Recently, the field for the NCAA tournament was revealed, with things slated to get underway on Tuesday with the First Four Games getting started on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio. The field this year features several blue blood schools, along with some newer programs on the rise looking to insert their names into the national discussion.
On Tuesday, the AP All-American first team was announced for the 2025-26 season, with Duke's Cameron Boozer, BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Arkansas' Darius Acuff, Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg, and Texas Tech's JT Toppin making the cut, per NCAA March Madness on X, formerly Twitter.
Boozer and Dybantsa are expected to be contenders, alongside Kansas Jayhawks point guard Darryn Peterson, for the top overall pick in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, the lottery for which will be held in May. Some were surprised that Peterson did not make the cut for the first team this year, although his injury absences may have had something to do with the snub.
Meanwhile, others were confused as to why Toppin made it for largely the same reason, as he missed a sizable chunk of games this year due to injury.
Acuff has quickly skyrocketed up draft boards in his own right over the last few weeks, turning himself into one of the scoring guards in the country and joining the long lineage of star guards who have played under head coach John Calipari.
In any case, BYU's opponent for the first round of the tournament will be determined after the first four games are concluded. Meanwhile, number one seeded Duke will hit the floor on Thursday afternoon against 16 seed Siena to get their tournament action underway.
