Preseason AP Top 25 Poll | The Boneyard

Preseason AP Top 25 Poll

HooperScooper

HooperScooper

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Just released a couple minutes ago. UConn is 4th. Got 2 first place votes.

St. John's is #5 and Creighton is #23.

apnews.com

NCAA College Basketball Rankings: AP Top 25 Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA men's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2025-26 season.
apnews.com apnews.com
 

4. UConn​

2024-25 record: 24-11 (lost to 1-seed Florida in round of 32)

Season opener: Nov. 3 vs. New Haven, 7 p.m., ESPN+

Biggest early-season game: Dec. 9 vs. Florida in New York (Jimmy V Classic), 9 p.m., ESPN

Projected starting lineup:
Silas Demary Jr. (13.5 PPG at Georgia)
Solo Ball (14.4 PPG)
Braylon Mullins (No. 17 in ESPN 100)
Alex Karaban (14.3 PPG)
Tarris Reed Jr. (9.6 PPG)

www.espn.com

Men's AP preseason Top 25 poll reaction: What to know about every team

Here's what to know about each team in the AP men's preseason Top 25, from No. 1 Purdue to No. 25 North Carolina.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
BTW I was watching a youtube video on UCONN - it was about 17 minutes long and had a section on each freshman and transfer. I was shocked that Reibe is so "big" (not fat, just a lot of mass). For some reason I thought he was more slender. Not at all. Practice battles between him and Reed will be incredible. and the PG's look REALLY good.

The chemistry and camaraderie on this team look really good too. Almost every player they highlighted said along the lines of "all I want to do is help this team win". They did not mention Elezaj or Paunovic.

With as much returning and new talent we have, I'm not surprised we are ranked in the top 5. Hoping for a great season.
 
superjohn said:
Florida is getting that post national championship bump, they're overrated.
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Trying to forecast them isn't that different than StJ in my book because they have a brand new backcourt. Fland was a cancer on Arkansas last year and no idea how an Ivy League guard will translate to high D1, nevermind play together. I'd say overrated as well.

I personally think Purdue is as well. As good as their core is, they have little NBA talent. That's going to shine through at some point. They have a really high floor. Let's not forget that Purdue lost 12 games last year. They made the S16 by some luck of the draw. Houston has a higher ceiling.

4 is spot on for us. About where I'd expect any national poll to rank us preseason.

5 OOC top 20 matchups, 6 top 30.
 
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RuffRuff said:
Trying to forecast them isn't that different than StJ in my book because they have a brand new backcourt. Fland was a cancer on Arkansas last year and no idea how an Ivy League guard will translate to high D1, nevermind play together. I'd say overrated as well.

I personally think Purdue is as well. As good as their core is, they have little NBA talent. That's going to shine through at some point. They have a really high floor. Let's not forget that Purdue lost 12 games last year. They made the S16 by some luck of the draw. Houston has a higher ceiling.

4 is spot on for us. About where I'd expect any national poll to rank us preseason.

5 OOC top 20 matchups, 6 top 30.
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I think we're going to be the best team. St. John's scares me more than anyone.

My only concern with our team is our overall team athleticism and injuries but everyone has to deal with injuries.
 
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BFieldHusky said:
Give me Big Ten teams all day long in March.

Houston scares me the most. St. Johns is missing a PG still.

Playing 5 ranked teams in non conference is great.
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With you on Houston - they don't have many holes and a ton of upside with that freshman class. Give Samspon high end talent it's pretty scary what he can do. They'd be 1 on my preseason top 25, Purdue 2 out of respect for those seniors and Uconn 3. Tugler & Cenac together are a scary front line.

I like us & Houston this year.
 
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ScottCT said:
People say Houston scares them every year but they never win.
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Yet they are consistently among the best longer than anyone else. 3 starters from a team that had the NC in the bag, along with the 6th and 13th ranked freshmen. They have potential to be scary good. You could argue this is Kelvin's most talented roster ever.

From a total ceiling standpoint, I'd say they're the team to beat.
 
RuffRuff said:
Yet they are consistently among the best longer than anyone else. 3 starters from a team that had the NC in the bag, along with the 6th and 13th ranked freshmen. They have potential to be scary good. You could argue this is Kelvin's most talented roster ever.

From a total ceiling standpoint, I'd say they're the team to beat.
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They're bringing in some great freshman talent but Cryer and Roberts are huge losses.
 
superjohn said:
Florida is getting that post national championship bump, they're overrated.
Expand ...
The defending champ always does.

We were overrated last year.
Kansas and runner up UNC badly overrated in 2023.

Going back further, we were like #4 to start 2012.

The only exception is us in 2023-24, where we might have been underrated if anything.
 
superjohn said:
They're bringing in some great freshman talent but Cryer and Roberts are huge losses.
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That they are, but most experience some loss so it's all relative. Cenac & Harwell are considered lottery picks.

If I'm a betting man, I'd lay my $$ on Sampson to finally get his this year. He feels due. We play them in the NC. Their athletecism wins out.
 
RuffRuff said:
That they are, but most experience some loss so it's all relative. Cenac & Harwell are considered lottery picks.

If I'm a betting man, I'd lay my $$ on Sampson to finally get his this year. He feels due. We play them in the NC. Their athletecism wins out.
Expand ...
Yeah I think Houston is deservedly Top-2.
 
RuffRuff said:
That they are, but most experience some loss so it's all relative. Cenac & Harwell are considered lottery picks.

If I'm a betting man, I'd lay my $$ on Sampson to finally get his this year. He feels due. We play them in the NC. Their athletecism wins out.
Expand ...
Our first loss in a NC game ever?

Nope. Not buying it. Good guys by a million. Undefeated NC streak stays in tact.
 
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HooperScooper said:
Article from CBS Sports. Most overrated and underrated teams in the Preseason Top 25.

Overrated: #5 St. John's, #25 UNC

Underrated: #11 Louisville, #14 Arkansas, #19 Kansas

www.cbssports.com

AP Top 25 poll reactions: North Carolina overrated, Kansas underrated in preseason college basketball rankings

Here are teams ranked too high or too low in the first AP Top 25 poll before the 2025-26 season
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
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Pretty popular takes.

That's why they play the games. I too think Kansas will be vastly improved now that they've shed the dead weight and plugged in Bidunga & DP.

We talk a lot about StJ, but Michigan is also almost an entirely new team no one is talking about. 3/5 starters are new, other 2 are second year transfers in - neither of which moved the needle much last year. I know Yaxel is good, but he's not superman. I'd push them down a bit - find them overrated.
 
Another article from CBS Sports. Strengths and weaknesses of each Top 25 team.

4. UConn​

Projected starting lineup:
Top reserves: F Jaylin Stewart, G Malachi Smith, F Eric Reibe, G/F Jayden Ross, G Jacob Furphy

Biggest strengths: A scheme like this with shooters of UConn's ilk is utopia. The threat of the 3-ball from Demary, Ball, Mullins and Karaban (who could all shoot over 37% from downtown on high volume) should fuel a top-five offense, especially paired with Reed, who is a beast in the paint. Dan Hurley can go big or small at a moment's notice, and that optionality is everything in the chase for a championship.

UConn's point guard play was dire for long stretches last year, but portal imports like Demary and Smith should transform it from a weakness to a strength. Purdue enters 2025-26 as the favorite to be the No. 1 offense in the country, but UConn is one of the few that could realistically vault the Boilermakers.

Potential weaknesses: It's all about the defense if UConn wants to achieve its lofty goals. Can Reed protect the rim and anchor this defense without fouling every other possession? Can Ball improve as a point of attack defender? What are UConn's counters if it can't protect the rim when Reed isn't on the floor?

www.cbssports.com

College basketball rankings: Each AP Top 25 team's strengths, weaknesses and depth chart entering 2025-26

Though hope springs eternal ahead of the season, no college basketball team is perfect
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
HooperScooper said:
Another article from CBS Sports. Strengths and weaknesses of each Top 25 team.

