On Monday, August 17th, the official preseason top-25 poll for college football was released. The Ohio State Buckeyes were picked at No. 1, followed by Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas to round out the top five. Reigning national champions Indiana got the No. 6 spot.
But the most important part about this release is that it means we’re ever so closer to college basketball’s preseason AP top-25, which will come in the middle of October. However, with so much uncertainty around players looking to gain a 5th year of eligibility, teams can easily move up and down the rankings over the next two months.
Assuming these players are able to play for the 2026-27 season, which teams are going to benefit the most when it comes to moving up the preseason power ranking? Here’s a look at five teams to watch.
Arizona Wildcats
The Wildcats already were set to be in the top-15 mix, thanks to bringing back key frontcourt pieces, Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov. They also have incoming five-star guard prospect Caleb Holt. To shore up the weak spot at power forward, Arizona landed RJ Godfrey, a 6’7 forward who averaged 12 ppg and 5.3 rpg at Clemson. This won’t be the biggest pickup during this time period, but it’s an ideal move for the Wildcats to make them a top-10 caliber unit.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Gonzaga had multiple open spots to fill, primarily on the perimeter. They landed Dayton leading scoring guard Javon Bennett (15.8 ppg), as well as 6’10 forward Chauncey Wiggins (13.3 ppg at Florida State), who shot nearly 40% from three-point range. With Braden Huff and Massamba Diop set in the frontcourt, the Bulldogs are likely one more guard addition from getting back in the top-10 mix, which they were before Mario Saint-Supery’s surprise departure over a month ago.
Florida Gators
The Gators had already gotten their big pickup early in the offseason in Denzel Aberdeen (13.5 ppg and 3.4 apg at Kentucky), who committed to return to the program after winning a national title. The SEC juggernaut already returns four other starters from the squad that got a 1-seed last season, and with Aberdeen now officially in the fold, Florida has a great chance of being the preseason No. 1 team in the official AP poll.Â
Louisville Cardinals
Louisville was already viewed as a winner in the offseason transfer portal, landing key players such as point guard Jackson Shelstad (Oregon) and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Flory Bidunga (Kansas). They recently added to the impressive depth with Seth Trimble, a 6’3 guard who averaged 14 ppg at North Carolina last season. That’s another quality high-major starter the Cardinals were able to add, setting them up for a likely top-10 preseason spot.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Another team that was expected to benefit from the new batch of eligible players was Texas Tech, which landed two quality frontcourt players. One was Darrion Williams, who led NC State with 14 ppg on 40% three-point shooting and returns to the Red Raiders after starting 67 games with them. The other is Jamichael Stillwell, who averaged 11.6 ppg and 8.2 rpg at UCF last season. He adds to the frontcourt depth while All-American forward JT Toppin continues to recover from his torn ACL.Â
Texas Tech was unranked in previous offseason polls, but after these moves, they should be safely in the top-15 range.Â
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