this season.

Two top-100 prospects headline the freshman class, Jamarion Batemon and Xzavion Mitchell.

This is a good roster on paper. We will see how it looks on the floor. If all goes well, Iowa State will be in the mix to win the conference regular season title.

Kansas Jayhawks

2024-25: 21-13 (11-9 Big 12), lost in NCAA first round

Last season was certainly a down year by Kansas standards, struggling to get over .500 in league play, only getting to the quarterfinals in the league tournament and then failing to win a game in the NCAA tournament.

Kansas sees a significant talent exodus with the departures of Hunter Dickinson, Zeke Mayo, KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris.

The returning production is limited. Flory Bidunga was the biggest contributor from last year who is back after he averaged 5.9 PPG. Elmarko Jackson missed all of last season hurt, but had 4.3 PPG last season.

The arrival of Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 player in the freshman class, is significant. The Jayhawks will also have two other top-100 guys in Kohl Rosario and Samis Calderon.

Transfers Melvin Council (St. Bonaventure) and Jayden Dawson (Loyola Chicago) were two of the better players in the Atlantic 10, while Tre White had 10.5 PPG at Illinois.

Either way, Kansas will remain in the national conversation. It always does, no matter what happens.

Baylor Bears

2024-25: 20-15 (10-10 Big 12), lost in NCAA second round

There are a ton of questions around this team. Baylor does not return a single player from last year’s team, and there is no clear star among the roster as it stands.

The top candidates among the transfer adds are Obi Agbim, who had 17.6 PPG at Wyoming, Michael Rataj, who had 16.9 PPG at Oregon State, and Dan Skillings Jr., who had 9.2 PPG at Cincinnati.

Other adds include JJ White (Omaha), Isaac Williams (Texas A&M Corpus Christi), Caden Powell (Rice) and Cameron Carr (Tennessee).

Top prospect Tounde Yessoufou should have a role from the jump as a freshman.

Coach Scott Drew has one of the biggest coaching challenges in recent memory this year. There are reasons for concern, and it will be interesting to see what he can do with this team.

West Virginia Mountaineers

2024-25: 19-13 (10-10 Big 12), no postseason

After a stunning omission from the NCAA tournament last March, West Virginia completely turns the page with a new coach and an entirely new roster.

After Darian DeVries left for the Indiana job, former North Texas coach Ross Hodge is West Virginia’s fourth coach in as many years as the program looks for stability more than anything else.

The new team is led by North Dakota transfer Treysen Eaglestaff, who was one of the top scorers in the country last season. Honor Huff (Chattanooga) and Chance Moore (St. Bonaventure) each have a shot to have a big role for WVU. Two players followed Hodge from North Texas, Brenen Lorient (11.7 PPG) and Jasper Floyd (9 PPG). Morris Ugusuk was a solid role player at South Carolina.

There is some intriguing talent here, but the question remains as to how it will end up looking on the court.

TCU Horned Frogs

2024-25: 16-16 (9-11 Big 12), no postseason

Coach Jamie Dixon did a nice job of mixing returning talent and adds from the portal.

The best additions here are Jayden Pierre, who had 12.3 PPG at Providence and Brock Harding, who had 8.8 PPG at Iowa. Tanner Toolson (Utah Valley), Vianney Salatchoum (Florida International) each scored in double figures, and Liutauras Lelevicius had 8.7 PPG at Oregon State.

TCU brings back rotational pieces in David Punch, Micah Robinson, Jace Posey and Malick Diallo, all of whom will have a role in Fort Worth.

This is an under-the-radar group that will have a chance to make some noise in the league and go dancing. We will see what they have.

Kansas State Wildcats

2024-25: 16-17 (9-11 Big 12), no postseason

The third season with Jerome Tang at the helm was a disappointing one, with a great group of players and high expectations coming in, only to be inconsistent all year and never truly be in the tournament conversation.

It’ll be another nearly new team for Tang. PJ Haggerty was one of the best adds of any team this off-season after he averaged 21.7 PPG at Memphis. Abdi Bashir Jr. was a 20 PPG scorer at Monmouth and will be relied on to provide scoring.

In addition, Marcus Johnson had 16.2 PPG at Bowling Green and Nate Johnson had 14 PPG at Akron.

CJ Jones is the best returner after he averaged 5.7 PPG.

