UConn men’s basketball enters the 2026-27 season at No. 11 in Ken Pomeroy’s initial KenPom rankings, a slot that reflects both the Huskies’ recent standard and the upheaval they absorbed this offseason.
That mark comes after UConn finished No. 9 overall last season, a run that ended in the national title game for the third time in four years before a loss to Michigan. Even with all the roster change, KenPom still sees a team that should look a lot like the one from a year ago. The Huskies are projected at No. 29 in offensive efficiency and No. 6 in defensive efficiency, almost a mirror of last season’s numbers, when they ranked 29th and seventh, respectively.
The ranking also speaks to how much Dan Hurley has been able to piece together around the departures. Luke Murray and Tom Moore are gone from the staff, and stars such as Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. have moved on as well. UConn is bringing back only two starters in Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins, yet KenPom still likes the Huskies to function at a familiar level.
For UConn, the No. 11 slot is its lowest preseason KenPom ranking since the 2022-23 season, but it still puts the Huskies at the top of the Big East. St.
John’s is the league’s next-highest team at No. 23, followed by Creighton at No. 30, Villanova at No. 32 and Marquette at No.
- Providence sits at No. 39, making it the only other Big East team in the top 50.
KenPom projects the Big East as the No. 4 conference in college basketball, behind the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten, and ahead of the ACC.
The schedule is as brutal as ever, and KenPom’s numbers underline it. UConn is slated to face four preseason top-10 teams in nonconference play, starting with No.
5 Arizona in Tucson on Nov. 18.
A week later comes No. 1 Duke in Las Vegas.
Ten days after that, the Huskies meet No. 4 Illinois in Chicago and also host No.
8 Kansas at Gampel Pavilion on Dec. 12.
There’s more beyond the headliners. UConn will also take on defending champion No.
28 Michigan on Nov. 6 in Boston and No. 15 Virginia at Madison Square Garden on Dec.
Between those heavyweight dates, UConn has inserted a pair of buy games, with No. 365 Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 8 and No.
364 Delaware State on Dec. 15.
UConn and Texas Tech are the only teams in the country projected to play both the top team in KenPom and the worst team in Division I.
In Other News...
Syracuse Gets An Early Rivalry Test Fans Have Missed For Years
The long gap between UConn and Syracuse on the mens basketball side ends Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, where the two programs will meet in an exhibition that gives both sides a real early look at where they stand before the games start counting. It is the kind of matchup that still carries a little extra edge even without a spot in the standings, because familiar programs rarely need much to make a preseason tune-up feel bigger than the label attached to it.
For UConn, it also opens the door to the first of three exhibitions as the Huskies begin sorting through rotations, lineups and roles heading toward the regular season. Silas Demary Jr., Solo Ball and Braylon Mullins are back in the mix, giving this one a useful first checkpoint for a team that will spend October trying to answer more questions than the scoreboard can. [Read more 🡒]
UConns New-Look Roster Faces An Early Rivalry Test
The first real look at UConns revamped mens basketball roster comes Oct. 13, when the Huskies meet Syracuse in a Hall of Fame Exhibition at Mohegan Sun Arena. It is an early measuring stick for a group that still has some continuity, thanks to returning pieces like Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins, but also a fresh cast that includes 10 newcomers and plenty of moving parts to sort out before the games start counting.
Before the regular season opener on Nov. 2 against Gardner-Webb, the Huskies will also see Michigan State and Purdue in preseason tune-ups that should help reveal where this team stands in a hurry. The exhibition slate gives UConn a chance to build chemistry and establish roles, but it also comes with the kind of early test that can expose just how far a new-look roster still has to go. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Gets Another Shot At A Rivalry Huskies Fans Still Feel
The UConn-Syracuse rivalry still carries the kind of edge that lingers long after the old Big East days faded, and it is easy to see why. The matchup helped shape an era of college basketball in the Northeast, with classic tournament battles and plenty of familiarity between fan bases that never really stopped caring. Even now, the series remains tied to memories like the six-overtime thriller in 2009, a game that still sits near the top of the list for anyone who lived through it.
Dan Hurley has brought his own hard-nosed brand to UConn, while Syracuses side of the story has taken on a new chapter under Gerry McNamara. That keeps this meeting from feeling like a relic of conference realignment, because the names on the sidelines still connect directly to what made the rivalry mean something in the first place. The history is deep, the emotions are familiar, and there is still one more layer of old-business tension waiting to be revisited. [Read more 🡒]