Instead, the season, which was to be defined by parity, ended with two most iconic brands in the national title game and the women's basketball conference, where UConn added historic record 12th title. These programs have been watching 2025-26 over and over in this respect.
Similar to these power ranking traditions, the defending champions will take the top spot. However, coupled with the dual graduation of the senior class and the graduation of the super senior class in the Pandemic Bonus year, the early waves to the transfer portal produced more flux under the upper tier.
Some teams currently have few players enough to make the lineup. Most rosters are not recognised when comparing regular season start when selecting a new landing spot, compared to the start of today's season.
Most famous: Baylor, Maryland, Columbia
Final 4 teams are not going anywhere
Without Page Booker, UCONN is a respectable candidate for the best team in the country thanks to the rise of superstar Sarah Strong. She finished the season nationwide with Beauker and winning share behind numbers alone, in order to run through her as a sophomore and be even more prolific with more offenses.
With Jana El Alfy and Azzi Fudd back from the starting lineup and KK Arnold and Ashlyn Shade ready to take on a bigger role as juniors (they have already put a greater burden on us as freshmen), this is the five best in the country. Ice Brady, Allie Ziebell, Morgan Cheli and the sixth place recruit class provide solid depth without the husky adding any transfers.
South Carolina loses at least three starters and potentially four if Raven Johnson decides to become a pro. However, the GameCocks machine is ready for backfill, with Milaysia Fulwiley, Tessa Johnson and Joyce Edwards waiting on the wings. This is not a program to rebuild. Reload.
Texas also loses two starters, but there will be a trio of sophomores (Judge Jordan Lee, Briana Preston and Judge Carlton) to help Madison Booker reach the next level. The talent is clear, but the historic domination of the SEC in South Carolina – and Dawnstayley's historical domination over Vic Shafer keeps the Gamecock ahead of the Longhorns for now.
UCLA welcomes most players on the Finals 4 teams, and all are eligible to return. However, the National Semi-Final Flames have questioned the Bruins' overall ceiling compared to the rest of this crew, and will be fourth despite being the first team for most of the season.
Kevin Durant is a fan of Sarah Strong's game.
Strong's performance at the National Championship:
pts®. §24pts
◽◽️15Reb
◽◽️5AST
◽blk
◽️2STL
◽️10/15 fgm pic.twitter.com/hsgn9ccoro– Athletic (@theathletic) April 6, 2025
The SEC is still the deepest meeting
Beyond the Joint Conference Champion, the remaining SECs are reloaded as well. LSU has the border duo of Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams, as well as the number one recruiting class in the country headlined by Grace Knox.
Tennessee's Kim Caldwell was able to get players to fit her system in particular and brought in the second best class along with some dynamic security guards to play alongside Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman and Ruby Whitehorn.
The single best freshman heads to Oklahoma to join Rayganbeer, Sahara Williams and Zayavan. So all three teams made it to Sweet 16 in 2025, and made it to top 10 projects.
Kentucky is hard to assess with the loss of Georgia Amoor, the heart of everything Kenny Brooks built at Lexington and previously Virginia Tech. But with the return of three starters, including a healthy season for Claras Truck, Jordan Obi and Dominica Paulova, Brooks' historic success at the portal, the Wildcats' outlook is high.
Vanderbilt returns the dynamic duo of Mikayla Blakes and Kamil Pierre. Mississippi has many holes, but it's worth coming in to surround Madina Ocotte.
I'm also paying attention to Georgia. The Bulldogs struggled to record 4-12 seconds in 2024-25, but defeated Lady Vols on the final day of the regular season. Rising sophomore Trinity Turner and Mia Wool Fork are strong cores to build, while Katia Brahamson Henderson brings the top 20 classes.
Which young teams can take the next step?
Duke will slide into the top five as it is expected to bring back eight of its 10 rotation players. Acheron Jackson has had her best season as a junior, with underclassmen Jadin Donovan, Orchi Okananwa and Toby Fournier taking important steps in Durham. At the true center for the upcoming season, Ariana Roberson (who missed 2024-25 due to injury), the Blue Devils may have the pieces to make their first Final Four in 2025 after winning one property in 2025.
Iowa's freshman class showed flash in its first year. Ava Heiden, Teagan Mallegni and Taylor Stremlow will have to be much more productive to get Hawkeyes back to hosting for the first weekend, but the freshman Addison deal should help with the juices of the attack.
Michigan's trio of freshmen (Sila Sword, Olivia Olson and Mira Holloway) need some reinforcements on the frontcourt. Wolverine can get it on the portal. Kate Cobal, a Sword High School teammate who might leave Notre Dame, would be a great addition. If so, Wolverine can try with the Big Ten.
Louisville had five freshmen in the rotation last season, and the Cardinals found their next cornerstone at Tasiana Roberts. Veterans are basically gone except for Ja'leah Williams, but this ranking bets that Roberts is enough for Louisville and McEnley Randolph to fill Olivia Cochran's shoes.
Elsewhere in the ACC, this may be a year earlier for NC, given that Wolfpack has lost a trio of starters and no seniors. But Tilda Trigger's freshman class, Lorena Auu, Zamaleya Jones and Devin Quigley, are promising. With Zoe Brooks at the helm, there's a lot to work with.
Iowa was a young team from last season and cannot quit the possibility of Audi con man and Addie Brown. The cyclone ceiling is still limited by the Crooks' defenses, but to start the year there is too much continuity and talent to leave Iowa from the top 15.
𝘼𝙡𝙡-𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖@Audicrooks He was selected as All-American's third team @AP and @USBWA!
🌪🌪️🏀🌪️| 📰: https://t.co/aspesv0w9d pic.twitter.com/ar2mhnprrf
– Cyclone Basketball (@cyclonewbb) March 19, 2025
A nod to Minnesota WBIT Champion. Without Marra Brown, the heart of the Golden Gophers Amaya Battle, Grace Grokorsky and Torimackinny did something special to close the 2024-25 season. If Brown is healthy and this ranking assumes that, Minnesota has a very long, versatile forward/wing, and is the dream of modern basketball fans.
There are no big names
It's always difficult to cull this list to 25, especially at the beginning of the season. Teams like Baylor, Ohio, Columbia and West Virginia were able to easily slot in advance of Maryland and Alabama.
But talk to the elephant in the room. This is a well-known team that either didn't create any rankings or barely narrowed down the list. At 25, Notre Dame Slot is impossible to completely rule out Hannah Hidalgo of the two-time teams. Regardless of who plays next to Hidalgo in 2025-26, she can make the Irish a win enough.
However, the teams that lost in Elite Eight, USC and TCU, were unable to make the cut. The Trojans are expected to be without Juju Watkins for most of the season, graduating four seniors who played a key role. With two of their three top freshmen on the portal, the combination of Kennedy Smith, Maria Samuels and the incoming Jazzy Davidson wasn't enough to pass these other teams.
At TCU, the list is barren. Mark Campbell has done each of the last two seasons and will almost certainly sign some of the best relocations in the country, but they are not yet in Fort Worth. Donovyn Hunter alone won't create a top 25 team.
(Illustrated by Kelsey Petersen / Athletic; Joe Buglewicz, Patrick McDermott, Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