A near completely new-look squad is interesting. Tang is certainly hoping for a bounce-back season after a disappointing 2024-25.

Utah Utes

2024-25: 16-17 (8-12 Big 12), lost in Crown first round

Utah is undergoing a major roster overhaul under first year coach Alex Jensen, an alumni of the program and a longtime NBA assistant.

The top names on the roster are undoubtedly Elijah Moore, who had 5.2 PPG at Syracuse, Seydou Traore who had 5.9 PPG at Iowa and Jakhi Howard, who averaged just over 4 PPG at Auburn. As for mid-major players, Terrence Brown (Fairleigh Dickinson), Don McHenry (Western Kentucky) and Babacar Faye (Western Kentucky) each averaged more than 15 PPG at their last stops.

The only important returner is Keanu Dawes, who had 8.3 PPG last season for the Utes under Craig Smith.

It’s a strong league, and it’s tough to see Utah being able to hang towards the top of the league.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

2024-25: 17-18 (7-13 Big 12), lost in NIT quarterfinals

Year one under Steve Lutz was a bit disappointing, but year two comes with a major roster overhaul.

Leading the charge under a new-look roster is Anthony Roy, who averaged 25.7 PPG at Green Bay and was one of the best scorers in the country in 2024-25. Isaiah Coleman is a big add after he averaged more than 15 PPG at Seton Hall. Jaylen Curry had 13.3 PPG at UMass, Parsa Fallah had 12.8 PPG at Oregon State and Christian Coleman had 11.6 PPG at UAB. As for more productive high-major players, Vyctorius Miller (LSU) and Kayne Clary (Mississippi State) are both good adds coming from the SEC.

Robert Jennings II is the only returner after he averaged 5.4 PPG.

Four-stars Ryan Crotty and Ben Ahmed have a chance to see some playing time.

Overall, Oklahoma State should take a bit of a step towards becoming competitive in this league.

Cincinnati Bearcats

2024-25: 19-16 (7-13 Big 12), lost in Crown quarterfinals

It was a tale of the first and second half of the season last year. The Bearcats started 10-1 and were ranked as high as No. 16 in the country, but went 9-15 the rest of the way and played themselves off the bubble as the year went on.

Bad news came for the program recently with the dismissal of Jizzle James, who was set to be an impact player and one of the best point guards in the league. That means Day Day Thomas will have to be relied on more after he averaged 10.2 PPG for the Bearcats last season.

Coach Wes Miller did a nice job in the portal, picking up Jalen Haynes, who had 14.1 PPG at George Mason, Baba Miller, who had 11.3 PPG at Florida Atlantic, and Moustapha Thaim, who had 10.4 PPG at UCF. Jalen Celestine (Baylor), Sencire Harris (West Virginia) and Kerr Kriisa (Kentucky) all played solid roles at their past schools.

As for freshmen, Shon Abaev is a top-30 prospect and Keyshaun Tillery is a borderline top-50 guy. Both should have roles.

This a roster with plenty of potential. We will see how it all looks together.

UCF Knights

2024-25: 20-17 (7-13 Big 12), lost in Crown finals

The Knights head into the season with an entirely new roster under coach Johnny Dawkins.

The charge is led by former Milwaukee teammates Themus Fulks and Jamichael Stillwell, who had 14.6 and 13 PPG respectively. Riley Kugel is the other nice add after he had 9.3 PPG on a Mississippi State team that played in the NCAA tournament.

Arturo Dean (7.6 PPG at Oklahoma State), Jordan Burks (5.7 PPG at Georgetown) and Devan Cambridge (5.5 PPG at Texas Tech) are also now here.

UCF has not had a winning conference campaign since 2018-19, back when it was still in the AAC. There’s some pieces here, but the Knights will have their work cut out for them.

Arizona State Sun Devils

2024-25: 13-20 (4-16 Big 12), lost in Crown first round

Coach Bobby Hurley is somehow keeping his job for another season despite another bad season for ASU.

Only one player on the roster, returner Trevor Best, played at the high-major level last season.

Some productive mid-major players are here now. Adante’ Holiman had 16.9 PPG at Georgia Southern, Marcus Adams Jr. had 16.1 PPG at Cal State Northridge, Allen Mekuba had 14.6 PPG at Oakland and Moe Odum had 13.1 PPG at Pepperdine. There are six freshmen on the roster.

