The first AP Top 25 of the 2026-27 men’s college basketball season is out, and Florida is sitting at the top of the board.
The Gators, who are last season’s national champions, earned 47 first-place votes in the preseason poll. Duke followed with 10 first-place votes, while Illinois picked up two. From there, the rankings settle into a familiar mix of bluebloods, contenders and a few programs that could force their way into the title conversation.
UConn checks in at No. 4, with Arizona, Michigan State, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia and Houston rounding out the top 10. Louisville lands at No. 11, followed by Arkansas, St. John’s, Miami (FL), Gonzaga, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Alabama, USC, UCLA, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and BYU to finish the preseason list.
Michigan enters the season at No. 16 after a dramatic offseason. The Wolverines won the national title last year, but they now have plenty of turnover to manage after seeing several stars head to the NBA and former head coach Dusty May leave for the Dallas Mavericks. Michigan had three players go in the first 12 picks of the 2026 NBA Draft: Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara.
A pair of other recent champions also made the cut in Florida and Kansas, while North Carolina was the biggest omission from the top 25. The Tar Heels, usually a fixture in the AP rankings and a traditional ACC power, were left out of the preseason poll altogether.
The full “Others receiving votes” list includes Missouri with 167, followed by Nebraska with 70, Purdue with 53, Ohio State with 39, North Carolina with 20, TCU with 17, Saint Louis with 13, VCU with 12, Iowa with 12, Virginia Tech with 10, Indiana with 8, Texas A&M with 6, Villanova with 6, Auburn with 4, Marquette with 3, Nevada with 2, Grand Canyon with 2, Utah State with 2 and Santa Clara with 1.
The season will begin with some early spotlight games in early November, including Villanova and Notre Dame meeting in Rome, Italy.
The Associated Press began its men’s college basketball poll on Jan. 20, 1949, and the preseason poll was first introduced in 1950.
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