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)
10. Indiana 
Indiana might seem a little high on this list, but I love the pieces the Hoosiers brought in and how they fit with their returning players. They effectively replaced Xavier Johnson (7.6 PPG) and Kel'el Ware (15.9 PPG) with two Pac-12 First Team members in Myles Rice and Oumar Ballo. Rice is fully capable of running the show for the Hoosiers, and Ballo is one of the most imposing centers in the country. They should slot in very nicely along returning starters Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mgbako and Malik Reneau. The team also brings in Kanaan Carlyle off a stellar freshman season with Stanford. There's a chance Carlyle could start, but he does figure to be a long-term option for Indiana in the backcourt. They also added a three-point sniper in Luke Goode from Illinois and a solid backup big in Langdon Hatton from Bellarmine. The ceiling of this team might be determined by top-30 recruit Bryson Tucker, who is already a very polished offensive threat with good size at the wing. There really are no more excuses for coach Mike Woodson. Indiana has to challenge for the Big Ten title this season.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Myles Rice (14.8 PPG, 3.8 APG at Washington State)
SG: Trey Galloway (10.6 PPG, 4.6 APG)
SF: Mackenzie Mgbako (12.2 PPG)
PF: Malik Reneau (15.4 PPG)
C: Oumar Ballo (12.9 PPG, 10.1 RPG at Arizona)
Key Reserves: Kanaan Carlyle (11.5 PPG at Stanford), Bryson Tucker (No. 20 ESPN 100), Luke Goode (5.7 PPG at Illinois), Gabe Cupps (2.6 PPG), Langdon Hatton (10.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG at Bellarmine), Anthony Leal (2.4 PPG)
9. Duke 
Duke has put together another No. 1 recruiting class that's led by Cooper Flagg, who NBA teams are already salivating over. Flagg is probably the most hyped college freshman since Zion Williamson and will be must-see TV. Flagg is one of six top-50 recruits making their way to Durham this season trying to help the Blue Devils win their first National Championship since 2015. While the freshman will get a lot of the headlines, returning players such as Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster, along with incoming transfers Maliq Brown, Mason Gillis and Sion James, will likely determine how far this team goes. With Jeremy Roach leaving for Baylor, Proctor will be called upon to run the show in his third season with the team. Gillis and James are the fifth-year veterans that this team really needs to challenge the youngsters and get them ready to play well at the collegiate level. Gillis was the sixth man last season for a team that made it to the National Championship game. Duke without question has the talent to be in the top-three of these rankings, but its 2024 and one-and-done oriented teams have had a shaky track record for the last several years. Coach Jon Scheyer and his staff will have their work cut out to completely overhaul this roster and get all these top ranked players to buy into their role.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Tyrese Proctor (10.5 PPG, 3.7 APG)
SG: Caleb Foster (7.7 PPG)
SF: Cooper Flagg (No. 1 ESPN 100)
PF: Maliq Brown (9.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG at Syracuse)
C: Khaman Maluach (5-star Freshman)
Key Reserves: Mason Gillis (6.5 PPG at Purdue), Sion James (14.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG at Tulane), Kon Knueppel (No. 18 ESPN 100), Isaiah Evans (No. 14 ESPN 100), Pat Ngongba (No. 25 ESPN 100), Darren Harris (No. 29 ESPN 100), Cameron Sheffield (Redshirt)
8. Connecticut 
The two-time defending champs were a hard team to rank because of all the key pieces they lost. Whether that's Donovan Clingan's (13.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 2.5 BPG) length on the interior, Tristen Newton's (15.1 PPG, 6.2 APG) ability to be a floor general, Cam Spencer's (14.3 PPG) shooting or Stephon Castle's (11.1 PPG) athleticism, safe to say coach Dan Hurley has his work cut out for him to try to three-peat. Alex Karaban has been the perfect stretch four complementary player to have alongside Clingan, but now he'll get the chance to be the focal point of the offense that also added likely starters Aidan Mahaney from Saint Mary's and top-10 recruit Liam McNeeley. Karaban, Mahaney and McNeeley will provide a ton of spacing for this offense. Samson Johnson or Tarris Reed should slot in at center, with returning players Solomon Ball, Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross fighting for bigger roles. No player on this team has more pressure on them than Hassan Diarra, who will be given the keys to run this offense after starting just 13 games in his first four seasons. Diarra's performance this season will have a lot to do with how far UConn ends up going. The Big East race is closer than some people might think.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Hassan Diarra (6.1 PPG)
