Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, a messaging master with a life-long fondness for college basketball, wasted no time drawing his line in the hardwood.
One week before the start of the 2025-26 season, Yormark appeared on a TNT football broadcast and declared Big 12 basketball “the second best league behind the NBA.”
The SEC, which sent a record 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament last spring and produced the national champion (Florida), might take issue with Yormark’s remark.
The Big Ten might push back, as well (because the Big Ten pushes back on everything).
The ACC? Eh, not so much.
Fortunately, clarity will come to the conference hierarchy beginning Nov. 3, with the start of the regular season.
Yes, it’s early — too early, perhaps, given the sport’s ongoing struggle for traction during the long overlap with college football and the NFL.
In all, the basketball regular season and conference tournaments will cover 132 days before giving way to what might be the last NCAA Tournament of its kind. The event is locked into the 68-team format for this season. Beyond that, the structure is uncertain.
Yormark and his fellow commissioners are pushing for tournament expansion in 2027, with the field potentially growing to 76 teams. The ramifications for the regular season are troubling.
But that’s a topic for another day.
For now, here’s our look at the top teams for 2025-26 based on the Hotline’s preseason AP Top 25 ballot.
1. Connecticut: The 2023 and 2024 national champions should return to the spotlight following tweaks to the roster. Forward Alex Karaban shunned the NBA Draft and will team with Solo Ball to provide a stellar returning tandem. Coach Danny Hurley added a first-rate transfer, Silas Demary (Georgia), and a blue-chip recruit in Braylon Mullins. The resulting concoction has no weaknesses and more than enough strengths to win six single-elimination games.
2. Houston: After coming two points short of the national championship, coach Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars are back for another run. The core consists of point guard Milos Uzan, wing Emanuel Sharp and defensive ace Joseph Tugler. One of the top recruiting classes in the country should provide supporting production. But this placement is rooted, above all, in the culture Sampson has built.
3. Texas Tech: The third-best team in the country is the second-best team in the Big 12, such is the strength of the conference. The Red Raiders won the NBA Draft sweepstakes when All-American JT Toppin opted to return to Lubbock for another run. He joins gifted guard Christian Anderson and two impact transfers, LeJuan Watts from Washington State and Tyeree Bryan from Santa Clara.
4. St. John’s: Rick Pitino’s third year will bring elevated pressure, so there’s significant downside risk to our projection. His lineup is heavy on transfers, including Joson Sanon (Arizona State) and Oziyah Sellers (Stanford), which adds to the uncertainty. If that’s the case, why the lofty projection? Because Pitino has won for 40 years, and we have no desire to start doubting him now.
5. Purdue: The sunny forecast in West Lafayette starts with an elite combination of coach (Matt Painter) and point guard (Braden Smith), but it doesn’t end there. Forward Trey Kaufman-Renn and center Oscar Cluff, a transfer from South Dakota State, should form a dominant frontcourt. If the Boilermakers tighten their defense, a trip to the Final Four should follow.
6. BYU: The momentum generated last season under new coach Kevin Young shows no signs of abating, not with the arrival of the nation’s No. 1 recruit, AJ Dybansta, the return of wing scorer Richie Saunders and the impact of point guard Robert Wright II, a coveted transfer from Baylor. Defense is always an issue with the Cougars — so, too, is their success at sea level — but the potential is immense.
7. Michigan: Success in Ann Arbor hinges on two transfers, point guard Elliot Cadeau from North Carolina and Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB. (Don’t be fooled by the school: Lendeborg turned down a likely spot in the first round of the NBA Draft.) If second-year coach Dusty May shapes his rotation to maximize the individual talent, the Wolverines should give Purdue a run for the Big Ten title.
8. Illinois: Let’s not forget about the Illini when assessing the Big Ten race. The key to their success next winter: Consistent high-level play from Andrej Stojakovic, the Cal transfer who averaged 18 points per game last season, and returnee Kylan Boswell, the former Arizona transfer.
9. Kentucky: Coach Mark Pope’s honeymoon period ended with the Sweet 16 loss (to Tennessee). This season, Big Blue fans will expect a Final Four appearance — and for good reason. With guard Otega Oweh and Pitt transfer Jaland Lowe, the Wildcats will have the ingredients needed for a deep run in March.
10. Duke: The inexcusable meltdown against Houston in the Final Four will be long forgotten when the next wave of future NBA Draft picks hits the court for the Blue Devils. Cameron Boozer, the son of former Duke star Carlos Boozer, will take a leading role. But much hinges on the steadying influence of junior point guard Caleb Foster.
11. Iowa State: We love everything about the Cyclones except, well, their offense. It’s not an ongoing dislike, mind you. They are plenty good from November through February. But in March — and especially in the second and third rounds of the NCAAs — the Cyclones never seem to have that extra gear. Will this season be any different? Not from our vantage point.
