1 Gonzaga Gonzaga's roster took a hit when Filip Petrusev decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility to pursue a professional opportunity overseas. But the Zags are still loaded in the frontcourt and plenty talented enough to win the 2021 NCAA Tournament thanks in part to the return of Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi. Those two, plus sophomore Drew Timme, should serve as a nice nucleus for Gonzaga, which is also adding four top-100 prospects to the roster, most notably five-star guard Jalen Suggs and four-star center Oumar Ballo. So Mark Few has a chance to record at least 30 victories for the fifth consecutive season (provided there are enough games on the schedule). -- 31-2

2 Baylor The top three scorers from a Baylor team that spent multiple weeks ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll are returning - and that doesn't even include Mark Vital, a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award. Jared Butler is expected to lead the way. The 6-3 guard averaged a team-high 16.0 points, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game as a sophomore. He's the main reason Scott Drew's Bears should be the preseason favorite in the Big 12 and a real contender for the national title. -- 26-4

3 Villanova Saddiq Bey's decision to remain in the NBA Draft hurts but was not an unexpected development considering he's a projected first-round pick. So the Wildcats are losing their best player - but the good news is that everybody else is back from a team that went 7-1 in its final eight games and shared the Big East title. What that suggests is that Jay Wright has a talented and experienced roster that's strong enough to give the future Hall of Fame coach a chance to grab what would be a third national championship in a six-year span. -- 24-7

4 Virginia Virginia is returning three starters from a team that closed the regular season with eight consecutive victories thanks to a defense that ranked first nationally in efficiency. Former Marquette standout Sam Hauser, who averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds two seasons ago, will be eligible after sitting out the 2019-20 campaign. He'll make an immediate impact and have Tony Bennett in position to compete for what would be a second national championship in a three-year span. -- 23-7

5 Iowa Luka Garza's decision to withdraw from the NBA Draft makes him the obvious preseason national player of the year after a statistically incredible junior campaign. The other four players who started Iowa's last game last season are also returning. And don't forget: Jordan Bohannon is back after a redshirt season. So Fran McCaffery should have the best team he's ever had in 22 years as a Division I head coach. -- 20-11

6 Illinois Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn both withdrawing from the NBA Draft was a massive development for Illinois and the reason there are four Big Ten schools in the top 11 of the Top 25 And 1. Dosunmu/Cockburn could develop into the best top-two on any team in the country. So Brad Underwood should have the Illini in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 - and a trip trip to the Final Four is a realistic goal. -- 21-10

7 Kansas Devon Dotson's decision to enter the NBA Draft after two seasons means the Jayhawks will be without the top two scorers from a team that would've been the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That's not ideal. But the arrival of 5-star guard Bryce Thompson, combined with an experienced core of Ochai Agbaji, Marcus Garrett, David McCormack and Christian Braun, should provide Bill Self with enough to compete for yet another Big 12 title. -- 28-3

8 Duke Vernon Carey, Tre Jones and Cassius Stanley all entered the NBA Draft. So the Blue Devils are losing their top three scorers, and four of the top six, from last season's team that finished tied for second in the ACC. Still, the return of Matthew Hurt and Wendell Moore should give Mike Krzyzewski two experienced and reliable pieces to pair with a top-three recruiting class highlighted by five-star prospects Jalen Johnson, Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward and Mark Williams. So Coach K winning a sixth national title remains very much in the cards. -- 25-6

9 Creighton Ty-Shon Alexander's decision to enter the NBA Draft was an unfortunate development for Creighton considering the Bluejays' leading scorer is not a projected first-round pick. But Greg McDermott is still bringing back the other four starters from a team that was the top seed in the Big East Tournament. So Creighton has a chance to repeat as Big East champs and make the Final Four for the first time in school history. -- 24-7

10 Wisconsin Wisconsin got better after Kobe King quit the team in January, evidence being how the Badgers won eight straight games to close the regular season and shared the Big Ten crown with Maryland and Michigan State. The top five scorers from the final-game roster are returning - most notably Micah Potter, who averaged 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 52.8% from the field last season. He's among the reasons Greg Gard's Badgers will be positioned to secure back-to-back Big Ten titles. -- 21-10

11 Michigan St. Xavier Tillman deciding to remain in the NBA Draft was totally sensible but still a big blow to what Michigan State's roster could've looked like. It means the Spartans will be without the top two players from a team that shared last season's Big Ten title with Maryland and Wisconsin. Finding a suitable replacement at point guard for Cassius Winston won't be easy. But Tom Izzo still has enough to maybe make a run at what would be his ninth Final Four. -- 22-9

12 Tennessee Tennessee is adding five-star guards Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson to an experienced core featuring John Fulkerson, Yves Pons, Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James. That's a strong roster - one that's likely to result in a nice bounce-back season for UT. It's why the Vols should be good enough to finish in the top two of the league for the third time in a four-year span, and perhaps great enough to win the fifth conference title of Rick Barnes' coaching career. -- 17-14

13 W. Virginia The Mountaineers lost six of their final nine games but still finished 10th at KenPom, which suggests they were better than their record. Now West Virginia is returning the top three players from last season's team - most notably Oscar Tshiebwe, who averaged 11.2 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 55.2% from the field. So Bob Huggins will enter the season with an accomplished roster good enough to compete for a Big 12 title. -- 21-10