SG: Aidan Mahaney (13.9 PPG at Saint Mary's)
SF: Liam McNeeley (No. 9 ESPN 100)
PF: Alex Karaban (13.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG)
C: Samson Johnson (5.4 PPG)
Key Reserves: Tarris Reed (9.0 PPG, 7.2 RPG at Michigan), Solomon Ball (3.3 PPG), Jaylin Stewart (2.5 PPG), Isaiah Abraham (No. 58 ESPN 100), Ahmad Nowell (4-star Freshman), Jayden Ross (0.7 PPG)
7. Auburn 
Auburn brings back a lot of pieces from last season's team that won the SEC Tournament, amd it will be fired up to avenge an early exit in the NCAA Tournament (falling to 13-seed Yale). Everything starts with Johni Broome, who led the team in points, rebounds and blocks. The Tigers also bring back Chad Baker-Mazara, who turned it on for this team in SEC play, along with starting shooting guard Denver Jones, and reliable reserves of Chaney Johnson, Dylan Cardwell and Chris Moore. Coach Bruce Pearl was also able to get a dynamic point guard in JP Pegues from Furman and a knock-down wing shooter in Miles Kelly from Georgia Tech. Auburn's two four-star freshman recruits of Tahaad Pettiford and Jahki Howard have tremendous athleticism and will defend at a high level like coach Pearl wants out of all his guards. The Tigers were one of two teams to rank inside the top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency last season along with UConn. Expect Alabama to get a big-time challenge for the SEC title from this group.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: JP Pegues (18.5 PPG, 4.8 APG at Furman)
SG: Denver Jones (9.1 PPG)
SF: Miles Kelly (13.9 PPG, 5.5 RPG at Georgia Tech)
PF: Chad Baker-Mazara (10.0 PPG)
C: Johni Broome (16.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.2 BPG)
Key Reserves: Chaney Johnson (4.7 PPG), Dylan Cardwell (5.3 PPG, 1.6 BPG), Chris Moore (2.5 PPG), Tahaad Pettiford (No. 33 ESPN 100), Jahki Howard (No. 60 ESPN 100), Ja'Heim Hudson (5.4 PPG at SMU)
6. Iowa State 
The Cyclones shocked a lot of people last season by finishing second in the Big 12 regular season, winning the Big 12 Tournament and then grabbing a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. They led the nation in defensive efficiency and bring back some key contributors for the 2024-25 campaign. Iowa State is led by the tremendous backcourt of Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, both averaging at least 12 PPG, 4 APG and 2 SPG. The team's third and fourth-leading scorers of Curtis Jones and Milan Momcilovic also return to the fold. Coach T.J. Otzelberger did great work in the transfer portal again, adding bigs in Dishon Jackson, Joshua Jefferson and Brandton Chatfield to offset the losses of Robert Jones (7.7 PPG), Tre King (9.0 PPG), Omaha Biliew (2.4 PPG) and Hason Ward (6.0 PPG). The Cyclones also added a sharpshooter in Nate Heise from Northern Iowa to deploy off the bench. Some scouts believe Nojus Indrusaitis could be one of the most skilled guards from this freshman class, and his upside could potentially bring Iowa State over some of the teams in front of them on this list.
Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Tamin Lipsey (12.4 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.7 SPG)
SG: Keshon Gilbert (13.7 PPG, 4.2 APG)
SF: Curtis Jones (11.0 PPG)
PF: Milan Momcilovic (10.9 PPG)
C: Dishon Jackson (11.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG at Charlotte)
Key Reserves: Joshua Jefferson (10.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG at Saint Mary's), Nate Heise (13.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG at UNI), Brandton Chatfield (9.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG at Seattle), Nojus Indrusaitis (No. 67 ESPN 100), Demarion Watson (1.9 PPG)
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