QShan College Hoops

Although many traditional basketball schools and their fan bases are focused on the home stretch of the college football season (looking at you Indiana), the calendar is about to flip to November which means the 2025-2026 NCAA Division I basketball season has arrived.

Before a season flooded with uber-talented freshmen, a Florida Gators team looking to repeat as national champions and brand new rosters all around the country kicks off, I wanted to give out my favorite futures ahead of the new season. I’m sure many of you, unless you put a future on James Franklin, are still sweating out college football futures; however, with the lack of clarity on many of these basketball rosters this is the prime time to buy low on teams before the landscape of the college basketball world becomes clearer.

In this article I will give you my favorite Conference Champion, John R. Wooden Award and National Championship pick with a long description as to why I think it will happen. Below each category will also be other bets I will be placing.

Conference Champion Futures

SEC: Kentucky Wildcats (+450)

The easy pick in the SEC this season should be the defending national champion Florida Gators (+260) and their trio of bigs returning to Gainesville to go along with former five-star Arkansas guard Boogie Fland and the rest of their elite transfer portal class. Although, I believe replacing Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard will be a bigger task for Todd Golden than most are anticipating.

For that reason, I trust the $20+ million dollar roster that Mark Pope created in Lexington. I hate to put a ton of weight into an exhibition game, but the display on both sides of the ball that Kentucky put on while hosting Purdue last week should strike fear into every SEC school. Beyond that, Kentucky has the perfect balance of returning star power to go with elite transfers.

Otega Oweh is SEC POY good and he has his big from last year back in Brandon Garrison. Kentucky also brought in Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen, whose role on last year’s Gator team continued to grow as the year went on. Pope also signed former five-star Jayden Quaintance from Arizona State whose 2.6 blocks per game should provide a boost to the Wildcat’s rim protection which was a massive weakness down the stretch last year. Unfortunately, fans in Lexington will have to wait till SEC play to see Quaintance as he recovers from a torn ACL he suffered at the end of last year. Luckily, due to an embarrassment of riches, former Alabama forward Mohamed Dioubate, who looked bigger and stronger than he did in Tuscaloosa, will have no problem stepping into the starting lineup to start the season.

All that to say, I would still take Kentucky to win the SEC as favorites, but at nearly double the odds of the Gators to win the league, I think the value is too good to pass up.

Other Conference Champion Picks:

Big 12: BYU Cougars (+500)

Big 10: Michigan Wolverines (+320)

Big East: UConn Huskies (+105)

ACC: Duke Blue Devils (+165)

John R. Wooden Award

Kansas Jayhawks: Darryn Peterson (+700)

I mentioned at the start of this article that the college basketball landscape is flooded with freshmen talent once again this season. The 2025 recruiting class reminds me a lot of the 2018 class where the player getting the most hype, Zion Williamson that year, isn’t even the best player in that class. This year’s “Zion Williamson” could be AJ Dybantsa, whose estimated $7 million NIL deal with BYU dominated headlines earlier this year. Even with that lucrative NIL deal, Dybantsa finished second in his class to Kansas Jayhawks freshman guard Darryn Peterson.

Peterson is one of the most well-rounded freshmen I’ve seen come into college basketball. As a scorer, he can attack the rim at will, settle for a smooth pull up mid-range jump shot or comfortably step back behind the arc with elite efficiency at every level. More importantly, beyond his ability to score the ball is his ability to defend and rebound. Peterson’s 6 ’10 ” wingspan at 6 ‘5 ” will have many guards around the country in fits trying to find passing lanes or finishes around the rim when matched up with him. At Prolific Prep he also pulled down 7.4 rebounds per game.

Obviously, every five star in the 2025 class has a similar pedigree as Peterson, but what I think separates him the most in his class is the role he will have for Bill Self this year. According to Self, the Jayhawks’ offense will run through Peterson.

“As a freshman coming in with the ability to put a team on his back, I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I’ve had [someone like Peterson],” Self said earlier this month to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

Hence, between the big time games Kansas will be playing in throughout the non-conference season (@ UNC, vs Duke, vs UConn) and the Big 12 season, Peterson will be in the spotlight all season and I think his numbers will stack up with anyone by the time March rolls around.

Other John R. Wooden Award picks:

Alabama Crimson Tide: Labaron Philon (+5000)

Michigan Wolverines: Yaxel Lendeborg (+1000)

National Championship Pick

Michigan Wolverines: +1900

As cliche as it sounds, I truly believe the national title is wide open this year. I don’t think we are going to have a repeat of last year where the top four teams in the sport (Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida) separate themselves as much as they did a season ago and pay off that year of success by all advancing to San Antonio. It is a tired, yet true take that the transfer portal and NIL has led to much more of spreading the “wealth of talent”, but in my opinion no more is that true than this season.

Consequently, NIL and the transfer portal are two of the major factors as to why I believe Michigan is poised to cut down the nets in April. According to 247 Sports, Dusty May brought in the sports second best transfer portal class, beyond just St. John’s (which I personally believe is an error).

The leader of that transfer portal class was Yaxel Lendeborg, or Yax, who transferred over from UAB. Lendeborg is as NBA ready as any player in the country, and his late removal from the NBA draft process should suggest he could’ve gone this year if he wanted (or that Michigan donors put together an estimated $2.3 million NIL package according to On3). In his two seasons in Birmingham, Lendeborg averaged a double-double both years. Last year he averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals. In other words, he does everything on a basketball court at an extremely high level.

May and his staff also brought in a pair of former Big Ten big men in 7’3″ UCLA transfer Andy Mara and Illinois big man Morez Johnson Jr. If there is anything that the UConn and Florida teams that have won the last three national championships have taught us, it’s that front court depth is essential to winning six games in a row in March. Michigan checks that box and some.

My only pause would be the question marks that surround Michigan’s new back court. Michigan is taking a flyer and trusting in former UNC guard Elliot Cadeau to take a jump as a true point guard, which means limiting his turnovers and distributing the ball to the multitude of scorers and playmakers that will surround him every night. That includes veteran guard Nimari Burnett who is back again for the Wolverines after connecting on 40% of his three point attempts a year ago.

If Michigan’s backcourt of Cadeau, Burnett and Roddy Gayle Jr. can be an above average unit, the front court of Michigan is good enough to lead Dusty May and Michigan back to the national championship game and win it this time.

Other National Champion Picks:

Kentucky Wildcats (+1600)

BYU Cougars (+2000)

Houston (+1000)