12. Louisville: This position could be a tad low for the Cardinals, who zoomed past expectations last season under first-year coach Pat Kelsey. Despite significant attrition, he loaded up with impact high school recruits (e.g., Mikel Brown Jr.) and transfers (Xavier’s Ryan Conwell). Dare we suggest Louisville might even be the best team in Kentucky.
13. Auburn: It’s difficult to assess the Tigers in the wake of coach Bruce Pearl’s pre-season retirement, but we know this: There’s more than enough returning talent — the collection starts with returning guard Tahaad Pettiford — for Auburn to maintain its recent standard of success under the leadership of Pearl’s son, Steven.
14. NC State: Meet our top sleeper pick for 2025-26, a decision based entirely on the arrival of Will Wade. Famous for getting caught making a “strong-ass offer” on the FBI wiretap, Wade is a phenomenal coach who quickly landed a major transfer, Texas Tech guard Darrion Williams. There’s plenty of room on the top shelf of the ACC. Watch out for the Wolfpack.
15. Florida: The defending champions retained big man Alex Condon and lured guard Boogie Fland from Arkansas, thereby enhancing their regression mitigation efforts. But replacing Walter Clayton Jr. is a daunting task, and every opponent will muster its best effort to slay the Gators.
16. UCLA: The final piece to Mick Cronin’s roster puzzle arrived in the spring, from Albuquerque by way of the transfer portal. New Mexico point guard Donovan Dent, the 2025 Mountain West Player of the Year, gives the Bruins the element they have been lacking in the years since Tyger Campbell’s departure. With Dent running the offense, Cronin has no excuses — the Bruins should contend for the Big Ten title and a deep run in the NCAAs.
17. Alabama: Coach Nate Oats has several new pieces to assimilate, so we don’t expect a sizzling start from the Crimson Tide. But by March, watch out: The backcourt, led by returnee Labaron Philon Jr., will be good enough to win big games under tournament pressure — the SEC tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
18. Creighton: The Bluejays will be without big man Ryan Kalkbrenner for the first time in forever. Good thing they can lean instead on two transplants from Iowa, Josh Dix and Owen Freeman, who combined for 31 points per game last season. Creighton has reached the Sweet 16 three times in the past five years. We suspect that will become four in the past six.
19. Gonzaga: Our AP preseason ballots were due before Grand Canyon transfer Tyon Grant-Foster became eligible for the Bulldogs (via a preliminary injunction). He’s a huge talent who should complement the inside duo of Braden Huff and Graham Ike and give the Zags enough playmakers to return to their perch as one of the top programs in the country. We’re counting last season’s regression as a one-off.
20. North Carolina: Coach Hubert Davis enters his fifth season on the hottest of seats after the Tar Heels lost 14 games and failed to advance past the first round of the NCAAs. Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar will help prevent a complete collapse, as will blue-chip recruit Caleb Wilson and Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans. But this team is not built for the second weekend of the NCAAs. Heck, it might not even be built for the first.
21. Arkansas: It wouldn’t be a John Calipari team without one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. But the key for the Razorbacks isn’t the collection of freshmen. It’s junior guard D.J. Wagner elevating his game and playing to the potential he showed as a mega-prospect. If Wagner reaches his potential alongside returnee Karter Knox, the Hogs will contend for the SEC title.
22. Kansas: Few programs have regressed more than Kansas, which lost its talent-acquisition edge when the NIL era became reality. Are the Jayhawks contender or pretender in the Big 12? That depends largely on the impact made by freshman Darryn Peterson, the nation’s top prospect.
23. San Diego State: Meet the frontrunner in the Mountain West — and not by a little. The Aztecs are loaded with wing Myles Byrd, who eschewed the NBA Draft, plus big man Magoon Gwath and guard Reese Dixon-Waters. SDSU’s final season in the MW could very well end in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight.
24. Iowa: After his successful one-year run at Drake, coach Ben McCollum slides over to Iowa City, where expectations are low enough for an upside surprise to materialize. The presence of guard Bennett Stirtz, who averaged 19 points for Drake, gives the Hawkeyes a chance to thrive.
25. Arizona: The Wildcats were smacked upside the head by attrition, losing four top scorers and their most talented player (Carter Bryant). The rebuilt rotation includes two touted freshmen, Koa Peat and Brayden Burries, plus returnees Jaden Bradley on the perimeter and Tobe Awaka and Mo Krivas up front. But the Big 12 is loaded with high-level returnees, and we wonder if Arizona lost ground relative to the contenders. Lost ground translates to losing games, and losing games means a lower NCAA seed and tougher path through the tournament.
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