Alabama basketball will start the 2025-24 season as a top-five team in the country. The Crimson Tide checked in at No. 2 in the preseason Associated Press poll released Monday.

After making history by reaching its first Final Four last season, the Tide’s No. 2 ranking is the highest it’s ever been ranked to start a new campaign. Alabama’s previous best preseason ranking came before the start of the 1996-97 season when the Tide was the No. 7 team in the country.

Alabama ended the 2023-24 season at No. 3 after its historic Final Four run. The Tide then had one of the best offseasons by any team in the country. Alabama retained key pieces in Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Jarin Stevenson and Mouhamed Dioubate from last year's side. The Tide then added a transfer portal haul that includes center Clifford Omoruyi, guards Aden Holloway, Chris Youngblood and Houston Mallette and a freshman class headlined by former five-stars Derrion Reid and Aiden Sherrell along with four-stars Labaron Philon and Naas Cunningham.

“We had some really good teams here,” Alabama coach Nate Oats told Crimson Tide Sports Network in September. “This might be the deepest, most complete, best roster we’ve had since we’ve been here.”

Ahead of one of the most highly-anticipated seasons in program history, Alabama sits only behind Kansas in the AP Poll to start the season. The Jayhawks also returned key veterans in Dajuan Harris Jr., Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams and added quality transfers including former Alabama guard Rylan Griffen.

Two-time defending national champions UConn was ranked one spot below Alabama at No. 3. The Huskies are going for their third straight title after defeating Alabama and Purdue in the Final Four last season. Houston checked in at No. 4, setting up a potential top-five matchup against Alabama on Nov. 26. Iowa State rounded out the top-five.

Eight additional SEC teams joined Alabama in the preseason AP Poll. Auburn was the next highest-ranked SEC team at No. 11, followed by No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 19 Texas, No. 21 Florida, No. 23 Kentucky and No. 24 Ole Miss.

In addition to the yearly gauntlet of SEC play, the Crimson Tide will play one of the most difficult nonconference schedules in the country this season. After the release of the AP Poll, that schedule now includes five games against preseason AP top 25 teams. In addition to its high-level matchup against Houston, Alabama has games against No. 12 Purdue (Nov. 15), No. 25 Rutgers (Nov. 27), No. 6 North Carolina (Dec. 4) and No. 10 Creighton (Dec. 14).

No. 2 Alabama will tip off the season against UNC Asheville at 8 p.m. CT on Nov. 4. The game can be seen on ESPNU.

Here's the full preseason AP Poll

1. Kansas

2. Alabama

3. UConn

4. Houston

5. Iowa State

6. Gonzaga

7. Duke

8. Baylor

9. North Carolina

10. Arizona

11. Auburn

12. Tennessee

13. Texas A&M

14. Purdue

15. Creighton

16. Arkansas

17. Indiana

18. Marquette

19. Texas

20. Cincinnati

21. Florida

22. UCLA

23. Kentucky

24. Ole Miss

25. Rutgers