The 2024-25 college basketball season is exactly three weeks away, the perfect time for fans and analysts to start diving into the projections. The AP preseason poll was released on Monday, and in the transfer portal era it is always interesting to see how programs are projected to perform.
Some teams managed to keep most of their core pieces together, resulting in high rankings for Iowa State, Gonzaga, and Auburn, while others are rewarded for how much different their roster looks – like Kansas, Duke, Arkansas, Indiana, and Kentucky.
Others are given the benefit of the doubt simply for having an elite head coach and coming off a strong season, with UConn and Purdue being the main beneficiaries in that category.
All told it ends up being a unique collection of teams to start the season in the polls, and we break down our key takeaways from the reveal here: