Ariel Puterman gives his Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into week 6 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 5 team of the week: Iowa State
Week 5 game of the week: Kansas vs. UConn
Week 5 player of the week: Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
Week 6 matchup of the week: Arizona vs. Alabama
Week 6 under-the-radar matchup of the week: Kansas State at Creighton
1) Arizona Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 8-0
Last week: W vs. #20 Auburn (97-68)
Next week: vs. #12 Alabama (Dec. 13 – 9:30 p.m)
Quality wins: at UConn, Florida (Neutral), Auburn, UCLA (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Arizona continues to pass every test, this time emphatically knocking out a top 25 team in Auburn. Five players scored in double figures, and they dominated the second half. This team is balanced and mature, and there doesn’t look to be any team right now that can take them down.
That’ll be put to the test this week, though, when they face Alabama in Birmingham. If they can win that one, they might have a resume good enough to lock them into March Madness before conference play even begins.
2) Iowa State Cyclones
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 9-0
Last week: W vs. Alcorn State (132-68), W at #1 Purdue (81-58)
Next week: vs. Iowa (Dec. 11 – 8 p.m.), vs. Eastern Illinois (Dec. 14 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Purdue, St. John’s (Neutral), Creighton (Neutral), Syracuse (Neutral), Mississippi State
Bad losses:
Iowa State, without a doubt, had the best week in college basketball. First, they had a record-breaking performance, scoring 132 points in 40 minutes, going 22-30 from three. They followed that by going into one of the toughest road environments in the country and the best team in the country, Purdue, and dominating them from start to finish.
Milan Momcilovic scored 20+ in both games and is shooting a mind-blowing 53.6% from three on nearly eight attempts a game. Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey are also incredible, and even the supporting pieces like Killyan Toure, Blake Buchanan, and Nate Heise have stepped up. They take on in-state rival Iowa this week, followed by another mid-major opponent as they look to be one of the final undefeated teams in the country.
3) BYU Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 7-1
Last week: W vs. Cal Baptist (91-60)
Next week: vs. Clemson (Dec. 9 – 6:30 p.m.), vs. UC Riverside (Dec. 13 – 9 p.m.)
Quality wins: Wisconsin (Neutral), Villanova (Neutral), Miami (Neutral), Dayton (Neutral)
Bad losses:
It was an easy week for BYU, winning their only game by 31. Keba Keita was a monster, scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the win. They’ll travel to Madison Square Garden this week to face a tricky Clemson team. This is their last big game before conference play, so a win would be a big boost for the rest of the season.
4) Houston Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 5 (+1)
Record: 8-1
Last week: W vs. Florida State (82-67)
Next week: vs. Jackson State (Dec. 10 – 8 p.m.), vs. New Orleans (Dec. 13 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: Auburn (Neutral), Syracuse (Neutral), Notre Dame (Neutral), Florida State
Bad losses:
Houston looked in control in this one, winning by 15. Emanuel Sharp scored 27, and Kingston Flemings added 21, as well as 8 steals. Milos Uzan continues to struggle, but the emergence of Flemings has more than made up for it. They don’t look like an elite-level team yet, but they’re 8-1 with a ton of big wins, so that says something about this team’s ceiling.
This week should be a simple one, and they’ll reach 10 wins when this week is all said and done.
5) Oklahoma State Cowboys
Last week’s ranking: 6 (+1)
Record: 9-0
Last week: W vs. Sam Houston (93-83), W vs. Grand Canyon (84-78)
Next week: vs. Oklahoma (Dec. 13 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Northwestern, Texas A&M, South Florida, Grand Canyon
Bad losses:
If you predicted that Oklahoma State would be one of the final unbeaten teams in all of college basketball, can you please tell me tomorrow’s lottery numbers? Parsa Fallah has become a monster out of nowhere, averaging 24.5 PPG in the two wins this week, and they were able to knock out Grand Canyon in Arizona without leading scorer Vyctorius Miller.
They’ll face off against in-state rival Oklahoma in OKC this Saturday. If they win that one, they’ll most likely head into conference play undefeated, where they’ll face Texas Tech on the road to start things off.
