The Texas Tech basketball team will enter another season with a number next to its name.
The Red Raiders landed at No. 16 in the USA TODAY Sports preseason Top 25, released on Monday. Grant McCasland's team is coming off a 23-11 record that included a second-round March Madness exit, falling to Alabama in Tampa.
Texas Tech now turns to the 2026-27 season with plenty of new faces, but a few old ones returning as well. JT Toppin is expected to return to the floor eventually, while Darrion Williams has returned to the Red Raiders after spending last year at NC State. Donovan Atwell, like Williams, also has a temporary injunction to compete with Tech after a record-setting season.
Arizona is the top-ranked Big 12 team in the preseason coaches poll,
coming in at No. 4. Houston is eighth, and Iowa State is tied for 14th, making Texas Tech the fourth-highest-ranked Big 12 team in the poll, which also features Kansas (18th) and BYU (25th).
Toppin, Williams, Atwell and McCasland will be on hand in Kansas City for Big 12 media day to preview the season this week.
USA TODAY SPORTS PRESEASON MEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
The USA TODAY Sports preseason Top 25 men's basketball poll, with teams' RECORDS FROM LAST YEAR in parentheses, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last year’s final poll and first-place votes received.
Rank School (record) Points Last season’s final rank First-place votes
1 Florida (27-8) 732 9 20
2 Duke (35-3) 725 4 8
3 Illinois (28-9) 683 5 2
4 Arizona (36-3) 634 3 0
5 Connecticut (34-6) 612 2 0
6 Michigan State (27-8) 570 11 0
7 Texas (21-15) 527 24 0
8 Houston (30-7) 486 6 0
9 Tennessee (25-12) 436 12 0
10 Virginia (30-6) 409 15 0
11 Louisville (24-11) 369 23 0
12 Gonzaga (31-4) 361 18 0
13 Arkansas (28-9) 345 13 0
14 St. John's (30-7) 316 10 0
14 Iowa State (29-8) 316 8 0
16 Texas Tech (23-11) 314 21 0
17 Miami (Fla.) (26-9) 292 22 0
18 Alabama (25-10) 286 16 0
18 Kansas (24-11) 286 20 0
20 Michigan (37-3) 219 1 0
21 Vanderbilt (27-9) 164 17 0
22 Southern California (18-14) 103 NR 0
23 Kentucky (22-14) 100 NR 0
24 Purdue (30-9) 83 7 0
25 Brigham Young (23-12) 76 NR 0
Dropped out: No. 14 Nebraska (28-7); No. 19 Iowa (24-13); No. 25 Wisconsin (24-11).
Others receiving votes: Nebraska (28-7) 66; UCLA (24-12) 64; Missouri (20-13) 60; Ohio State (21-13) 31; North Carolina (24-9) 24; Texas A&M (22-12) 19; Villanova (24-9) 14; Indiana (18-14) 9; Wisconsin (24-11) 5; Saint Louis (29-6) 4; Cincinnati (18-15) 4; West Virginia (21-14) 2; Creighton (16-18) 2; Maryland (12-21) 1; Auburn (22-16) 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 30 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2026-27 season: John Becker, Vermont; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Matt Braeuer, Stephen F. Austin; Pat Chambers, Florida Gulf Coast; Scott Drew, Baylor; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; A.W. Hamilton, Eastern Kentucky; Alan Huss, Creighton; Donte’ Jackson, Alabama A&M; Ben Jacobson, Utah State; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Eric Konkol, Tulsa; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Anthony Latina, Sacred Heart; Shantay Legans, Portland; Jim Les, UC Davis; Luke Loucks, Florida State; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Mike McGarvey, Lafayette; Dan Monson, Eastern Washington; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Mike Morrell, UNC Asheville; Andy Newman, Cal State Northridge; Nate Oats, Alabama; Matt Painter, Purdue; Paul Sather, North Dakota; Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Stan Waterman, Delaware State.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech basketball earns spot in preseason coaches poll. Here's where they rank
