With the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season approaching, here are Andy Katz’s predictions for each conference champion.
America East: Maine — This could finally be the year the Black Bears make the NCAA tournament for the first time. Chris Markwood has done a tremendous job at his alma mater. He’s got two key bigs back and picked up a monster recruit in Ace Flagg (yes, Cooper’s younger brother).
American: Memphis — The American is more wide open than it was a year ago, but the Tigers still have the talent to get it done, especially if transfers Dug McDaniel and Aaron Bradshaw get back to their full potential.
ASUN: Queens — The Royals should continue their historic climb from a postseason berth to an NCAA tournament spot after making the transition to Division I.
ACC: Duke — The Blue Devils yet again are loaded with freshmen, led by Cameron Boozer, but the return of Maliq Brown, Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster should be the difference in an ACC title.
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A10: Saint Louis — The Billikens are poised for an NCAA tournament breakthrough season led by Robbie Avila, Quentin Jones and Kalu Anya. Experience matters and SLU has enough to get the top spot.
Big East: St. John’s — Rick Pitino has a Final Four squad led by preseason conference player of the year Zuby Ejiofor. The additions of Bryce Hopkins, Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon and Dylan Darling will be the difference for the Red Storm.
Big Sky: Montana — The Grizzlies bring back Money Williams and the experience of being a perennial contender under Travis DeCuire.
Big South: Radford — Zach Chu should be able to take Radford to the NCAA tournament in his first season. He’s got the shooters and the analytics to get it done.
Big 12: Houston — The Cougars will get pushed in what should be the most competitive conference title chase (re: Texas Tech, BYU and Kansas). Milos Uzan should be the top lead guard with Jojo Tugler one of the best bigs and Emanuel Sharp may be the most determined after the title game loss to Florida.
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Big Ten: Purdue — The Boilermakers return two all-Big Ten First Team players, including the Player of the Year in Braden Smith. Trey Kaufman-Renn would be the preseason player of the year in the league if Smith had not returned. They are both that good. But there are plenty of other pieces, with the return of rim protector Daniel Jacobsen and sharpshooter Fletcher Loyer as reasons why this squad can win the title.
Big West: UCSB — Joe Pasternack got one of the best bounce-back West Coast transfers in guard Aidan Mahaney (Saint Mary’s to UConn to UCSB). He joins potential player of the year Jason Fontenet II. The Gauchos will be able to score.
Coastal Athletic: Towson — Tyler Tejada and Dylan Williamson will be the 1-2 punch that the rest of the league will have a hard time defending.
CUSA: Liberty — Ritchie McKay just wins. The Flames have been in the mix for a bid for years under McKay, and having three returning starters puts them in the pole position.
Horizon: Purdue Fort Wayne — Jon Coffman’s crew is ready to get the automatic bid. Max Nelson and C.J. Hadnot have the leadership and experience to get the Mastodons across the finish line.
Ivy: Yale — James Jones has made the Bulldogs the standard of excellence in the Ivy. He returns a potential player of the year in Nick Townsend.
MAAC: Siena — Gerry McNamara just needed time to put his imprint on the program. He’s got four returning starters to get him the bid.
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MAC: Akron — John Groce has done a great job of working the portal, developing his teams and peaking at the right time. There’s no need to fall off the Zips bandwagon.
MEAC: Norfolk State — Robert Jones has built a consistent winner that knows how to rise up during the conference tournament.
Missouri Valley: Illinois State — Ryan Pedon has been building to this moment since coming over from Ohio State. And he’s got a squad to get the title with Chase Walker the front-runner for player of the year.
Mountain West: San Diego State — The Aztecs should take home the title in the last season in the league before moving onto the new Pac-12. Magoon Gwath will be one of the top defenders in the country, and Miles Byrd could have a Mountain West player of the year season.
NEC: Long Island — Returning starters are at a premium in this league. LIU should have three back to give them the nod.
OVC: Little Rock — Scoring will be at a high clip with a pair of Ohio Valley Player of the Year candidates in Khalen Robinson and Johnathan Lawson.
Patriot: Colgate — The Raiders have been consistently good as the season progresses. Expect the trend to continue as Matt Langel continuously gets his team ready for the stretch run.
SEC: Florida — The Gators have a First Team All-American back in Alex Condon to join returning frontcourt players Thomas Haugh and Reuben Chinyelu. But what gives the Gators hope for a back-to-back title are the additions of transfers Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee in the backcourt. There’s no reason to believe the Gators can’t make another deep run.
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Southern: Chattanooga — The NIT champs have the momentum to be an NCAA tournament team this season. Dan Earl has the squad to get back in the postseason with a restocked roster.
Southland: Lamar — The Cardinals are ready to take the next step and ascend past McNeese into the championship. Three starters back means Lamar has the experience to get it done.
SWAC: Texas Southern — Johnny Jones has had the rosters to win titles in the SWAC, and he’s got another one to go the distance.
Summit: St. Thomas — The timing of being NCAA tournament eligible with a team ready to win a championship works perfectly for head coach Johnny Tauer.
Sun Belt: Old Dominion — Robert Davis Jr. has the credentials to be player of the year and get an automatic qualifier out of the Sun Belt for the Monarchs.
WCC: Gonzaga — The Zags bring back a potential all-American in big man Graham Ike and have another scoring big in Braden Huff.
WAC: Cal Baptist — Dominique Daniels Jr. should be the leader that gets Cal Baptist into the NCAA tournament in the final season of the current WAC.
