{"id":174776,"date":"2026-01-28T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=174776"},"modified":"2026-01-28T08:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:00:31","slug":"college-basketball-top-25-rankings-for-jan-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/28\/college-basketball-top-25-rankings-for-jan-28\/","title":{"rendered":"College Basketball Top 25 Rankings for Jan. 28"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 \u2013 Kingston Flemings, AJ Dybantsa, and Keaton Wagler all accomplished the feat. What does this class have in store for us this week?<\/p>\n

Top 25 College Basketball Rankings<\/h2>\n
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Photo Credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Arizona<\/h4>\n

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?<\/p>\n

2. Michigan<\/h4>\n

The Wolverines have a big \u201cprove it\u201d week coming up. They\u2019ll 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\u2019s status as one of the favorites to win it all in March.<\/p>\n

3. Duke<\/h4>\n

Don\u2019t look now \u2013 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\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

4. UConn<\/h4>\n

I wonder \u2013 if you were to remove \u201cUConn\u201d from the front of the jersey, and Danny Hurley from the coaches\u2019 box, would I find this UConn team this impressive? Probably not. They\u2019re 9-0 in Big East play, but aren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

5. Illinois<\/h4>\n

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\u2019t 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<\/a> doesn’t derail their season.<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6. Houston<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2019t enough to beat Texas Tech in Lubbock. I\u2019m not sweating it, though, and am still in on this team as a National Championship contender.<\/p>\n

7. Purdue<\/h4>\n

I\u2019m not a doctor, and I\u2019m not in the locker room, but it seems like something is wrong with Trey Kaufman-Renn. He hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

8. Texas Tech<\/h4>\n

The advanced metrics don\u2019t love this team, and they have zero depth behind their starters, but it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

9. Gonzaga<\/h4>\n

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\u2019ll want to get at least one of their big men back by Saturday, as they take on the massive frontcourt of Saint Mary’s.<\/p>\n

10. Nebraska<\/h4>\n

This is going to be the toughest week of the season for the Cornhuskers \u2013 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\u2019s going to come to an end \u2013 either that or I\u2019ll have the Huskers at #2 in my next rankings.<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

11. Michigan State<\/h4>\n

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\u2019s see them do it against an average Big Ten team.<\/p>\n

12. Florida<\/h4>\n

The Gators\u2019 streak finally came to an end on Saturday, losing to Auburn in the Jungle on Saturday. The SEC is a gauntlet, and it\u2019s hard to knock Todd Golden and the Gators for finally losing a game. I still think they\u2019re the best team in the best conference in America.<\/p>\n

13. BYU<\/h4>\n

AJ Dybantsa. AJ Dybantsa. AJ Dybantsa. This team will go as the potential #1 NBA Draft pick goes. When he drops 40 points, they\u2019re going to be nearly impossible to beat. Anything less, and it\u2019s a really narrow pathway to winning that will rely on the outside shooting of Rob Wright and Richie Saunders.<\/p>\n

14. Kansas<\/h4>\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

15. Iowa State<\/h4>\n

The Cyclones are in an interesting situation. They seem to thoroughly throttle inferior teams, but don\u2019t always have their A-game against top competition. We\u2019ll get a few more opportunities to see how they fare against the best of the Big 12, but not this week.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Tyler<\/h4>\n

16. Vanderbilt<\/h4>\n

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 \u2013 if you have a big, dominant frontcourt, you can bludgeon them with it. If you don\u2019t have good backcourt defenders to guard Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles, you\u2019re going to be in for a long night. Mississippi State had neither.<\/p>\n

17. Alabama<\/h4>\n

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\u2019m concerned about the injuries \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

18. Arkansas<\/h4>\n

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\u2019s a pretty solid resume, and it\u2019s only going to have opportunities to get better playing a gauntlet SEC schedule.<\/p>\n

19. Kentucky<\/h4>\n

Mark Pope\u2019s 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 \u201caddition by subtraction\u201d situation for the Cats?<\/p>\n

20. St. John’s<\/h4>\n

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\u2019s team, this bunch can really score. Maybe that\u2019s just what they need to have a longer stay in the NCAA Tournament this season.<\/p>\n

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21. Tennessee<\/h4>\n

I think I\u2019ve figured out Rick Barnes\u2019 blueprint. He\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

22. Saint Louis<\/h4>\n

If you have not gotten eyes on Josh Schertz\u2019s 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\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

23. North Carolina<\/h4>\n

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\u2019 recent turnaround has been the solid play of Derek Dixon after he was inserted into the starting lineup.<\/p>\n

24. Auburn<\/h4>\n

I don\u2019t think it would be an overstatement to call the Tigers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

25. Texas<\/h4>\n

Make a note: you don\u2019t want to play Texas after Sean Miller goes off about his team. After going off to the media about his team\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

For more great college basketball analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u2013 Kingston Flemings, AJ Dybantsa, and Keaton […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":174784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773],"tags":[846,31322,861,805,866],"class_list":["post-174776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","tag-arizona-wildcats","tag-college-basketball-rankings","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-michigan-state-spartans","tag-michigan-wolverines"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174776"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174787,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174776\/revisions\/174787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}