College basketball rankings: Florida begins 2026-27 season as No. 1 in Top 25 And 1

The 2026-27 college basketball season begins for most teams Monday HOUSTON — Notre Dame upset Villanova on Sunday in what amounted to the official launch of the 2026-27 college basketball season — but things will really get started Monday with the reigning national champion (Michigan), the preseason No. 1 (Florida) and 18 other teams in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 scheduled to play, among them Houston. That's where I'll be late Monday — inside the Fertitta Center here on this Big 12 campus, where the Cougars will host La Salle in a game scheduled to tip at 9 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and streaming on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App.

Houston is 15th in this final version of the preseason Top 25 And 1 and will be attempting to make an eighth straight trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament next March after not making it at all for 35 straight years before Kelvin Sampson took over. The only change from Version 29 of the Top 25 And 1 that I published last month and this final update before ranked teams have records is that I've added Texas Tech and inserted the Red Raiders at No. 17. As you might know, Grant McCasland's roster has been in constant flux for much of the