Despite these additions, it’s hard to see the Sun Devils having a lot of success this season. Is it finally time for a coaching change?

Colorado Buffaloes

2024-25: 14-21 (3-17 Big 12), lost in Crown first round

The roster has a nice core of returners headlined by Bangot Dak, Elijah Malone and Sebastian Rancik, but the problem is that this core finished last in the Big 12.

The only notable transfer is Barrington Hargress, who averaged 20.2 PPG at UC Riverside. There are seven freshmen on the team.

Coach Tad Boyle needs to do a lot player development-wise to get Colorado out of the bottom of the league. We’ll see if the Buffs are able to do it.

By Aidan Joly

The Big Ten was very top-heavy during the 2024-25 season.

In its first season with 18 teams it only sent eight to the NCAA tournament, but all of them were a No. 7 seed or better. It was a very successful season for the league, despite the fact that none of the teams made the Final Four.

There are also multiple new coaches in this league too.

As for 2025-26, you can count roughly a dozen teams that have NCAA tournament hopes. Either way, the league is as deep as it has ever been. Let’s get into it.

Michigan State Spartans

2024-25: 30-7 (17-3 Big Ten), lost in Elite Eight

Michigan State lost three of its five best players from last season but does return three of last year’s starters in Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler and Jeremy Fears Jr., all of which will have a larger role than they did last season.

Coach Tom Izzo brought in Trey Fort, who had 14.6 PPG at Samford last season as well as Kaleb Glenn, who had 12.6 PPG at Florida Atlantic. Both of them are terrific shooters who will have a large role. He also brought in Divine Ugochukwu, who had 5.3 PPG at Miami.

Two top 100 prospects join the group in Cam Ward and Jordan Scott.

They might not be as good as they were last season, but like always, an Izzo team is tough to play against. Expect more of that.

Maryland Terrapins

2024-25: 27-9 (14-6 Big Ten), lost in Sweet 16

After Kevin Willard unceremoniously left College Park for Villanova, the Terps brought in former Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams to take over.

Williams has a good track record – he brought the Aggies to the last three NCAA tournaments and won a game in the past two. He was also Virginia Tech’s coach the last time the Hokies were consistently relevant. He brought Marquette to the Elite Eight.

He brings in one of his key Texas A&M players in Pharrel Payne, and also brought in proven high-major talent in Myles Rice (10.1 PPG at Indiana), Elijah Saunders (10.4 PPG at Virginia), Isaiah Watts (11.0 PPG at Washington State) as well as Solomon Washington (Texas A&M) and David Coit (Kansas) who were role guys last season.

Darius Adams is a top-30 freshman, while Aleks Alston is a top-100 talent.

How will this roster come together? There is certainly room for optimism.

Michigan Wolverines

2024-25: 27-10 (14-6 Big Ten), lost in Sweet 16

Things went very, very well in Dusty May’s first year at the helm in Ann Arbor and the Wolverines will look to be in the national title conversation this season.

May grabbed Yaxel Lendeborg, the UAB transfer who was maybe the best player on the market this spring. He was first-team all-AAC twice and twice won the league’s defensive player of the year. He also provided 17.7 PPG last season. Elliott Cadeau also arrives after he averaged 9.4 PPG at North Carolina, but must play smarter basketball. Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara, role guys at Illinois and UCLA, also enter the fold.

Roddy Gayle, Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter and LJ Cason highlight the group that returns.

If things go well, Michigan will be the second-best team in the league at worst. At best, it can certainly win the league and contend for a title.

UCLA Bruins

2024-25: 23-11 (13-7 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round

Things were… interesting in UCLA’s first season in the Big Ten. Still, it found a way to win 23 games and advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Some of the issues last year pertained to lack of a strong point guard. That changes this year as coach Mick Cronin brought in Donovan Dent from New Mexico, who was one of the best guards in the non-power conferences for multiple years over. He won the Mountain West player of the year last season.

Jamar Brown (17 PPG at Kansas City) and Steven Jemerson II (10 PPG at San Diego) also join the Bruins.

Some key players are back for another year, including Tyler Bilodeau and Eric Dailey Jr., who both averaged in double figures. Skyy Clark, who had 8.5 PPG, is also back as that experiment seemed to go better than expected.

UCLA is going to be good. How good depends.

