Arkansas basketball’s 2026-27 campaign doesn’t tip off for another six months, but it’s never too early to start making outlandish claims about the Hoop Hogs’ floor and ceiling.
The offseason is on the downhill stretch when it comes to roster-building, as only a handful of the top 100 transfers in the portal are still on the board. As a result, coaches must get creative on the high school and European front — John Calipari did as much by bringing five-star Finnish forward Miikka Muurinen in from Serbia.
That addition pushed Arkansas to the No. 1 ranking as far as 247Sports’ recruiting class, but they are still waiting for at least a couple key dominoes to fall.
So are plenty of other schools.
Still, the bread’s largely baked by now. Which means various college basketball pundits and outlets are calling their shots on who the best teams in the country will be next season.
Florida gets the most love as the “too-early” No. 1 team in the country thanks to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney, and CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish and Jon Rothstein.
The Gators retained Boogie Fland and SEC Sixth Man of the Year Urban Klavzar in the backcourt, and forwards Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon both pulled out of the NBA Draft to return to Gainesville. Denzel Aberdeen is back after a disappointing year at Kentucky, but will need a waiver to play, and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu is also likely to return after testing the draft waters.
Duke, Michigan and Connecticut have outside shouts for the top spot. The Blue Devils return Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba II and Dame Sarr, joining five-star freshmen Deron Rippey Jr., Cameron Williams and Bryson Howard. Jon Scheyer also added Wisconsin guard John Blackwell and Belmont forward Drew Scharnowski to yet another loaded Duke roster.
The Wolverines return the backcourt duo of Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney while adding five-star shooting guard Brandon McCoy Jr. into the fold. The defending national champions will once again have a dominant frontcourt with the transfer additions of Moustapha Thiam (whom Arkansas pursued heavily), JP Estrella and Jalen Reed.
The Huskies, too, look the part of a national title contender again, returning guard duo Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins and landing forwards Nik Khamenia (Duke) and Najai Hines (Seton Hall) in the portal.
Arkansas, meanwhile, slots in anywhere between No. 6 and No. 11 in major outlets’ “too-early” rankings after the addition of Muurinen.
Here are the four things that need to happen for the Razorbacks to reach that upper echelon in the preseason hierarchy.
