Ohio State is widely considered to be one of the leading contenders to take home the 2022 national championship, based on the Buckeyes’ standing in various “Way Too Early” Top 25 polls for the 2021-22 season.

The vast majority of early rankings have the Buckeyes as a top-10 squad heading into next season, with Stadium’s Jeff Goodman ranking Ohio State No. 2 given the expected return of EJ Liddell and Duane Washington, who were both All-Big Ten performers last season.

“As long as Liddell and Washington return to Columbus, this is a group that should be among the preseason favorites,” Goodman writes. “(Chris Holtmann) has no shortage of veterans that were a part of a team that earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tourney.”

Meanwhile, Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com and Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated rank Ohio State fourth in their early polls, Scott Gleeson of USA Today has the Buckeyes fifth, Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com has them sixth and NCAA.com’s Andy Katz has Ohio State seventh. Katz also has Florida ranked No. 28 in his early top 36 rankings.

While Ohio State may seem to be the team to beat at next year’s Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off, at least based on early projections, Seton Hall and Florida have added proven players as transfers to their programs since the season ended.

The Pirates announced the addition of Jamir Harris, who was a first-team All-Patriot League performer after averaging 20.5 points per game and leading the nation in 3-pointers made (3.9) and minutes (38.9) per game last season. Seton Hall appears poised to add Syracuse guard Kadary Richmond and South Florida forward Alexis Yetna to its roster for next season.

Florida meanwhile has added UMKC guard Brandon McKissic, who averaged 17.2 points per game and was a finalist for the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year Award last season, along with Boston College transfer CJ Felder, who averaged nearly 10 points per game and started 17 of 19 games for the Eagles last in 2020-21.

Official fan travel packages for the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off will be available in June for fans looking to spend Thanksgiving Week in sunny Fort Myers with their favorite team. Information on travel packages can be found at fortmyerstipoff.com/travel. Ticket-only packages, based on availability, will go on sale this fall. Fans interested in ticket-only packages can visit fortmyerstipoff.com/tickets to sign up to receive future ticket updates regarding the 2021 Tournament.