Myron MedcalfOct 30, 2025, 09:00 AM ETCloseMyron Medcalf covers college basketball for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2011.Follow on X
A quick lookahead to the 2025-26 NCAAM season (1:02)Myron Medcalf breaks down some of the teams to look out for ahead of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season. (1:02)
We’re just days away from the start of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season. Most leagues have announced their preseason picks and player of the year candidates, but the landscape is more complicated than that. The most intriguing storylines for each conference also matter.
There are teams chasing national titles. There is major injury news. There are programs hoping to end NCAA tournament droughts, coaching changes and players seeking redemption throughout the field.
Last season, Vermont lost three games to conference foes (including in the conference tournament) by 15 or more points, and failed to win the America East title for the first time in nearly a decade. In six previous seasons, the Catamounts had suffered double-digit losses to league opponents only four times. With star TJ Hurley back and TJ Long healthy, coach John Becker’s group can regain its perch — although that journey seems more difficult than it has ever been.
Last year was Bellarmine’s first year of eligibility for the NCAA tournament after its transition from Division II in 2020-21. A 2-16 conference record (5-26 overall) unfortunately meant the Knights weren’t even eligible for the Atlantic Sun tournament. But this season, Jack Karasinski (15.4 PPG) has the potential to lead one of the country’s best turnarounds — one that could end with an historic moment on Selection Sunday.
The past seven NCAA tournament berths from the Big Sky have been claimed by Montana, Montana State and Eastern Washington. This season, the conference might have to make room for a trio of teams looking to snap some long NCAA tournament droughts: Portland State (last in 2009), Northern Colorado (2011) and Idaho (1990).
Longwood’s Griff Aldrich and High Point’s Alan Huss both left this past offseason to take assistant posts at Virginia and Creighton, respectively. Though they each had personal reasons for their moves, it increasingly has become clear that it’s more difficult for mid-majors and low-majors to compete in the sport. If the realities of the transfer portal, revenue share and NIL contributed to the departure of two top, respected head coaches, it could be an ominous sign for non-power conferences.
When Mahaney signed with UConn last year, after two all-ACC first team seasons at Saint Mary’s, he said Dan Hurley’s program would put him in a “different system that should allow my game to grow even more.” Instead, Mahaney (4.5 PPG) regressed. A stint in the Big West with UC Santa Barbara could now help him get back to playing the basketball that made him a top portal target a year ago.
After winning 27 games and earning the Seahawks’ first NCAA tournament berth in nearly a decade, Siddle signed a multiyear extension in March. He has won 99 games over the past four years, all while leading a team that has finished top-two in offensive efficiency in league play in three of those four years. UNCW managed to lock up Siddle, but that might not stop high-major programs from calling again if he continues his success this season.
Last season, Ritchie McKay’s program made 39% of its 3-point attempts, a top-10 mark nationally — and nearly half of the Flames’ field goal attempts were from beyond the arc, also for one of the highest rates in the country. With Kaden Metheny (38.3% on 3s) and Colin Porter (42.9% on 3s) both back, Liberty has the potential to be the top 3-point shooting team in the country this season.
Can Quinnipiac break its two-year streak of losing the conference tournament after winning the regular-season title?
Quinnipiac lost to Iona in last season’s conference tournament — the same Gaels team the Bobcats had swept in the regular season. They will have another shot as the MAAC’s official preseason favorite, giving MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Amarri Monroe the chance to avenge those misses and lead the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Every conference has been affected by the uncertainty of roster continuity created by the portal, but the MEAC has arguably incurred the most significant challenges in the country: There are only five returning starters in the conference. (No, that’s not a typo.) High-major conferences get the most attention when they snatch top mid-major players, but low-major programs are also struggling to preserve their rotations. This season’s depth charts across the MEAC prove as much.
The growth of Illinois State star Chase Walker — who could become the third consecutive MVC standout to transfer and star for a high-major team next season — would be the key storyline in this conference if not for the late-October announcement that Graves was on leave. Assistant Mark Slessinger will lead the team until the 50-year-old Graves’ expected (but unspecified) return.
Former Saint Francis player turned head coach Rob Krimmel led the Red Flash to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 34 years last season. But days after that feat, the school announced it was moving to Division III in 2026 because of the “complexity” of the Division I landscape. As the resources required to compete at this level increase, more schools could follow Saint Francis’ lead.
