The 2025-26 college basketball season has officially crashed into the month February, and there is no slowing us down. We had yet another exciting week of ranked-on-ranked matchups, including a few on Sunday on the first day without any football since last summer. We’ve only got one more football game to go, and then college hoops will take center stage where it belongs.
There were plenty of consequential results for your favorite balloter to assess, so let’s get to it. Once again, I have relied upon a diverse set of metrics: KenPom, a predictive metric; KPI, which is based on results and gives extra emphasis to good wins and bad losses; and Wins Above Bubble, a purely metrics-based result. Remember my rule when it comes to these rankings: Metrics are useful, not gospel.
The rankings in these three categories are listed in order beside each team. The number in parentheses reflects where that team was ranked on my previous ballot.
Here, then, is the (correct) order of the top 25 teams in men’s college basketball, as filed to the Associated Press Sunday night.
DROPPED OUT: Alabama (19), Arkansas (23)
ALMOST FAMOUS: Clemson (32-26-21), UCF (45-15-22), Kentucky (30-32-28), Villanova (28-33-30), Iowa (22-44-36), Utah State (31-24-37), Wisconsin (39-42-41), NC State (23-30-43), Indiana (33-49-47)
Notes on the votes
• Ho hum, Arizona continues to stampede the competition, but the challenge is about to get steeper. Arizona has no midweek game and faces Oklahoma State on Saturday. After that, it’s at Kansas, home vs. Texas Tech, home vs. BYU and at Houston. Can you say gauntlet? The Cats also get Kansas and Iowa State at home down the stretch. For the record, KenPom gives them an 8.8 percent chance to finish the season undefeated. I think this is the best team in the country and they are likely to go into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, but I do not believe they will have a bagel in the loss column on Selection Sunday.
• Illinois avenged its home loss to Nebraska on Sunday by knocking off the Cornhuskers in Lincoln on Sunday, 78-69. I cannot remember an example of a freshman who came in so far under the radar playing this well, this soon, against this quality competition. But that’s what we are seeing from the Illini’s point guard Keaton Wagler, who had 28 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the win. This is the fourth straight game that Wagler and the Illini have excelled since senior point guard Kylan Boswell went out with a broken hand. As well as Boswell was playing, you have to wonder if this team might actually be better with Wagler having the ball in his hands full-time, and what that will mean when Boswell returns in a few weeks. Either way, Illinois’ win streak is now at 11, and the Illini have firmly re-established themselves as a national championship contender.
• Nebraska went from 20-0 to 20-2 in a single week, but losing at home to on the road to Michigan and at home to Illinois is not cause for alarm —especially considering the Huskers were down two of their top three scorers for the Michigan game. Both those players returned, although 6-foot-10 senior forward Rienk Mast was clearly lagging from his nasty bout with the flu. I have not lost any faith in Nebraska as a result of the two losses.
• It was a little jarring to see Michigan State get manhandled at home by the Wolverines. This is yet another great defensive and rebounding team coached by Tom Izzo, but the Spartans’ inability to drill threes is going to be a problem in March.
• Kansas moved up four spots following wins over Kansas State and BYU. Since the Jayhawks won, I didn’t have to factor in Darryn Peterson’s health. He did not play against the Wildcats and left the BYU game early in the second half due to cramping after scoring 18 in the first. This is definitely one of the odder injury situations I’ve witnessed, but I do not doubt Peterson’s desire to be on the court. If this were mid to late March, I think he’d try to play through the issue, but at this point he needs to be careful not to re-injur himself. When you’re dealing with soft tissue, one bad tweak could put you out for many weeks.
• The Florida Gators are once again looking like the class of the SEC. They followed up their 47-point win at South Carolina by trouncing Alabama 100-77 at home on Sunday. Florida’s play also boosted Auburn considering the Tigers won in Gainesville last week. Auburn lost at Tennessee, but that only led me to rank the Vols. The SEC is not as strong at the top as the Big Ten and Big 12, but there are still a lot of good teams in this league.
• Speaking of which, welcome to my rankings Texas A&M! The Aggies are one of the season’s most remarkable stories. They have road wins at Auburn and Texas, and on Saturday they dominated Georgia in Athens to remain in sole possession of first place in the SEC. This a huge week for the Aggies as they play Alabama on the road and Florida at home. Even if they go 0-2, it is still remarkable the success this group is having after undergoing a total roster makeover under first-year coach Bucky McMillan. And I’m sure it’s not lost on Aggies fans that coach who left them, Buzz Williams, is having an epically bad season at Maryland.
• Alabama and Arkansas have been ranked on my ballot every week this season, but both are off today. The Crimson Tide looked thoroughly outclassed in Gainesville on Sunday, and the Razorbacks are gone after losing at home to a Kentucky squad that had gotten demolished by Vanderbilt. I thought about ranking the Wildcats, who have now won six of their last seven, but their metrics didn’t make the case. That will likely change if they beat Oklahoma and Tennessee at home this week.
• As for my Almost Famous group, I came close to ranking UCF following its win over Texas Tech on Saturday, but I gave the nod instead to Texas A&M. Plus, I don’t think it’s right to drop Miami of Ohio until it loses its first game. The RedHawks have their toughest week of the season coming up with road games at Buffalo and Marshall. I was really surprised to see the disparity in the metrics for UCF and I suspect the results metrics are more reflective of how good they really are. They’ve got a tough week coming up with road games at Houston and Cincinnati.
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