Wisconsin Badgers

2024-25: 27-10 (13-7 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round

There will be plenty of talent on the offensive side of the ball in Madison this season.

A lot of that will revolve around John Blackwell, who returns after putting up 15.8 PPG last season and will be a very real conference player of the year contender. Nolan Winter, a returner, as well as transfer portal adds Nick Boyd from San Diego State and Andrew Rohde from Virginia will be key cogs in that system.

Braeden Carrington, who had 7.4 PPG at Tulsa, and Elijah Gray, who had 9 PPG at Temple, will also be role guys.

This is a good job done by coach Greg Gard to put together this roster. It makes a lot of sense. NCAA tournament needs to be the goal here.

Purdue Boilermakers

2024-25: 24-12 (13-7 Big Ten), lost in Sweet 16

This could end up being the best team in the conference this season.

The Boilermakers return four starters and made a massive addition in the transfer portal.

Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.1 PPG), Braden Smith (15.8 PPG) – maybe the best point guard in the country – and Fletcher Loyer (13.8 PPG) represented a very large portion of the offense and all will be back in 2025-26. CJ Cox is also back and should end up in a starting role. Daniel Jacobson, a 7-foot-4 center, is a returner but feels more like an addition since he suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the season. He will be a very good option off the bench.

Oscar Cluff, who had 17.6 PPG at South Dakota State, is a key addition who will have a big role from the jump. Liam Murphy, who scored in the double figures at North Florida, also joins.

This team has the fewest flaws compared to any in the league, and maybe in the country. We will see how it ends up playing out but it’s hard to not be high on the Boilermakers.

Illinois Fighting Illini

2024-25: 22-13 (12-8 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round

Coach Brad Underwood is always right up there with the best of them when it comes to both retaining players as well as bringing in international talent. He does more of the same with this year’s roster.

Tomislav Ivisic (13 PPG), Kylan Boswell (12.3 PPG) and Ben Humrichous (7.6 PPG) are the big three that return to Champaign.

There is an international flavor to the new players for Illinois this season. Andrej Stojakovic comes to Illinois after he averaged 17.9 PPG at Cal last season, and Zvonimir Ivisic comes in after a good year at Arkansas.

As for freshmen, Mihailo Petrovic seems to be a starter right from the jump. David Mirkovic also comes in.

It’s hard to see this team not being one of the best offenses in the league. That should take them to a lot of wins and success.

Oregon Ducks

2024-25: 25-10 (12-8 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round

Oregon had a good season in its first year in the Big Ten that resulted in making the NCAA tournament as well as winning a game.

The Ducks and coach Dana Altman look to do the same this year. The Ducks have a great two-way big man in Nate Bittle as one of the better go-get-one point guards in the country in Jackson Shelstad. Those two will make things go for this group. Kwame Evans Jr. returns as a role player who could have a larger share.

TK Simpkins, who had 16.4 PPG at Elon, should be a starter in Eugene. He is joined by Sean Stewart, who had 5.7 PPG at Ohio State, and Devon Pryor, who had a limited role at Texas.

It will be interesting to see how this team develops. It is one of the teams that will be tough to play each night and has a good shot at dancing.

Indiana Hoosiers

2024-25: 19-13 (10-10 Big Ten), no postseason

The new coach in Bloomington is Darien DeVries, who takes over the storied program after one year at West Virginia. Mike Woodson was fired after four mediocre seasons.

That being said, DeVries has an entirely new roster with no returning players.

Nearly all of them come from the mid-majors. The highlight of the group is DeVries’ son Tucker, a star in his own right who averaged 14.9 PPG before going down with a season-ending injury early in the season. The only other high-major transfer is Sam Alexis, who had a small role on the national championship Florida team.

The best of the mid-major talent is Reed Bailey, who had 18.8 PPG at Davidson, and Lamar Wilkerson, who was an all-Conference USA pick after averaging 20.5 PPG at Sam Houston State. Nick Dorn (15.2 PPG at Elon), North Florida teammates Jasai Miles (15.4 PPG) and Josh Harris (13.4 PPG), Tayton Conerway (14.2 PPG at Troy) and Jason Drake (11.1 PPG at Drexel) all should have roles.

This needs to be a good defensive team and Tucker DeVries needs to stay healthy. If both of those things happen, this sure looks like a tournament team.

