College basketball rankings: Michigan, Duke, Michigan State lead way-too-early Top 25 for 2025-26

College basketball rankings: Michigan, Duke, Michigan State lead way-too-early Top 25 for 2025-26 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Would it sound paranoid to state our belief that the biggest reason for the change to opening the basketball transfer period in April was to make the Way-Too-Early Top 25 exercise even more difficult than it already was?

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Not everyone loves the media, you know.

That could be the reason.

When we did this a year ago, and two of our top four teams became No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeds, and eight of our top 10 eventually were placed among the bracket’s top four lines, we had a fair idea which transfers were leaving which programs, and in some cases where they would end up playing. Now, only about 900 of an expected 3,000 have declared their intent to enter the portal.

And there’s the matter of the NBA Draft early entry.

And, still, you read.

So we will take our best shot.

MARCH MADNESS HQ:Live NCAA bracket | TV schedule | Latest news and more

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Sporting News Way-Too-Early College Basketball Top 25

1. Michigan (36-3, Final Four)

The Wolverines will say goodbye – and definitely thank you – to forward Yaxel Lendeborg for a season that ranks in UM history with those produced by Cazzie Russell, Chris Webber and Trey Burke. Much of the roster, though, has remaining eligibility, and those who do would be unwise to burn it by entering this loaded 2026 draft. If they remain mostly intact, the Wolverines have the potential to return to the Final Four a second year in a row. And, folks, that one’s happening in Detroit.

Key veteran: Morez Johnson, 6-9 power forward, 13.1 ppg.

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Breakout potential: Trey McKenney, 6-4 shooting guard, 39.4 3-pt pct.

Major addition: Brandon McCoy, 6-5 point guard, ranked No. 14

2. Duke (35-3, Elite Eight)

For the second consecutive year, the Devils will lose a Naismith Award winner after his freshman year. It’s not as though they…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/college-basketball-rankings-michigan-duke-215254781.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-06 21:52:00

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