Misplaced Priorities: Will Florida and St. John's Live Up to Preseason Hype?
February 8th, 2026 - 8:49
Florida (ranked 3rd in AP's preseason poll) and St. John's (5th) seem to have corrected course but need to avoid slumps down the stretch to finish campaign ranked among Top 20. A year ago, Connecticut finished out of the AP's Top 20 for the second time in 14 seasons after being ranked in preseason Top Five while preseason #1 Kansas become the third PS top-ranked school in 12 years to fail to finish season among ranked clubs.
There are additional such tarnished squads failing to live up to enormous preseason hype. The last 26 teams in this great-expectations category incurred at least double digits in defeats. Following is a chronological list of the first 30 clubs included among preseason Top 5 selections since 1968-69 but finishing out of the AP's final Top 20 poll:
| Preseason Top 5 Team | Season | Preseason AP Ranking | Coach | Record | Top Players For Disappointing Squad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | 1968-69 | 4th | Johnny Dee | 20-7 | Austin Carr, Bob Arnzen, Bob Whitmore, Dwight Murphy, Collis Jones and Sid Catlett |
| Purdue | 1969-70 | 3rd | George King | 18-6 | Rick Mount, Larry Weatherford, George Faerber, Bob Ford, William Franklin and Tyrone Bedford |
| Southern California | 1971-72 | 3rd | Bob Boyd | 16-10 | Paul Westphal, Joe Mackey, Ron Riley, Dan Anderson and Mike Westra |
| Florida State | 1972-73 | 2nd | Hugh Durham | 18-8 | Reggie Royals, Lawrence McCray, Otis Cole, Benny Clyde and Otis Johnson |
| Indiana | 1976-77 | 5th | Bob Knight | 14-13 | Kent Benson, Mike Woodson, Wayne Radford and Derek Holcomb |
| Kansas | 1978-79 | 5th | Ted Owens | 18-11 | Darnell Valentine, Paul Mokeski, John Crawford, Wilmore Fowler and Tony Guy |
| DePaul | 1984-85 | 3rd | Joey Meyer | 19-10 | Tyrone Corbin, Kenny Patterson, Dallas Comegys, Marty Embry, Tony Jackson and Kevin Holmes |
| Indiana | 1984-85 | 4th | Bob Knight | 19-14 | Steve Alford, Uwe Blab, Stew Robinson, Dan Dakich, Delray Brooks and Daryl Thomas |
| Louisville | 1986-87 | 2nd | Denny Crum | 18-14 | Herbert Crook, Pervis Ellison, Tony Kimbro, Mark McSwain, Keith Williams, Kenny Payne and Felton Spencer |
| Michigan State | 1990-91 | 4th | Jud Heathcote | 19-11 | Steve Smith, Matt Steigenga, Mike Peplowski and Mark Montgomery |
| Clemson | 1997-98 | 5th | Rick Barnes | 18-14 | Greg Buckner, Terrell McIntyre, Harold Jamison and Tony Christie |
| Auburn | 1999-00 | 4th | Cliff Ellis | 24-10 | Chris Porter, Doc Robinson, Scott Pohlman, Daymeon Fishback, Mamadou N'diaye and Mack McGadney |
| UCLA | 2001-02 | 5th | Steve Lavin | 21-12 | Jason Kapono, Billy Knight, Matt Barnes, Dan Gadzuric and T.J. Cummings |
| Arizona | 2003-04 | 4th | Lute Olson | 20-10 | Hassan Adams, Salim Stoudamire, Channing Frye, Andre Iguodala and Mustafa Shakur |
| Michigan State | 2003-04 | 3rd | Tom Izzo | 18-12 | Paul Davis, Chris Hill, Kelvin Torbert, Maurice Ager and Alan Anderson |
| Missouri | 2003-04 | 5th | Quin Snyder | 16-14 | Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding, Linas Kleiza, Jimmy McKinney, Travon Bryant and Jason Conley |
| Georgia Tech | 2004-05 | 3rd | Paul Hewitt | 20-12 | Jarrett Jack, B.J. Elder, Will Bynum, Luke Schenscher and Isma'll Muhammad |
| Michigan State | 2005-06 | 4th | Tom Izzo | 22-12 | Maurice Ager, Paul Davis, Shannon Brown and Drew Neitzel |
| Louisiana State | 2006-07 | 5th | John Brady | 17-15 | Glen Davis, Tasmin Mitchell, Terry Martin, Garrett Temple and Darnell Lazare |
| Texas | 2009-10 | 3rd | Rick Barnes | 24-10 | Damion James, Avery Bradley, Dexter Pittman, J'Covan Brown, Gary Johnson and Dogus Balbay |
| Kansas State | 2010-11 | 3rd | Frank Martin | 23-11 | Jacob Pullen, Rodney McGruder, Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels |
| Michigan State | 2010-11 | 2nd | Tom Izzo | 19-15 | Kalin Lucas, Draymond Green, Durrell Summers, Delvon Roe and Keith Appling |
| Connecticut | 2011-12 | 4th | Jim Calhoun | 20-14 | Andre Drummond, Jeremy Lamb, Ryan Boatright, Alex Oriakhi, Shabazz Napier, Roscoe Smith and Tony Olander |
| Kentucky | 2012-13 | 3rd | John Calipari | 21-12 | Willie Cauley-Stein, Archie Goodwin, Ryan Harrow, Julius Mays, Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress and Kyle Wiltjer |
| Kentucky | 2013-14 | 1st | John Calipari | 29-11 | Willie Cauley-Stein, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee, Alex Poythress, Julius Randle and James Young |
| Texas | 2021-22 | 5th | Chris Beard | 22-12 | Timmy Allen, Christian Bishop, Marcus Carr, Dylan Disu, Jase Febres, Andrew Jones, Tre Mitchell and Courtney Ramey |
| Kentucky | 2022-23 | 4th | John Calipari | 22-12 | CJ Fredrick, Chris Livingston, Antonio Reeves, Jacob Toppin, Oscar Tshiebwe, Cason Wallace and Sahvir Wheeler |
| North Carolina | 2022-23 | 1st | Hubert Davis | 20-13 | Armando Bacot, Leaky Black, RJ Davis, Puff Johnson, Caleb Love and Pete Nance |
| Michigan State | 2023-24 | 4th | Tom Izzo | 20-15 | Jaden Akins, Coen Carr, Carson Cooper, Malik Hall, A.J. Hoggard, Tre Holloman, Mady Sissoko and Tyson Walker |
| Connecticut | 2024-25 | 3rd | Dan Hurley | 24-11 | Solomon Ball, Hassan Diarra, Samson Johnson, Alex Karaban, Aidan Mahaney, Liam McNeeley, Tarris Reed Jr., Jayden Ross and Javlin Stewart |
| Kansas | 2024-25 | 1st | Bill Self | 21-13 | KJ Adams Jr., Flory Bidunga, David Coit, Hunter Dickinson, Rylan Griffen, Dajuan Harris Jr., Zeke Mayo, Shakeel Moore and AJ Storr |