Men's Hoops No. 21 in Early Rankings

Fewer than 24 hours after the conclusion of the 2013 NCAA tournament, CBS Sports began to look to the future.

That future looks bright for the Harvard men’s basketball team.

On Tuesday morning, CBSSports.com released its “Top 25 (and one): Way-too-early preseason rankings for 2013-14,” ranking the Crimson at No. 21.

Kentucky owns the top spot, while 2012-13 national champion Louisville came in at third. Harvard beat out 1-seed Indiana and Final Four shocker 9-seed Wichita State.The Crimson will return all but one player next season—senior guard and co-captain Christian Webster—and will likely add Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry, as well as ESPN Top-100 recruit Zena Edosomwan.

This season’s top-scoring duo of sophomore forward Wes Saunders and freshman point guard Siyani Chambers come back looking to build on past success.

Though the Crimson did not break into the national rankings this season, it made history by winning the first NCAA tournament game in program history, beating Mountain West Conference champion New Mexico, 68-62, in the second round in Salt Lake City.

Two seasons ago, Harvard was ranked for the first time in program history, starting at No. 25 in the AP poll in December and moving up to No. 22 in January. The team also enjoyed a No. 21 ranking in the coaches poll in February of 2012.