Ariel Puterman gives his Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into week 4 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 3 team of the week: Arizona Wildcats
Week 3 game of the week: Arizona over UConn
Week 3 player of the week: PJ Haggerty, Kansas State
Week 4 matchup of the week: #14 St. John’s vs. #16 Iowa State
Week 4 under-the-radar matchup of the week: San Francisco vs. Colorado
1) Arizona Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 5-0
Last week: W at #3 UConn (71-67)
Next week: vs. Denver (Nov. 24 – 11:30 p.m.), vs. Norfolk State (Nov. 29 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: at UConn, vs. Florida (neutral), vs. UCLA (neutral)
Bad losses:
There’s no team in the country with a better resume than Arizona. They once again win a big-time matchup, this time taking down UConn in Connecticut. Jaden Bradley continues to be the closer, making big shots time and time again late in the game, and Krivas really took advantage of Tarris Reed being out, grabbing 14 rebounds.
This team is a legitimate title contender and should be either 1 or 2 in every poll this week. They finally get an easy week to recharge, facing two mid-major opponents. They can’t get two comfortable weeks, because after that they have back-to-back weeks against tough SEC opponents.
2) Houston Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 3 (+1)
Record: 5-0
Last week: W vs. Rider (91-45)
Next week: vs. Syracuse (Nov. 24 – 7 p.m.), vs. #17 Tennessee (Nov. 25 – 7 p.m.), vs. TBD (Nov. 26 OR 27 – TBD)
Quality wins: vs. Auburn (neutral)
Bad losses:
Houston is starting to look like Houston again, doubling up Rider this past week. Kingston Flemings has established himself as the number one option for this team, and Tugler is averaging a mind-blowing 5.2 combined steals and blocks per game.
Now, it’s time to really prove themselves, facing Tennessee on the second day of the Players’ Era, and potentially another top 25 team if they advance. We’ll have a pretty good idea of how good this Houston team is by the end of the week.
3) Iowa State Cyclones
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-1)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W vs. Stonehill (96-57)
Next week: vs. #14 St John’s (Nov. 24 – 4:30 p.m.), vs. Creighton (Nov. 25 – 2 p.m.), vs. TBD (Nov. 26 OR 27 – TBD)
Quality wins: Mississippi State
Bad losses:
Iowa State drops a spot for the sole reason that Mississippi State isn’t as good as we thought, making the quality win less valuable. Other than that, Iowa State has done everything right, dominating their mid-major opponents, most recently Stonehill by 39.
Like Houston, the Players Era will give us a good idea of how good this team can be. They will face their first top 25 opponent in St John’s, then a tough Creighton team. If Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey continue to play as they have, there will be no issues this week for the Cyclones.
4) BYU Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-)
Record: 4-1
Last week: W vs. #24 Wisconsin (98-70)
Next week: vs. Miami-Fla (Nov. 27 – 5 p.m.), Georgetown OR Dayton (Nov. 28 – TBD)
Quality wins: vs. Wisconsin (Neutral), vs. Villanova
Bad losses:
BYU has had plenty of statement results, but none like the one we saw on Friday. They dominated Wisconsin from start to finish. Richie Saunders had arguably his best game of the season, and Rob Wright had double-digit assists. It seems like this team is building chemistry more and more after each game, and that’s a scary sight to see.
The Power 5 games aren’t over just yet, as they’ll face Miami in the ESPN Events – Magic Bracket, then one of Georgetown or Dayton. Another great opportunity for this BYU team to stack up resume wins ahead of Big 12 play.
5) Oklahoma State Cowboys
Last week’s ranking: 7 (+2)
Record: 6-0
Last week: W South Florida (103-95), W vs. Nicholls (95-81)
Next week: at Northwestern (Nov. 27 – 10:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Texas A&M, South Florida
Bad losses:
Can we give Oklahoma State the love it deserves? They have looked incredible to start the season, and just picked up another big win against what may be the best team in the American Conference. This team is playing fast, and it’s working, scoring over 85 points in every single game, and every guy who’s getting minutes is putting in productive ones.
Jaylen Curry went for 30 and 10 in the most recent game, and Kanye Cleary had 11 assists to complement the 24 points by Vyctorius Miller in that USF win. They have their most important test to date on Thanksgiving night, taking on Northwestern in Chicago, looking for what would cement them as a Top 25 caliber team.
