Men’s college basketball top 25 rankings for 2026-27 with transfer portal closed

There is still a ton of moving and shaking to take place over the weeks ahead, but for now, we have a decent idea of what the top rosters in college basketball are going to look like heading into the 2026-27 season.

Here are the 25 best … at the moment:

1. Florida Gators

2025-26 Record: 27-8

2025-26 Finish: Second Round

Assuming Rueben Chinyelu opts to spurn the NBA and return to school for one more year, Florida will return the same frontcourt that won a national title two seasons ago and earned a No. 1 seed in 2025. Bringing back point guard Boogie Fland — whose emergence in the second half of the season took the Gators from disappointment to legitimate national title contender — and reserve guard Urban Klavzar is enormous as well. Extremely capable two guard Denzel Aberdeen is also back after a season at Kentucky, but he’ll need a waiver to play in 2026-27.

With or without Aberdeen, this is the best roster in college basketball at this point in the offseason, and that seems unlikely to change between now and early November.

2. Illinois Fighting Illini

2025-26 Record: 28-9

2025-26 Finish: Final Four

Outside of star freshman guard Keaton Wagler, virtually every key contributor will be back from an Illinois team that took the program to its first Final Four since 2005. The addition of Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks should help alleviate the losses of Wagler and fellow guard Kylan Boswell. If Brad Underwood doesn’t bring in a transfer portal (or European) point guard, the big question for this team will be whether or not incoming freshman Quintin Coleman is good enough to replace Wagler and run the show.

3. Duke Blue Devils

2025-26 Record: 35-3

2025-26 Finish: Elite Eight

The last two pursuits of national championships have ended just about as painfully as possible for the Blue Devils, but Jon Scheyer and company figure to be right back in the mix in 2027. Duke will return four of its top six scorers from last year’s No. 1 overall seed, while also adding top-rated Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell, Belmont transfer Drew Scharnowski and five-star freshmen Cameron Williams, Deron Rippey Jr. and Bryson Howard.

4. Michigan Wolverines

2025-26 Record: 37-3

2025-26 Finish: National Champions

The reigning national champs have a very real chance to go back-to-back thanks in large part to the returns of top five scorers Morez Johnson Jr., Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney. That core will join forces with an exciting transfer portal class headlined by J.P. Estrella (Tennssee), Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati) and Jalen Reed (LSU). Dusty May is also bringing in a loaded freshman class highlighted by five-star guard Brandon McCoy Jr.

5. UConn Huskies

2025-26 Record: 34-6

2025-26 Finish: National Runners-Up

Losing Solo Ball for the year due to wrist surgery is an enormous blow, but it’s one at least partially tempered by the announced returns of Silas Demary, NCAA Tournament hero Braylon Mullins, and Jayden Ross. Transfer portal additions Nikolas Khamenia (Duke), Najai Hines (Seton Hall) and Oskar Giltay (Stanford) should help offset the losses of Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr.

6. Arkansas Razorbacks

2025-26 Record: 28-9

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

This ranking is assuming that both Billy Richmond and Meleek Thomas eventually choose to pull out of the NBA Draft and return to Fayetteville. If that happens, John Calipari should have his most lethal Razorback team to date, even without departing stars Darius Acuff, Nick Pringle, Trevon Brazile and Karter Knox. Incoming freshman Jordan Smith should be up to the task of assuming the star freshman guard role left behind by Acuff, and he’ll get help from Georgia transfer Jeremiah Wilkinson, who was one of the best pure scorers in the SEC last season.

7. Arizona Wildcats

2025-26 Record: 36-3

2025-26 Finish: Final Four

The returns of Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov are big, but Tommy Lloyd’s vaunted frontcourt took a huge hit with the losses of Koa Peat and Tobe Awaka. Replacing star freshman Brayden Burries and Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley are no small tasks either. Bringing in transfer portal guards Derek Dixon (North Carolina) and JJ Mandaquit (Washington), as well as top-five recruit Caleb Holt should shore up the perimeter, but the Wildcats could still use another capable body inside. At this point, the safe play is trusting Lloyd to make it work and have a squad that’s right back in the national title mix next winter.

8. Tennessee Volunteers

2025-26 Record: 25-12

2025-26 Finish: Elite Eight

Tennessee loses all five of its starters from a team that played in a third straight regional final, but Rick Barnes has gone out and landed transfer portal pieces that could give him his most offensively gifted squad in Knoxville to date. Tyler Lundblade (Belmont), Dai Dai Ames (Cal), Miles Rubin (Loyola Chicago), Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame) and Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU) are all established bucket-getters. The big question here is whether or not Barnes can get the group to play the same level of defense that UT fans have grown accustomed to seeing.

