The UConn men’s basketball team came in at No. 4 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, which was released on Monday.
After entering last year ranked No. 3 and falling off of the list by season’s end, the Huskies enter 2025-26 with national championship aspirations yet again and received two first-place votes in the preseason poll. Dan Hurley and his staff, while maintaining as much continuity as possible, used the transfer portal to address questions at point guard and improve on the defensive end while also adding a pair of McDonald’s All-American freshmen to one of the deepest rosters in the country.
The Huskies were No. 5 in KenPom’s preseason ratings, projected to have the No. 2 offense and the No. 13 defense in the nation.
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Purdue topped the AP preseason poll for the first time ever, followed by Houston (16 first-place votes) and Florida (eight first-place votes), who met in last year’s national championship game.
St. John’s, expected to be UConn’s top competition in the Big East, came in right behind the Huskies at No. 5 – the Red Storm’s highest preseason ranking ever. Creighton was the only other Big East team ranked at No. 23.
No. 4 UConn will be tested early with five games against top-25 teams in its loaded nonconference slate, beginning with No. 8 BYU and highly-touted freshman AJ Dybantsa at Boston’s TD Garden on Nov. 15. Four days later, the Huskies will host No. 13 Arizona at Gampel Pavilion. UConn will also meet No. 17 Illinois at Madison Square Garden, then travel to No. 19 Kansas for its only true road game out-of-conference before a much-anticipated matchup at MSG with the third-ranked, reigning national champion Gators.
Texas, the Huskies’ final nonconference opponent, received votes ahead of its first year under former Xavier coach Sean Miller. Michigan State, who the Huskies will play at PeoplesBank Arena in their second preseason exhibition game on Oct. 28, was ranked No. 22.
Originally Published: October 13, 2025 at 12:26 PM EDT