4. UConn​

Projected starting lineup:
Top reserves: F Jaylin Stewart, G Malachi Smith, F Eric Reibe, G/F Jayden Ross, G Jacob Furphy

Biggest strengths: A scheme like this with shooters of UConn's ilk is utopia. The threat of the 3-ball from Demary, Ball, Mullins and Karaban (who could all shoot over 37% from downtown on high volume) should fuel a top-five offense, especially paired with Reed, who is a beast in the paint. Dan Hurley can go big or small at a moment's notice, and that optionality is everything in the chase for a championship.

UConn's point guard play was dire for long stretches last year, but portal imports like Demary and Smith should transform it from a weakness to a strength. Purdue enters 2025-26 as the favorite to be the No. 1 offense in the country, but UConn is one of the few that could realistically vault the Boilermakers.

Potential weaknesses: It's all about the defense if UConn wants to achieve its lofty goals. Can Reed protect the rim and anchor this defense without fouling every other possession? Can Ball improve as a point of attack defender? What are UConn's counters if it can't protect the rim when Reed isn't on the floor?

www.cbssports.com

College basketball rankings: Each AP Top 25 team's strengths, weaknesses and depth chart entering 2025-26

Though hope springs eternal ahead of the season, no college basketball team is perfect
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
Expand ...
Will Hurley get creative with the perimeter defense rotations to build strength out there in order to protect Reed from stupid fouls? How might he use Smith/Demary/Ross in order to keep penetration out of the lane? I don't care how well Solo shoots, if it looks anything like last year, would be all for stuffing him on the bench until he learns how to play defense. We have options this year, last year we didn't.

I'd argue keeping Reed on the floor is far more important than having any one of our guards on the floors as we have a zillion options in the backcourt. I don't want to be rolling a freshmen center out there for extended minutes.
 
HooperScooper said:
Another article from CBS Sports. Strengths and weaknesses of each Top 25 team.

4. UConn​

Projected starting lineup:
Top reserves: F Jaylin Stewart, G Malachi Smith, F Eric Reibe, G/F Jayden Ross, G Jacob Furphy

Biggest strengths: A scheme like this with shooters of UConn's ilk is utopia. The threat of the 3-ball from Demary, Ball, Mullins and Karaban (who could all shoot over 37% from downtown on high volume) should fuel a top-five offense, especially paired with Reed, who is a beast in the paint. Dan Hurley can go big or small at a moment's notice, and that optionality is everything in the chase for a championship.

UConn's point guard play was dire for long stretches last year, but portal imports like Demary and Smith should transform it from a weakness to a strength. Purdue enters 2025-26 as the favorite to be the No. 1 offense in the country, but UConn is one of the few that could realistically vault the Boilermakers.

Potential weaknesses: It's all about the defense if UConn wants to achieve its lofty goals. Can Reed protect the rim and anchor this defense without fouling every other possession? Can Ball improve as a point of attack defender? What are UConn's counters if it can't protect the rim when Reed isn't on the floor?

www.cbssports.com

College basketball rankings: Each AP Top 25 team's strengths, weaknesses and depth chart entering 2025-26

Though hope springs eternal ahead of the season, no college basketball team is perfect
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
Expand ...
Writers must celebrate when they get to UConn in articles like this. It's a layup.
 
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RuffRuff said:
Trying to forecast them isn't that different than StJ in my book because they have a brand new backcourt. Fland was a cancer on Arkansas last year and no idea how an Ivy League guard will translate to high D1, nevermind play together. I'd say overrated as well.

I personally think Purdue is as well. As good as their core is, they have little NBA talent. That's going to shine through at some point. They have a really high floor. Let's not forget that Purdue lost 12 games last year. They made the S16 by some luck of the draw. Houston has a higher ceiling.

