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Mike's college basketball rankings for Week 6 of the 2025-26 season. Where are Duke, Houston, Arizona, and Gonzaga ranked?
College Basketball Top 25 Power Rankings Week 6, 2025-26
There is a smattering of bowls this week before the first CFP playoff games this weekend. We’ll keep you occupied with some college hoops. There have already been 100 matchups of ranked vs. ranked teams this season. Most of those have been great games. You may have missed out on some things already, but there are still many more to come, with conference play not even starting for many teams yet. Whether you are just shifting gears into college hoops or are coming in from football, you can use this as a guide to which teams have navigated the waters the best so far.
25. USC (10-1)
Last week: NR
Results: W 94-81 at San Diego, W 68-61 vs. Washington State
So what if Chad Baker-Mazara is older than half of the NBA? This is turning out to be a sturdy team. The loss to Washington is understandable. Winning four of five games without Rodney Rice is commendable. This could be a dangerous team that everyone forgets about out west.
24. California (10-1)
Last week: 24 ⇔
Results: W 93-71 vs. Dominican, W 79-70 vs. Northwestern State
Cal has won seven consecutive games for the first time since February of 2016. If you remember the state of this program from 2018-22, you know how significant an achievement this is. The win over UCLA is a big one for Cal. Cal is 10-1 for the first time since 2014-15 and is chasing its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2015-16. It might happen thanks to these super-mega-big-ass conferences. Cal only has to play Duke, North Carolina, and Louisville once this season.
23. Florida (6-4)
Last week: 19 (⇓4)
Results: L 73-77 vs. (5) Connecticut, W 80-70 vs. George Washington
Florida’s schedule is ridiculous. The Gators have losses to Arizona, Duke, and Connecticut — all of which are top 5 teams. The loss to TCU doesn’t look great, and the lack of big wins would hold the Gators back if any unranked teams had beaten anyone of substance.
22. St. John's (6-3)
Last week: 23 (⇑1)
Results: W 91-64 vs. Iona
I’m still waiting to see the big win out of St. John’s, just like Texas Tech. Unlike Texas Tech, St John’s doesn’t have a game against a ranked team until February when they play UConn.
21. Texas Tech (7-3)
Last week: 18 (⇓3)
Results: L 86-93 vs. (15) Arkansas
All three losses are good, but where is the good win? It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore that absence. This team is not as sound and disciplined as it was last season.
20. Tennessee (7-3)
Last week: 22 (⇑2)
Results: N/A
The Vols move up because everyone else moves down. They have a real prove-it game against Louisville tonight. Tennessee has lost three in a row since beating Houston. The win against Houston is one of the best of the season for any team. Another loss to Louisville would further cheapen it. The weird thing about the losing streak is that Tennessee led at the half in all three of those games.
19. Vanderbilt (10-0)
Last week: 20 (⇑1)
Results: W 83-72 vs. Central Arkansas
This is the one spot where I vary greatly from the AP Poll. Vanderbilt, despite winning the Battle 4 Atlantis, still doesn’t have a win over a ranked team. The Commodores are a great story, starting 10-0 for the first time since 2007-08, but show me they can beat a strong team.
18. Auburn (8-3)
Last week: 16 (⇓2)
Results: W 92-78 vs. Chattanooga
I look at this roster, and I feel that Auburn has too much talent to have three losses. Then I look at the losses (Michigan, Houston, Arizona) and I realize that Auburn has just had a really unforgiving schedule.
17. Kansas (8-3)
Last week: 17 ⇔
Results: W 77-76 at North Carolina State
The win over the Pack in Raleigh takes away the reason that Auburn was ranked ahead of the Jayhawks last week. Freshman phenom Darryn Peterson left late in the game with another leg injury, but it is said to be a quad injury instead of a hamstring injury. Expect him to miss the Towson game since they won’t need him. Kansas doesn’t play again after tonight until next Monday.
16. Illinois (8-3)
Last week: 13 (⇓3)
Results: W 88-80 at Ohio State, L 80-83 vs. (21) Nebraska
All three Illinois losses are to ranked teams, but they have better wins than other three-loss teams (Texas Tech and Tennessee). This team is still learning how to play together, which can be said of most teams at this stage of the season.
15. Nebraska (11-0)
Last week: 21 (⇑6)
Results: W 90-60 vs. Wisconsin, W 83-80 at (13) Illinois
Nebraska was nearly unbeatable at the Vault last year. They have taken the show on the road this year. The Cornhuskers are off to the first 11-0 start in program history and won their first ranked matchup since March of 1991. Nebraska now has a program-record 15 consecutive wins dating back to last season’s win in the Crown Tournament.
14. Alabama (7-3)
Last week: 12 (⇓2)
Results: L 75-96 vs. (2) Arizona
I’m not going to dock Alabama much for losing to the top-ranked team. Alabama was ahead in this game by seven points late in the first half and still led at halftime. The Tide went off the rails in the second half, but Arizona had to work for the first 30 minutes or so in this game.
