The 2025-26 men’s basketball season has officially tipped off.
Here is my Power 37 after the first week of college basketball.
1. Purdue (Prev. 1): Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are back to looking like one of the best backcourts in the country after week one. But a road game at Alabama looms.2. Houston (Prev. 2): The Cougars started off locking teams down as usual with neither opponent reaching 60 points.3. Arizona (Prev. 16): The Wildcats went into Las Vegas and took down reigning champion and No. 3 Florida behind sensational freshman Koa Peat.4. Alabama (Prev. 20): The Tide had a seismic road win at St. John’s to catapult them into SEC title contention.5. UConn (Prev. 6): The Huskies got a healthy Tarris Reed, and that spells trouble to opposing teams going forward.6. Duke (Prev. 7): Cameron Boozer is a one-man wrecking crew for the Blue Devils, thus far.7. Michigan (Prev. 4): The Wolverines will get a road test at TCU, but keep checking the progress of this potential Final Four team.
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8. Kentucky (Prev. 8): The Wildcats aren’t having trouble scoring, but the bigger news is keeping both opponents under 60.9. Texas Tech (Prev. 9): JT Toppin made his season debut with 31 points and 14 boards. Wowza.10. St. John’s (Prev. 3): The Red Storm lost at home to Alabama and there is no shame in that result. But giving up over 100 isn’t Rick Pitino basketball and that must change.11. BYU (Prev. 14): The Cougars are deep, explosive offensively and are going to be a problem every game out.12. Florida (Prev. 5): The Gators lost to Arizona but need to figure out who will be their go-to player late.13. Louisville (Prev. 11): The Cardinals will get tested this week against Kentucky and have a legit shot to move up.14. North Carolina (Prev. 23): Caleb Wilson. Remember that name. Massive home win over Kansas.
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15. UCLA (Prev. 13): The Bruins put together more of a complete game against Pepperdine. The test comes Friday against Arizona.16. Michigan State (Prev. 21): The Spartans looked a bit lost in an exhibition game against UConn. They were locked in for the home win over Arkansas.17. Indiana (Prev. 31): The Hoosiers dropped Marquette in Chicago Sunday and have quite a trio in Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries and Sam Alexis.18. Arkansas (Prev. 17): The Hogs nearly pulled off the road win, but there is plenty to be excited about with freshmen Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas.19. Tennessee (Prev. 12): The Vols have a star in Nate Ament and will be in the thick of the SEC chase.20. Illinois (Prev. 19): The Illini haven’t had as much national play, but don’t sleep on this team.21. Wisconsin (Prev. 24): John Blackwell and Nick Boyd are going to be a problem for teams.
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22. Iowa State (Prev. 18): The Cyclones will make life miserable for opposing teams.23. Gonzaga (Prev. 25): The Zags had a solid win over Oklahoma and will take their act on the road at Arizona State later in the week.24. Auburn (Prev. 27): The Tigers will find out where they stand against Houston.25. Georgetown (Prev. NR): The Hoyas picked up a rivalry win at Maryland for some strong momentum to start the season.26. Kansas (Prev. 10): No shame in losing on the road at North Carolina. Credit Bill Self for playing that game this early.27. Creighton (Prev. 35): The Bluejays are getting healthy and will be able to score with anyone.28. Ohio State (Prev. 30): Bruce Thornton went for 38 points this week. He’s making a strong play to be an all-Big Ten first team player.
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29. NC State (Prev. 22): The Wolfpack have shown they are going to be putting up points on a regular basis, averaging 104 in two games.30. Missouri (Prev. 32): Mark Mitchell is poised for a monster season for the Tigers, dropping 29 last week.31. Kansas State (Prev. 33): PJ Haggerty picked up where he left off last season, scoring 23 and dishing out 11 assists in a win over Bellarmine.32. Iowa (Prev. NR): Bennett Stirtz is averaging 21 in two games for the Hawkeyes after his second bump up from Northwest Missouri to Drake to Iowa.33. Oregon (Prev. 15): The Ducks squeaked by Hawaii and aren’t the same team until Jackson Shelstad gets healthy.34. Baylor (Prev. NR): The Bears defeated the Washington on Sunday night, improving to 2-0. They’re an early sleeper team in the Big 12.35. Ole Miss (Prev. 26): The Rebels may finally be the spot for AJ Storr. He’s averaging 18.5 in two games, thus far.36. Utah State (Prev. NR): The Aggies took down the A-10 favorite VCU.37. Nebraska (Prev. NR): The Huskers are a sleeper in the Big Ten behind Rienk Mast (triple-double against FIU).
Andy Katz is an NCAA.com correspondent. Katz worked at ESPN for 18 years as a college basketball reporter, host and anchor. He’s covered every Final Four since 1992, and the sport since 1986 as a freshman at Wisconsin. He is a former president of the United States Basketball Writers Association. Katz can also be seen covering college basketball on Big Ten Network during the regular season. Follow him on Twitter at @theandykatz.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
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