The Cincinnati Basketball team has a new era in town with one of their own returning alumnus, Jerrod Calhoun, as head coach.
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Cincinnati basketball.
The Bearcats finally moved on from Wes Miller after a bumpy couple of seasons; whether it was highs of big wins followed by bad losses, they could never be consistent, even with a very talented team on paper a season ago.
The Bearcats have not made the big dance since before Covid-19 in 2019, and coach Calhoun can be that guy to bring his alumnus back to the newly expanded field.
The team brings back zero returners this season and will have to rely heavily on transfer-portal acquisitions to set the culture in year one, which will be pivotal to staying on track for success in the gauntlet of the Big 12.
The Bearcats played two summer games in the Bahamas, which will be very beneficial in the long run with two wins in the books for both of those games.
Head coach: Jerrod Calhoun (14th season overall, 1st at Cincinnati)
2025-26 record: 18-15 (9-9)
2026 postseason finish: No tournament
Notable departures:
- EVERYONE
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Minnesota (Nov. 9)
- at Dayton (Nov. 14)
- ESPN Events Invitational (Nov. 26-27) – State Farm Field House
- vs. Xavier (Dec. 5) – Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout
- vs. Clemson (Dec. 19) – Cincinnati Clash
Projected Rotation
PG: Tylen Riley (6-3, 190, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 15.0 PPG, 4.4 APG, 3.9 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 38.9% 3P% (Tulsa)
SG: Myles Colvin (6-5, 210, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 36.0% 3P% (Wake Forest)
SF: Eric Mahaffey (6-6, 200, So.)
2025-26 stats: 7.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 39.1 3P% (Akron)
PF: Tyler Tejada (6-9, 230, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 17.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.3 APG, 43.2 FG% (Towson)
C: Jayden Hastings(6-10, 245, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 6.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 0.7 APG, 61.1 FG%, 1.5 BPG (Boston College)
6: Adlan Elamin (6-9, 185, So.)
2025-26 stats: 6.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.9 APG, 44.4 FG% (Utah State)
7: Akai Fleming (6-4, 190, So.)
2025-26 stats: 10.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.3 APG, 32.9% 3P (Georgia Tech)
8: Riley Allenspach (6-11, 250, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 13.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 0.8 APG, 56.6 FG% (George Mason)
9: Trevian Carson (6-3, 200, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.9 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.9 APG, 37.5% 3P (North Dakota State)
10: Elijah Perryman (6-2, 190, So.)
2025-26 stats: 4.4 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 3.1 APG, 43.9 FG% (Utah State)
Cincinnati basketball team MVP: Tylen Riley
The Bearcats will have plenty of new faces, and the one I think will lead their success this season is Tulsa transfer Tylen Riley.
Riley was a big-time contributor for a Tulsa team that made a run to the NIT Finals, and although it is a step up in competition, Riley will be able to be that guy to carry the load for the Bearcats. With a high of 30 points last season, he has the capability to take over games by hitting threes and getting to the charity stripe, where he shot 82.9% from the line.
Riley sustained a hand injury this summer, but he should be back before the season starts, and I don’t think it will affect him much after the early adversity he faced in his Bearcat tenure.
Cincinnati basketball make-or-break player: Myles Colvin
Myles Colvin had a good season at Wake Forest and now makes his way to Cincinnati for his Senior campaign and will be a very important player if the Bearcats get back to the dance or not.
Colvin was a really inconsistent player for the Demon Deacons and will have to find ways to get going if the shot is not falling. Colvin had multiple games last season where he would have zero points or under six points in at least 20-25 minutes of game time, or he would have games where he would drop 15-22 points in the same minutes; you just never knew which version of Myles Colvin you would get on any given outing.
For the Bearcats to find success with the uptempo modern basketball offensive approach under Calhoun, it will need Colvin to be consistent for much of the season, especially from the outside, where he shot 36% this past season.
Key statistic: Scoring Offense
Coach Calhoun will bring a fun offensive system, much like most modern basketball: hunting the most efficient shot there is, with all five guys on the court able to shoot from the outside. At first, there will be some growing pains; with tons of new players on a completely different team, it will be challenging for the first couple of games.
This past season at Utah State, Calhoun’s team averaged 82.2 PPG, which was ranked 46th nationally.
Cincinnati Basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 9th in the Big 12
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament round of 32 exit