Syracuse.com’s boys basketball preseason rankings: Defending champs set pace for 2025 season

Syracuse, N.Y. — It doesn’t feel like that long ago since the Marcellus boys basketball team was celebrating a state championship at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton.

But that was eight months ago, and now a new season is underway with every team in Section III preparing to make their own runs for section and state titles.

Bishop Ludden-Grimes, Westhill, Marcellus and Cooperstown are all defending section champions and are the No. 1 teams to begin the season.

Nottingham and Madison are the other No. 1-ranked teams in their respective classes.

The early part of the Section III basketball season will bring plenty of excitement with plenty of top-five teams facing off with one another.

Perhaps the headliner of the bunch is the matchup between defending Section III Class A champion Westhill and defending Class B state champion Marcellus. The Wolf Pack and Mustangs open their regular seasons against one another. That game isn’t until Dec. 2, but it will have eyes from all across the state watching to see who comes out on top.

Predicting the season’s outcome seems impossible. Still, we’ve dug into the stats, looked over the top returners and have come up with our preseason rankings.

Rankings will be revealed on Mondays until the end of sectionals.

Class AAA (last season’s record)

1. Bishop Ludden-Grimes (20-3)

Last year’s final ranking: 1

Up first: vs. UPrep, Nov. 29

2. Liverpool (16-7)

Last year’s final ranking: 2

Up first: vs. CBA, Nov. 28

3. Rome Free Academy (17-1)

Last year’s final ranking: 3

Up first: vs. UPrep, Nov. 28

4. Cicero-North Syracuse (20-2)

Last year’s final ranking: 4

Up first: at New Hartford, Dec. 3

5. Utica Proctor (8-11)

Last year’s final ranking: Not ranked

Up first: vs. RFA, Dec. 5

Class AA (last season’s record)

1. Nottingham (17-6)

Last year’s final ranking: 2

Up first: at Fowler, Dec. 3

2. West Genesee (18-6)

Last year’s final ranking: 1

Up first: vs. ESM, Dec. 6

3. East Syracuse Minoa (13-8)

Last year’s final ranking: 3

Up first: at West Genesee, Dec. 6

4. Fulton (12-7)

Last year’s final ranking: 5

Up first: at Lowville, Dec. 4

5. Fayetteville-Manlius (11-10)

Last year’s final ranking: Not ranked (played in AAA)

Up first: vs. Corcoran, Dec. 5

Class A (last season’s record)

1. Westhill (23-3)

Last year’s final ranking: 1

Up first: at Marcellus, Dec. 2

2. Jamesville-DeWitt (17-7)

Last year’s final ranking: 2

Up first: vs. South Jefferson, Dec. 2

3. Phoenix (17-5)

Last year’s final ranking: 3 (in Class B)

Up first: at Homer, Dec. 2

4. ITC (12-11)

Last year’s final ranking: Not ranked

Up first: at Henninger, Nov. 29

5. South Jefferson (18-5)

Last year’s final ranking: 4

Up first: at J-D, Dec. 2

Class B (last season’s record)

1. Marcellus (24-4)

Last year’s final ranking: 1

Up first: vs. Westhill, Dec. 2

2. Skaneateles (14-10)

Last year’s final ranking: 2

Up first: at Chittenango, Dec. 2

3. Cazenovia (11-10)

Last year’s final ranking: Not ranked

Up first: vs. SAS, Dec. 2

4. Lowville (12-9)

Last year’s final ranking: Not ranked

Up first: vs. Fulton, Dec. 4

5. Mount Markham (16-8)

Last year’s final ranking: 5

Up first: vs. Holland Patent, Dec. 6

Class C (last season’s record)

1. Cooperstown (24-1)

Last year’s final ranking: 1

Up first: at UAS, Dec. 4

2. Waterville (19-5)

Last year’s final ranking: 2

Up first: vs. West Canada Valley, Dec. 1

3. Cato-Meridian (16-7)

Last year’s final ranking: 4

Up first: vs. Morrisville-Eaton, Dec. 2

4. Hamilton (16-7)

Last year’s final ranking: 3

Up first: vs. Madison, Dec. 1

5. Tully (18-3)

Last year’s final ranking: 5

Up first: at Fabius-Pompey, Dec. 2

Class D (last season’s record)

1. Madison (21-2)

Last year’s final ranking: 2

Up first: at Hamilton, Dec. 1

2. Sackets Harbor (20-5)

Last year’s final ranking: 1

Up first: vs. Sandy Creek, Dec. 1

3. Oriskany (17-5)

Last year’s final ranking: Not ranked (in Class C)

Up first: at Adirondack, Dec. 1

4. DeRuyter (12-7)

Last year’s final ranking: 4

Up first: vs. Morrisville-Eaton, Dec. 6

5. Copenhagen (10-12)

Last year’s final ranking: 5

Up first: vs. Poland, Dec. 2