13. North Carolina (9-1)
Last week: 14 (⇑1)
Results: W 80-62 vs. South Carolina Upstate
The hard part of the non-conference season is over for Carolina. This team won’t be pushed again for nearly a month if all of the games between now and then go as expected. Caleb Wilson has four 20-point double-doubles already this season. He’s firmly established as the top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
12. Arkansas (8-2)
Last week: 15 (⇑3)
Results: W 93-86 vs. (18) Texas Tech
This was revenge for the Red Raiders knocking off Arkansas in the Sweet 16 of last year’s NCAA Tournament. Arkansas has one more loss than North Carolina. Both lost to Michigan State, and Arkansas has much better wins over Texas Tech and Louisville. Ranking the Hogs behind Carolina would be punishing them for a loss to an undefeated Duke team. I’m not okay with that at this point in the season.
11. Louisville (9-1)
Last week: 11 ⇔
Results: W 99-73 vs. Memphis
Louisville has scored at least 87 points in all but one game this season. The Cardinals have scored over 95 points in six of 10 games. Cincinnati is the only team that has managed to slow Louisville down a little, and they still lost by double digits.
10. Houston (10-1)
Last week: 10 ⇔
Results: W 80-38 vs. Jackson State, W 99-57 vs. New Orleans
Houston recorded two more wins of 40+ points this week. The defense has been dominant since the loss to Tennessee. Two freshmen are starting on this team. The veterans are helping them learn on the fly, but we’re not close to seeing the finished product that Houston will be in four more months.
9. BYU (9-1)
Last week: 9 ⇔
Results: W 67-64 vs. Clemson, W 100-53 vs. UC-Riverside
Houston is dominating, but BYU lost to a better team and has a comparable win. AJ Dybantsa became the first BYU freshman to reach 200 career points in his first 10 games since Danny Ainge in 1977-78. They are the only two to hit that mark in program history.
8. Michigan State (9-1)
Last week: 6 (⇓1)
Results: W 76-72 vs. Penn State
It was an uninspired win over a bad Penn State team. Did Duke break Michigan State’s spirit? The wins over Arkansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky are more impressive than Houston’s wins, but if I’m being honest, Houston has looked like the better team. Results still have to matter, though.
7. Gonzaga (10-1)
Last week: 6 (⇓1)
Results: W 82-72 vs. UCLA
It’s another win against another AP-ranked team to try and take away the bad taste of being dominated by Michigan. Did that game say more about Gonzaga’s weaknesses, or the fact that Michigan may indeed be that much better than teams ranked only a few spots behind them? It may be the latter. All of Gonzaga’s wins are by double figures. That’s the most double-digit wins in Division I so far this year.
6. Purdue (10-1)
Last week: 8 (⇑2)
Results: W 85-57 vs. Minnesota, W 79-59 vs. Marquette
This has more to do with how Purdue responded to being blown out at home than anything else. It took being embarrassed by Iowa State for Braden Smith to start taking over games. Purdue is better when he plays like that.
5. Connecticut (10-1)
Last week: 5 ⇔
Results: W 77-73 vs. (19) Florida, W 71-63 vs. Texas
This is the third time in the last five years that Connecticut has had at least 10 wins in the first 11 games. We all know that UConn doesn’t play easy early schedules. It’s no wonder they have won two national titles in that span. UConn has four wins against currently ranked teams, with the only loss coming to Arizona.
4. Duke (10-0)
Last week: 4 ⇔
Results: N/A
Duke hasn’t played since the big win over Michigan State on December 6. The Blue Devils are back in action tonight and Saturday, but are off again until New Year’s Eve after this week.
3. Iowa State (11-0)
Last week: 3 ⇔
Results: W 66-62 vs. Iowa, W 78-53 vs. Eastern Illinois
Iowa State is off to an 11-0 start for the third time in school history. All three instances have come in the last 11 years. Duke has more ranked wins, but Iowa State dominated the top-ranked team in the AP in a true road game. That carries some weight.
2. Michigan (10-0)
Last week: 1 (⇓1)
Results: W 89-61 vs. Villanova, W 101-83 vs. Maryland
Michigan has won its seventh game by 25 or more points already this year and scored 100 for the fifth time total and fourth time in its last five games. There is only one Michigan team in history with that many 100-point games in the first 10 games of the season. It was the 1988-89 team led by Glen Rice, Loy Vaught, and Rumeal Robinson. That team won Michigan’s only national championship in basketball.
1. Arizona (9-0)
Last week: 2 (⇑1)
Results: W 96-75 vs. (12) Alabama
It was another big win over another ranked team. Arizona has four wins over currently ranked teams (five total), with one of those being a true road game against a top 10 team. Michigan may be blowing everyone out, but Arizona has more of the meaningful wins over ranked teams. The Wildcats are the first team in the AP Poll era (1948-49) to win five games over ranked teams in the first nine games of a season.
