The 2025 class of freshmen may be the best that college basketball has ever seen. And last Saturday, January 24, might be the best singular day that a class of freshmen has ever had. Not one, not two, but three freshmen scored 40 points on the same day – Kingston Flemings, AJ Dybantsa, and Keaton Wagler all accomplished the feat. What does this class have in store for us this week?
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1. Arizona
The Wildcats just keep on winning. Looking at their record and remaining schedule, it seems almost inevitable that they will be a 1-seed on Selection Sunday. But the schedule does get really quite tough soon for Tommy Lloyd and company. Will they be able to stay unbeaten?
2. Michigan
The Wolverines have a big “prove it” week coming up. They’ll be taking on unbeaten Nebraska and in-state rival Michigan State. Yaxel Lendeborg just keeps looking more and more dominant as the season progresses, and a big week from Yaxel and co would go a long way to cementing this team’s status as one of the favorites to win it all in March.
3. Duke
Don’t look now – but Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils are unbeaten in ACC play, have only one loss overall, and sit at #3 overall on KenPom. They’re exactly on schedule for being a one seed on Selection Sunday, which would go a long way to helping Scheyer reach his first Final Four as a head coach.
4. UConn
I wonder – if you were to remove “UConn” from the front of the jersey, and Danny Hurley from the coaches’ box, would I find this UConn team this impressive? Probably not. They’re 9-0 in Big East play, but aren’t blowing out these bad Big East teams. But because of their winning tradition and their elite head coach, I still find them to be one of the true contenders to win the National Championship.
5. Illinois
The Illini notched one of the best wins of the last decade of their program on Saturday, traveling to Mackey Arena and knocking off Purdue without Kylan Boswell. It wasn’t one of the many Eastern European imports that stole the show; instead, it was unheralded freshman Keaton Wagler who scored 46 in the win. Now they just need to make sure the injury to Kylan Boswell doesn’t derail their season.
6. Houston
It’s hard to beat someone twice, especially on their home floor. Houston had already beaten Texas Tech and got a 42-point performance from Kingston Flemings, and it still wasn’t enough to beat Texas Tech in Lubbock. I’m not sweating it, though, and am still in on this team as a National Championship contender.
7. Purdue
I’m not a doctor, and I’m not in the locker room, but it seems like something is wrong with Trey Kaufman-Renn. He hasn’t scored more than 12 points or grabbed more than 9 rebounds in a game since January 3rd. This Boilermaker team needs him to be at his best if they want to go far in March.
8. Texas Tech
The advanced metrics don’t love this team, and they have zero depth behind their starters, but it’s hard to ignore what the Red Raiders have done on the court. They have wins over Duke, Houston, and BYU. No other team has a trio of wins that good. JT Toppin is my vote for National Player of the Year.
9. Gonzaga
No Braden Huff, no Graham Ike, no problem for the Zags this past week. The development of Davis Fogle and Mario Saint-Supery has been a big reason why. However, they’ll want to get at least one of their big men back by Saturday, as they take on the massive frontcourt of Saint Mary’s.
10. Nebraska
This is going to be the toughest week of the season for the Cornhuskers – they travel to Michigan on Tuesday night and then take on Illinois on Saturday, all while being potentially without Braden Frager and Rienk Mast. That incredible win streak looks like it’s going to come to an end – either that or I’ll have the Huskers at #2 in my next rankings.
11. Michigan State
After I doubted their offense in consecutive weeks, the Spartans hung 91 on Maryland this past weekend, thanks in large part to getting a rare 17-point, 17-assist performance from Jeremy Fears. However, it was against Maryland. Let’s see them do it against an average Big Ten team.
12. Florida
The Gators’ streak finally came to an end on Saturday, losing to Auburn in the Jungle on Saturday. The SEC is a gauntlet, and it’s hard to knock Todd Golden and the Gators for finally losing a game. I still think they’re the best team in the best conference in America.