6) Baylor Bears
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-)
Record: 3-0
Last week: None
Next week: vs. Creighton (Nov. 24 – 2 p.m.), vs. #14 St John’s (Nov. 25 – 5 p.m.), vs. TBD (Nov. 26 OR 27 – TBD)
Quality wins: vs. Washington
Bad losses:
Baylor has played three games in four weeks, shameful. However, they’ll match that this week with the Players Era matchups. They’ll take on Creighton first, then St. John’s, a reversal of Iowa State. Both will be tough matchups, but both are winnable for the Bears.
They’ll need Carr to continue to be their leader, and Yessofou to show why he was a five-star. Hopefully, the rest prevails over the rust.
7) Texas Tech Red Raiders
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-2)
Record: 4-2
Last week: W vs. Wake Forest (84-83), L vs. Purdue (56-86)
Next week: vs. New Orleans (Nov. 26 – 1 p.m.), vs. Wyoming (Nov. 30 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: Wake Forest (Neutral)
Bad losses: Purdue (Neutral)
The good news is Texas Tech finally picked up a quality win, beating Wake Forest in a competitive game. The bad news is they got absolutely manhandled by Purdue. Losing to Purdue isn’t a bad loss, but losing by 30 is. Defensively, they haven’t looked great, and Luke Bamgboye, who they were relying on to be that solution, hasn’t looked healthy.
They’ll have some time to rest and recover and address these issues, facing two mid-major opponents next week.. This is still definitely a team that can compete for the Big 12 title, but there are a lot of holes they’ll need to patch before January.
8) Kansas State Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 10 (+2)
Record: 5-1
Last week: W vs. Tulsa (84-83), W vs. Mississippi State (98-77), L vs. Nebraska (85-86)
Next week: at Indiana (Nov. 25 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: California, Mississippi State (Neutral)
Bad losses:
What an up-and-down week it was for Kansas State. First, it looks like they’re going to lose to Tulsa at home, but a layup with 18 seconds left gave the Wildcats the lead and the win. Then, they go to Kansas City and dominate Mississippi State. Finally, they go toe to toe with Nebraska, but lose on a foul call with less than a second to go.
This Kansas State team has definitely shown so far that they can be good enough to make the tournament, and a big reason why is PJ Haggerty. Haggerty is averaging 28 points a game on 56-41-84 splits. Insane. He’s also averaging 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists a game. If the season ended today, it would be hard not to give him the Wooden Award.
They’re going to need every bit of that and more on Tuesday, as they travel to Assembly Hall and face the Indiana Hoosiers. While this game might get buried with all the great MTEs on, it’s certainly one worth watching.
9) Colorado Buffaloes
Last week’s ranking: 9 (-)
Record: 5-0
Last week: W vs. Alabama State (94-66), W vs. UC Davis (95-79)
Next week: vs. San Francisco (Nov. 27 – 2 p.m.), vs. Washington OR Nevada (Nov. 28 – TBD)
Quality wins: Providence
Bad losses:
After some concerning close games to start the season, Colorado has turned it up, beating Providence two weeks ago, then blowing out back-to-back mid-major opponents. Bangot Dak was the team MVP, leading the team in scoring in both games.
They’ll be put to the test this week against San Francisco, and then either Washington or Nevada in the Acrisure Holiday Classic. This is a great opportunity for them, as all three teams aren’t playing up to their standards right now, meaning Colorado can steal a few wins, which could go far down the road.
10) Cincinnati Bearcats
Last week’s ranking: 11 (+1)
Record: 4-1
Last week: L vs. #6 Louisville (64-74)
Next week: vs. NJIT (Nov. 24 – 7 p.m.), vs. Eastern Michigan (Nov. 26 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Dayton
Bad losses:
Cincy suffered its first loss of the season, but it wasn’t a bad one by any means. They actually led by four against the #6 team in the country at half before imploding in the second half. This team has shown so far that they can compete, now it’s about adding those resume wins.
They won’t have a chance this week, playing two easy games that they should win comfortably. They need to establish a clear first option, and hopefully, they can use these games to do so.
11) Kansas Jayhawks
Last week’s ranking: 12 (+1)
Record: 3-2
Last week: L vs. #5 Duke (66-78)
Next week: vs. Notre Dame (Nov. 24 – 3:30 p.m.), vs. Syracuse (Nov. 25 – 3:30 p.m.), vs. TBD (Nov. 26 OR 27 – TBD)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Kansas actually didn’t look too bad against Duke, being within a scoring possession late in the second half before Duke pulled away. There’s no way around it, though; they need Darryn Peterson. Other guys like Tre White and Flory Bidunga have stepped up, but they’re not going to beat any of these high-caliber teams without him.
