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Mike's college basketball rankings for Week 5 of the 2025 season. Where are Duke, Houston, Arizona, and Gonzaga ranked?
College Basketball Top 25 Power Rankings Week 5, 2025-26
Now that the college football regular season is over and bowl season is far less interesting, it’s okay to pay attention to college basketball. You’ve missed so much already! Let this be your guide to who the best teams have been in the early going of the 2025-26 season.
25. Oklahoma State (9-0)
Last week: NR
Results: W 93-83 vs. Sam Houston, W 84-78 vs. Grand Canyon
The Pokes have solid wins over Texas A&M and South Florida. The win over Northwestern is a good one as well. The Cowboys will likely be an afterthought in the loaded Big 12 once again, but every starter averages double figures. The Pokes can score with anyone. Every single starter transferred in. Welcome to the current state of college basketball.
24. California (8-1)
Last week: NR
Results: W 79-72 vs. Utah, W 67-61 vs. Pacific
Cal lost a close one to Kansas State, and they beat UCLA. Right now, that’s good enough to land in the rankings. Justin Pippen (yes, he is Scottie Pippen’s son as well) came in from Michigan, and Dai Dai Ames came in from Virginia in the offseason. They have helped Cal’s offense take off.
23. St. John's (5-3)
Last week: NR
Results: W 63-58 vs. Mississippi
This team has a lot of talent, but managed to lose to Auburn, Alabama, and Iowa State. After seeing what the Cyclones did to Purdue, we can forgive that. We can also forgive losses to other ranked teams. Where’s the big win? Baylor and Mississippi are solid teams, but we’re still talking about a team with three losses.
22. Tennessee (7-3)
Last week: 18 (⇓4)
Results: L 60-62 at Syracuse, L 62-75 vs. (13) Illinois
It was a rough week for Tennessee. The orange teams are getting revenge on the Vols for going nuclear on the orange teams on the gridiron. The Syracuse loss looks bad, but the win over Houston has to mean something. It’s one of the best wins of the season for any team.
21. Nebraska (9-0)
Last week: 23 (⇑2)
Results: W 71-50 vs. Creighton
Nebraska destroyed a pretty good Creighton team. You have to wonder what Nebraska would have looked like last year with a healthy Rienk Mast. He and Keisei Tominaga would have been close to unbeatable in the Big Ten.
20. Vanderbilt (9-0)
Last week: 20 ⇔
Results: W 88-69 vs. SMU
That’s three neutral site wins against solid teams for Vanderbilt. Their lowest point total on the season is 83 points against Western Kentucky. This team looks like it can score with anyone. Just in case you’re interested, Vandy plays Alabama on January 7.
19. Florida (5-3)
Last week: 17 (⇓2)
Results: L 66-67 at (4) Duke
Losing by one point at Cameron Indoor isn’t a bad loss. The loss to TCU is worse. What is really holding the Gators back is the lack of quality wins. Florida State and Miami could be good wins, but we don’t really know. The frontcourt of this team is carrying it this year. It was so guard-heavy last year that the Gators have had some problems adjusting. They get UConn tonight. It doesn’t get any easier for Florida.
18. Texas Tech (7-2)
Last week: 19 (⇑1)
Results: W 82-58 vs. LSU
LSU hadn’t lost yet, so that’s a pretty good win. Both losses are to teams still ranked in the top 15. I would like to see more wins over decent teams. A date with Arkansas looms this weekend. Maybe we’ll figure something out about Tech then.
17. Kansas (7-3)
Last week: 16 (⇓1)
Results: L 56-61 vs. (5) Connecticut, W 80-60 vs. Missouri
All three losses are to ranked teams, but this is not what we expect from Kansas. However, I have given them a bit of a pass this year since they were without Darryn Peterson for all but the loss to North Carolina.
16. Auburn (7-3)
Last week: 14 (⇓2)
Results: W 83-73 vs. North Carolina State, L 68-97 vs. (2) Arizona
Auburn has lost three games to top 10 teams and beaten St. John’s. North Carolina State was ranked until Auburn beat them by double figures. Most teams would have lost those three games. I’m not going to dock Auburn too much for doing the same. It’s expected.
15. Arkansas (7-2)
Last week: 24 (⇑9)
Results: W 89-80 vs. (7) Louisville, W 82-58 vs. Fresno State
That was a huge win against Louisville for the Hogs. There’s a strong case to be made for Arkansas being the best team in the SEC. Alabama is likely better, but freshman guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas can, and will, run with anyone. Louisville found out the hard way.
14. North Carolina (8-1)
Last week: 15 (⇑1)
Results: W 67-64 at Kentucky, W 81-61 vs. Georgetown
We don’t know how big that win over Kentucky is, but winning in Rupp Arena is always a big deal. We can make an argument that Caleb Wilson has been almost as good as Cameron Boozer. Wilson is averaging a double-double (19.3 points, 10.6 rebounds) to go with 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks. Not bad for a true freshman!
