Jay Bilas reveals his college basketball Top 25 rankings

After a long summer and start to fall, the 2023-24 college hoops season is finally getting underway. So, just before all the action, ESPN’s Jay Bilas broke down his preseason top-25 across the sport.

He’s got a couple of recent champions in the top five, including one of them at the very top spot, as well as some predictable love for a school and program near and dear to his heart. Plus, a certain couple of blue bloods and 2023 Final Four participants may not like where the longtime college basketball analyst has their 2023-24 team ranked.

Below, you can view Bilas’ full top-25 rankings with a breakdown on each of the top-10 clubs.

1. Kansas

The Jayhawks have the most established and complete starting five in the country, and with the most successful coach in the sport over the last five years, Bill Self, Kansas is a worthy No. 1 team atop any rankings. In fact, that’s also where they sit to open in the season in the AP Poll.

Back to that starting five. Everything starts with fifth-year point guard Dajuan Harris, the last remaining rotation piece off the 2022 title team at this point. Then, there’s Hunter Dickinson down low from Michigan to complete a stellar inside-out duo. Flanking them is defensive ace and fifth-year veteran Kevin McCullar along with last year’s small-ball center KJ Adams and sharpshooter transfer Nick Timberlake on the wing.

2. Duke

Duke is certainly getting a lot of love in John Scheyer’s second season. The recruiting did not drop off whatsoever once he took over for Coach K, and frankly, it improved. The Blue Devils are loaded with five-star freshmen and five-star sophomores, most notably Kyle Filipowski and Tyrese Proctor, to go along with veteran point guard Jeremy Roach.

Of course a Duke alum like Jay Bilas is going to pound his drum for the school out of Durham. But the question is: despite the talent, does Scheyer have the coaching goods to deliver a national title? He’s still a brand new head coach, and while Duke did come on strong down the stretch in his first season, the team still finished tied for third with Pitt and Clemson in the weakest ACC in years, earning a five-seed before Tennessee “dragged them into the mud” (a Rick Barnes quote) in a second-round knockout.

3. Michigan State

MSU is another trendy team in preseason top-five’s thanks to a blend of five-star rookie talent and extreme veteran continuity. Senior backcourt duo Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard return for year three alongside each other while Malik Hall and Mady Sissoko are the old guys up front. Jaden Akins also figures to take another step up in his junior season.

As for the freshman, Coen Carr is as gifted a physical athlete as has ever step foot in East Lansing. Jeremy Fears is a skilled point guard who won’t sink next to Hoggard or Walker, while Xavier Booker could require some development but has obvious length and athletic ability.

4. Purdue

The elephant in the room for the Boilermakers is somehow not their elephant-sized center, but rather, the loss to puny 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament despite having 7-foot-4 National Player of the Year Zach Edey. Sorry, Purdue fans, we just had to address it.

The first round loss was a stunner and certainly a catastrophe, but there were inherent concerns with Purdue in March anyway, since they were starting a pair of non-blue chip freshman guards — and the track record of success for that sort of experience in the tourney is, well, not great. This season, those rookies, Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith, are another year older as Matt Painter, one of the top coaches in the country, returns almost his entire squad, including Edey. They’ll be good.

5. Connecticut

UConn deserves top-ranked respect, but there are some lingering cracks in the floorboard with the reigning champs. First of all, they lose the three pillars of their 2023 title run — lead playmaker and elite defender Andre Jackson, dominant low-post big Adama Sonogo, and perhaps the best shooter in the country in Jordan Hawkins, who was a first-round pick. With that sheer talent gone, UConn has a lot to replace.

But they have periphery pieces in line to step up. Alex Karaban was a skilled stretch-four last year that figures to be one of the team’s top scorers as a sophomore. The same goes for Tristen Newton, the transfer point guard who did what he needed to last year but will take on a bigger role now. Lastly, the Huskies’ hopes to repeat lie on the shoulders of Donovan Clingan, a 7-foot-2 force down low who posted ridiculously efficient numbers across the board in a backup role last season. He does have the most harrowing possible injury for a seven-footer, though, as he’s dealing with a foot issue.

