We are now just under 50 days away from the start of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season, which means optimism is still radiating throughout dozens of the sport’s most notable fan bases.
For a select few, there’s a sense that next March could finally be the one where their team breaks through and makes it to the sport’s final weekend for the first time in the 21st century.
Here are five programs that have reason to believe that 2026 will be the year where they crash the Final Four for the first time in … well, far too long.
A surprise second-round loss to 10th-seeded Arkansas was the only thing that could somewhat dampen spirits in Queens after a season where Rick Pitino led St. John’s to its first Big East regular season title since 1992 and its first Big East Tournament title since 2000.
Now the fan base, and Pitino, are after more.
The Johnnies won with rebounding and defense (a pair of Pitino staples) last season, but struggled at times to put the ball in the basket at a high enough rate to be considered legitimate national championship contenders. They addressed that issue through the portal during the offseason, landing a trio of top-tier bucket getters in Ian Jackson (UNC), Bryce Hopkins (Providence) and Oziyah Sellers (Stanford). Toss in the return of All-Big East big man Zuby Ejiofor and the addition of another elite frontcourt presence in Cincinnati transfer Dillon Mitchell, and there’s plenty of hope that the Red Storm could reach the promised land this season for the first time in over four decades.
No program has appeared in more NCAA Tournaments or won more NCAA Tournament games without making a Final Four than BYU. Cougar fans are hoping that’s about to change as they gear up for what is widely being characterized as “the most anticipated basketball season in BYU history.”
Kevin Young has, without question, one of the most exciting rosters in the sport. He (and BYU’s wealthier donors) were able to lure Robert Wright III away from Baylor after a season where he established himself as perhaps the best freshman point guard in college basketball. He’ll form a backcourt with Richie Saunders, who averaged 16.5 ppg for the Cougars last season, and A.J. Dybantsa (technically a forward), the No. 1 player in the class of 2025 according to multiple scouting services, and the potential top pick in next year’s NBA Draft.
If BYU can defend at a high enough level — a task made more likely by the addition of Southern Illinois transfer Kennard Davis — there shouldn’t be a team in the country they’re unable to play with.
John Calipari’s first season in Fayetteville was widely viewed as a disappointment … and then March happened.
The Razorbacks slipped into the NCAA Tournament as a 10-seed and then promptly pulled upsets of Kansas and St. John’s to crash the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five years. A near upset of Texas Tech in the regional semifinal left Hog fans dreaming about what might be in 2025-26.
Calipari returns starters DJ Wagner, Karter Knox and Trevon Brazile from last year’s team, and adds a 5-star freshman in guard Darius Acuff as well as a pair of high-level frontcourt transfers in Florida State’s Malique Ewin (14.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Nick Pringle (9.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) from South Carolina.
If Acuff can live up to the lofty expectations of being a freshman guard thrust into a spotlight role by Calipari, the sky could be the limit for this Razorbacks squad.
In his four seasons in Ames, TJ Otzelberger has won 85 total games, a Big 12 Tournament championship, and five games in the NCAA Tournament. The only thing he hasn’t done — despite being a 2-seed in 2024 and a 3-seed last season — is take the Cyclones beyond the Sweet 16.
While Iowa State loses key contributors Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert from last year’s 25-win team, they do return three starters in Tamin Lipsey (10.6 ppg), Milan Momcilovic (11.5 ppg) and Joshua Jefferson (13.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg). Transfer forwards Blake Buchanan (Virginia) and Eric Mulder (Purdue-Fort Wayne) join Otzelberger’s highest-rated recruiting class to date to form the nucleus of a team that should once again be among the best in the nation in defensively.
With Otzelberger, it feels like a matter of when, not if he’s going to break through and take the Cylcones to the sport’s biggest stage. Iowa State fans have waited long enough to feel like they deserve that “when” to be this season.
While BYU has been to the most NCAA Tournaments without a Final Four appearance, it’s Tennessee that is widely viewed as the owner of the infamous “Best Program to Have Never Been to a Final Four” title.
Much of that has to do with how successful the Volunteers have been under head coach Rick Barnes. UT has been a 5-seed or better (and a 2-seed thrice) in its last seven NCAA Tournaments under Barnes. It’s won three SEC championships, been to three straight Sweet 16s, and made two of the program’s three all-time regional final appearances in the last two years.
And yet the “zero” still hangs over the program like the rain cloud that refuses to leave poor Eeyore alone.
This year’s Tennessee team won’t enter the season with anywhere near the hype that Barnes’ last three squads did. But maybe that’s what the Volunteers need.
Just one starter is back — big man Felix Okpara (7.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg) —but a talented group of newcomers headlined by 5-star freshman Nate Ament and Maryland transfer guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.7 ppg, 4.8 apg) still have optimism high in Knoxville.
