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Mike's college basketball rankings for Week 7 of the 2025-26 season. Where are Duke, Houston, Arizona, and Gonzaga ranked?
College Basketball Top 25 Power Rankings Week 7, 2025-26
Christmas and college football bowl season take over most of this week, so college basketball is kind of on the back burner. We have a few good games tonight and tomorrow, but that will be it for most teams until the new year.
These rankings are through December 21. The games from the 22nd and 23rd will be covered in next week’s rankings. That’s not a bad thing. This was a very eventful week in college basketball. We had a shakeup in the top five, which causes everyone to move around!
25. USC (12-1)
Last week: 25 ⇔
Results: W 97-70 vs. UTSA, W 102-63 vs. UC Santa Cruz
It’s a good thing that USC has figured itself out in the non-conference. The Trojans go on a Michigan road trip to start the new year.
24. California (12-1)
Last week: 24 ⇔
Results: W 97-50 vs. Morgan State, W 74-56 vs. Columbia
Cal rebuilt through the portal, and it’s working well for them. The UCLA win is keeping the Bears afloat. We’ll find out if Cal belongs here soon enough. The Bears get Louisville before the year ends, and have to play Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia in January.
23. Virginia (11-1)
Last week: NR
Results: W 84-60 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore, W 80-72 vs Maryland
The loss to Butler hurts a little, but wins over Texas and Dayton look solid. Virginia has at least 80 points in 10 games already this season. That’s the first time the Wahoos have hit that mark in a full season since 2007-08. That’s the most times in the first 11 games of the season since Virginia joined the ACC in 1953-54. We’re not used to seeing this kind of offensive outburst out of Virginia, but I’m here for it.
22. Florida (8-4)
Last week: 23 (⇑1)
Results: W 102-61 vs. St. Francis, W 90-60 vs. Colgate
If any team deserved a couple of easy games, it’s Florida. The Gators have already played Arizona, Duke, and Connecticut. All three teams are in the top 5. I’m still waiting for the big win for Florida.
21. Georgia (11-1)
Last week: NR
Results: W 112-82 vs. West Carolina, W 103-74 vs. West Georgia
The Bulldogs have scored at least 100 points six times already this season. That is already a school record. Blue Cain looked awkward as a freshman last year, but he is turning into a superstar this year. Cain is hitting half of his shots and is leading the team in rebounds. He’s a 6-foot-5 guard!
20. Tennessee (9-3)
Last week: 20 ⇔
Results: W 83-62 vs. (11) Louisville, W 94-52 vs. Gardner-Webb
Sorry, Tennessee, Texas Tech had the bigger win and moved up. The Vols get to take it easy the rest of the year, but they have to go to Fayetteville to begin SEC play on January 3.
19. Vanderbilt (12-0)
Last week: 19 ⇔
Results: W 77-70 vs. Memphis, W 98-67 vs. Wake Forest
Vanderbilt still doesn’t have a big win, so I’m not going to rank them as if they do. The wins over Memphis and SMU are reaching solid territory. Vandy can prove it early next year when Alabama comes to Nashville on January 7. This is Vanderbilt’s best start to a season since the Commodores started 16-0 in 2007-08. A.J. Ogilvy and Shan Foster were on that team.
18. Illinois (8-3)
Last week: 16 (⇓2)
Results: N/A
The Illini had all week to stew about the home loss to Nebraska last weekend.
17. Kansas (9-3)
Last week: 17 ⇔
Results: W 73-49 vs. Towson
Nothing to see here, just the saga of whether super freshman Darryn Peterson can stay on the court. To the surprise of no one, Peterson didn’t play against Davidson. He should be able to return for the start of conference play in January.
16. Texas Tech (9-3)
Last week: 21 (⇑5)
Results: W 101-90 vs. Northern Colorado, W 82-81 vs. (4) Duke
That win over Duke, especially considering all of the circumstances, has to be one of the biggest wins in Texas Tech basketball history. Texas Tech had LeJuan Watts foul out with around 15 minutes remaining. Star forward JT Toppin picked up his fourth foul 90 seconds into the second half and was forced to the bench. Leon Horner also fouled out of this one for Tech. Freshman Nolan Groves — all 6-foot-5 of him — was tasked with guarding Cameron Boozer. He locked Boozer up. Groves didn’t score and hadn’t played more than one minute in a game in about a month, but he became the hero of the comeback bid for Tech. This was the largest comeback win against an AP top 3 team since 2017-18.
15. Arkansas (9-3)
Last week: 12 (⇓3)
Results: W 108-80 vs. Queens, L 85-94 vs. (9) Houston
How easily the AP voters forget what happened earlier in the season. Yes, Texas Tech beat Duke. Arkansas beat Texas Tech, and they beat Louisville. The head-to-head should still count, especially since Arkansas beat Texas Tech just last week…
14. Louisville (10-2)
Last week: 11 (⇓3)
Results: L 62-83 at (20) Tennessee, W 94-54 vs. Montana
Louisville was without star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. in the Tennessee game. The AP didn’t consider that, but I will. Louisville is a different team with Brown on the court.
