NCAA Basketball: Preseason top 25 power rankings for 2024-25 season

9. Texas A&M Aggies

In the past two years, there were stretches where the Aggies looked like a top-10 team. Sometimes, they looked like they didn’t belong in the NIT. But although they lost Tyrece Radford (16.5 ppg), the team is all-in with a roster filled with seniors in their final seasons.

They’re led by Wade Taylor, who led the team with 19.1 ppg and 4.0 apg. He’s one of the best guards in the country and will be an All-American contender this season. Returning with Taylor are several rotation guards, including Hayden Hefner, Manny Obaseki, Andersson Garcia, and Jace Carter. This doesn’t even include the incoming transfers of CJ Wilcher (7.7 ppg at Nebraska) and Zhuric Phelps, who led SMU with 14.8 ppg last season.

Forwards Henry Coleman and Soloman Washington return after splitting time at the four-spot. And replacing Wildens Leveque at center will be Pharrel Payne, a 6’9 big man from Minnesota who produced 10.0 ppg and 6.1 rpg. The proven depth doesn’t even include the four-man freshmen class, including guard Andre Mills and forward Rob Dockery.

Texas A&M boasts some of the best depth in the country this season, and Buzz Williams is one of the top coaches in the game. There’s plenty of pressure with this veteran core, and the SEC has tons of talent all over, but the Aggies can match up with any of them.