The men’s college basketball season kicked off on Monday and is already shaping up to be an interesting one. As is with the transition between every college basketball season, the landscape can drastically change from the final buzzer of the national championship game to the next season’s opening day. Many key players from the prior season have gone to the draft and schools have recruited exciting new talent.

Here are five teams that have the best chance of contending for a spot in the Final Four this year.

Duke Blue Devils

Out of the entire NCAA, the Blue Devils had arguably the strongest recruiting class. The standout recruit is Cooper Flagg, who was the No. 1 recruit in the 2024 class and is one of the most hyped-up college prospects in recent memory. The Montverde Academy grad is already projected as the No.1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

The Blue Devils also have three other five-star recruits in 7-foot-2 Sudanese stalwart center Khalaman Malauch and promising wing scorers Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel. The immense amount of offensive talent that Duke has added to complement existing pieces such as Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster should give third-year head coach Jon Scheyer the opportunity to have a fast-paced offense this year.

Nowadays, however, the Blue Devils are not necessarily a lock for deep postseason runs, as having core pieces this young comes with a lot of uncertainty. However, they have as much potential to succeed this year as anyone else.

Alabama Crimson Tide

This is the second consecutive year where Alabama basketball may see greater success than their dynastic football team, and that’s for good reason.

Ever since head coach Nate Oats was hired in 2019, the Crimson Tide have made a name for themselves separate from their titanic football program. Standout point guard Mark Sears’ decision to undeclare from the NBA Draft and stay in the program will help them retain some of their prowess from last season amidst the losses of Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada.

Alabama enters the season as the No. 2-ranked team in the preseason AP poll—22 spots higher than last season and their highest preseason rank in school history. Alabama’s continued success has made their basketball program’s expectations greater than ever before and they’ll be tasked with meeting those this season.

UConn Huskies

The back-to-back defending championships may have lost several key pieces to the NBA, but the Huskies can’t be counted out given their immense track record of success under head coach Dan Hurley.

The Huskies lost more talent than any other team on this list, as Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer all went their separate ways, but they’ve supplemented those losses with new talent. Guards Aidan Maheny and Tarris Reed Jr. joined Hurley and Co. through the transfer portal, and Liam McNeeley leads their recruiting class with his lethal shooting ability.

The Huskies are looking to three-peat this year—a feat that hasn’t been done by a college basketball team in over 50 years. Despite history, if there’s a team that can put these new pieces together and ascend to basketball immortality, it’s one that’s led by Hurley.

Houston Cougars

The Cougars may have lost floor general Jamaal Sheed, but Houston was able to retain an impressive amount of talent after reaching the Elite Eight last year. Aside from Sheed, the Cougars maintained their entire starting lineup including L.J Cryer, who led the team in scoring last year. Houston has the privilege of not having to start entirely from scratch like many other top programs and will be able to build on where they left off last year.

Houston has been a top college basketball team for quite some time now, but they haven’t been able to break through yet and claim a title. This season could be the one where they make a deep run in March.

Kansas Jayhawks

Last, but certainly not least, the No.1-ranked Jayhawks are the favorites to win it all this year following a disappointing, injury-plagued 2023-24 campaign. The Jayhawks possess what could be the single deepest roster in all of college basketball, and their No.1 ranking in the latest AP poll shows it.

Led by big man Hunter Dickinson, the Jayhawks added a plethora of role players through the transfer portal to fill the voids left by Johnny Murky and Kevin McCellar Jr. Guard Zeke Mayo, guard AJ Storr and forward Rylan Griffen will all serve as key contributors to an already stacked Kansas team.

The Jayhawks have more than enough to make a run, it’s just a matter of whether or not they can put it all together.