The last three remaining undefeated teams in college basketball were single-digit favorites Saturday, and all three kept their perfect seasons alive. No. 1 Arizona beat UCF 84-77, No. 8 Nebraska beat Northwestern 77-58 and Miami (Ohio) barely escaped at home vs. Buffalo, needing overtime to beat the Bulls 105-102.
Emphasis on the barely.
The RedHawks had to beat the buzzer on a 3-pointer in regulation to force overtime vs. the visiting Bulls, and that wasn’t even the biggest shot. They saved their perfect season with one last bit of drama for the finish as Peter Suder walked into a game-winning 3-pointer to end it in the extra period.
Suder finished with a career-high 37 points in the win.
Despite tricky tests, we will exit the weekend with Arizona, Miami (Ohio) and Nebraska remaining unbeaten. But given the upcoming matchups in league play for all three, it seems unlikely they finish the 2025-26 without at least one loss.
When those losses come is the real question. Could Arizona or Nebraska run the table in Big 12 and Big Ten play, respectively?! Is it possible Miami (Ohio) enters the postseason 31-0 as it is currently projected to do at KenPom? All of those scenarios are very much in play!
But color me skeptical any of those actually happen. Some may call me a curmudgeon but I like to think I’m a realist. And the truth is that in major college basketball, running the table for an entire season — which has not been done since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers — is a near-impossibility.
Here’s when I think those losses will come.
Arizona
Record: 18-0
Next game: Wednesday vs. Cincinnati, 9 p.m. ET (Fox Sports 1)
Predicted first loss: Jan. 26 vs. BYU
Projected final number of losses: 4
Arizona has largely throttled every team in its path this season and even in close games in which it hasn’t had its best stuff — vs. UCLA, UConn and Arizona State, for instance — it has managed to remain unscathed. The perfect run ends on Jan. 26, though. On that Monday night road trip, Zona faces BYU — a team that is 16-1 and a possession away from being undefeated itself — and the Cougars will be who downs the Wildcats first. There’s also several major spots for Arizona to stumble before the postseason. I have road trips to Kansas and Houston as losses as well. A three-loss Big 12 team might very well win the regular season even if, for Arizona fans, it wouldn’t be the dream of running the table.
Nebraska
Record: 18-0
Next game: Wednesday vs. Washington, 9 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
Predicted first loss: Jan. 27 vs. Michigan
Projected final number of losses: 5
Nebraska has zero losses so far but very well could be a four-loss team four weeks from now. The schedule is brutal ahead with Michigan, Illinois and Purdue as part of its next seven games. It also has to go on the road Minnesota in that stretch. The Cornhuskers are a quality team tracking currently as a 2 seed, but they are the team I think has the highest likelihood of crashing, perhaps hard, back to reality in the next six weeks.
College Basketball Power Rankings: Duke, Nebraska, BYU jump up; Michigan, Vanderbilt fall after first loss
Kyle Boone
Miami (Ohio)
Record: 19-0
Next game: Tuesday vs. Kent State, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Predicted first loss: Feb. 3 vs. Buffalo
Projected final number of losses: 3
The highest-ranked opponent at KenPom that Miami (Ohio) has faced this season so far is No. 62 Akron. The next-highest team is No. 134 Wright State. But that shouldn’t take away from the tremendous start the RedHawks are off to this season. And because they play in the MAC, it also suggests they very much can keep this up. There’s a real chance they fall Tuesday with a road game at Kent State, but I’m going to be a true believer here and be bold: I think they make it to Feb. 3 before taking their first loss, becoming the last team in college basketball to remain undefeated.
