BYU basketball appears in Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings for 2026-27 season
Apr 7, 2026, 5:45 PM | Updated: Apr 8, 2026, 10:56 am
PROVO, Utah – Despite an early exit in the NCAA Tournament this past season, national pundits view BYU basketball as being in a position to be nationally ranked in the 2026-27 season.
The day after one college basketball season ends, it’s time to look ahead to the next one.
That means we’ve arrived at “Way-Too-Early” season, and no one is complaining. However, if there’s one sport that’s more challenging to forecast than others in the WTE portion of the calendar, it’s college basketball.
The transfer portal opened on Tuesday and will remain open for players to enter until Tuesday, April 21.
There are big questions with BYU’s roster for next season. We all assume that AJ Dybantsa is moving on to the NBA, potentially becoming the No. 1 draft pick this June.
Then, how Kevin Young and his staff retool the roster with frontcourt personnel and players who can knock down shots at a high clip.
While the portal is a “buckle up” type of deal, as BYU basketball head coach noted after the Round of 64 loss to Texas in Portland last month, national college basketball writers and analysts have BYU among the top 25 next season.
Way-Too-Early rankings with BYU basketball in 2026-27
Among the roundup of “Way-Too-Early” top 25 rankings for the 2026-27 college basketball season that KSL Sports compiled, the highest ranking BYU basketball received was No. 15.
- USA Today: #15
- Bleacher Report: #18
- Fox Sports: #20
- ESPN: #22
- Field of 68: #24
- Jon Rothstein: #25
Of note in many of these way-too-early polls is that there isn’t a strong presence of Big 12 teams at the top end of the rankings. Houston is losing many key players, but has reached the Sweet 16 in seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Arizona is widely viewed as the best team in the Big 12 next year. The Wildcats finished a memorable run in the Final Four before falling to eventual National Champion Michigan.
If BYU retains Third Team All-Big 12 guard Rob Wright III and pair him up with five-star Bruce Branch III, Kevin Young’s squad could be in the national ranking mix next season.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
