Top-25 College Basketball Teams for the 2024-25 Season
With commitments and transfer portal decisions nearly at a wrap, Ryan Andrade takes an early look at the top-25 projected college basketball teams, highlighting all the important personnel and roster changes.
Miss the start of our rankings columns? You can check our rankings out from the beginning here:
Top-25 College Basketball Teams for the 2024-25 Season (No. 21-25)
Top-25 College Basketball Teams for the 2024-25 Season (No. 16-20)
Top-25 College Basketball Teams for the 2024-25 Season (No. 11-15)
Top-25 College Basketball Teams for the 2024-25 Season (No. 6-10)
5. Baylor 
It's not often that a team loses four starters and can still find itself as one of the favorites in a powerhouse conference like the Big 12. While it make take some time to gel, the upside is clearly there for the Bears. First, they bring in Jeremy Roach, who decided to use his extra year of eligibility to leave Duke and try to lead a new team to the title. After being in the mix for the Kentucky job, Scott Drew remained loyal to Baylor and then went out and picked up Norchad Omier from Miami, who has averaged a double-double for four consecutive seasons, along with putting up some very solid defensive numbers. This will be the third straight year that coach Drew brings in a likely one-and-done scoring maestro in the backcourt. First it was Keyonte George (15.3 PPG), then Ja'Kobe Walter (14.5 PPG) and now it's VJ Edgecombe's turn. The New York native will slot right into the starting lineup alongside likely Jayden Nunn and Langston Love. Joshua Ojianwuna has been solid off the bench the last two seasons, and Jalen Celestine from Cal is another veteran wing added into this rotation. Point guard Rob Wright and forward Jason Asemota are two other top-50 players in the ESPN 100 that will be in the mix as well. This team is a perfect blend of experience and youth that will be one of the top offensive teams in the country.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Jeremy Roach (14.0 PPG at Duke)
SG: Jayden Nunn (10.5 PPG)
SF: VJ Edgecombe (No. 3 ESPN 100)
PF: Langston Love (11.0 PPG)
C: Norchad Omier (17.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG at Miami)
Key Reserves: Joshua Ojianwuna (4.9 PPG), Jalen Celestine (8.7 PPG at Cal), Rob Wright (No. 23 ESPN 100), Jason Asemota (No. 48 ESPN 100), Yanis Ndjonga (Redshirt)
4. Gonzaga 
Even with Anton Watson (14.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG) deciding to stay in the NBA Draft, this is still going to be one of the best offensive and most versatile teams in the country. Gonzaga will bring back four starters in Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Ben Gregg and Graham Ike. The Zags also return Braden Huff and Dusty Stromer, plus Steele Venters will be back after sitting out all of last year with a knee injury. Added into the fold are Michael Ajayi, who was a double-double machine at Pepperdine, Khalif Battle, who had an incredible finish to the season at Arkansas, and Ismaila Diagne, who impressed with his play for U18 Real Madrid. There are all kinds of lineup options that coach Mark Few will have to deploy this season. Ike should be the frontrunner for WCC Player of the Year, and Nembhard will be one of the nation's leaders in assists. Gonzaga always plays a pretty brutal non-conference schedule before running through the WCC, although it did not win the regular season title last season for the first time since 2011-12. Expect the Bulldogs to change that in 2024-25, and don't be surprised if the Zags have 30 wins when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Ryan Nembhard (12.6 PPG, 6.9 APG)
SG: Nolan Hickman (14.0 PPG)
SF: Michael Ajayi (17.2 PPG, 9.9 RPG at Pepperdine)
PF: Ben Gregg (9.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG)
C: Graham Ike (16.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG)
Key Reserves: Khalif Battle (14.8 PPG at Arkansas), Braden Huff (9.3 PPG), Steele Venters (Redshirt), Dusty Stromer (4.8 PPG), Emmanuel Innocenti (6.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG at Tarleton State), Ismaila Diagne (Freshman)
3. Houston 
