Rise and Shine: 5 Storylines for the 2025-26 Season

By Jonathan Lidskin and Sam Federman

Photo: Alex Slitz, Getty Images

1. Florida is chasing back-to-back national championships

For nearly 20 years, Florida was the last team to win back-to-back national championships, doing it under Billy Donovan in the mid-2000s. Then, Dan Hurley and UConn went in and strutted through two NCAA Tournaments like it was absolutely nothing. In order to be the champ, you have to beat the champs, and the Gators squeaked past UConn in the round of 32 last year, setting up a remarkable run to the National Title, led by senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr. Although he’s gone, the entire frontcourt of Thomas Haugh, Reuben Chinyelu, Alex Condon, and Micah Handlogten, is back and ready to push the Gators to contention once again.

2. Braden Smith is chasing Bobby Hurley

His first season ended in the most embarrassing possible fashion – with seven turnovers in a loss to 16th-seed FDU. But since then, Braden Smith has led Purdue to a national championship game appearance and a Sweet 16 as a First Team All-American last year. Smith is 318 assists away from knocking Bobby Hurley off the top of the leaderboard, and if the Boilermakers play 37 games, and Smith averages the same 8.7 that he did last year, he’ll break the record.

3. The three superstar freshmen

Cam Boozer, Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa. Those three names will be grouped together a lot this season, and for good reason. They are your three contenders to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft, and they will be the face of college basketball this season. Boozer and Peterson took the more traditional route and are attending blue bloods in Duke and Kansas, respectively. Dybantsa, on the other hand, will be spending his only college season in Provo, Utah, where he will try to lead BYU to new heights. Don’t be surprised if you flip on SportsCenter at night and these three are leading the show.

4. Rick Pitino tries to become the first coach to win a National Title at three different schools

Despite the controversial past, Rick Pitino’s name is immortal in the college basketball world. He is one of the best coaches this game has ever seen, and he can put himself into GOAT conversations with a title at St. John’s. With a national title at the school in Jamaica, Queens, Pitino would become the only coach in college basketball history to win a title at three different schools. Currently, he is the only coach to do it at two different schools. The Johnnies roster is talented, but flawed, and Pitino will certainly have to do a tremendous job to make the product match the talent, but if anyone can do it, it might just be Pitino.

5. The Houston Redemption

Less than one month ago, Kelvin Sampson turned 70 years old. He is currently one of the best coaches in the country, if not the best. He has won 798 games with almost 300 coming at Houston, but none of those wins have resulted in him holding up a National Championship trophy. Last year in San Antonio, Houston led by as many as 12 over Florida before squandering the lead and ultimately the title. 210 days later, the Cougars turn their attention to this season as Sampson chases that title with another excellent roster. Houston starts the season No. 1 in KenPom and with another great shot at the grand prize, but the question has become how many more great shots does Sampson get?