New Miami head coach Jai Lucas had to rebuild the entire roster for his inaugural season in 2025-26. The infusion of talent through the transfer portal and in the 2025 class has Miami positioned for a 2026 NCAA Tournament berth. Joe Lunardi of ESPN projects Miami as a 10 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Lunardi projects Miami to play seventh-seed Kansas in the South Region. Miami is projected to play its first two games in the St. Louis subregional. The winner of second-seeded Kentucky versus 15th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast would play whoever emerges victorious between Kansas and Miami.
The other half of the South Regional that will be played in Houston features third-seeded BYU versus 14th-seed Troy and sixth-seed Wisconsin against 11th-seed San Diego State in Portland. The winners of those games would play whoever emerges from the Miami bracket in the South Regional Semifinals.
Lunardi projects Duke as the top seed in the South Regional. Michigan State as the fourth seed and Auburn fifth, round out the top teams in the South Region as projected by Lunardi. Miami appeared in the South Regional in the 1998, 2000, 2008, 2016 and 2018 NCAA Tournaments.
Miami lost to UCLA in the first round in 1998 and Loyola in 2018, advanced to the regional semifinals to Tulsa in 2000, Marquette in 2013 and Villanova in 2016 and were eliminated in the second round in 2008 by Texas. Miami is seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance since its 2023 Final Four run.
Miami signed the 19th-ranked 2025 class and 23rd transfer class per the 247Sports rankings. Four-star prospects Dante Allen and Shelton Henderson and Slovakian forward Timotej Malovec make up the 2025 Miami freshman class. Miami signed six transfers for 2025-26.
Point guard Tre Donaldson, shooting guard Tru Washington, power forward Malik Reneau and center Ernest Udeh Jr. are transfer additions expected to start for Miami with Henderson. Combo guard Jordan Kee and power forward Marcus Allen add depth for Miami in 2025-26.