Top 5 Men’s College Basketball Storylines For The 2025-26 Season

Nearly seven months have passed since Florida defeated Houston to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship, capping a breakthrough season for the Gators and the Southeastern Conference in general. Since then, coaches across the country have been busy adding players via the transfer portal and working with their teams in a sport that has constant roster turnover.

On Nov. 3, the long wait is over, as the 2025-26 season begins with 20 of the 25 teams in the Associated Press preseason poll in action. It is the start of a five-month journey that concludes on April 6 with the national title game in Indianapolis.

Below, we take a look at five major storylines to watch for this season:

Florida Seeks A Rare Repeat National Title

Even though the Gators were a No. 1 seed in the 2025 NCAA tournament, they entered the Final Four as the overlooked team, as the semifinals featured three other No. 1 seeds with more hype in Duke, Auburn and Houston. But Florida ended up winning the title, defeating Auburn in the semifinals and overcoming a 12-point second half deficit to beat Houston for the championship.

This year, UF will not fall under the radar and could have a shot at winning back-to-back national titles. Since 1991, only two programs (Florida in 2006 and 2007 and Connecticut in 2023 and 2024) have won consecutive championships. The Gators are third in the AP preseason poll, the second-highest ranking in program history. UF was No. 1 entering the 2006-07 season.

Florida returns two talented forwards in Alex Condon, who averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds last season, and Thomas Haugh, who averaged 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds. Condon was one of five players selected to the AP’s preseason All-American team. The Gators also added transfer guards Boogie Fland, who averaged 13.5 points and 5.1 assists last season as a freshman at Arkansas, and Xaivian Lee, who averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists as a junior at Princeton.

Florida faces a difficult task in its Nov. 3 opener when the Gators face No. 13 Arizona in Las Vegas. The Gators also play at No. 2 Duke on Dec. 2 in the SEC-ACC Challenge and against No. 3 UConn on Dec. 9 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Starting on Jan. 3, they will begin their challenging conference schedule. The SEC had a record 14 teams in last season’s NCAA tournament and is the top-ranked league in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s preseason rankings.

Purdue’s Braden Smith Continues All-Time Career

Smith is the only returning first-team AP All-American and is the favorite to win the national player of year awards. Smith, a 6-foot point guard, averaged 15.8 points, 8.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals last season. He joined former Murray State guard and current Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant as the only players in NCAA history with at least 550 points, 300 assists and 150 rebounds in a season.

Purdue enters the season as No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in program history. Besides Smith, the Boilermakers also return three other starters from last season’s team that went 24-12 and lost by two points to Houston in the Sweet 16: forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (team-high 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season) and guards Fletcher Loyer (13.8 points per game) and C.J. Cox (6.0 points per game). In addition, Purdue signed transfer forward Oscar Cluff, a 6-foot-11 center from Australia who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds last season at South Dakota State, and Omer Mayer, a 6-foot-4 guard from Israel who played the past two seasons for the Maccabi Tel Aviv professional team.

Purdue coach Matt Painter is challenging his team with a strong non-conference schedule. After opening with home games again Evansville on Nov. 4 and Oakland on No. 7, Purdue plays at No. 15 Alabama on Nov. 13. The Boilermakers are also participating in the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas later next month, where they could face No. 10 Texas Tech in the final, and play No. 16 Iowa State on Dec. 6 at home and No. 20 Auburn on Dec. 20 in Indianapolis.

Elite Freshmen Should Make Major Impact

Cooper Flagg last season became just the fourth freshmen to win the national player of the year awards, joining Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson. This season, another freshman could be part of that list, although it is not certain who will make the biggest impact.

The freshman class features three players who are already projected as potential No. 1 picks in next year’s NBA draft: Darryn Peterson, a 6-foot-5 guard who plays at Kansas; AJ Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 forward at BYU; and Cameron Boozer, a 6-foot-8 forward at Duke. The 247Sports Composite rankings of top high school players in the Class of 2025 had Dybantsa first, Peterson second and Boozer third.

Dybantsa was the only freshman on the five-man AP preseason All-American team. He was originally in the high school class of 2026, but he reclassified so he could start playing college basketball and get to the NBA sooner. In July, he was the Most Valuable Player of the FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup after leading Team USA to the title. BYU is No. 8 in the preseason AP poll, the highest ranking entering the season in program history.

