Head coach Dan Hurley of the Connecticut Huskies and head coach Todd Golden of the Florida Gators shake hands before their game during the second round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Lenovo Center on March 23, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
UConn’s Nik Khamenia speaks to members of the media after a summer practice at the Werth Family Basketball Champions Center in Storrs, Conn., Friday, August 7, 2026.
Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: Head coach Rick Pitino of the St. John’s Red Storm looks on during the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena at San Diego State University on March 22, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. (2) drives to the basket against Marquette’s Nigel James Jr. during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Aaron Gash/AP
Call us a relic, call us what you will. Say we’re old-fashioned, say we’re over the hill.
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Long ago, when NLI was something and NIL was nothing, when AI only meant Allen Iverson, college programs were ranked in the preseason largely on how many quality returnees it had on the roster.
Not so much anymore. The aforementioned NIL, along with the transfer portal and ever-changing eligibility rules have created roster havoc at most programs each year. Numerous teams still don’t have complete rosters just a few weeks before the start of the season. LSU barely even has a roster.
Even Shaka Smart is getting in on the act, after eschewing the portal the past five seasons at Marquette.
Now, it’s more “who did you bring in?” than “who do you have coming back?” And even that’s hard to answer, since there are still dozens of players awaiting court decisions on whether they can play this season, either as former pros, fifth-year seniors or foreign imports.
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We still value roster retention and think it’s a big key to a team’s success. Dan Hurley would agree, typically bringing back a good chunk of his roster each season, and the results speak for themselves.
We’re happy to once again be Connecticut’s representative among Associated Press Top 25 voters this season. Our preseason ballot leans heavily towards roster retention. We’re also playing a balancing act in guessing which of those aforementioned dozens of players may be eligible to play.
Certainly, it won’t all play out perfectly. There will be some teams that lost just about everybody who brought in a heap of talent under a coach who makes it all work. Look at Michigan last season. And maybe St. John’s or Tennessee or Louisville this season.
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But for now, we’ll stick with the old-time rock ‘n’ roll values of roster continuity. The AP preseason Top 25 poll will come out on Monday, but voters had to submit their ballots by noon on Oct. 12.
Here’s what our ballot looks like:
1. Florida: Gators have nearly 55 points per game returning in four starters. An easy pick for No. 1.
2. Michigan State: We’ll get a glimpse of how good Spartans are in Oct. 20 exhibition, but with Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr back, we suspect pretty good.
3. Virginia: Cavs return four starters, including All-American candidate Thijs de Ridder. See you Dec. 20 at MSG!
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4. UConn: Ex-Dukie Nik Khamenia, Alex Karaban’s replacement, might be biggest key to season.
5. Duke: See you in Vegas on Thanksgiving Eve … and be careful inbounding the ball in the final seconds!
6. Illinois: It only seems like UConn is 30-0 vs. Illini last few years (hmmm … how did we arrive at that number?) Anyway, see you Dec. 4 in Chicago.
7. USC: Hopefully for Eric Reibe’s sake, he’s a.) healthy and b.) able to play on the perimeter more than he did at UConn.
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8. Gonzaga: With Braden Huff and Florida transfer Xaivian Lee, Zags should be kings of the new Pac-12.
9. TCU: Jamie Dixon’s got four key returnees back, so we’ll rank them thusly.
10. Arizona: Do we see Bryce James in games this season? Like on Nov. 18 in Tucson?
11. Ohio State: With high-scoring John Mobley back and Scottie Pippen’s son Justin aboard, Buckeyes could be trouble in Hartford on Nov. 13.
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12. Tennessee: Rick Barnes has five incoming players who averaged 15 points or more at other schools last season.
13. Louisville: Cards nailed the portal with Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad, Kansas center Flory Bidunga coming aboard.
14. Vanderbilt: Does G Chandler Bing help make this season The One Where the Commodores get to the Second Weekend?
15. BYU: What kind of impact can well-traveled Windsor product Tyler Betsey make with Cougars?
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16. Texas: Sean Miller welcomes back 15.6-per-game scorer Matas Vokietaits.
17. Houston: Kelvin Sampson’s got his work cut out for him, but he’s as good a coach as there is west of Storrs.
18. Michigan: With Dusty May, Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, Morez Johnson and even injured frosh Brandon McCoy gone, tough to envision a Wolverine repeat. See you Nov. 6 in Boston.
19. Alabama: Can Bloomfield’s London Jemison be a key sophomore contributor for Crimson Tide?
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20. St. John’s: Rick Pitino decided this year that it is, indeed, important to have a true point guard, so he brought in talented, 23-year-old Euro Quinn Ellis, who logged over 40 minutes in a 4-OT exhibition win over Rutgers on Sunday.
21. Nebraska: ‘Huskers have one of country’s top returnees in Pryce Sandfort.
22. Purdue: UConn portal target Caden Pierce should be a perfect fit with Boilermakers. See you Oct. 27 in exhibition finale at PBA!
23. Marquette: Was Rick Pitino trolling UConn by picking ‘Quette to win Big East? Not necessarily. They’ve got plenty of talent back, including Big East Frosh of Year Nigel James Jr.
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24. Arkansas: Let’s see if West Haven’s Abdou Toure is one that got away from Dan Hurley.
25. VCU: Lemme guess … UConn was afraid to schedule Phil Martelli Jr. in a non-con game this season again, right?