Ohio State Buckeyes

2024-25: 17-15 (9-11 Big Ten), no postseason

Things went okay in coach Jake Diebler’s first full season at the helm in Columbus, but it did not result in a tournament appearance.

The Buckeyes will certainly have a better chance than they did last year, though. Three of their top four scorers in Bruce Thornton (who was the team’s leading scorer), Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. return.

Diebler went and got a nice trio of players from the transfer portal. He got Brandon Noel, who led Wright State with 19.0 PPG, Cristoph Tilly, who had 12.5 PPG at Santa Clara and projects as a starter, and Josh Ojianwuna, who had 7.5 PPG at Baylor but has a knee injury and will miss most of the season, at least.

Forward A’mare Bynum is a top-70 prospect and is a top option off the bench.

It feels like this is a team that is a piece short or may be short on depth, but could very well end up being a tournament team. If it is not at least on the bubble, something has gone terribly wrong.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

2024-25: 15-17 (8-12 Big Ten), no postseason

Rutgers was the talk of the college basketball landscape entering the 2024-25 season with two five stars in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper leading the way. However, the Scarlet Knights fell flat on their faces, finishing in the bottom half of the Big Ten and never being considered for the tournament.

This year’s team could be worse. Coach Steve Pikiell is going to have to really work on player development, because there isn’t a ton here on paper.

Dylan Grant, Jamichael Davis and Emmanuel Ogbole return and will have roles, maybe starting, but none of them averaged more than 5.9 PPG last season. Rutgers does bring in Tariq Francis, who averaged 19.2 PPG at NJIT, as well as Darren Buchanan Jr., who averaged in double figures at George Washington. Baye Fall played sparingly at Kansas State but is a good defender. Freshman Harun Zuno, an international signee, got a lot of high-major interest and could start as a freshman.

Rutgers teams are always known for a slow-paced, defense-first, physical mindset. It will have to be that again this year, because the offensive production might not be there.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

2024-25: 15-17 (7-13 Big Ten), no postseason

Niko Medved is the new coach in Minneapolis and it was maybe the best fit of all of the high-major coaching changes this spring. He is an alum of the school and a Minneapolis native, and not to mention a rising star. He got Colorado State to being one of the premier mid-major teams in the country.

There isn’t a proven high-major player on this nearly entirely new roster, but there is a ton of talent that can be developed. The top options here are Langston Reynolds (Northern Colorado), Chansey Willis Jr. (Western Michigan), Bobby Durkin (Davidson) and BJ Omot (California), who were all in the double figures in their last stops.

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson follows Medved after he averaged 9 PPG at Colorado State, and Robert Vaihola is a solid player who had 7.5 PPG at San Jose State. Cade Tyson had a small role at North Carolina.

Isaac Asuma is the only returner, but he averaged 5.6 PPG as a freshman and seems ready to step into a larger role.

Minnesota is a school where winning is possible, but there has not been a lot of it. It has not been to the tournament since 2019. It may not happen this year, but Medved should end that drought soon.

Northwestern Wildcats

2024-25: 17-16 (7-13 Big Ten), no postseason

Nick Martinelli, who led the Big Ten in scoring last season with 20.5 PPG, is back, but there is plenty to replace on this roster with the losses of Brooks Barnhizer, Jalen Leach and Ty Berry.

As for other returners, KJ Windham is a candidate to take a step up after he averaged 5.6 PPG as a freshman.

Coach Chris Collins will look to Jayden Reid as a candidate to provide instant offense after he was in double figures at South Florida and is a solid three-point shooter. Max Green averaged 14.9 PPG at Holy Cross.

Collins teams play tough and are never an easy out. Still, it feels like a lot has to go right in order for Northwestern to see itself playing in March.

USC Trojans

2024-25: 17-18 (7-13 Big Ten), lost in Crown quarterfinals

The first season with coach Eric Musselman at the helm in Los Angeles was a little bit disappointing as the Trojans finished well below .500 in league play.

However, there are some shiny new additions to this year’s roster. That includes Rodney Rice, who had 13.8 PPG at Maryland, Chad Baker-Mazara, who had 12.3 PPG at Auburn and was one of the best glue guys in the country, and Ezra Ausar, who had 12.5 PPG at Utah. Jacob Cofie is a solid add from Virginia.

