UConn is starting the season with a familiar number next to its name: No. 4.
The AP released its preseason men’s basketball poll Monday afternoon, and the Huskies landed just behind Florida, Duke and Illinois. Arizona checked in at No. 5, while St.
John’s was the only other Big East team to crack the top 25, coming in at No. 13.
Florida claimed the top spot with 47 first-place votes after an offseason that brought back four starters. Duke earned No. 2 with 10 first-place votes, and Illinois picked up the remaining two top votes at No. 3.
For Dan Hurley, this group arrives with a blend of experience, fresh faces and a few moving parts. UConn is coming off its third national championship appearance in four years, and Hurley brought back three starters. Solo Ball is injured, but the Huskies also added eight players through the transfer portal and two highly touted freshmen.
The early returns have been encouraging. UConn opened its preseason with a 72-52 exhibition win over Syracuse at Mohegan Sun Arena last week.
Seton Hall transfer center Na’jai Hines led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds. Silas Demary Jr. added 13 points and a full stat sheet, and Duke transfer Nik Khamenia chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
The exhibition schedule keeps getting tougher. UConn visits Michigan State, which is ranked No. 6, on Tuesday and then hosts Purdue next week to finish out the preseason slate.
The regular season starts Nov. 2 against Gardner-Webb, but the real gauntlet begins almost immediately. On Nov. 6, the Huskies face Michigan in Boston in a national championship rematch. The Wolverines are No. 16 in the AP poll after losing coach Dusty May to the Dallas Mavericks and seeing three starters go in the first round of last June’s draft.
And that’s only the beginning of a brutal nonconference run. UConn has six ranked nonconference games on the schedule: No.
5 Arizona in Tucson on Nov. 18, No.
2 Duke in Las Vegas on Nov. 25, No.
17 Kansas at Gampel Pavilion on Dec. 12, No.
3 Illinois in Chicago on Dec. 4, and No. 9 Virginia at Madison Square Garden on Dec.
Hurley has made clear that preseason rankings only matter so much. He said he does use them as motivation, but he doesn’t put much stock in KenPom, especially this season with so many young players expected to take a major step forward.
UConn opened the first KenPom rankings at No. 11. The Huskies were No. 29 in offensive efficiency and No. 6 defensively.
“I mean, we’re generally gonna be in that spot,” Hurley said last week. “I think it’s a reflection of a combination of veteran experience and production from like high-major or mid-major, from like better leagues, it’s probably a reflection of how much money you spent and how much older production you have from mid-to-high-major basketball.
“We’re generally, with the exception of ’24, I think we started the year maybe fourth or something and obviously we dominated college that year and we weren’t first. Year before that I think we were in the high-20s when we won it in ’23 and we were clearly the best team,” he said. “So it’s not always accurate for us because we’re a program that banks on player development, younger players that we’re expecting to have a better year than they did the year before… I understand where we are, obviously our expectation is that we’re not going to end there.”
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Kansas Just Added A New Wrinkle To UConn's Toughest Test
Kansas gave UConn a little more to think about with the addition of Trey Kaufman-Renn, a veteran big man who spent four seasons at Purdue before deciding to return to college basketball. The move comes just before the start of the season, and it gives the Jayhawks another experienced piece as they shape a roster built to handle one of the sports most demanding schedules.
His arrival also fits into a wider NCAA landscape that has gotten murkier, not clearer, as eligibility rules continue to shift. The new five-years-to-play-five-seasons framework has changed how teams and players view roster-building, while disputes over extra eligibility for certain seniors keep adding twists for programs trying to plan ahead. For UConn, it means a matchup that was already going to be a test now carries one more layer of uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Gets An Early Reality Check With Michigan State Coming Up
UConns next tune-up comes with a little more edge than the usual preseason exhibition. The Huskies are set to meet Michigan State in the second half of a home-and-home series, giving them an early test against a program that rarely treats October basketball as anything less than serious business. Tom Izzo is back for his 34th season guiding the Spartans, and Michigan State will bring back familiar pieces in Jeremy Fears Jr. and Coen Carr.
For UConn, it is the kind of matchup that can reveal a lot before the games start counting. The timing alone adds some intrigue, and the fact that this one is being carried exclusively on B1G+ means it will be tucked away from the broader college hoops audience rather than played out in the usual national spotlight. There is also some uncertainty around the Huskies lineup heading into it, which only adds to the sense that this exhibition may say a little more than a typical preseason scrimmage. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Hurley Already Sees One Trait UConn Can Still Trust
UConns exhibition win over Syracuse offered an early look at what still travels well for Dan Hurleys group: the defense. The Huskies controlled the game on that end in a 72-52 result, and Hurley came away encouraged by the way the team competed while sorting through new roles and lineup combinations. He also pointed to the work of Silas Demary and Duke transfer Nik Khamenia, two players who figure to be part of the conversation as this roster comes together.
For a team that will keep adjusting as the preseason continues, that kind of defensive foundation matters. Demary is expected to carry a bigger load this season because of the roster turnover, and the next chance to see how the pieces fit comes in another exhibition against Michigan State. There are still questions to answer, but Hurley already appears to trust one part of the formula as UConn keeps building toward the real thing. [Read more 🡒]