Texas is back in the AP preseason spotlight, and the Longhorns landed high.
The University of Texas men’s basketball team checked in at No. 7 in The Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25, which was released Monday. It’s the program’s best preseason AP ranking since Texas entered the 2021-22 season at No. 5.
This is also familiar territory for the Longhorns. Texas has now appeared in the AP preseason poll 22 times in school history, including six of the last seven years. The program’s list of preseason rankings stretches across decades, from No. 6 in 1978-79 to No. 19 in 2024-25, with several high-water marks in between, including No. 2 in 2005-06, No. 3 in 2009-10 and No. 5 in 2021-22.
Texas is one of seven Southeastern Conference teams in the preseason Top 25. Florida leads the group at No. 1, followed by Tennessee at No.
8, Arkansas at No. 12, Alabama at No.
20, Kentucky at No. 23 and Vanderbilt at No. 24.
The ranking comes with a roster that looks very different from last season’s Sweet 16 team. Texas returns just one starter, junior center Matas Vokietaitis, from a squad that finished 21-15 overall and 9-9 in SEC play. Head coach Sean Miller and his staff rebuilt quickly, adding 11 newcomers and bringing in a class that 247 Sports ranked No. 1 overall in the country when freshmen and transfers are combined.
The transfer group includes sophomore guard Amari Evans from Tennessee, junior guard/forward Elyjah Freeman from Auburn, sophomore guard Isaiah Johnson from Colorado, junior guard Mikey Lewis from Saint Mary’s and junior forward David Punch from TCU. The freshman class is a six-man group ranked No. 4 nationally by 247 Sports, and it features three Texas products in guard Austin Goosby, guard Bo Ogden and forward Marcus Spears Jr.
Texas opens the 2026-27 season at home against Chicago State on Monday, Nov. 2.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. Central at Moody Center, with the game slated for national television on SEC Network.
Florida opened at No. 1 in the poll with 47 first-place votes and 1,461 points. Duke followed at No.
2, Illinois at No. 3, UConn at No.
4, Arizona at No. 5 and Michigan State at No. 6, just ahead of Texas.
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