With the 2025-26 season only a few weeks away, ESPN has released its final preseason top 25, and Syracuse basketball will face seven teams that reside in these rankings, including one opponent twice.
That's eight games against ranked foes, which is slightly more than one-quarter of the Orange's 2025-26 regular-season schedule. Of course, the major top-25 polls will ebb and flow throughout the upcoming campaign.
At the same time, this final preseason top 25 from ESPN suggests that the 'Cuse will face a challenging docket, and also one that presents opportunities for Syracuse basketball to notch some wins over top-flight competition.