Storylines shaping the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season

There are 50 days until the NCAA Tournament brackets are set on Selection Sunday.

We’ve learned a lot in the more than 80 days since the 2025-26 college basketball season ended, especially with conference play in full swing. New people have dominance. Scoring is at a historically high pace. Nebraska and Miami (Ohio) round out the last three unbeatens. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Whether you’re simply tuning in or enjoying the bird’s eye view, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf present a quick breakdown of the eight biggest stories shaping the season so far, below.

The biggest surprise ever

The undefeated program in college football history entering the 2025 season, Indiana recently won the national championship. A miracle run could also happen in college basketball.

undefeated nebraska Has conducted one of the top turnarounds in recent history. Miami (Ohio) Not even defeated. CLEMSON Has been off to a surprising start in ACC play (6-0). And in his first season, Kevin Willard has made villanova A top tier offensive and defensive team in the Big East.

Vanderbilt It is also in this conversation. Before the Commodores’ current three-game losing streak, they had won 16 consecutive games. tyler tanner (17.1 ppg, 39% from 3) is a projected first-round NBA draft pick in espn’s latest mock. And like Vanderbilt, which was picked 11th in the preseason SEC poll, neither Georgia (14th) no Virginia (fifth) were picked to finish in the top tier of their respective preseason conference polls – yet both have emerged as early contenders for the league title as a result of surprising starts. – Myron Medcalf

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Miami (OH) remains perfect after Luke Skalzak forces OT with acrobatic layup

Luke Skalzak hit an off-balance layup in the final seconds as Miami (OH) went into overtime and ultimately defeated Kent State.

Biggest disappointment ever

Many teams and players have disappointed unexpectedly.

donovan dent Portal was one of the top available transfers after winning Mountain West Player of the Year last season. Still they have struggled UCLAOnly 17% shooting from 3 for the bubble team.

kentucky They’re on a winning streak right now, but after reportedly spending $20 million on their current roster, the Wildcats aren’t looking like the national contenders they were supposed to be. the same goes for oregonWith an already disappointing roster, its season continued to be derailed by recent injuries.

In the Big 12, boiler Claims two projected lottery selections, and yet the Bears managed to start league play with a 1–5 record. tennessee Despite being a five-star freshman and a projected lottery pick, this one isn’t quite making it either Nate Ament In the bottom. A top-three defensive team in SEC play for the past five years, the Vols currently rank eighth.

A part of the Big East–see: Marquette, Thrift And george townNotably – struggling to even meet preseason expectations.

All that said, memphis Topping this list could be: After the best season of Penny Hardaway’s tenure in 2024-25 (29-6), the Tigers are just 9-9 on the season. — medcalf

Scoring is increasing

A confluence of factors – NBA prospects returning to school, a historically strong freshman class, top European colleges coming to the game – have produced a tremendous amount of talent in the game and the most explosive offense in decades. Entering last weekend, Division I teams were scoring an average of 77.2 points per game this season; This would be the highest number for a single season since 1971–72, when teams scored 77.7 points per game.

Similarly, teams entered last weekend shooting 45.4% from the field. This would be the highest collective field goal percentage since teams achieved 45.7% in 1991–92.

Only one team finished averaging better than 90 points per game last season (alabama at 90.7 ppg). Currently, 15 teams are reaching that limit.

From an efficiency perspective too, there has been an upward trend. There are currently 11 teams with an adjusted offensive rating of 125.0 or better kenpomcompared to only five the previous season. –Jeff Borzello

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Highlights: No. 20 Arkansas’ offense shines with win over No. 15 Vandy at home

Six Razorbacks reached double figures as they shot 57.8% and 40.9% from three to defeat the Commodores 93–68.

Star players are managing injuries

When he’s on the floor, kansas star freshman darrin peterson One of the elite players in college basketball. The potential No. 1 NBA draft pick will rank in the top 10 in the country in scoring, averaging 22.2 points per game — if he plays enough games to qualify, that is. Peterson entered the week with only nine games, having missed seven games in November and December due to a hamstring injury, and missing two more games just before Christmas due to a re-aggravation of the injury. He has played all six games in January, although not with his full allotment of minutes. And now he is struggling with an ankle sprain, putting his status in doubt for the immediate future.

Peterson isn’t the only projected lottery pick who has missed time due to injuries and an unclear timeline for a return. louisville‘S mikel brown jr. He has not played since the Cardinals’ December 13 game against Memphis, having missed the last nine games due to a lower back injury. Head coach Pat Kelsey admitted last week that, although he expects Brown to return at some point this season, he doesn’t know when that will be.

