2025-26 College Basketball Power Rankings: Top Teams and Breakout Players!

After falling just short of winning the national title, the Houston Cougars are the team to beat in our early 2025-26 Top 10 men’s college basketball rankings to start the new season! We will also take a look at some of the players who could have a breakout year this season and make a name for themselves for years to come!

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The Top 10 Team NCAAB 2025-26 Power Rankings!

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The confetti has settled from the last championship game, and it's already time to look ahead to the new season! The transfer portal was absolutely buzzing with major players moving schools, meaning teams were really scrambling to lock down their rosters for this new season. Even though the offseason is coming to a close, there are still a lot of unknowns. However, we already can see how the 2025-26 season is going to shape up. We want to give you an early look at where our heads are at moving into this new season!

10. Michigan Wolverines

Dusty May is moving fast! Losing a good playmaker like Danny Wolf stinks, but he instantly snagged Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB. This 6'9" German dude is a beast—he was top-four in the AAC for points, boards, and dimes, plus he won their Defensive Player of the Year.

And get this, they're setting up a twin-tower lineup! Lendeborg is pairing up with Morez Johnson, the Illinois transfer who looks primed for a huge sophomore breakout.

The backcourt saw a swap, too: Tre Donaldson is out, and they landed Elliot Cadeau from UNC. Cadeau was a top-15 recruit, so the talent is definitely there. The big question is, can he clean up his shooting and turnover issues and finally live up to that potential?

9. Kansas Jayhawks

Ugh, another year, another disappointing finish for the Kansas Jayhawks. This makes the third season in a row their NCAA Tournament run ended with a thud. Think about it: since 2019, Bill Self's squad has only made it past the first weekend once, and that was when they actually won the whole thing back in 2022.

So, is 2026 finally the year they get back to that lofty Kansas standard? They've definitely got some new blood! They brought in transfers Tre White (from Illinois) and Jayden Dawson (Loyola Chicago). But the real prize might be incoming freshman Darryn Peterson, a guy who could go top-five in the next NBA Draft!

The other huge win is getting Flory Bidunga back for his sophomore year. He was a top-20 recruit who flashed a massive ceiling as a freshman, so getting him for another season is a big deal. The pieces are there, but can they finally put it all together next March?

8. Florida Gators

The Gators are coming off a national championship—how awesome is that?! But now comes the hard part: they have to totally reload in the backcourt after losing that amazing trio of Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin, and Will Richard. That's a huge hole to fill!

The good news? The frontcourt is looking solid, which should ease the pressure. Look for Thomas Haugh to be a major breakout candidate this year, especially after the tear he went on in the tournament (11.7 points, 7 rebounds, 2.7 assists per game!).

Plus, they've got Rueben Chinyelu locking down the paint as a defensive anchor. And keep an eye on Alex Condon—there's a chance the do-it-all big man might skip the NBA and come back to Gainesville for another season!

So, the big guys are mostly covered. Now, it's all on Todd Golden to hit the transfer portal hard and find the guards needed to play alongside Denzel Aberdeen. The quest for a repeat starts now!

7. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Man, it totally sucks that Darrion Williams is hitting the transfer portal! That's a huge loss for the Red Raiders.

BUT, there’s still hope if JT Toppin decides to stick around in Lubbock. That 6'9" sophomore seriously leveled up last season, becoming one of the best low-post scorers and most dominant rebounders in the entire country—he improved in practically every stat category!

Texas Tech still has a bunch of roster spots to fill, but if Toppin comes back, at least they can pair him with Christian Anderson. That shifty combo guard really finished his freshman year strong, dropping almost 13 points per game over the Red Raiders' final 11 games. Now they just need to build the rest of the roster!

6. Kentucky Wildcats

Mark Pope really impressed in Year 1, leading the Wildcats all the way to the Sweet 16 and spending most of the season in the AP Top 10!

Now, the tough part: he's got to totally retool the roster after losing about six guys from the rotation this spring. And he's been busy!

He's already landed some serious talent from the portal:

• Jaland Lowe (Pitt), an All-ACC point guard.

• Kam Williams (Tulane), a great 3-and-D wing.

• Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama), a defensive-minded forward.

• And big man Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), who was once a Top-10 recruit!

  
  

If Otega Oweh decides to come back after his All-SEC season, man, Kentucky will be right back in business and looking dangerous!

5. Purdue Boilermakers

Talk about a core group! With Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn all coming back, Purdue easily has one of the best returning trios in college basketball. That is a huge head start!

To fill the void in the paint, they grabbed Oscar Cluff, an All-Summit League guy from South Dakota State, who should give their frontcourt some immediate scoring punch.

The big question mark is Daniel Jacobsen's health after he broke his leg back in November. That is going to be HUGE, especially since Purdue's interior defense was pretty rough once Zach Edey was gone. Look out for sophomores CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris—those hard-nosed guards have some serious breakout potential! Purdue could be a force again.

4. UConn Huskies

Okay, so maybe UConn didn't have the year everyone expected after winning back-to-back national championships—that second-round loss stung. But let's be real, the Huskies are still going to head into this season with massive expectations, as always!

