UConn, St. John's climb our early NCAA top 25 rankings

St. John's and UConn were two of the biggest storylines of the 2024-25 men's college basketball season, with the Red Storm's resurgence as a top-10 team under Rick Pitino and the Huskies' inconsistency in their quest for a third straight national championship.
Given the work of both programs this spring, neither is leaving the national discussion in 2025-26, with both rising up the rankings during the transfer cycle and settling in behind Purdue at the top of our latest iteration of the early top 25 (Version 4.0, for those counting at home).

The Huskies and Red Storm went about it in different ways. For UConn, it was mostly about retention, with Alex Karaban'sdecision to forgo the NBA draft process and return to the Huskies a key factor in their rise. Karaban, Solo Ball andTarris Reed Jr. could all be preseason All-Big East players, andBraylon Mullins, Silas Demary Jr. and Malachi Smith are all impact newcomers.

For St. John's, it was about incredible work in the portal. Yes, Zuby Ejiofor is back and should be one of the best big men in the country, but Pitino and his staff went out and loaded up on the perimeter with high-level scorers Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon, Oziyah Sellers and Bryce Hopkins. Scoring and shooting will not be issues next season.

The next step in the offseason will be the NBA draft withdrawal deadline on May 28, but expect the Big East'spowerhouse duo to remain near the top of the rankings.

1. Purdue Boilermakers

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