With the 2025-26 season barely behind us, ESPN has already turned its attention to the 2026-27 college basketball season, releasing its ‘Way-Too-Early Top 25’ rankings. Jeff Borzello offers a breakdown of the teams expected to contend and potential dark horses for the upcoming campaign.
Michigan Look to Repeat
Michigan cemented its place among the most dominant teams in recent men’s college basketball history, beating UConn to win the program’s first national championship since 1989. The Wolverines (37-3) won 29 games this season by double digits and set multiple NCAA tournament records in the process. Coach Dusty May now faces the task of reloading for a repeat run.
The focus now shifts to the ‘offseason’, a period dominated by roster changes over the next six weeks. The transfer portal, NBA draft decisions, and coaching changes will be key storylines to follow as the 2025-26 season is reviewed.
Ranking Methodology and Transfer Portal Impact
Past rankings adhered to strict rules, such as considering any player in the top 50 of ESPN’s NBA draft rankings as a departure. However, the rise of NIL deals and revenue sharing agreements has led more borderline first-round picks to return to school, making the cutoff less rigid. Late first-round picks could go either way, and some speculation is built in.
Any player projected outside the first round in ESPN’s NBA draft rankings is currently factored in as a returnee. With the transfer portal officially opening, these rankings are expected to change rapidly. The first game of the 2026-27 season is only 209 days away.
Early Look at Potential Contenders
The reigning national champions have a legitimate chance to go back-to-back depending on the NBA draft decisions of frontcourt stalwarts Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. Entering the NCAA tournament, both players were projected in the late first round. High-level performances in the tournament, though, both could justifiably leave. Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney are expected to return, though, while incoming five-star recruit Brandon McCoy should join them on the perimeter.
- Elliot Cadeau (10.1 PPG)
- Brandon McCoy (No. 18 in SC Next 100)
- Trey McKenney (9.5 PPG)
- Morez Johnson Jr. (13.4 PPG)
- Aday Mara (12.0 PPG)
As usual, Duke’s roster is in as much flux as anyone’s in college basketball. Cameron Boozer is gone, as is Maliq Brown. But Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngongba II and Dame Sarr are all projected as late first-round or early second-round draft picks, and could go either way. Coach Jon Scheyer again also has the nation’s best recruiting class, led by five-stars Cameron Williams and Deron Rippey Jr. Caleb Foster should return as a starter, and Cayden Boozer and Nikolas Khamenia are set for bigger roles if they’re back in Durham.
- Deron Rippey Jr. (No. 13 in SC Next 100)
- Caleb Foster (8.5 PPG)
- Dame Sarr (6.4 PPG)
- Cameron Williams (No. 3 in SC Next 100)
- Patrick Ngongba (10.5 PPG)
Will coach Todd Golden be able to run it back for a third consecutive season with the frontcourt duo