Unfortunately, they’ll be without Peterson through Players Era, and we still don’t have an idea when he’ll be back. Kansas has a brutal schedule, and hopefully those guys continue to step up and give Kansas some much-needed victories so they can move up these power rankings.
12) West Virginia Mountaineers
Last week’s ranking: 8 (-4)
Record: 5-2
Last week: W vs. Lafayette (81-59), L vs. Clemson (67-70), L vs. Xavier (68-78)
Next week: vs. Mercyhurst (Nov. 30 – 3 p.m,)
Quality wins: Pittsburgh
Bad losses: Xavier (Neutral)
Besides Utah, West Virginia probably had the worst week in the Big 12. They went 0-2 in the Shriner’s Classic, first losing by one possession to Clemson, then losing by 10 to a Xavier team that has started off the season poorly. We’ll see how that loss looks in March. Plus, that Pitt win is looking worse and worse by the day.
In all fairness, they have played seven games in four weeks, which is quite a lot to start the season. They’ll get some time to rest, with just one game on Sunday against Mercyhurst.
13) UCF Golden Knights
Last week’s ranking: 13 (-)
Record: 5-1
Last week: W vs. Oakland (87-83), W vs. Pittsburgh (77-67)
Next week: vs. Quinnipiac (Nov. 25 – 7 p.m.), vs. VMI (Nov. 29 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Texas A&M, vs. Pittsburgh (Neutral)
Bad losses:
UCF had a bit of a scare with Oakland, leading by just one with 16 seconds left. They were able to pull it out though, avoiding a bad loss on their resume. They followed that up with a pretty easy win over a Pitt team that has not looked great.
That was UCF’s last Power 5 opponent before conference play, so hopefully those two wins hold some value late in the season. They should be 11-1 heading into conference play, and that momentum could be enough to lead them to a few wins.
14) Arizona State Sun Devils
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-2)
Record: 4-1
Last week: W vs. Georgia State (75-62), W at Hawaii (83-76)
Next week: vs. Texas (Nov. 24 – 11:30 p.m.), vs. Chaminade OR Washington State (Nov. 25 – TBD), vs. TBD (Nov. 26 – TBD)
Quality wins: at Hawaii
Bad losses:
Arizona State nearly suffered a loss to Georgia State, trailing by 5 at half and 11 with 15 to go. Mo Odum made sure that didn’t happen, though, leading his team to a double-digit victory. They followed that up with an impressive win on the road against Hawaii.
They’ll face off against Texas in the first round of the Maui Invitational, then either Washington State or Chaminade. Hopefully, the experience of playing in Hawaii can benefit them, especially with the games starting so late.
15) TCU Horned Frogs
Last week’s ranking: 16 (+1)
Record: 3-2
Last week: W vs. Kansas City (81-45)
Next week: vs. #10 Florida (Nov. 27 – 3:00 p.m.), vs. Wisconsin OR Providence (Nov. 28 – TBD)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: New Orleans
TCU finally escapes the bottom of the Big 12 with a convincing win over Kansas City. They allowed just 45 points in that one, which is encouraging after giving up 78 to New Orleans.
This week, a huge opportunity to right the ship, competing in the Rady Children’s Invitational. They’ll take on the defending national champion Florida Gators, then either Wisconsin or Providence. Any of those wins will be good for TCU, so as long as they don’t go 0-2, which is very possible, it’ll be a great week for them.
16) Utah Utes
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-1)
Record: 5-1
Last week: W vs. Purdue Fort-Wayne (85-77), L vs. Cal Poly (85-92)
Next week: vs. Grand Canyon (Nov. 25 – 11:59 p.m.), vs. Iowa OR Ole Miss (Nov. 26 – TBD)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: Cal Poly
After flirting with a mid-major loss all season long, it finally happened, dropping to Cal Poly on Thursday. The defense is terrible, and while the offense looks good, the way they’re playing isn’t sustainable.
This week, they have their two toughest matchups yet, taking on Grand Canyon, then either Iowa or Ole Miss. Like TCU, any win would be considered a good week, but it’s not likely unless they step up defensively.
Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Week 3
Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Week 2
Big 12 Basketball Preview & Preseason Awards
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