ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 men’s basketball rankings for 2026-27 include 6 SEC teams
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal opened at midnight and already there are over 1,000 names in the portal.
I say that to say this — forecasting the 2026-27 men’s hoops season at this point is next to impossible. Still, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello gave it his best shot after Michigan beat UConn on Monday night to claim this year’s NCAA Tournament crown.
Borzello has the now-reigning champion Wolverines in the No. 1 spot, but the SEC holds down 6 of the top 25 slots, starting with Todd Golden’s Florida Gators at No. 3. Here’s a look at where each SEC team stands:
- No. 3 — Florida
- No. 7 — Arkansas
- No. 13 — Texas
- No. 20 — Alabama
- No. 23 — Mizzou
- No. 24 — Vanderbilt
One notable team not mentioned? The Tennessee Volunteers, who Borzello has in the “Next in Line” section of his projections. Obviously, all of these teams still have a lot of work to do to construct their rosters ahead of tipoff next fall. The portal period figures to be a flurry of activity over the next few days.
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Will the SEC be able to climb its way back to the men’s hoops mountaintop next season? We’ll see what happens, but several teams appear poised to make strong pushes for next year’s championship.
Here’s what the current Kalshi market says about the 2027 men’s NCAA Tournament champion. Use Kalshi promo code SDS to score a $10 bonus when you sign up for a new account:
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