Meanwhile, Kentucky’s jayden quantance He missed the first 11 games of the season while recovering from a torn ACL suffered last February. He returned on December 20 and had an excellent performance against St. John’s, before scoring only 10 points in his next three contests and then sitting out Kentucky’s last three games. — Borzello

More former professionals in college ranks

Has anyone checked out Tom Izzo? He and other power brokers in the game rang the alarm After two G League players in October (Thierry Darlan And london johnson) was cleared to play college basketball, the first move of its kind by the NCAA. Then, James Nanaji — the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA draft who only played in Summer League and EuroLeague games but never an official NBA competition — was cleared to compete for Baylor in late December. He had never played college basketball, so his case was competing against former international professionals who were allowed to play Division I basketball with the exception of their draft status.

On Wednesday, an Alabama judge gave former Crimson Tide standout Charles Bediako — who signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs undrafted through 2023 — a temporary restraining order He was allowed to return to playing college basketball for the next 10 days. Before Bediako’s case, no players had actually played in college. And Those in the professional ranks were given the opportunity to return to college. His Tuesday hearing for a preliminary injunction to play out the remainder of the season, if successful, could open the way for other young two-and-away NBA players to make their case for NCAA eligibility. — medcalf

Strongest freshman class in recent memory

The recruiting class of 2025 has been circled by college coaches and NBA scouts for several years – and these newcomers have collectively exceeded all expectations.

Kansas’ darrin petersonthrough us AJ DiBantsa and Duke’s cameron boozer The class enters the 2025-26 season as three big names; They have become three of the best players in college basketball, with Boozer and DiBantsa finishing first and second in most national player of the year discussions. But it’s about more than just those three.

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Cam Boozer leads Duke to comeback win against Louisville

Cam Boozer had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in Duke’s comeback win over Louisville.

Nine new people were named Wooden Awards Midseason Top 25 WatchlistWith Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr.., of Tennessee Nate Amentof louisville mikel brown jr., of Houston Kingston Flemingsof arizona koa peat and North Carolina Caleb Wilson Everyone is looking for their place in the list.

This doesn’t even include UConn Braylon Mullins or arizona brayden burysWho are starting for the top two teams of the country. or breakout stars Keaton Wagler More of Illinois Ebuka Okorie Of Stanford. Nor does it include former European professionals who are classified as newcomers, such as Virginia Thijs De Ridder and Washington’s hannes steinbach. — Borzello

Strengths of high-major conferences

The 2025–26 season is powered by a deep field of contenders in the country’s top leagues. 10 Big Ten teams are in the top 40 on KenPom, including the top 15 michigan, michigan state, Purduenebraska and illinois.

The Big 12’s claim to fame this year is its star power: AJ DiBantsa (BYU), joshua jefferson (Iowa State), darrin peterson (Kansas), Kingston Flemings (Houston), JT Toppin And Christian Anderson (Texas Tech), and koa peat (Arizona) All have been able to lead their respective teams to the Final Four — and also earn national praise.

The ACC has also demanded respect in the bounce-back season. Of course, Duke is Duke. And North Carolina, Clemson and Virginia have added to the league’s depth with strong starts overall.

That being said, the SEC remains KenPom’s top-ranked conference a year after its record 14 NCAA Tournament bids. It may not match that number again, but the defending national champions Florida Preparing to defend her title. Alabama’s defense is still phenomenal. Kentucky is improving. John Calipari may have the best point guard in the country at Arkansas. And Vanderbilt already has six top-50 KenPom wins. — medcalf

Big lineups are dominating

It wasn’t long ago that three-guard lineups were the preferred setup for high-end teams — think Villanova’s perimeter-oriented championship teams in 2015 and 2017, or Baylor’s 2021 title team that started four players 6-foot-5 or shorter. According to KenPom’s average height metric, only four NCAA Tournament teams in 2021 were in the top 20 in height.

This season, the top three teams are ranked in average height in the AP Poll. Six other top-25 teams are also not far behind.

Check out the top four teams in this week’s AP Poll. Arizona’s eight-man rotation has six players standing 6-6 or taller. UConn doesn’t start anyone at 6-4. Michigan starts three players 6-9 or taller. Duke ranks No. 2 in average height and doesn’t have a single player shorter than 6-4 in its nine-man rotation.

The NBA has placed greater importance on positional size, and not surprisingly college basketball is following suit. — Borzello