13. Illinois (7-2)
Last week: 13 ⇔
Results: W 75-62 vs. (18) Tennessee
Illinois has big wins over Texas Tech and Tennessee, but they lost to Alabama and have the same record. I’m not the CFP. Head-to-head matters when everything else is very close to the same.
12. Alabama (7-2)
Last week: 12 ⇔
Results: W 90-84 vs. Clemson, W 97-55 vs. UTSA
The Alabama offense hasn’t been held under 80 points yet this season. The two losses are to Purdue and Gonzaga. Both teams are comfortably in the top 8. The win over St. John’s may not be huge anymore, but the win over Illinois keeps them above the Illini.
11. Louisville (8-1)
Last week: 7 (⇓4)
Results: L 80-89 at (24) Arkansas, W 87-78 vs. (22) Indiana
This ranking hinges on how much stock we put in the win over Kentucky. The Arkansas game was a fun one. Louisville needed the win over Indiana to save some face last week.
10. Houston (8-1)
Last week: 11 (⇑1)
Results: W 82-67 vs. Florida State
Houston went from maybe the most experienced team in college to one with a nice mix of veterans and freshmen. The inexperience cost them against Tennessee, but there has been far more good than bad from Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr.
9. BYU (7-1)
Last week: 9 ⇔
Results: W 91-60 vs. California Baptist
BYU has taken it easy since a loss to UConn in Boston. They have only played four games in 23 days since that loss.
8. Purdue (8-1)
Last week: 3 (⇓5)
Results: W 81-65 vs. Rutgers, L 58-81 vs. (10) Iowa State
Purdue got blasted by Iowa State. Blowouts have consequences. The wins over Texas Tech and Alabama are very good, but they got exposed at home by the Cyclones. There’s a chance that Iowa State is better than most realize. It’s perhaps more likely that Purdue was a bit overrated because of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn returning to college.
7. Michigan State (8-1)
Last week: 4 (⇓3)
Results: W 71-52 vs. Iowa, L 60-66 vs. (5) Duke
The Spartans hung with Duke at home. The win over Kentucky no longer looks as strong, but wins over North Carolina and Arkansas still count. Blowing out a team like Iowa is a good look as well.
6. Gonzaga (9-1)
Last week: 8 (⇑2)
Results: W 94-59 vs. Kentucky, W 109-58 vs. North Florida
Gonzaga may have ruined Kentucky. This team also blew out Oklahoma and Creighton and beat Alabama by double digits. This isn’t a charity ranking. Gonzaga belongs up here.
5. Connecticut (8-1)
Last week: 6 (⇑1)
Results: W 61-56 at (16) Kansas, W 83-59 vs. East Texas A&M
UConn won in Phog Allen Fieldhouse for their third win over a top-15 team. The only loss is to Arizona. This is a slightly more mature version of the UConn team that made a run last year. The Huskies haven’t even had a healthy Tarris Reed Jr. for the last couple of weeks.
4. Duke (10-0)
Last week: 5 (⇑1)
Results: W 67-66 vs. (17) Florida, W 66-60 at (4) Michigan State
Cameron Boozer is better than Cooper Flagg, and Flagg was the top overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Boozer has averaged 23 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.7 steals, and a block per game over the first 10 games of his career. Flagg wasn’t that advanced yet after 10 games.
3. Iowa State (9-0)
Last week: 10 (⇑7)
Results: W 132-68 vs. Alcorn State, W 81-58 at (3) Purdue
It’s closer at the top than many will admit. Arizona’s four wins over ranked teams are slightly more impressive than Iowa State’s, but not by a lot. Michigan’s utter dominance of Gonzaga and Auburn will cause many to question just how far ahead of the field Michigan is. Iowa State just dominated the AP top team on the road. The Cyclones deserve to be in this conversation.
2. Arizona (8-0)
Last week: 2 ⇔
Results: W 97-68 vs. (14) Auburn
Arizona has now beaten four ranked teams and scored over 90 on two of them. This week was the total destruction of a solid Auburn team. This team looks so much better without Caleb Love. Freshman Koa Peat does everything with minimal drama.
1. Michigan (8-0)
Last week: 1 ⇔
Results: W 101-60 vs. Rutgers
Michigan started slowly against unranked teams, and I moved them down the ranking accordingly. I think I upset them. Michigan has scored 100 points in three straight games. It hasn’t been three cupcakes. They did this against Auburn, Gonzaga, and Rutgers. This came after scoring 94 on San Diego State, which is like scoring 110 on a regular team. This is a very dangerous team.
