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BYU's Richie Saunders is introduced at the "Marriott Madness" preseason event at the Marriott Center on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa (3) shoots over teammate Keba Keita in the Blue-White Scrimmage at the Marriott Center on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU men's basketball coach Kevin Young celebrates a 96-95 victory at No. 19 Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU men’s basketball team is ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press men’s basketball preseason poll, which was released on Monday.

As if the hype for 2025-26 could get any higher.

It’s the first time BYU has been ranked in the preseason Top 10. The last time the Cougars were ranked in the AP preseason poll was 2010, Jimmer Fredette’s senior year, at No. 24. The Cougars rose to as high as No. 3 in the rankings, advanced to the Sweet 16 and finished No. 10 in the AP poll during that magical season.

Jimmer isn’t walking through that door — unless it’s to do color commentary on BYUtv’s pre-game show or to promote his podcast — but BYU seems loaded with talent on a rebuilt roster. The nation’s No. 1 recruit, AJ Dybantsa, and returning first team All-Big 12 selection Richie Saunders lead the charge along with sophomore point guard Robert Wright III, a transfer from Baylor.

“I think this team is a lot longer, a lot more athletic than the team we had last year,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said on Thursday after the Blue/White Scrimmage. “So I think we’re trying to be more aggressive defensively. I’m hopeful that every team that is playing here under me is an unselfish team. I thought the ball was popping for the most part tonight, not as much as I would have liked, and that’s something that we’ll be able to show them on the tape. But I think that is the identity of what this team is going to be about.”

The Cougars begin the 2025-26 campaign with an exhibition game at Nebraska on Saturday.

Purdue is No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll for the first time.

The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to top Monday’s poll to begin the 2025-26 season. That put Matt Painter’s squad ahead of the two teams that played in last year’s NCAA title game, with runner-up Houston at No. 2 and reigning champion Florida at No. 3.

“We are obviously excited to get the season going and being ranked No. 1 in the preseason is a great indicator of what we feel this team can accomplish,” Painter said. “But the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year. We’re thrilled that people think this highly of our team, but there is a long ways to go and a lot of work to do to reach that goal in April.”

Purdue started a year ranked as high as No. 2 once before, in 1987-88 under Gene Keady.

The top tier

Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars earned 16 first-place votes to match the program’s best-ever preseason AP ranking after last year’s finals run. The other No. 2 appearance was by the 1967-68 team led by Elvin Hayes.

Todd Golden’s Florida Gators earned eight first-place votes to start this year with their highest preseason ranking since the last time they entered a year as reigning champions in 2006-07, the start of a run to a second straight title.

UConn was next at No. 4 and earned the remaining two first-place votes. St. John’s was fifth, with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm surpassing the program’s previous best ranking in a preseason AP poll (No. 7 in 1984-85).

Duke was next at No. 6, followed by Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and Texas Tech to round out the top 10.

Quick transitions

It hasn’t taken long for Pat Kelsey to get Louisville back among the national elite, with the Cardinals checking in at No. 11 after a 27-win season to start his tenure. The Cardinals were 12-52 in the two seasons before his arrival.

Louisville is one of five programs with a second-year coach in the preseason poll, joining Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and No. 14 Arkansas with John Calipari.

Jayhawks lower

Kansas checked in at No. 19, the lowest preseason rank for Bill Self’s Jayhawks since starting at No. 24 in the 2008-09 season as the reigning national champion. Kansas had been ranked outside the top 10 only once since that year (No. 13 in 2011-12) while starting at No. 1 in 2019-20 as well as each of the last two seasons in that stretch.

Pearl’s debut

Auburn opens at No. 20 as it enters its first season since the unexpected retirement of coach Bruce Pearl following last year’s Final Four run.

Pearl stepped aside last month after 11 seasons, triggering a transition to his 38-year-old son Steven, who climbed his father’s staff through the elder Pearl’s Auburn tenure but has never been a head coach nor coached elsewhere in college.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams to make up 72% of the field. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East were next with three each, while the West Coast Conference had one with No. 21 Gonzaga. The Big 12 was the only league of that group to have three top-10 teams.

Watch list

Will Wade’s arrival at N.C. State and subsequent roster shakeup has the Wolfpack as the first team outside the poll, sitting just three points behind 25th-ranked rival North Carolina from the ACC. Oregon is lurking close behind entering its 16th year under Dana Altman.