NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early top 25 power rankings for 2023-24 season

Congratulations to the UConn Huskies, winners of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. In a year where there were no “great” teams, the Big East program proved otherwise, dominating everyone from start to finish in the Big Dance. At one point, there were ranked No. 2 overall in the NCAA Basketball AP poll but ended up as the last team standing.

So, it’s time to take a break until November, right? Nope. Because the battle for the 2024 national championship is already underway. The transfer portal has been open for under a month, with already over 1,000 players set to switch teams. Just about everyone is already affected and that’s even before NBA Draft decisions are set to occur.

All 361 D-I programs (Hartford and St. Francis Brooklyn are moving down) now are in the offseason and have plenty of work to do with their respective rosters. As of right now, which ones are in the best shape ahead of the 2023-24 campaign?

This piece will take a current snapshot of the rosters, listing the 25 best. There will be a few rules I use for consistency purposes:

• Players that are consensus first-round NBA Draft picks will be projected departures
• Players that are consensus 2nd-round to undrafted will be projected to stay until told otherwise
• All 4-year seniors will be projected departures regardless of eligibility until told otherwise
• All two-time transfers will be projected to sit out next year until told otherwise
• All “rumored” transfer candidates will be projected to stay until told otherwise

Even with these rules, it was still difficult to make a list. And ultimately, it’s pointless because it’s going to change completely a year from now. But hey, it’s content so let’s take a look at the NCAA Basketball teams to beat for the 2023-24 campaign.