Top D1 Basketball Schools to Watch This Season
- UConn is trying to join the John Wooden UCLA teams as the only men’s Division I program with three straight national titles.
- Kansas, Duke, and UConn are among the teams with the shortest odds of winning the national title.
- It is never too early to start betting on the 2024-25 college basketball national championship winner.
The faces change, but there are familiar teams in the top half of the national polls year after year. Kansas began the season atop both The Associated Press and the Coaches polls for the second consecutive season. Two-time defending national champion UConn wasn’t far behind, with Blue Blood Duke and North Carolina also prominently featured among the top D1 basketball schools.
The same will likely be true in five years and ten years.
UCLA has won the most national titles, but the last of the 11 came in 1995. UCLA and Villanova are the only programs with at least three NCAA Division I men’s basketball titles outside the top 25 in the polls.
There are 364 men’s college basketball teams competing at the NCAA Division I level during the 2024-25 season. Here’s a look at the top current men’s college basketball programs.
Here Are The Top Men’s College Basketball Teams and Programs
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UConn Huskies
When you head into the 2024-25 season, having won the last two titles, you deserve to lead the way in a list of the top D1 basketball schools.
The Huskies won their first national title in 1999. Since 2004, they have cut the nets down five times, and no other men’s Division I college basketball program can say that. Now they have a chance to join the John Wooden-coached UCLA teams as the only men’s Division I college basketball teams to win at least three consecutive national titles.
Jim Calhoun built UConn into a title contender. Kevin Ollie also won a title with the Huskies before a difficult divorce. Now, Hurley has the Huskies on top of the college basketball world.
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Kansas Jayhawks
The transfer portal has been kind to the Jayhawks in recent years, and they hope that pays off in another national title.
Kansas won the 2022 championship, the first for the Jayhawks since 2008 and the fourth overall. When Kansas won its first championship in 1952, the biggest names were Clyde Lovellette and future North Carolina head coach Dean Smith. In 1988, Danny Manning was the star for Kansas. Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush, and Mario Chalmers led the Jayhawks to the 2008 title.
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Duke Blue Devils
Freshman Cooper Flagg is one of the most highly touted newcomers in recent memory in the men’s college basketball universe. The Blue Devils are putting together another top recruiting class. With Flagg expected to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, he probably won’t be around to join them.
Duke won back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992, led by Christian Laettner and Grant Hill. Bobby Hurley, the current UConn coach’s brother, was that team’s point guard. More championships followed in 2001, 2010, and 2015 under the tutelage of Mike Krzyzewski. Now it is former Duke guard Jon Scheyer calling the shots.
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North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels went 25 years without a title after winning it all in 1957. The winning basket in the 1982 championship game was scored by none other than Michael Jordan, quite possibly the greatest NBA player of all time. More championships followed in 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017. North Carolina has played in the national title game for nine consecutive decades, which no other program can boast. It is no surprise that North Carolina often tops the charts when it comes to the best D1 basketball schools.
Head coach Hubert Davis got North Carolina into the 2022 national title game. Is he ready to do it again? Davis got to play in the NBA after his time at UNC. Not everybody is as lucky. How many people make it to the NBA?
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Kentucky Wildcats
These are interesting times at Kentucky, with John Calipari leaving after the 2023-24 season to take over the program at Arkansas.
Calipari sent many elite players into the NBA during his time with the Wildcats, but this only sometimes translated into success come March Madness time.
Kentucky won four titles from 1948 to 1958 but waited another 20 years to win another. Since winning titles in 1996 and 1998, Kentucky has made it to four Final Fours but only one championship game. That came in 2012. It might be a while before the Wildcats win the program’s ninth national title. Kentucky plays in one of the biggest college basketball arenas.
Best of the Rest
Alabama, Auburn, Gonzaga, and Houston have high hopes that they can break through and win it all.
Auburn made its lone Final Four appearance in 2019, and Charles Barkley and current NBA star Jabari Smith were among the Tigers’ former stars.
Alabama finally made it to its first Final Four in 2024. The last two times the Crimson Tide got past the Sweet 16, UConn was waiting.
Gonzaga lost in the national title game in 2017 and 2021 and has made it to the Elite Eight five times since 2015.
Houston has reached the Final Four on six occasions but only once since 1984, when the Houston Cougars made it to consecutive national championship games.
What Happened to the Last Two Programs To Try to 3-Peat?
After winning the titles in 1991 and 1992, the Duke Blue Devils fell to California 82-77 in the second round of the Midwest Regional. Kansas would beat Cal in the next round and win the regional title.
Florida won the national championships in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. The Gators lost all five starters and finished fourth in the SEC East Division with an 8-8 record. After losing its first game in the 2008 SEC tournament, Florida did not receive an invitation into the NCAA tournament. The Gators advanced to the NIT semifinals before losing to Massachusetts.