6. Marquette

After Zach Edey, Marquette’s Tyler Kolek could own the claim as college basketball’s top returning player. The 2023 Big East Player of the year narrowly missed on Second-Team All-American honors and is back as the No. 1 pure point guard in the country after he helmed a Marquette offense that put up historically efficient numbers for much of last year, especially inside the arc.

So, Kolek returns to run what’s expected to be another fabulous offense under longtime defensive-minded coach Shaka Smart, since skilled big man Oso Ighodaro and star two-guard Kam Jones both return as well. And don’t count out leaps from senior forward David Joplin or third guard Stevie Mitchell.

7. Creighton

Jay Bilas’ run on Big East teams continues with a third in a row here. Like Marquette, Creighton returns three absolute studs. A likely All-American and Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Ryan Kalkbrenner is back at center, flanked by a terrific scoring guard in Trey Alexander plus the do-it-all forward Baylor Scheierman. The Blue Jays also nabbed a great transfer portal addition in point guard Steven Ashworth from Utah State, who can dish it and stroke it from deep at an extremely high level.

If you want a prediction, Creighton is ripe for a breakthrough this March. Greg McDermott has coached teams that won with great offenses and he’s also had more recent teams win on the back of some top-20 defenses analytically, especially with a rim protector like Kalkbrenner. Last year, the Blue Jays were top-25 in both for the first time ever and don’t appear ready to take a step back on either end. Those programs that finish top-20 on both sides, they’re the ones that make Final Fours and win championships.

8. Tennessee

Right when you don’t want to believe in Rick Barnes, he sucks you right back in. The Volunteers are still yet to make an Elite Eight under Barnes despite making the last five NCAA Tournaments and performing as a regular-season force. This year, they have a roster capable of winning the SEC yet again.

Starting point guard Zakai Zeigler is still coming along after a torn ACL last March, but his return isn’t so important with fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi along with Jahmai Mashak, Josiah-Jordan James and transfers Jordan Gainey and Dalton Knecht all as options on the perimeter. Those imports looked great in a scrimmage win over Michigan State and may finally gave UT the shooting punch they need to get over the hump.

9. Houston

After Miami out-small-balled a great small-team in the 2022-23 Cougars, this 2024 club is flying under the radar a bit in Jay Bilas’ eyes entering this season. He’s got them down at ninth despite Kelvin Sampson returning his starting point guard, Jamal Shead, and center, the underrated J’Wan Roberts. Meanwhile, UH grabbed the top shooter out of the portal in Baylor’s LJ Cryer, who will fit like a glove in the Houston offense, but like a square peg in a round hole on Sampson’s defense.

If you buy into Cryer’s star power — perhaps like Quentin Grimes, a similarly former-highly-ranked recruit who defected from a Big 12 contender — then you can buy into Houston, who has improved depth and shooting from a year ago. The roster is in better shape but they did lose two-way stud and consensus First-Team All-American Marcus Sasser, as well as lottery pick Jarace Walker.

10. Arizona

In the wake of Purdue’s loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson and the surreal Saint Peter’s story from 2022, Arizona’s first round loss as a two-seed sort of flew under the radar among recent shocking upsets. But Tommy Lloyd is back for year three and has another loaded but interesting roster.

The Wildcats don’t have much of an established pecking order outside of Oumar Ballo, who is likely their top player after averaging 14.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in 2023. Caleb Love could light up the nets after coming over from North Carolina, but he’s a wildcard. Sophomore Kylan Boswell appears to have taken a leap while Jaden Bradley was a high-upside addition as a combo guard from Alabama. It’s unclear how the lineup shakes out yet, but Lloyd has plenty of options.

Jay Bilas’ 11-25 Rankings

11. Texas A&M
12. Gonzaga
13. Texas
14. Baylor
15. Villanova
16. Kentucky
17. Arkansas
18. Alabama
19. North Carolina
20. Florida Atlantic
21. Miami (FL)
22. Saint Mary’s
23. Illinois
24. USC
25. San Diego State

Texas A&M nearly sniffs the top-10 and is one of the under-talked-about top teams heading into the season. Buzz Williams has always been a strong coach with some unique teams, and after a bit longer than expected, he is finally hitting his stride as the Aggie head coach returning four starters off a team that finished second in the SEC at 15-3 last year. This A&M group will be extremely physical, old, connected and could be a top rebounding and defensive unit this season.