In two of the past four seasons, NIT champions won NCAA tournament games the following season. The transfer portal decimated the rosters of the two previous winners, North Texas and Seton Hall, but 2025 champion Chattanooga will try to avoid the same fate and secure the Southern Conference’s automatic bid. Without Honor Huff, though — the star who averaged 15.2 points before transferring to West Virginia — Dan Earl’s team will have to pursue that goal without any returning starters.
After his No. 12-seeded McNeese team upset 5-seed Clemson in the first round of last season’s NCAA tournament, Wade ran into the stands to celebrate with some of the Cowboys’ supporters and boosters … then left for NC State. Wade’s 58 wins in two seasons at McNeese is a remarkable run for any program, but reigning Southland Player of the Year Javohn Garcia should position first-year head coach Bill Armstrong to maintain the momentum in 2025-26.
Davis finished last season with 348 3-point attempts (he made 116 of them), good for 30th most in NCAA history. That mark was far short of the 411 3-point attempts Darius McGhee had to set the record in 2022-23, but it’s not unimaginable that Davis — who averaged 10.2 3-point attempts last season — could inch closer to that single-season record.
The WAC won’t look the same after this season. Following the departures of Cal Baptist, Utah Valley, Southern Utah and Utah Tech, the conference announced it would combine with the Atlantic Sun to create the United Athletic Conference. The combined league, which will begin competition next July, shrinks the footprint for both the ASUN and WAC as realignment shifts the landscape. The alliance could create a blueprint for other mid-major conferences in search of stability.
Last season, coach Penny Hardaway enjoyed the best season of his tenure with a team that featured AP All-American P.J. Haggerty. His current group of talent lacks that same pizazz. It’s led by a whole new cast, including Dug McDaniel, who has had rocky stretches at both Kansas State and Michigan. The Tigers aren’t in a unique situation: Most teams have been forced to rebuild each offseason in the transfer portal era. But a transition from second-weekend threat to having one of the least-imposing rosters of the Hardaway era, could lead to another turbulent season for the former NBA All-Star.
Last season, the ACC had its most lackluster Selection Sunday in a quarter century. Not since the 1999-2000 season had the conference sent only three teams to the NCAA tournament. Though Duke seems equipped to remain a perennial contender, the fall of North Carolina last season demonstrated the hurdles for every team in this new climate of college basketball. But the conference might have hit the reset button this season. Caleb Wilson, a projected lottery pick, is the new leader for a stronger Tar Heels team that might save coach Hubert Davis’ job. Will Wade has brought in Darrion Williams and other top players at NC State. Louisville has second-weekend aspirations — and maybe more. The top of the conference looks the part of the typical ACC that has been a perennial powerhouse. But the strength of the conference will be determined by the success of that next tier — Virginia, Syracuse and others — as it attempts to erase the memories of last season.
A three-bid Selection Sunday isn’t a pipe dream for a conference that has six teams listed in KenPom’s top-100 preseason rankings. VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. has recruited multiple high-major transfers in his first season with the Rams. Garrett Johnson (13.4 PPG in 2023-24) is back for George Washington after sitting out last season because of an ACL tear. Saint Louis star Robbie Avila is the top returning scorer in the conference. George Mason coach Tony Skinn has led the Patriots to back-to-back 20-win seasons. Miles Rubin could be a star at Loyola Chicago. And Dayton has a fleet of scorers who averaged double figures last season. Depending on what happens in nonconference action, the A-10 could enjoy one of its strongest seasons.
College basketball’s top coaches have always been the faces of the sport, and the rivalries between them have been a captivating element of every season. John Wooden and Pete Newell had their battles on the West Coast. Bob Knight and Gene Keady were friends but on-court foes at Indiana and Purdue, respectively. And Mike Krzyzewski had fiery interactions with both Dean Smith and Roy Williams at North Carolina. The best version of those coaching duels today might be Pitino vs. Hurley. UConn swept St. John’s during the 2023-24 season, and Pitino promptly avenged those losses with a run to the Big East title and tournament championship — and a 2-0 record against the Huskies — the next season. Both teams will enter 2025-26 with national championship hopes as they also joust for supremacy in the conference. College basketball is more fun with these two facing off in the same conference.