The race to be college basketball’s best player in 2026-27 already has a strange feel to it. The sport is losing most of the impact names that drove last season, and the incoming freshman class does not carry the same buzz as the one that just produced Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer and AJ Dybantsa, all top-3 picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
That opens the door for returning stars and a few high-end newcomers to take over the conversation. Of the 15 players who landed on CBS Sports’ three All-American teams for 2025-26, only three are back for 2026-27.
Texas Tech forward JT Toppin is one of them, but he is working back from a torn ACL suffered in February, which leaves an uncertain timeline. The other two are Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. and Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner, both third-team All-Americans who still have to make a leap to reach true best-player-in-the-sport territory.
Jeremy Fears Jr. has the cleanest case. The Michigan State guard led the nation in assists at 9.4 per game and also averaged 15.3 points, all while operating as the central piece for a team that should be in the mix for a No. 1 seed.
He was the highest-rated returning player by KenPom from 2025-26, and he becomes even more valuable with another season of experience in the same program. That kind of production and continuity is rare enough that he has a real claim to preseason National Player of the Year status.
As the piece puts it, “He should be the preseason pick for NPOY as far as I'm concerned.”
Not far behind in the discussion is Thomas Haugh, who chose to return to Florida despite looking like a sure-fire first-round pick and possibly a top-20 selection if he had entered the 2026 NBA Draft. Haugh is described as the “ultimate Swiss Army Knife” for Florida, and the expectation is that he projects as the best player in college basketball.
The debate around the top spot, though, is wider than usual. The article notes that Kansas forward Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the 2026 recruiting cycle, could even become the No. 1 overall pick next summer.
Tanner brings a different kind of case to the table. At just 6 feet, he has already done something almost nobody else at his height has managed in the high-major game: since 2008, only three players 6-foot or shorter have had at least 17 dunks in a season, and Tanner’s 17 in 2025-26 put him on that list with Russ Smith and Kenny Gabriel.
But his value goes well beyond finishing at the rim. He posted a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover rate, creates offense with his speed and change of direction, and brings defense, rebounding, foul-drawing and shot-making to the mix.
Vanderbilt is counting on a huge junior season from him.
There’s also a freshman worth keeping in the frame. Arkansas guard Caleb Holt is a top-five prospect in the 2026 class and is expected to star for a Razorbacks team ranked No. 10 in the latest CBS Sports Top 25 And 1.
The thinking here is straightforward: if Holt becomes the best player on a legitimate Final Four contender, he belongs in the conversation. With him on the list, the SEC-heavy feel of the race becomes obvious, too.
Outside of Fears, every player named among the NPOY favorites is set to play in the SEC this season.
In Other News...
Texas Tech's Playoff-Minded Scheduling Push Just Hit A Serious Snag
Texas Techs push to build a playoff-ready non-conference slate took a hit when its planned games with Southern California for 2027 and 2028 came off the board. Both schools had discussed the matchups, but the talks never turned into an agreement, leaving the Red Raiders back at square one as they try to line up the kind of schedule that can strengthen a postseason case.
The timing is less than ideal because Texas Tech already has other future openings to solve, and the pool of Power Four opponents is not exactly overflowing. With North Carolina State and Mississippi State also backing away from future games, the Red Raiders have to keep searching for high-level replacements while the calendar keeps moving. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Suddenly Faces Real Pressure On Its Conference Future
Conference realignment talk has been parked for a while, but a proposed change in Washington could put it right back on the table for Texas Tech and the rest of the Big 12. Florida U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody has ed an amendment to the Protect College Sports Act that would reshape the penalty structure for schools changing leagues, and it comes at a time when the Red Raiders are already in the middle of a noisy stretch of off-field scrutiny, including the legal fight that allowed quarterback Brendan Sorsby to play despite an NCAA suspension.
For Texas Tech, the concern is not just abstract league politics. Any shift in the way conference exits are regulated could alter the calculus for schools weighing their long-term future, especially if the major powers start looking at the SEC or Big Ten as more attractive landing spots. The Red Raiders would not be the only school watching closely, but they are among the programs that now have to wonder whether the ground under the Big 12 is about to move again. [Read more 🡒]