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5 teams that could overachieve during the 2025-26 college basketball season

This is ONLY September.

Check below for our list of 5 teams that could overachieve during the 2025-26 college basketball season.

In no particular order:

Villanova: The Wildcats are a bit of a mystery team entering Kevin Willard’s first season on The Main Line, but the current landscape of the Big East could play into their favor. The conference is wide open after St. John’s and UConn and it will be interesting to see if Willard can mold a unit that’s capable of pushing for a spot in the top half of the league standings. Talented freshman Acaden Lewis — who initially committed to Kentucky — headlines a deep perimeter which also features returning veteran Tyler Perkins (6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds) and transfers Bryce Lindsay (James Madison), Devin Askew (Long Beach State), Zion Stanford (Temple), and Malachi Palmer (Maryland). Redshirt freshman Matthew Hodge — the projected starter at power forward — is a former top-100 recruit who should make an immediate impact. Villanova has not played in the NCAA Tournament since the 2022 Final Four, which was Jay Wright’s final game as head coach before he opted to retire. 

Ole Miss: The good? The Rebels are coming off their second trip to the Sweet 16 in program history. The bad? Six of the Rebels’ top seven scorers from that run are no longer in the program. Don’t tell any of that to Chris Beard. No coach in college basketball is more comfortable building a roster on a year-to-year basis than Beard, who was a head coach on the Division II level and in junior college before being hired at Little Rock in 2015. Veteran big man Malik Dia (10.8 points, 5.7 rebounds) anchors a core of players that predominantly consists of newcomers. International prospect Ilias Kamardine arrives in Oxford with major expectations on the wing while AJ Storr (Kansas), Koren Johnson (Louisville), Travis Perry (Kentucky), Corey Chest (LSU), and James Scott (Louisville) will all play major roles in this team’s rotation. Ole Miss should again contend for a spot in the top half of the SEC standings. 

Syracuse: Adrian Autry is a combined 34-31 in two years as head coach of his alma mater and only won 14 games a year ago after finishing 20-12 in his first season. It says here that Autry’s third year is likely to feel more like his first. The Orange return two all-conference caliber players in J.J. Starling (17.8 points) and Donnie Freeman (13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds) while Georgia Tech transfer Naithan George (12.3 points, 6.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds) should have a major impact at point guard. Oregon State transfer Nate Kingz shot 44.8 percent from three-point range last season and will play a major role with his ability to stretch the floor. With Starling, Freeman, and George leading the way, Syracuse should have enough to be significantly better than it was a year ago. 

Nebraska: It feels like the Huskers have been a perennial bubble team during the past few years under Fred Hoiberg and that trend should again continue in 2025-26. 6-10 big man Rienk Mast (12.3 points, 7.5 rebounds in 2023-24) is back after redshirting last season due to a knee injury and he should form a quality combo up front along with veteran power forward Berke Buyuktuncel (6.0 points, 5.5 rebounds). Hoiberg solidified his perimeter with transfers Jamaques Lawrence (Rhode Island) and Pryce Sandfort (Iowa), who along with Connor Essegian (10.7 points) will likely round out a solid starting five. Pinnacle Bank Arena is one of the hardest places to win in the Big Ten and Hoiberg has seemed to figure out this job. It says here he’ll again have Nebraska firmly in the mix to hear its name called on Selection Sunday. 

TCU: A troika of transfers — Brock Harding (Iowa), Jayden Pierre (Providence), and Liutaurus Lelevicius (Oregon State) — may very well make up the Horned Frogs’ starting perimeter, but don’t forget about the players who have already been in this program. TCU returns four sophomores — David Punch, Micah Robinson, Malick Diallo, and Jace Posey — who all averaged double figure minutes as freshmen. Keep an eye on the 6-7 Punch (6.5 points, 4.4 rebounds), who could be an under-the-radar breakout guy nationally. The Horned Frogs have things aligned to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2026. 

Leftovers