This season, Gonzaga men's basketball will compete in a league not named the West Coast Conference for the first time in nearly five decades.
The same program that produced NBA legend John Stockton and current Clippers forward Rui Hachimura will now attempt to dominate a new version of the Pac-12. Meanwhile, there's more change in the WCC, with a new leader to guide Saint Mary's -- also for the first time in decades, after the departure of Randy Bennett.
Change is a common theme for the schools below that aren't a part of a high-major conference. Each year these teams are poached and reorganized because of portal and coaching carousel machinations. Some are able to set the stage for a rebound -- or a sad ending.
So from the West Coast to the East Coast, let's take a look at 13 notable teams that could hit your radar -- for better or worse -- this season.
Teams are ordered by ceiling win projections.
Other conference projections:
Big Ten | SEC | Big 12 | Big East | ACC
1. Gonzaga Bulldogs
2025-26 finish: 31-4, 16-2 WCC (moving to the Pac-12), lost in the NCAA tournament round of 32
CEILING
Total wins: 34
Pac-12 finish: First
Postseason finish: Final Four
FLOOR
Total wins: 26
Pac-12 finish: Third
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 32
Mark Few's team is probably the favorite in the new Pac-12 -- albeit with an asterisk. Xaivian Lee (11.6 PPG, 4.2 APG at Florida), Javon Bennett (15.8 PPG at Dayton) and Chauncey Wiggins (13.3 PPG, 39% from 3 at Florida State) all could make the Bulldogs a Final Four contender. All also need to be cleared to play a fifth season. Without them, Braden Huff (17.8 PPG in 18 games last season) remains an All-America candidate after an injury-plagued year and Massamba Diop (13.6 PPG, 2.1 BPG at Arizona State) will protect the rim. There is clearly a gap, however, between how far this team can go and how far it can fall.
2. Grand Canyon Lopes
2025-26 finish: 20-12, 13-7 Mountain West, lost in the Mountain West tournament quarterfinal
CEILING
Total wins: 30
Mountain West finish: First
Postseason finish: Sweet 16
FLOOR
Total wins: 22
Mountain West finish: Third
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
Bryce Drew could make Grand Canyon the king of the new Mountain West if he gets his full roster. Makaih Williams returns after averaging 14.0 PPG last season, second best on the team. Efe Demirel, a 7-1 sophomore, should build on last year's campaign (8.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.1 BPG). But the Lopes' season will depend mostly on the fate of three fifth-year candidates, most notably all-Mountain West first-teamer Jaden Henley, who averaged a team-best 17.7 PPG. He, along with NC State transfer Tre Holloman (9.2 PPG) and Baylor transfer Dan Skillings Jr. (9.4 PPG, 5.7 RPG), still need court rulings allowing them to play another year.
3. New Mexico Lobos
2025-26 finish: 26-11, 13-7 Mountain West, lost in the NIT semifinal
CEILING
Total wins: 30
Mountain West finish: First
Postseason finish: Sweet 16
FLOOR
Total wins: 24
Mountain West finish: Second
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 64
A good season for a mid-major player is kind of like changing your relationship status to "single" on a social media platform: Folks may check in to see if you're interested in a new situation. After winning 26 games, the Lobos lost nearly 60 PPG in offensive production, including key players in the transfer portal. But Jake Hall, the Mountain West freshman of the year and an All-Mountain West first-teamer, is back for a Lobos squad seeking its third NCAA tournament berth in four seasons -- and first under second-year head coach Eric Olen. Hall and Uriah Tenette (10.6 PPG) are the biggest reasons for optimism in Albuquerque.
