In a chaotic era of college basketball, driven by NIL, the transfer portal, and the legality of the NCAA's rule enforcement, one thing is crystal clear: the talent level in this sport is about as high as it's ever been.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs are no stranger to high-level talent, with Mark Few producing All-American talent seemingly on an annual basis.
With star forward Braden Huff returning to Spokane after an extremely productive, injury-shortened season in 2025-26, it once again looks like the Zags will have an All-American star in the frontcourt - even if the analysts at CBS Sports don't agree.
CBS Sports overlooks Huff despite elite production
A vote of CBS reporters, analysts, and on-air talent produced a list of 15 projected All-Americans for the 2026-27 season - 14 who came from the 'power 4' conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC) and just one - Silas Demary of UConn - from outside that structure.
That means no Huff for CBS, despite the 6'10 big man averaging 17.8 points with an absurd 66.2% field goal rate last season - all in just 25.4 minutes per game.
The post players chosen ahead of Huff by CBS include David Mirkovic (Illinois), Mo Krivas (Arizona), JT Toppin (Texas Tech), Flory Bidunga (Louisville), Thijs de Ridder (Virginia), and Rueben Chinyelu (Florida).
Toppin is coming off an ACL injury and could miss the first few months of the season, making him a surprise addition and drawing even more attention to Huff's absence.
Why Huff could have an even bigger season at Gonzaga
Huff is fully cleared for Gonzaga and played without any noticeable issues at Kraziness in the Kennel earlier this month, so there's little reason to think he won't put up even better numbers in 2026-27.
The big man no longer shares the interior scoring load with Graham Ike - an All-American last year - instead playing alongside Arizona State transfer Massamba Diop, who is an elite rim protector and lob threat but not nearly the offensive hub Ike was.
That, combined with improved three-point shooting on the perimeter, should allow Huff to dominate for Gonzaga not only with paint touches, but in the short roll and on the offensive glass as well.
Gonzaga has a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule, facing top-tier opponents like Duke, Michigan State, UCLA, Purdue, Creighton, and LSU, and will match up against tougher programs like Utah State and San Diego State in the new-look Pac-12 as well.
That gives Huff even more opportunity to prove himself against elite opposition, and if he pushes 20 points per game on high efficiency for a top 15 team, a lot of these preseason lists will look silly for not having included him in the first place.
Gonzaga first takes the floor next Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1:00 PM PT in a road exhibition showdown with Arkansas. The game will be broadcast on SECN+.
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