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Jon Rothstein Releases His Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 10

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Apr 8, 2025 12:56 PM ET

Jon Rothstein thinks Houston will return strong from Monday night's National Championship Game loss.

Florida rallied from a double-digit deficit to notch a 67-65 win over Houston for the title. As the Gators celebrate, pundits instantly turn their sights to next season.

On Tuesday, FanDuel released Rothstein's top 45 men's offseason rankings. With Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard, and Alijah Martin leaving Gainesville, the college hoops insider dropped Florida to No. 14.

However, Rothstein gave the top spot to the reloaded Cougars. Here's a look at his way-too-early top 10:

Houston
Purdue
Duke
Alabama
Michigan
Iowa State
UCLA
Texas Tech
Michigan State
UConn

"WE SLEEP IN MAY." - @JonRothstein

Houston coming for revenge next season?

: https://t.co/WRUOzRezFN pic.twitter.com/v0uFTevY9P
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) April 8, 2025

Although Houston will lose senior starters J'Wan Roberts and L.J. Cryer, the Cougars will welcome five-star recruits Chris Cenac Jr. and Isiah Harwell to campus this year. Emmanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan also return to give Kelvin Sampson two senior guards.

Still, the head coach must lead his team back to the top after falling painfully short of winning it all.

"This team had the character and the toughness and the leadership," Sampson said after Monday's loss, per The Athletic's CJ Moore. "This team is built to win this tournament. And that's why it's so disappointing. We got here and had a chance and just didn't get it done."

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - JANUARY 13: The Purdue Logo on a Nike Elite basketball on display during a mens college basketball game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Purdue Boilermakers on January 13, 2024 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN. (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Houston must respond to a national title loss better than Purdue, which went 24-12 this season after sending Zach Edey to the NBA. Rothstein anticipates a bounce-back campaign from the Boilermakers behind Trey Kaufman-Ren, Braden Smith, and South Dakota State transfer Osdcar Cluff.

Despite projecting Cooper Flagg to go pro, Rothstein still has Duke third. Jon Scheyer will look to steer the Blue Devils back to the Final Four behind incoming freshmen Cameron and Cayden Boozer, the twin sons of former NBA star Carlos Boozer.

The SEC sent a record 14 of its 16 teams to the NCAA tournament following a dominant season. Rothstein may expect some regression to the mean, as Alabama (No. 5) and Texas Tech (No. 8) are the conference's only representatives inside his top 10.

After making the national semifinal as the overall No. 1 seed, Auburn falls to No. 12 in his rankings without Johni Broome. Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee also carved out a spot in Rothstein's top 20.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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