Michigan tops 2026-27 preseason basketball Top 25
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- Michigan is ranked No. 1 in the 2026-27 CBS Sports preseason Top 25 And 1 after winning the 2026 NCAA title with a 37-3 record and a +37.90 KenPom net-rating — the highest for a national champion in the database dating to 1997.
- The Wolverines' No. 1 projection hinges on Aday Mara remaining in the 2026 NBA Draft while Morez Johnson Jr. returns to college, preserving four of the top six scorers (Johnson, Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney, LJ Cason) and pairing them with a recruiting class ranked second nationally headlined by five-star point guard Brandon McCoy Jr.
- Florida slots in at No. 2 returning five of its top seven scorers, Illinois at No. 3 with seven of its top 10 back, Michigan State at No. 4, and Duke at No. 5 after a 35-3 season that ended in the Elite Eight.
- Houston is the biggest mover in the way-too-early rankings, plummeting 13 spots to No. 14 after going 30-7 and exiting in the Sweet 16, a steep fall for a program that began the prior cycle at No. 1.
- Arizona (36-3, Final Four) and Duke (35-3, Elite Eight) both posted stronger records than several teams ranked ahead of them, but sit at Nos. 10 and 5 respectively because they're returning only two and three of their top five scorers.
- The article flags back-to-back title runs as rare but precedented — UConn did it in 2023 and Florida in 2025 — while cautioning that the entire ranking is built on projected rosters that will 'change constantly in the coming hours, days, weeks and months.'
Why it matters: Michigan's No. 1 tag is a conditional bet, not a coronation: it depends on one player leaving the draft and another returning, and the author himself vows to revise the list as roster decisions shake out. With Houston — last cycle's preseason No. 1 — crashing to No. 14 as the biggest mover, the rankings show how quickly a single offseason can reorder the sport's hierarchy.