13. Alabama (9-3)
Last week: 14 (⇑1)
Results: W 104-93 vs. South Florida, W 92-81 vs. Kennesaw State
Alabama has scored at least 90 points in every win this season. They haven’t hit 90 in a loss. We know what the key is to beating the Tide this season. Gonzaga and Kent State are the only other Division I teams to score at least 90 points in nine games this season.
12. Nebraska (12-0)
Last week: 15 (⇑3)
Results: W 78-55 vs. North Dakota
Nebraska followed its biggest road win in over 30 years with its second triple-double of the season. Nebraska had two triple-doubles in program history before this season. Berke Buyuktuncel recorded this one. Rienk Mast had one against Florida International back in November. Nebraska extends its already best start in program history to 12-0 and extends the program-record win streak to 16 games.
11. North Carolina (11-1)
Last week: 13 (⇑2)
Results: W 77-58 vs. East Tennessee State, W 71-70 vs. Ohio State
We have to at least entertain the possibility that Ohio State is good after that performance. North Carolina is off to its best start since 2008-09. The Heels won the National Championship that season. Caleb Wilson and Henry Veesaar have been a huge problem for opposing teams. A healthy Seth Trimble may put this team over the top.
10. BYU (10-1)
Last week: 9 (⇓1)
Results: W 85-67 vs. Abilene Christian
There goes AJ Dybantsa being mentioned with the most famous BYU freshman in history again. Dybantsa’s 35 points in the win over Abilene Christian were the most by a BYU freshman since Ainge scored 36 against Idaho State in 1977-78.
9. Houston (11-1)
Last week: 10 (⇑1)
Results: W 94-85 vs. (12) Arkansas
That’s the second big win for Houston. BYU has a better loss, but the Cougars don’t have the wins that Houston does. BYU will get plenty of chances to prove themselves in the rough-and-tumble Big 12.
Houston has this reputation for being a plodding defensive team that can’t score. With Houston’s win over Arkansas this week, the Cougars improved to 37-0 when scoring at least 90 points in a game under Kelvin Sampson.
8. Michigan State (11-1)
Last week: 8 ⇔
Results: W 92-69 vs. Toledo, W 79-70 vs. Oakland
If you look through the schedule, you’ll notice one thing: the Spartans are not the type of team that blows anyone out. They’re slow, methodical, and play defense. That’s how they were able to beat teams like Arkansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky. It will work in the Big Ten, but what about beyond that?
7. Gonzaga (12-1)
Last week: 7 ⇔
Results: W 98-70 vs. Campbell, W 91-82 vs. Oregon
The big wins that Gonzaga got in November and early December will have to last them through the conference season. The national ranking will affect their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The West Coast Conference has a couple of good teams in Seattle and St. Mary’s, but those wins won’t help the Bulldogs. Gonzaga is still going to be a double-digit favorite in those games.
6. Duke (11-1)
Last week: 4 (⇓2)
Results: W 97-73 vs. Lipscomb, L 81-82 vs. (21) Texas Tech
When comparing Duke alongside other one-loss teams, the Blue Devils aren’t going to fall far down the list. Duke has wins over Kansas, Arkansas, Michigan State, and Florida. That comes close to topping Purdue and UConn’s wins.
Duke was down early to Lipscomb and stormed back to win easily. They were up big against Texas Tech and had JT Toppin in foul trouble, but still blew their largest lead (17 points) since 2007. Jon Scheyer has only coached Duke for two years and a month. Duke had won 69 consecutive games under Scheyer when leading by 15 points. How did Duke lead that many games by 15 points in just two seasons and a month???
5. Purdue (11-1)
Last week: 6 (⇑1)
Results: W 88-60 vs. (18) Auburn
It’s another big win, this time against a ranked team, to try to wash off the stain of what Iowa State did to them. Is the gap between the third and fifth-ranked teams that significant, or does Iowa State deserve to be mentioned alongside Michigan and Arizona?
4. Connecticut (12-1)
Last week: 5 (⇑1)
Results: W 79-60 vs. Butler, W 72-54 at DePaul
UConn is one of the few teams that are done with non-conference play. They played the first two Big East teams this week and weren’t tested. That’s going to be a theme. Creighton and UConn were heavyweight fights last year. That’s not going to be the case this year. The Huskies are the only currently ranked team in the conference.
3. Iowa State (12-0)
Last week: 3 ⇔
Results: W 91-60 vs. Long Beach State
The Cyclones are coasting since obliterating Purdue, but isn’t that allowed? Iowa State’s conference schedule is heavily backloaded, as it was last season. Five of their last seven opponents are currently ranked, including a trip to top-ranked Arizona on March 2.
2. Michigan (11-0)
Last week: 2 ⇔
Results: W 102-50 vs. La Salle
Michigan has already scored 100 or more points in six games, including five of the last six. That’s the most in Division I this year. The huge win over La Salle was Michigan’s fifth win by at least 40 points. That ties a Big Ten record with 1991-92 Indiana and 1988-89 Michigan. Michigan still has 20 games to go to try and break that record!
1. Arizona (11-0)
Last week: 1 ⇔
Results: W 96-62 vs. Abilene Christian, W 68-45 vs. San Diego State
The Wildcats have beaten five ranked teams already. They have also won six straight games by more than 20 points, two of which were against ranked teams. That’s the longest active streak of 20+ point wins in Division I.