4 is spot on for us. About where I'd expect any national poll to rank us preseason.

5 OOC top 20 matchups, 6 top 30.
Expand ...

IMO, Purdue's ceiling will likely run concurrent with how good Jacobson actually is, how healthy he can be and how well he fits with Renn. His injury a minute into his second game smothered their potential last year.
 
Purdue #5 a lot better than last year.
Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen.
TKR All American #4
 
Matt Norlander has UConn at #6 in his preseason Top 100 and 1.

6. Connecticut​

A high-profile regression to the mean played out in a turbulent, humbling five-month marathon for Dan Hurley's program in 2024-25. We were all reminded how hard it is for college basketball teams to stay elite, particularly with national championship aspirations, three years in a row. Connecticut went 24-11, earned a No. 8 seed and was knocked from the mountaintop. (For more on this, check out my column from earlier this week on Hurley and his atonement for bad behavior.)

But I don't see a repeat of that performance. EvanMiya.com rates UConn with four "elite" 3-point shooters, matching Purdue, Oklahoma and Virginia for the most in college hoops. The best of them should be junior 2-man Solo Ball, who sank 99 of his 239 treys last season (41.4%) and is equipped to be one of the best give-you-a-boost shooters in the country. He'll be set up by Georgia transfer Silas Demary, a tough and big point guard who will ease the concerns UConn faced with its backcourt a season ago. Those two will play with freshman Braylon Mullins, who won't face the pressure of having to be as good as Liam McNeeley a season ago but should nevertheless find a nice role by league play. Alex Karaban's back for his senior season as well. Literally no team in the country has a player with his winning pedigree and the ups and downs to endear him to a crucial leadership role. Tarris Reed Jr. is also back and could grow into a top-10 big in the sport. I like the Huskies to take the Big East for the third time in four years.

www.cbssports.com

College basketball rankings: Houston, Purdue, Kentucky, Duke and more headline 2025-26 Top 100 And 1 teams

You ready for the season? Not until you comb through Matt Norlander's annual, ultimate team ranking guide
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
HooperScooper said:
Matt Norlander has UConn at #6 in his preseason Top 100 and 1.

6. Connecticut​

A high-profile regression to the mean played out in a turbulent, humbling five-month marathon for Dan Hurley's program in 2024-25. We were all reminded how hard it is for college basketball teams to stay elite, particularly with national championship aspirations, three years in a row. Connecticut went 24-11, earned a No. 8 seed and was knocked from the mountaintop. (For more on this, check out my column from earlier this week on Hurley and his atonement for bad behavior.)

But I don't see a repeat of that performance. EvanMiya.com rates UConn with four "elite" 3-point shooters, matching Purdue, Oklahoma and Virginia for the most in college hoops. The best of them should be junior 2-man Solo Ball, who sank 99 of his 239 treys last season (41.4%) and is equipped to be one of the best give-you-a-boost shooters in the country. He'll be set up by Georgia transfer Silas Demary, a tough and big point guard who will ease the concerns UConn faced with its backcourt a season ago. Those two will play with freshman Braylon Mullins, who won't face the pressure of having to be as good as Liam McNeeley a season ago but should nevertheless find a nice role by league play. Alex Karaban's back for his senior season as well. Literally no team in the country has a player with his winning pedigree and the ups and downs to endear him to a crucial leadership role. Tarris Reed Jr. is also back and could grow into a top-10 big in the sport. I like the Huskies to take the Big East for the third time in four years.

www.cbssports.com

College basketball rankings: Houston, Purdue, Kentucky, Duke and more headline 2025-26 Top 100 And 1 teams

You ready for the season? Not until you comb through Matt Norlander's annual, ultimate team ranking guide
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
Expand ...
Kansas at 7 is a sign he’s just striving to be different
 
#6 to start is pretty high from that guy. He usually starts UConn with a -5.
 
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