While Dybansta was named a preseason All-American, Peterson was selected as the Big 12 Conference’s preseason freshman of the year. Peterson averaged more than 30 points per game as a high school senior and should be KU’s top player this year. Peterson and Dybantsa were also unanimous selections for the All-Big 12 team. Kansas hosts BYU on Jan. 31.

Boozer, meanwhile, was selected as the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the year and a member of the All-ACC team. Boozer, the son of former NBA forward Carlos Boozer, was the Gatorade national high school player of the year last season. His twin brother, Cayden, is also on Duke’s roster. Cam and Cayden were teammates on the Christopher Columbus High School team that won four consecutive state titles in Florida and on a grassroots team that won three consecutive championships in the Nike EYBL summer circuit. Duke is No. 6 in the preseason AP poll.

Houston Seeks Elusive Championship

Since Kelvin Sampson took over as Houston’s coach in 2014, he has rejuvenated a program that hadn’t been nationally relevant since the mid-1980s. The Cougars last season advanced to the NCAA tournament championship game for the first time since making the title game in 1983 and 1984. This season, they could end up winning their first national championship, the only achievement that Sampson hasn’t reached in his successful career.

Houston is No. 2 in the preseason AP poll, as well as No. 1 in projections from respected analysts Ken Pomeroy, Bart Torvik and Evan Miyakawa. The Cougars return three starters, including guard Emanuel Sharp, who averaged 12.6 points per game last season, and Milos Uzan, who averaged 11.4 points per game. Sharp and Uzan were selected to the 10-player All-Big 12 preseason team. Joseph Tugler, a 6-foot-8 forward, is one of the nation’s top defensive players. The Cougars also have two elite freshmen in center Chris Cenac Jr. and guard Isiah Hartwell, who were the No. 6 and No. 13 players in the high school class of 2025, per the 247Sports Composite.

Over the past five seasons, Houston has gone 160-24, winning at least 28 games and advancing to at least the Sweet 16 each season, including making two Final Fours. They are also 34-4 in regular season conference games since joining the Big 12 two years ago.

Houston’s non-conference schedule includes games against No. 20 Auburn in Birmingham, Ala., on Nov. 16 and against No. 14 Arkansas in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 20. The Cougars are also participating in the Players Era tournament next month in Las Vegas, where they will face No. 18 Tennessee on Nov. 25 and could play another ranked team or two depending on the event’s results.

St. John’s And UConn Reload And Resume Rivalry

During the 2024-25 season, coach Rick Pitino led St. John’s to the Big East regular season and tournament titles, the Red Storm’s best season in 25 years. For a season, at least, St. John’s overtook Connecticut as the league’s top team. The Huskies had won the national title in 2023 and 2024 but were inconsistent last season, finishing 24-11 and losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

UConn and St. John’s will resume their rivalry this season as by far the Big East’s top teams. St. John’s is No. 5 in the preseason AP poll, the highest ranking entering a season in program history, and was picked to finish first in the Big East by the league’s coaches. UConn is No. 4 in the AP poll and was second in the Big East coaches’ rankings. Both teams feature fiery coaches in Pitino and Dan Hurley, who is looking to rebound from a subpar (for him) season.

St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor, the team’s only returning starter, was named the Big East preseason player of the year. Meanwhile, transfer Bryce Hopkins (Providence) was a first team All-Big East selection, while transfer Ian Jackson (North Carolina) was a second team pick. Transfers Dillon Mitchell (Cincinnati) and Joson Sanon (Arizona State) were third team choices.

UConn had three first team All-Big East preseason selections in forward Alex Karaban, guard Solo Ball and center Tarris Reed Jr., who all played for the Huskies last season. Silas Demery Jr., a transfer from Georgia, was a second team pick, while guard Braylon Mullins was tabbed as the preseason freshman of the year. Mullins was the top high school player in Indiana last season and a McDonald’s high school All-American. UConn announced last Friday that Mullins had sustained an ankle injury and would miss about six weeks.

UConn and St. John’s play at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6 and in Hartford, Conn., on Feb. 25. The teams also have challenging non-conference schedules. UConn plays No. 8 BYU on Nov. 15 at TD Garden in Boston, No. 13 Arizona on Nov. 19 at home, No. 17 Illinois on Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden, No. 19 Kansas on Dec. 2 on the road and No. 3 Florida in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 9 at MSG.

Meanwhile, St. John’s faces No. 15 Alabama on Nov. 8 at MSG, No. 16 Iowa State on Nov. 24 in the Players Era event in Las Vegas and No. 9 Kentucky on Dec. 20 in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta. The Red Storm could also play top teams in the Players Era if they advance.