They made a big splash by adding Silas Demary Jr., a transfer from Georgia. That gives the backcourt better size and some real scoring punch on the perimeter.

And look at the new guys they're bringing in! They landed Braylon Mullins, a five-star sharpshooter, to join a strong returning crew led by Alex Karaban, Liam McNeeley, Solo Ball, and Tarris Reed.

Mullins isn't the only star freshman, either. UConn also snagged two more McDonald’s All-Americans: Eric Reibe, a 7-foot German center, and Darius Adams, a 6'5" combo guard. Dan Hurley is reloaded, and this team is looking scary again!

3. Louisville Cardinals

Man, the transfer portal has only been open for two weeks, and Pat Kelsey was already going wild! The Cards are making huge waves with some serious splash additions.

They went out and got two of the absolute best shooters available: Ryan Conwell (from Xavier, who drained 208 three-pointers over the last two years!) and Isaac McKneely (from Virginia, who hit 192 of his own!). Say goodbye to cold shooting nights!

They also landed Adrian Wooley, the reigning CUSA Freshman of the Year from Kennesaw State, who brings some serious versatile shot-making to the backcourt.

Running the whole show will be five-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. This freshman has incredible athleticism and a feel for the game that is way beyond his years. Kelsey is cooking in Louisville!

2. Duke Blue Devils

It's tough saying goodbye to National Player of the Year Cooper Flagg and a bunch of other guys from Duke’s latest 35-win team. That stings!

But the good news is Tyrese Proctor should be back as a reliable veteran to build around. And talk about reinforcements! Head coach Jon Scheyer—who was the leading scorer on Duke’s 35-win team back in 2010—is bringing in some serious talent.

They landed the highly touted freshman duo of Cameron and Cayden Boozer—their dad, Carlos, was the starting center on the 35-win team in 2001. That's some Duke legacy!

Rounding out the country's top recruiting class (according to 24/7 Sports) are Shelton Henderson and Nikolas Khamenia. So yeah, Duke is loaded up again!

1. Houston Cougars

After making it to their first national championship game in over 40 years, Houston is absolutely set up to make another deep run in the 2026 tournament!

The foundation is already rock-solid for coach Kelvin Sampson. He’s expected to bring back starters like Emanuel Sharp, Milos Uzan, and JoJo Tugler, plus their super-sub sixth man, Terrance Arceneaux. That's a huge group coming back! Don't forget, Sampson has led the Cougars to an insane five straight top-five finishes in KenPom.

And they are loading up on new talent! Houston is bringing in one of the country’s best recruiting classes, highlighted by five-star forward Chris Cenac. They also grabbed four-star guard Isiah Harwell to boost the backcourt. Look out, the Cougars are going to be a force!

Top 5 Players Who Will Be Stars During the 2025-26 College Basketball Season!

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1. Braden Smith, Purdue

Smith gets the deserving nod as the nation’s best lead guard, entering his senior season with Bobby Hurley’s career assists record in his sights as he tries to lead the Boilermakers to a national championship. No one in the country is better at manipulating the defense than Smith, and the Boilermakers should have more weapons to take the pressure off him and Trey Kaufman-Renn this season thanks to their offseason additions.

2. Darryn Peterson, Kansas

Peterson is a generational talent, one of the best guards to hit college basketball in quite some time. He’s a dominant scorer (as evidenced by outbursts like his 61-point game in high school against AJ Dybantsa’s Utah Prep) but has continued to improve as a playmaker, proving more than capable of getting teammates involved when defenses force the ball out of his hands.

3. Bennett Stirtz, Iowa

Stirtz willed Drake to 31 wins and an NCAA tournament victory in his first year at the Division I level, rarely leaving the floor and taking on a massive offensive role in Ben McCollum’s intricate system. He’s a master in ball screens, with an advanced floater game that allows him to score at all three levels and elite decision-making skills to help others get involved. If he can lift Iowa into the Big Ten’s top tier, there may not be a more valuable player in the sport.

4. Donovan Dent, UCLA

There may not be a more electrifying player with the ball in his hands in college hoops than Dent, an absolute jet in the open floor who makes the jump to UCLA after taking New Mexico to the NCAA tournament in 2024 and ’25. It will be fascinating to see him in a new system, one that likely won’t allow him to play quite as up and down of a style as the one he played at New Mexico. How UCLA coach Mick Cronin balances giving Dent the freedom to make mistakes with wanting to retain his traditional half-court offensive principles will be fascinating to watch.

5. Labaron Philon, Alabama

Philon’s 11th-hour return to Alabama after initially planning on staying in the NBA draft was game-changing news for the Tide, who will rely heavily on Philon’s shot creation to remain one of the nation’s top offenses. Philon played outstanding in a supporting role last season next to Mark Sears, but Alabama’s offense was even better by the numbers a year ago with Philon running the point and Sears on the bench. That could be a good sign of things to come with Philon stepping into the star role in Tuscaloosa, Ala.