4. High Point Panthers
2025-26 finish: 31-5, 15-1 Big South, lost in the NCAA tournament round of 32
CEILING
Total wins: 30
Big South finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 32
FLOOR
Total wins: 26
Big South finish: Second
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
Few mid-majors could retain their rosters after beating Wisconsin and battling Arkansas in the NCAA tournament. You would expect them to lose every key player from those feats to the highest bidders in the transfer portal. Yet High Point's tuition is $70,000-plus, students roll around campus in golf carts and the school also has a five-star steakhouse that's free to students. The Bank of High Point University isn't afraid to write big checks, which helped retain Cam'Ron Fletcher (39 points in two NCAA tournament games), who was granted a seventh year by the NCAA, and add transfers CJ Brown (10.9 PPG at South Florida) and Isaac Garrett (13.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG at Oakland). The Panthers, looking to once again be a threat in March, have sent a message this offseason: they, too, have money to spend.
5. Wichita State Shockers
2025-26 finish: 24-12, 13-5 American, lost in the NIT quarterfinal
CEILING
Total wins: 29
American finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 32
FLOOR
Total wins: 22
American finish: Fourth
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
Paul Mills has taken the Shockers' win total from 15 in 2023-24, his first season, to 19 in his second season, to 24 last year. The unknown status of fifth-year guard Kenyon Giles (19.1 PPG, 38% from 3) could make increasing that tally a little more complicated. Still, the Shockers have Jordan Frison, the Chattanooga transfer who averaged 16.4 PPG and 4.0 APG, while connecting on 46% of his 3-point attempts from beyond the arc. He and Giles together would be a difficult duo to defend. A strong returning frontcourt led by returnees Dillon Battie (7.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG) and Will Berg (8.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.3 BPG) could also help Mills secure his first NCAA tournament berth in four years.
6. Utah State Aggies
2025-26 finish: 29-7, 15-5 Mountain West (moving to Pac-12), lost in the NCAA tournament round of 32
CEILING
Total wins: 28
Pac-12 finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 32
FLOOR
Total wins: 25
Pac-12 finish: Third
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 64
Ben Jacobson ended a 20-year stint at Northern Iowa, where he won 397 games and made five NCAA tournament appearances, to fill the most recent vacancy at Utah State. He added another victory to his résumé when he convinced Mountain West Player of the Year Mason Falslev (16.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.9 SPG, 39% from beyond the arc) to return for another season. Karson Templin (8.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG), a 6-foot-8 forward and the third-leading scorer for Utah State last season, is back too. Jacobson also lured former Northern Iowa standout Will Hornseth (11.1 PPG) to join him in Logan. What does that mean? Despite starting the year with their fourth coach in five years, the Aggies are set to return to the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive season.
7. VCU Rams
2025-26 finish: 28-8, 15-3 Atlantic 10 lost in the NCAA tournament round of 32
CEILING
Total wins: 28
Atlantic 10 finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 32
FLOOR
Total wins: 22
Atlantic 10 finish: Fourth
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
Phil Martelli Jr. has taken two different programs to the NCAA tournament (Bryant, VCU) in back-to-back seasons. He has also led the Rams to a share of the Atlantic 10 crown in his first season. What will Year 2 look like? All signs point to continued success. Four players who combined to score 46 of VCU's 82 points in its win over North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament -- Lazar Djokovic, Brandon Jennings, Nyk Lewis and Michael Belle -- have returned. The player who scored 34 points that night (Terrence Hill Jr.) is now at Tennessee, but the Rams remain a promising unit.
8. Saint Louis Billikens
2025-26 finish: 29-6, 15-3 Atlantic 10, lost in the NCAA tournament round of 32
CEILING
Total wins: 27
Atlantic 10 finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 32
FLOOR
Total wins: 22
Atlantic 10 finish: Third
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
Saint Louis signed coach Josh Schertz to a long-term extension in March before a high-major program could poach him. The school's reward? Five of the top seven scorers from a 29-win squad that shot 40% from 3 and 60% from inside the arc (both top-11 in the nation) and won a share of the Atlantic 10 championship last season return, too. That includes Trey Green (10.7 PPG, 44% from 3) and Amari McCottry (10.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG). The Billikens are built to compete for the league crown again and win an NCAA tournament game for the second year in a row. Schertz came back because he believes in this group's ceiling.