13. BYU
AJ Dybantsa. AJ Dybantsa. AJ Dybantsa. This team will go as the potential #1 NBA Draft pick goes. When he drops 40 points, they’re going to be nearly impossible to beat. Anything less, and it’s a really narrow pathway to winning that will rely on the outside shooting of Rob Wright and Richie Saunders.
14. Kansas
Even without the services of Darryn Peterson, the Jayhawks throttled in-state rival Kansas State on Saturday. Melvin Council and Tre White were portal additions that didn’t receive a whole lot of buzz in the offseason, but have proven vital to the Jayhawks keeping the train rolling with Peterson being in and out of the lineup.
15. Iowa State
The Cyclones are in an interesting situation. They seem to thoroughly throttle inferior teams, but don’t always have their A-game against top competition. We’ll get a few more opportunities to see how they fare against the best of the Big 12, but not this week.
16. Vanderbilt
After a 3-game slide, the Commodores got back on track with an 88-56 thumping of Mississippi State over the weekend. I think that the scouting report is getting pretty good on the Commodores – if you have a big, dominant frontcourt, you can bludgeon them with it. If you don’t have good backcourt defenders to guard Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles, you’re going to be in for a long night. Mississippi State had neither.
17. Alabama
It was Charles Bediako who got all of the national attention this past week, with his eligibility taking more twists and turns than a country road. But I’m concerned about the injuries – this team is not as good on both sides of the ball if Amari Allen and Aden Holloway are not playing, and that had a direct hand in the loss to Tennessee.
18. Arkansas
To this point in the season, Arkansas has not lost on its home court, and they have not lost to a team ranked worse than 33rd on KenPom right now. That’s a pretty solid resume, and it’s only going to have opportunities to get better playing a gauntlet SEC schedule.
19. Kentucky
Mark Pope’s Wildcats are now on a 5-game win streak, and seem to be getting everything figured out. But at the same time, the injuries just keep piling up and piling up, as now Kam Williams is out for the season. Is this going to be another “addition by subtraction” situation for the Cats?
20. St. John’s
It took a second-half comeback for Rick Pitino to notch his 900th career win (while coaching against his own son) at Xavier on Saturday. Unlike last year’s team, this bunch can really score. Maybe that’s just what they need to have a longer stay in the NCAA Tournament this season.
21. Tennessee
I think I’ve figured out Rick Barnes’ blueprint. He’s just going to recruit a bunch of hard-nosed, defensive-minded players, and then bring in one guy who is going to take all of the shots and just be asked to score. It’s what he did with Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier, and this year he has both Maryland transfer Jakobi Gillespie and freshman Nate Ament, who can absolutely fill it up.
22. Saint Louis
If you have not gotten eyes on Josh Schertz’s Saint Louis Billikens, this week is a great time to do so. Not only do the Billikens have an entertaining, high-octane offense, but they’re going to be playing two teams that do as well in George Washington and Dayton. If the Billikens are going to lose in A10 play, this week is probably the most likely time for them to do so.
23. North Carolina
This Saturday was a massive win for Hubert Davis and co, as the Tar Heels went on the road and knocked off ACC rival Virginia. Caleb Wilson was his normal outstanding self, but a big reason for the Tar Heels’ recent turnaround has been the solid play of Derek Dixon after he was inserted into the starting lineup.
24. Auburn
I don’t think it would be an overstatement to call the Tigers’ win over Florida this past weekend the biggest win in the Steven Pearl era of Auburn basketball. Which started this season. Still, it could be a huge turnaround for a team that is still trying to find its identity after losing all of its starting lineup from last season.
25. Texas
Make a note: you don’t want to play Texas after Sean Miller goes off about his team. After going off to the media about his team’s propensity to foul, the Longhorns proceeded to play a very clean game in a 20-point victory over Georgia. The Longhorns appear to have righted the ship, and I look for them to work their way into the NCAA Tournament.
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