Stanford Cardinal - D
Stanford had an excellent season in 24-25 and was definitely looking to carry some of that momentum into the 25-26 season, but based on the offseason they've had so far it looks like that will be a tough task. Stanford this offseason has had 0 transfer commits, they've lost two players to the portal, their superstar Maxime Raynaud left for the NBA Draft, and their main guard last season Jaylen Blakes graduated. The only positive they really have going for them is they have two 4-star recruits coming in that could be solid contributors for them. Outside of that it's looking like it's going to be a rough season for Stanford fans.
Syracuse Orange - B
As a storied franchise in the sport of college basketball, this last year was a major disappointment finishing the season at 14-19 and losing in the second round of the ACC tournament. Even with such a disappointing season last year Syracuse has done a pretty good job getting good players for next year.
In the transfer portal, they have received six commits highlighted by Naithan George, a 6-3 Guard from Georgia Tech, Nate Kingz, a 6-5 Guard from Oregon St, and Tyler Betsey, a 6-8 Forward from Cincinnati. Even with the losses in the portal Syracuse has done a good job recouping assets to replace them. Their high school class is also rather strong, bringing in the 18th-ranked class according to 247 Sports. Some players they are bringing in from this class are Sadiq White Jr, a 6-8 Forward from Florida, Kiyan Anthony, the son of former Syracuse legend Carmelo Anthony, and Luke Fennell, a 6-6 Guard from Australia.
With the news breaking that JJ Starling will be returning to the Orange next season you should expect a much improved season for Syracuse and wouldn't be too surprising if they found themselves in the NCAA tournament from the first time since the 2020-21 season.