The first AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll of the season landed Monday, and it came with the usual preseason tug-of-war between reputation and roster math. Florida checked in at No. 1 after grabbing 47 of 59 first-place votes, a reflection of a team that returns four starters from last season’s No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Duke, Illinois, UConn and Arizona followed to round out the top five.
But this poll has a different feel than most. With so many teams waiting on fifth-year eligibility decisions, the usual early-season snapshot is a little fuzzier than normal.
Kansas is a perfect example. Just hours before the poll dropped, the Jayhawks learned that former Purdue star Trey Kaufman-Renn would be joining the program, though there’s still uncertainty about whether he’ll be cleared for a sixth year of eligibility in 2026-27.
Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White are also seeking a fifth year, and if all three get the green light, Kansas looks like a top 10 team.
That’s part of what makes the opening rankings so interesting: some teams are sitting higher than they should be, while others are buried a little too far down the list.
Michigan is the clearest case of the former. The Wolverines landed at No. 7 in the poll, but there’s a strong argument they’re being priced for what the roster could have been rather than what it is right now.
Brandon McCoy Jr. is out for the season, Roddy Gayle Jr.’s eligibility is still unresolved, and with Dusty May now off to the NBA, the lineup questions only pile up. Even if Gayle is cleared, Michigan still looks like a team that will fall behind USC and UCLA in the Big Ten race.
Virginia is another team that feels too high in the top 10. The Cavaliers came in at No. 8, but in the ACC hierarchy they were pegged behind Duke, Miami and Louisville. A ballot that matched that view would have pushed Miami into the 8-10 range and dropped Virginia into the early teens.
Kansas, on the other hand, feels light at No. 19.
On paper, this is a team that could climb fast if the eligibility rulings break right. Kaufman-Renn gives the Jayhawks a frontcourt piece that pairs well with Tyran Stokes, and when you add White, Council and five-star guard Taylen Kinney, the roster starts to look stronger than last season’s group that featured five-star guard Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
With Bill Self’s retirement talk hanging around for years, Kansas has a clear reason to push hard for every bit of available ceiling.
Kentucky also stands out as undervalued at No. 23.
The Wildcats were one of the sport’s biggest disappointments last season, but this has the feel of a bounce-back year for Mark Pope’s group. Former Iowa State star Milan Momcilovic changes the equation, and a possible second-year leap from Malachi Moreno would help.
The backcourt is the swing point, with CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reporting that Alex Wilkins will run the transition offense while junior point guard Zoom Diallo handles the halfcourt sets. If that arrangement clicks, Kentucky can move a lot faster than its ranking suggests.
Miami at No. 14 also looks too low. The Hurricanes should be in the top 10 mix, and they get a chance right away to prove it with an opening-week shot at in-state foe Florida.
Their ranking still depends in part on Malik Reneau, last season’s leading scorer, and whether he receives a fifth year. Even if he doesn’t, Miami brings back Shelton Henderson and added Acaden Lewis and Somto Cyril through the portal, which makes this team better than it was a year ago.
Texas Tech rounds out the group of underrated teams at No. 19, and that number only makes sense if the eligibility picture stays cloudy. If Donovan Atwell, Darrion Williams and Jamichael Stillwell all receive fifth years, this is the kind of roster that could push into the top 10.
Williams was central to Texas Tech’s Elite Eight run in 2025, when the Red Raiders came minutes from knocking off eventual national champion Florida. Atwell brings elite shooting, and JT Toppin, who is coming back from a torn ACL suffered late last season, might be the most important player in the mix when healthy.
If everything breaks right, Texas Tech can beat this ranking by a wide margin.
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For Florida fans, the broader picture is just as striking because the Gators were part of a day that helped redraw the national conversation in a hurry. Ohio State held off Indiana, Tennessee beat Alabama, Florida knocked off Texas, and Auburn beat Georgia, turning what could have been a routine Saturday into a rankings reset that left the Big 12 race and the rest of the playoff picture looking far more volatile than before. [Read more 🡒]