9. Michigan State Spartans

2025-26 Record: 27-8

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

Roster retention remains the name of the game for Tom Izzo in this brave, new college basketball world. Point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. figures to be a preseason All-American, and returning forward Coen Carr will continue to be the sport’s pre-eminent human highlight reel. Fellow returnees Kur Teng, Jordan Scott and Cam Ward will all have to up their production for this team to be a legitimate national title contender. The addition of Charlotte transfer Anton Bonke and the return of senior forward Kaleb Glenn from injury should also provide a nice boost.

10. Texas Longhorns

2025-26 Record: 21-15

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

A lot of people are going to take a “believe it when I see it” approach to Texas receiving a preseason top 10 ranking, but on paper, Sean Miller has put together an absolute squad this spring. David Punch (TCU) and Isaiah Johnson (Colorado) were two of the best available players in the transfer portal, and pairing them with returning big man Matas Vokietaitis should form a lethal core. Mikey Lewis (Vanderbilt) and Elyjah Freeman (Auburn) were both underrated adds, and if incoming freshman Austin Goosby is as good as advertised, there’s no reason for this Texas team to finish outside the top three or four in the SEC.

11. Houston Cougars

2025-26 Record: 30-7

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

Until Kelvin Sampson gives us a reason to doubt his ability to reload and continue to produce top 10 (or just outside the top 10) caliber teams, we should all probably just assume it’s going to continue to happen. Getting Joseph Tugler back was huge, and there are reasons. to believe that Sampson will be able to get more out of fellow returnees Mercy Miller and Chase McCarty next season. Incoming transfer Dedan Thomas Jr. (LSU) will be asked to shoulder much of the scoring load in his first season as a Cougar.

12. Iowa State Cyclones

2025-26 Record: 29-8

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

Iowa State is another “trust the guy who has been getting it done for several years in a row” situation. T.J. Otzelberger loses stars Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic, but does return his next three leading scorers in Killyan Toure, Blake Buchanan and Jamarion Bateman. Otzelberger will have to find untapped potential from multiple members of his under-the-radar portal class of Jaquan Johnson (Bradley), Leon Bond III (Northern Iowa), Tre Singleton (Northwestern) and Ryan Prather Jr. (Robert Morris) in order to compete with the best of the best in the Big 12.

13. Louisville Cardinals

2025-26 Record: 24-11

2025-26 Finish: Second Round

Pat Kelsey has once again made a push for the title of “portal king” after landing a loaded class highlighted by Flory Bidunga (Kansas), Jackson Shelstad (Oregon), Karter Knox (Arkansas), Alvoro Folgueiras (Iowa) and De’Shayne Montgomery (Dayton). The return of guard Adrian Wooley, who came on late last season when star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. was sidelined with a back injury, hasn’t received as much national attention but could prove to be just as crucial when it comes to Louisville’s chances of making its first NCAA Tournament second weekend since 2015.

14. Virginia Cavaliers

2025-26 Record: 30-6

2025-26 Finish: Second Round

The Cavaliers are the rarest of rarities these days: A program that nearly a month into the offseason has not lost a player to the transfer portal or added a player from it. That will likely change in the weeks ahead, as UVA has to find some bodies to replace the five players who graduated from last year’s team. Still, a returning core of First Team All-ACC performer Thijs De Ridder, Sam Lewis, Chance Mallory, Johann Gunloh and Elijah Gertrude is enough to justify a top 15 ranking at this juncture.

15. Gonzaga Bulldogs

2025-26 Record: 31-4

2025-26 Finish: Second Round

Assuming Braden Huff gets back to full strength after recovering from the knee injury that cut his 2025-26 season short by three months, the Zags should be the team to beat in the first year of the new Pac-12. Mark Few has brought in a couple of nice transfer portal pieces, but could use a really big fish to solidify his squad’s status as a potential top-tier national title contender.

16. Miami Hurricanes

2025-26 Record: 26-9

2025-26 Finish: Second Round

In his first season as a head coach, Jai Lucas proved he has what it takes to be one of the next big coaching stars in this sport. After taking Miami from seven wins in 2024-25 to 26 wins and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2025-26, Lucas now has the pieces needed to accomplish even more in year two. Shelton Henderson, Dante Allen and Marcus Allen are all back and will be bolstered by a very good portal class that features Villanova point guard transfer Acaden Lewis as well as DeSean Goode (Robert Morris) and Somto Cyril (Georgia).

