“One Shining Moment” has played. The 2025-26 college basketball season has come to a close. With that, the final ranking of the Men’s Other Top 25 has been compiled.
Utah State closes the season atop the ranking. The Aggies won the Mountain West regular season and tournament championships. They were the only team from the conference to reach the NCAA Tournament, and they advanced to the second round with a win over Villanova. USU has gone dancing four straight years and in six of the last seven tourneys.
Saint Mary’s came in at No. 2. The Gaels extended their streak of consecutive trips to March Madness to five. Randy Bennett’s squad was a single-digit seed in each of these Dances as it finished 27-6 with a second straight seven-seed.
Saint Louis placed third in the poll. The Billikens returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. They won their first tourney game in a dozen years. Josh Schertz’s team saw a 10-win improvement from last year and finished 29-6, losing to eventual champ Michigan in the Round of 32.
Santa Clara followed in fourth. The Broncos made their first appearance in March Madness in 30 years. Herb Sendek guided them to 26 wins, the WCC finals, and the brink of the second round of the Big Dance in one of the best games of the tournament in a heartbreaking loss to Kentucky.
Miami (OH) rounded out the top five. The RedHawks had a storybook season, going 31-0 in the regular season, receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and winning a game in the First Four in their home state.
VCU came in sixth in the final poll. The Rams won the Atlantic 10 tournament title and pulled off one of the biggest March Madness comebacks by overcoming a 19-point deficit against North Carolina in the first round.
South Florida followed after the program’s second berth in the NCAA Tournament in the last 34 years and first since 2012. USF went 25-9 this season.
New Mexico ran all the way to the NIT semifinals and placed eighth in the final poll. Conference mate San Diego State was one spot behind. Tulsa, who advanced to the NIT championship game, placed 10th. The Golden Hurricane stormed back from down 21 to lead Auburn by four in the final seconds of regulation before falling in overtime in the title game.
Four teams joined the ranking: Boise St., Wichita St., Stephen F. Austin and Cal Baptist.
UC Irvine – T-17; Penn – T-21; Hawaii – 23; Bradley – 24