It's never easy to replace a First Team All-American like Jamal Shead, especially when that player is the heart and soul of your team. Shead was as dynamic on the offensive end as he was on the defensive side of the ball, and it will need to be a group effort to pick up the slack. The good news is that there are a lot of familiar faces. Leading scorer LJ Cryer will be back alongside Emanuel Sharp, who really came on down the stretch of last season. The duo of J'Wan Roberts and Ja'Vier Francis also return in the frontcourt for another season together. The point guard replacement will be Milos Uzan, who comes over after two solid seasons at Oklahoma. The X-factor for this team will be Terrance Arceneaux coming off an Achilles injury. Arceneaux was one of the highest rated recruits in program history and certainly has the upside to potentially start at some point this season. Joseph Tugler is another of the best recruits ever at Houston and will provide depth in the frontcourt. This will be one of the best defensive teams in the country once again, but there will be a lot of pressure on Uzan and Cryer to run the offense and manage the game, something Shead was truly special at.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Milos Uzan (9.0 PPG, 4.3 APG at Oklahoma)
SG: LJ Cryer (15.5 PPG)
SF: Emanuel Sharp (12.6 PPG)
PF: J'Wan Roberts (9.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG)
C: Ja'Vier Francis (6.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG)
Key Reserves: Terrance Arceneaux (5.5 PPG), Joseph Tugler (3.8 PPG), Mylik Wilson (4.4 PPG), Ramon Walker (2.0 PPG), Mercy Miller (No. 68 ESPN 100), Chase McCarty (4-star Freshman)
2. Alabama 
The Crimson Tide have a very strong case for the top spot as well after making the Final Four last season and being able to bring back Mark Sears, who will be one of the front runners for Player of the Year. Latrell Wrightsell and Grant Nelson will also return and give this team some continuity on the wing and in the paint. Alabama also picked up a massive haul in the transfer portal that includes Aden Holloway, Clifford Omoruyi, Chris Youngblood and Houston Mallette, along with an impressive freshman class of three players inside the top-30 of the ESPN 100. It may take some time for coach Nate Oats to figure out the best way to make all this talent work together, but he's dealt with a lot of turnover recently and always been able to make this team one of the most dynamic offenses in the country. The biggest question will be how do Nelson and Omoruyi play together. Last season, the team played Nelson primarily at center and was able to create a lot of matchup problems offensively. While the Tide may lose some spacing on offense, Omoruyi is one of the best interior defenders in the country and will certainly help boost a defense that ranked outside the top-100 in defensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Aden Holloway (7.3 PPG at Auburn)
SG: Mark Sears (21.5 PPG, 4.0 APG)
SF: Latrell Wrightsell (11.3 PPG)
PF: Grant Nelson (11.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG)
C: Clifford Omoruyi (10.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.9 BPG at Rutgers)
Key Reserves: Chris Youngblood (15.3 PPG at USF), Houston Mallette (14.6 PPG at Pepperdine), Jarin Stevenson (5.3 PPG), Derrion Reid (No. 11 ESPN 100), Labaron Philon (No. 30 ESPN 100), Aiden Sherrell (No. 21 ESPN 100)
1. Kansas 
Kansas was the preseason No. 1 last year, and the Jayhawks are likely to claim that spot again going into the 2024-25 campaign. While they lost two starters in Kevin McCullar (18.3 PPG) and Johnny Furphy (9.0 PPG) to the NBA, they bring back one of the most experienced point guards in Dajuan Harris, as well as a Second Team All-American in Hunter Dickinson. KJ Adams shined in his move to power forward last year alongside Dickinson and will be back to make one of the strongest frontcourt duos in the country. Kansas also picked up commitments from some big time transfers in AJ Storr from Wisconsin, Rylan Griffen from Alabama and Zeke Mayo from South Dakota State. Storr should be able to immediately match the scoring production left by McCullar, Griffen was one of the best shooters available in the transfer portal and Mayo should provide a spark off the bench similar to what Remy Martin did when Kansas won the title in 2022. What plagued this team down the stretch was lack of depth and shooting. Adding talented freshman like Flory Bidunga and Rakease Passmore along with their transfer class should help resolve a lot of those issues. Coach Bill Self is not going to be stuck in the same position again this season.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Dajuan Harris (8.5 PPG, 6.5 APG)
SG: Rylan Griffen (11.2 PPG at Alabama)
SF: AJ Storr (16.8 PPG at Wisconsin)
PF: KJ Adams (12.6 PPG)
C: Hunter Dickinson (17.9 PPG, 10.9 RPG)
Key Reserves: Zeke Mayo (18.8 PPG at South Dakota State), Flory Bidunga (No. 17 ESPN 100), Shakeel Moore (7.9 PPG at Mississippi State), Zach Clemence (Redshirt), Rakease Passmore (No. 32 ESPN 100), Jamari McDowell (1.8 PPG)
Don't miss out on these other fantasy college basketball features on RotoWire:
