College basketball season is finally upon us, and with it, the 2025-26 UConn men’s basketball team’s attempt at a third national championship in four years.
The Huskies will play a downright brutal non-conference
slate with games against five preseason Top 25 teams on the schedule. But before they get to those, UConn will open with a pair of buy games — essential tune-ups against lesser opponents before the real fun starts.
While we might not learn much about UConn’s long-term prospects based on how the team plays against a handful of sub-300 KenPom teams, the games will give head coach Dan Hurley a chance to see what works on a roster that welcomes 10 new faces.
Georgia transfer Silas Demary will be the focal point. He didn’t play in the Huskies’ first exhibition game, but fans can look forward to having a point guard with size a la Tristen Newton, but with a better three-point shot.
The opening games will also be fans’ first chance to see freshmen Eric Reibe and Jacob Furphy in games that matter. Reibe had some promising moments against BC, while some think Furphy could develop into an x-factor off the bench.
Ranked fourth in the preseason AP Poll behind the return of two-time champion Alex Karaban and All-American candidate Solo Ball, the Huskies enter the season with lofty expectations, as always. It all starts with welcoming the University of New Haven into Division I on college basketball’s opening night.
Keep reading for a preview of UConn’s buy games.
New Haven (Nov. 3 at Gampel Pavilion)
Fast Facts
Head coach: Ted Hotaling
2024-25 Record:12-17 (7-13 Northeast 10)
Final 2024-25 KenPom rating: N/A
2025-26 KenPom rating: No. 360
The Chargers’ first game as a Division I team will be at Gampel Pavilion, and if that wasn’t tough enough, they’re a team that will be trying to find a new identity. New Haven lost its three leading scorers from last year, including All-NEC-10 second-teamer Jah’ikai King, who is now at UMBC, and Ethan Simmon, who transferred to Stony Brook.
It’s not all grim for the Chargers, however, as they bring back all-conference rookie team member Najimi George, a guard who averaged 8.1 points per game last year on better than 50% shooting from the field. He had his best performance of the season in the Chargers’ final game, a conference tournament loss to St. Michael’s, where he scored 23 points.
They’ll have a trio of potential impact transfers around him, too, in guards Kheni Briggs (Albany) and Jabri Fitzpatrick (Felician), as well as wing Maison Adeleye (UT Permian Basin)
UMass Lowell (Nov. 7 at PeoplesBank Arena)
Fast Facts
Head coach: Pat Duquette (13th season)
2024-25 Record: 17-15 (6-10 America East)
Final 2024-25 KenPom rating: No. 244
2025-26 KenPom rating: No. 295
Last year was a down year for Elvis Presley’s alma mater (IYKYK) after the River Hawks turned in consecutive 20-win seasons under Pat Duquette. They played their best basketball in the non-conference, however, going 12-4 with a win over UMass.
Fortunately — or unfortunately — this is a completely new UMass Lowell team. It returns just three players from last year’s roster, all of whom redshirted. Of the 10 new faces, six are Division I transfers, including Angel Montas Jr. from Mercer. Montas was a solid contributor for the Bears, scoring 7.2 points per game with 3.1 rebounds.
Division II St. Michael’s transfer Darrel Yepdo might be the most intriguing add. The guard was both an elite scorer and defender at his level, averaging 15.2 points, shooting 40% from three and being named to the all-conference defensive team.
Columbia (Nov. 10 at Gampel Pavilion)
Fast Facts
Head coach: Kevin Hovde (First season)
2024-25 Record: 12-15 (1-13 Ivy)
Final 2024-25 KenPom ranking: No. 279
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 245
Columbia is 25-29 over the last two seasons, and while that may not seem like much, it’s the first time the Lions have won double-digit games in consecutive years since 2016-17. Leading scorer Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (17 points per game, 40% 3PT) is gone, but the next five leading scorers are back as Columbia looks to rebound from a dreadful Ivy League season last year.
The Ivy League coaches don’t seem to think Columbia will be up to the challenge, picking the Lions to finish last in the conference. But in addition to bringing back a pair of double-digit scorers in Kenny Noland and Avery Brown, they also enroll a quartet of transfers. That includes Rutgers’ Dan Vessey and New Orleans’ Leland Coleman. Coleman started 10 games for the Pioneers last year, scoring a career-high 21 against Stephen F. Austin in February.
They also add Hampton Sanders from Division III NYU. The dynamic and crafty guard was a spark off the bench for the national runners-up, shooting 49% from three and averaging 11.6 points per game.
Bryant (Nov. 23 at PeoplesBank Arena)
Fast Facts
Head coach: Jamion Christian
23-12 (14-2 America East)
2024-25 final KenPom ranking: No. 149
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 291
Nearly two years after the most unexpected coaching feud in recent college basketball history, Hurley will finally face the Bryant Bulldogs — though Phil Martelli Jr. has since moved on to VCU.
Former George Washington coach Jamion Christian is now at the helm in Smithfield, and with the coaching change also came significant roster turnover. Bryant lost its top six scorers from last year, but enrolls 12 new players, including Chicago State transfer Quincy Allen, who was named to the America East’s preseason all-conference team.
True sicko UConn fans will also see a semi-familiar face in Jakai Robinson, who played for Miami in 2022-23, the year the Huskies defeated the Hurricanes in the Final Four. He had two points and two rebounds in the 72-59 loss.
East Texas A&M (Dec. 5 at Gampel Pavilion)
Fast Facts
Head coach: Jaret Von Rosenberg
2024-25 Record: 5-26 (3-17 Southland)
Final 2024-25 KenPom ranking: No. 326
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 344
One of these things is not like the others. UConn has a brutal stretch from Nov. 28 to Dec. 12 with games against Illinois, Kansas, East Texas A&M, Florida and Texas in that order.
Yes, UConn will face the Tigers for the second year in a row after the Huskies won 81-46 last season.
The Lions lose their four leading scorers from last year, but that’s not really saying much. Other than Scooter Williams Jr. (11.2 ppg), no one averaged more than 8.0 on the dreadful Southland squad. East Texas A&M was one of the worst offensive teams in Division I, ranking 336 in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, 362 in turnover percentage and 363 in steal percentage.
In their 61-50 exhibition loss to Tarleton over the weekend, the Lions got 18 points from JuCo transfer Vinny Sigona and 11 from Bethune-Cookman transfer Ginani Hunt.