17. St. John’s Red Storm

2025-26 Record: 30-7

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

Rick Pitino made sure to immediately land the point guard he was missing last season when he signed Quinn Ellis, a British professional who has spent the last couple of years serving as a floor general in the EuroLeague. He also brings back Ian Jackson and brings in talented Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, who has the type of untapped potential that could thrive under the drive demanded by Pitino.

18. Alabama Crimson Tide

2025-26 Record: 25-10

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

As long as Adel Holloway is permitted to return to the team once his legal troubles are cleared up, Nate Oats should once again have one of the better squads in the SEC. There are some very legitimate questions outside of Holloway’s future, but the pieces from the portal — headlined by Boise State defector Drew Fielder — are plentiful enough to trust Oats to make the most of what he has.

19. Missouri Tigers

2025-26 Record: 20-13

2025-26 Finish: First Round

This is shaping up to be a “prove-it” season for Dennis Gates. Thankfully, he has the pieces to do just that. Bryson Tiller (Kansas), Jamier Jones (Providence) and Jaylen Carey (Tennessee) are an extremely formidable transfer portal trio. They’ll team up with one of the nation’s best recruiting classes, one headlined by McDonald’s All-Americans Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant.

20. BYU Cougars

2025-26 Record: 23-12

2025-26 Finish: First Round

What was widely referred to as “the most anticipated season in BYU basketball history” wound up being something of a disappointment, as A.J. Dybantsa (despite being as good as advertised) and company lost 12 times and failed to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. Kevin Young will try to accomplish more without the likely No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, and has the chance to it thanks to the return of point guard Rob Wright and the additions of a deep portal class as well as five-star freshman Bruce Branch III.

21. Nebraska Cornhuskers

2025-26 Record: 28-7

2025-26 Finish: Sweet 16

With the stigma of “only power conference program to have never won an NCAA Tournament game” now gone forever, Fred Hoiberg can now shift his focus to building a consistent contender in Lincoln. The return of All-Big Ten performer Pryce Sandfort and conference Sixth Man of the Year Braden Frager as well as the addition of a solid portal class should give Hoiberg the opportunity to do just that in 2026-27.

22. Vanderbilt Commodores

2025-26 Record: 27-9

2025-26 Finish: Second Round

The Commodores are here under the assumption that star guard Tyler Tanner will return to Nashville for the 2026-27 season. If Tanner keeps his name in the NBA Draft, you can go ahead and knock Mark Byington’s team out of these rankings. Even if that happens, expect Byington to prove once again that he’s one of the next big coaching stars in this sport by getting absolute most out of the roster he has.

23. Indiana Hoosiers

2025-26 Record: 18-14

2025-26 Finish: No Postseason

Darian DeVries didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first year in Bloomington, but his offseason transfer portal haul has ignited some renewed faith that he could wind up being the long-awaited savior of Indiana basketball. Aiden Sherrell (Alabama), Samet Yigitoglu (SMU), Markus Burton (Notre Dame), Darren Harris (Duke) and Jaeden Mustaf (Georgia Tech) give the Hoosiers one of the three or four best portal classes in the country.

24. UCLA Bruins

2025-26 Record: 24-12

2025-26 Finish: Second Round

Mick Cronin is once again all-in on the transfer portal and has brought in a solid group fronted by Sergej Macura (Mississippi State), Filip Jovic (Auburn), Jaylen Petty (Texas Tech) and Stink Robinson (Butler). If Cronin can reel in Baylor transfer Tounde Yessoufou, you can go ahead and bump the Bruins up a few sports on this list.

25. USC Trojans

2025-26 Record: 18-14

2025-26 Finish: No Postseason

Eric Musselman’s first two seasons in Los Angeles have been wildly disappointing, but there are reasons to believe year three will be better. Alijah Arenas is back, as are primary contributors Rodney Rice and Jacob Cofie. Portal additions  KJ Lewis (Georgetown), Eric Reibe (UConn) and Jalen Cox (Colgate) are all talented, and don’t figure to bring any of the chemistry issues that Chad Baker-Mazara brought with him from Auburn last season. Toss in a trio of top 25 incoming freshmen, and there will be no excuse if Musselman once again fails to get USC into the field of 68.

The Next 10:

26. Saint Louis Billikens
27. Purdue Boilermakers
28. Ohio State Buckeyes
29. Texas A&M Aggies
30. Kansas Jayhawks
31. North Carolina Tar Heels
32. Iowa Hawkeyes
33. Providence Friars
34. Xavier Musketeers
35. Arizona State Sun Devils