Jordan Marsh (UNC Ashveille) and Amarion Dickerson (Robert Morris) were both good players at the mid-major level and are the bench options. EJ Neal (Sacramento State) and Jaden Brownell (Samford) will also be depth pieces. Terrance Williams II scored in double figures last year and returns.

Jerry Easter will be the freshman to look out for. Alijah Arenas was slated to have a big role as a top prospect, but a car accident followed by a torn meniscus has made it so he is unlikely to play all season. You feel for the kid.

This is a very big team and will shoot more from behind the arc. Even without Arenas, the Trojans will have a shot at dancing.

Iowa Hawkeyes

2024-25: 17-16 (7-13 Big Ten), no postseason

What a rise it has been for new coach Ben McCollum, who was coaching Division II ball just two seasons ago and is now in the Big Ten following a 31-4 season at Drake that ended in the second round of the tournament. He replaces Fran McCaffery, who was the coach there since 2010.

Coming with McCollum is Bennett Stirtz, who led Drake with 19.2 PPG last season and will be one of the premier point guards in not just the Big Ten, but the entire country. Tavion Banks and Cam Manaywu, who were also key parts of that Drake team, also follow McCollum. Depth pieces Isaia Howard and Kael Combs do too.

Alvaro Folgueiras also comes in after averaging 13.8 PPG on a Robert Morris team that went to the tournament and was the Horizon League player of the year. Brendan Hausen also comes in after he was in double figures at Kansas State.

Wing Cooper Koch is the only returner after he averaged 4.6 PPG as a freshman.

There are some holes on this roster. Not a ton of guard depth is the glaring one. Iowa shouldn’t be expected to contend for a league title, but has a shot to finish in the top half of the league and be in the tournament conversation.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

2024-25: 21-14 (7-13 Big Ten), won Crown

Nebraska won a title last year, how about that? The Cornhuskers won the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament, a nice way to cap off a year where it struggled to get any momentum in the regular season.

This year Nebraska will feature the return of Rienk Mast, its most important player from a team that won 23 games two seasons ago and went to the NCAA tournament. He missed all of last season with a knee injury. Connor Essegian (10.7 PPG) and Berke Buyuktuncel (6.0 PPG) are the only other notable returners from last season.

As for the new guys, Central Michigan transfer Ugnius Jarusevicius will probably be relied on the most after averaging over 16 PPG last season in the MAC. Rhode Island transfer Jamarques Lawrence averaged 9.9 PPG last year, and Pryce Sandford had 8.8 PPG at Iowa. Kendall Blue had 12.3 PPG at St. Thomas and could be the first guy off the bench each night.

The Cornhuskers have a nice group of guys who will be able to play Big Ten-caliber basketball, but whether the depth is there is the real question mark here.

Penn State Nittany Lions

2024-25: 16-15 (6-14 Big Ten), no postseason

Things didn’t go so great in Mike Rhoades’ second season at the helm in Happy Valley, and things shouldn’t be expected to get much better in year three.

It looks like the Nittany Lions will start three freshmen in Kayden Mingo, Melih Tunca and Ivan Juric. Mingo especially will be expected to take on a large role from the get-go.

Otherwise, the only real returner is Freddie Dilione V, who averaged 9.4 PPG last season. Transfers Josh Reed had 4.8 PPG at Cincinnati and Sasa Ciani had 9.9 PPG at UIC.

Rhoades has a good reputation as a player development type of coach. He will certainly have his work cut out for him with this year’s roster if they want to be competitive.

Washington Huskies

2024-25: 13-18 (4-16 Big Ten), no postseason

The Huskies finished in the basement of the league in Danny Sprinkle’s first season at the helm in Seattle. Thankfully for them, the roster is much more talented for his second go-round.

The team is headlined by USC teammates Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III, who had 15.8 and 14.1 PPG for the Trojans last season, respectively. Quimari Peterson (East Tennessee State) and Jacob Ognacevic (Lipscomb) each averaged up around 20 PPG at their previous stops and will have roles. Lathan Summerville (Rutgers) and Bryson Tucker (Indiana) both have proven high-major experience.

Zoom Diallo had 11.1 PPG last year for the Huskies and returns. So does Franck Kepnang, who had 6.9 PPG. A decent freshman class comes in, highlighted by top-50 prospect JJ Mandaquit.

This roster is so much more talented than last year. Expect one of the biggest improvements in the league for the Huskies this season.