14 Houston Nate Hinton's decision to leave school early, combined with Fabian White's torn ACL, is a blow to Houston's rotation; it means the Cougars are now losing two of their top four scorers. But four of the top six are still returning - most notably Caleb Mills and former McDonald's All-American Quentin Grimes. So Kelvin Sampson's team should be strong again and in position to win the American Athletic Conference for what would be the third consecutive season. -- 23-8

15 Kentucky The Wildcats are losing the top six scorers from a team that won the SEC by multiple games - most notably SEC Player of the Year Immanuel Quickley and projected first-round pick Tyrese Maxey. That's rough. But if any program is built to overcome these departures, it's the one set to enroll the nation's top-ranked recruiting class featuring five-star guards Terrence Clarke, BJ Boston and Devin Askew. So UK will look very different, sure. But John Calipari will still have the talent necessary to compete for yet another SEC title. -- 25-6

16 N. Carolina Roy Williams just endured what he called the toughest season of his coaching career - one that resulted in five more losses (19) than wins (14). It was a nightmare. But the 2020-21 season will be much better, even with the loss of Cole Anthony, thanks to the arrival of a top-three recruiting class featuring 5-star prospects Day'Ron Sharpe, Walker Kessler and Caleb Love. With Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, Anthony Harris and Leaky Black all returning, UNC should push Virginia and Duke at the top of the ACC. -- 14-19

17 Ohio St. Ohio State beat Duke for graduate-transfer Seth Towns, a 6-8 forward from Harvard who was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2018. His arrival alone won't cancel out the departure of Kaleb Wesson - but it will help. Meantime, Duane Washington, CJ Walker and Kyle Young should provide Chris Holtmann with an experienced nucleus on a team that is returning five of the top nine scorers from a roster that finished No. 8 at KenPom last season. -- 21-10

18 Texas Texas is returning every meaningful player from a team that went 5-1 in its final six games and entered the Big 12 Tournament with a chance to make the NCAA Tournament - and adding five-star big Greg Brown to the roster. So this could be Shaka Smart's best team since leaving VCU for UT. Matt Coleman is one of five returning players who averaged at least 26.5 minutes, and 9.3 points, per game last season. -- 19-12

19 Texas Tech Texas Tech is losing its top two scorers early - namely one-and-done star Jahmi'us Ramsey and Davide Moretti, the latter of whom decided in late May to pursue overseas. But Chris Beard is still returning three of the top six scorers from a team that finished 21st at KenPom, and he's combining that nice nucleus with a top-15 recruiting class highlighted by four-star prospects Nimari Burnett and Micah Peavy (plus VCU grad-transfer Marcus Santos-Silva). So Texas Tech should operate in the top half of the Big 12 again. -- 18-13

20 Oregon It's impossible to overstate what losing somebody like Payton Pritchard means to Oregon. He was fabulous and a worthy All-American last season. But two of the best three scorers from the Pac-12 champs are still returning - and Dana Altman has worked the transfer market successfully again. So it would be foolish to assume the Ducks will do anything but compete for another Pac-12 title. -- 24-7

21 Rutgers Rutgers is returning seven of the top eight scorers from a team that finished 28th at KenPom - most notably double-digit scorers Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker. Beyond that, the Scarlet Knights are adding a consensus top-50 prospect in Cliff Omoruyi. So winning at the RAC will once again be a difficult task for opponents because Steve Pikiell should have a team equipped to make the NCAA Tournament for what would be, under normal circumstances, the second straight season. -- 20-11

22 Memphis The late additions of Moussa Cisse, a five-star center talented enough to be the best rim protector in college basketball as a freshman, and Landers Nolley, an All-ACC player at Virginia Tech last season, were massive developments for Memphis. Cisse could make the Tigers even better defensively than they were last season when they ranked fifth nationally in defensive efficiency, and Nolley will add much-needed scoring. They'll join a roster highlighted by sophomores D.J. Jeffries, Boogie Ellis and Lester Quinones, all of whom are former top-60 prospects. So Penny Hardaway should have his alma mater in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. 2 21-10

23 UCLA The greatest in-season turnaround of the 2019-20 season belonged to UCLA, which went from 8-9 to 19-12 by going 11-3 in its final 14 games. It was incredible stuff from Mick Cronin and his staff. And now the top five scorers from that team are back - among them Chris Smith, who entered the NBA Draft but ultimately withdrew. So the Bruins should be contenders to win the Pac-12 in what will be Cronin's second season in Westwood. 1 19-12

24 Indiana The addition of five-star point guard Khristian Lander pushed Indiana's recruiting class into the top 20 and provided Archie Miller with the perfect compliment to an experienced roster. Justin Smith's decision to transfer stings a little. But the Hoosiers are still returning seven of the top nine scorers from a team that was projected to make the NCAA Tournament, and that should be enough to give Indiana a chance to compete at the top of the Big Ten standings. 1 20-12

25 Arizona St. Romello White's decision to transfer to Ole Miss caused Arizona State to lose its leading rebounder and one of three double-digit scorers who were expected to return from last season's team. That's tough. But five-star guard Josh Christopher joining a nucleus of Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge suggests Bobby Hurley might still have a chance to finish in the top three of the Pac-12 for what would be the third consecutive season. -- 20-11