9. McNeese Cowboys
2025-26 finish: 28-6, 19-3 Southland, lost in the NCAA tournament round of 64
CEILING
Total wins: 29
Southland finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 64
FLOOR
Total wins: 24
Southland finish: Second
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
In his first season at the helm, Bill Armstrong matched Will Wade's final season at the helm: 28 wins, a Southland tournament championship and an NCAA tournament appearance. Armstrong then lost four starters, a development that would end the momentum for most teams. But the Cowboys did manage to retain Southland freshman of the year and all-conference first-teamer Larry Johnson, who led the team in scoring (17.4 PPG) and broke Joe Dumars' scoring record for a McNeese freshman. He is arguably the most significant mid-major returnee in America.
10. Saint Mary's Gaels
2025-26 finish: 27-6, 16-2 WCC, lost in the the NCAA tournament round of 64
CEILING
Total wins: 28
WCC finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 64
FLOOR
Total wins: 24
WCC finish: Second
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
It's difficult to think of Saint Mary's without also mentioning Randy Bennett, who had spent a quarter century leading the program. But then in March, Bennett made the surprising move to Arizona State, opening the door for former Gaels standout and longtime assistant Mickey McConnell to fill the void. McConnell knows the culture of a program that was the Celtics to Gonzaga's Lakers in the WCC for the past 25 years. Joshua Dent, a 6-3 guard who averaged 13.2 PPG and went 40% from beyond the arc, is the building block for this next installment of Saint Mary's basketball. UNLV transfer Myles Che missed last season with a foot injury, while the rest of the roster is mostly nondescript. Yet the Gaels have overachieved with similar rosters for a long time.
11. Miami (OH) RedHawks
2025-26 finish: 32-2, 18-0 MAC, lost in the NCAA tournament round of 64
CEILING
Total wins: 28
MAC finish: First
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 64
FLOOR
Total wins: 24
MAC finish: Third
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
March 1, 2025, is a significant date for Travis Steele and the RedHawks. It's the last time they lost a regular-season game. Last year's undefeated season was, indeed, a rarity in sports. The RedHawks spent the entire season battling naysayers who questioned their résumé and quality of wins. A win over SMU in the First Four seemed to quiet some of those doubts. A strong follow-up would further prove last season wasn't a fluke. Evan Ipsaro (13.9 PPG, 39% from 3), Antwone Woolfolk (9.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG), Luke Skaljac (10.3 PPG, 4.7 APG) and Almar Atlason (9.9 PPG) are all back to see whether they can keep winning. Miami has lost just seven games since Dec. 18, 2024.
12. Oregon State Beavers
2025-26 finish: 17-16, 9-9 WCC (moving to Pac-12), lost in the WCC tournament semifinal
CEILING
Total wins: 24
Pac-12 finish: Third
Postseason finish: NCAA tournament round of 64
FLOOR
Total wins: 18
Pac-12 finish: Fourth
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
The confetti was falling at Lucas Oil Stadium in April as then-Michigan assistant Justin Joyner celebrated winning a national title -- and had to think about how to navigate the transfer portal as Oregon State's new head coach. He will start his tenure with a duo that should make this group competitive in the new Pac-12: returnee Josiah Lake II (13.2 PPG, 4.2 APG, 38% from 3) and Daniel Freitag (19.8 PPG at Buffalo last season). Another key will be seeing whether BYU transfer Xavion Staton, a former top-60 recruit, blossoms.
13. Memphis Tigers
2025-26 finish: 13-19, 8-10 American, lost in the American tournament first round
CEILING
Total wins: 19
American finish: Third
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
FLOOR
Total wins: 15
American finish: Sixth
Postseason finish: No NCAA tournament appearance
"This is a crucial year for Penny Hardaway and Memphis." It feels like we've written the same preview for the Tigers over the past few years. But this also feels like the potential last stand for Hardaway, who has struggled to create and sustain the magic at Memphis, once a powerhouse and now an afterthought in the collegiate landscape. Can elite efforts from 6-7 forward Tylik Weeks (19.7 PPG at Southern Miss) and guard Jayden Reid (10.1 PPG at Northwestern) make Memphis basketball relevant again?