6) Kansas Jayhawks
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-2)
Record: 7-3
Last week: L vs. #5 UConn (56-61), W vs. Missouri (80-60)
Next week: at NC State (Dec. 13 – 5:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Tennessee (Neutral), Syracuse (Neutral), Notre Dame (Neutral), Missouri (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Kansas had a huge chance to pick up a key win at home against UConn, but was unable to do so. It really felt like they needed a go-to guy to get a bucket when UConn made a run, but didn’t have that. They got that guy back in Darryn Peterson against Missouri, who missed the last month with an injury. He scored 17 in the win against Mizzou, giving Kansas a comfortable rivalry win.
They’ll continue their gauntlet this week, going on the road to play NC State. Hopefully, Peterson is at 100%, because a win here would give them a solid non-conference resume, despite the three losses on their record.
7) Texas Tech Red Raiders
Last week’s ranking: 9 (+2)
Record: 7-2
Last week: W vs. LSU (82-58)
Next week: vs. #25 Arkansas (Dec. 13 – Noon)
Quality wins: Wake Forest (Neutral), LSU (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Texas Tech went up against an undefeated LSU team and dominated, winning by 24. The Christian Anderson-JT Toppin show continued, with Anderson scoring 27 points and adding 8 assists, while Toppin went for 11 and 15. They still don’t have that elite resume win, though, and they’ll get a chance to add that this week against an Arkansas team that just beat Louisville comfortably.
8) Baylor Bears
Last week’s ranking: 7 (-1)
Record: 6-2
Last week: W vs. Sacramento State (110-88), L at Memphis (71-78)
Next week: vs. Norfolk State (Dec. 10 – Noon)
Quality wins: Washington, Creighton (Neutral), San Diego State (Neutral)
Bad losses:
The offense continues to look good, scoring 110 against Sacramento State. However, the defense doesn’t allow 78 points to Memphis on Saturday. Tounde Yessoufou continues to get better and better, scoring 27 and 22 in the two games. That was their final test of the non-conference, and wins against Washington, Creighton, and SDSU aren’t too bad.
9) TCU Horned Frogs
Last week’s ranking: 10 (+1)
Record: 6-3
Last week: L vs. Notre Dame (85-87 OT), W vs. North Texas (65-55)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Florida (Neutral), Wisconsin (Neutral)
Bad losses: New Orleans
This TCU team has definitely come a long way since the New Orleans loss, but missed a huge chance to pick up a win against Notre Dame at home. Notre Dame tied the game up with three seconds left and found a way to win in the overtime period. TCU at least followed that up with a big second half to comfortably beat North Texas.
They get an entire week off to regroup before taking on a couple of mid-majors to boost their record before conference play begins.
10) Colorado Buffaloes
Last week’s ranking: 8 (-2)
Record: 8-1
Last week: W vs. Cal Baptist (78-70), L at Colorado State (86-91)
Next week: vs. UTSA (Dec. 13 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins: Providence, San Francisco (Neutral), Washington (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Colorado finally suffered their first loss of the season, and it’s probably to the team they wanted to do it to the least in Colorado State. It was their first true road test of the season, but allowing 91 points isn’t a great look. This isn’t a top half of the Big 12 team, but they definitely look better than last year’s team. They’ll have a light week to get back on track, taking on UTSA.
11) Arizona State Sun Devils
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 7-2
Last week: W vs. Oklahoma (86-70)
Next week: vs. Northern Arizona (Dec. 9 – 9 p.m.), vs. Santa Clara (Dec. 13 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Texas (Neutral), at Hawaii, Oklahoma
Bad losses:
Arizona State has definitely looked better than expected of late and added another good win against Oklahoma. This Oklahoma team isn’t amazing, but beating them by double digits is a good look. Moe Odum continues to star, and Anthony Johnson has quietly been productive with his minutes.
ASU will take on arguably its toughest opponent of the season to date, going up against Santa Clara. If they can keep scoring as they have been, a win is definitely possible.
12) UCF Golden Knights
Last week’s ranking: 13 (+1)
Record: 8-1
Last week: W vs. Towson (86-61)
Next week: vs. Mercer (Dec. 17 – 7 p.m.), vs. Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 20 – 5 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Texas A&M, vs. Pittsburgh (Neutral)
Bad losses:
UCF is definitely not the best 8-1 team in the country, but they’ve won the games they’re supposed to, which not every team can say. They added an easy win against Towson and will face off against two more mid-major teams this week, hoping to advance to 10-1.
13) West Virginia Mountaineers
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-1)
Record: 7-3
Last week: W vs. Coppin State (91-49), L vs. Wake Forest (66-75)
Next week: vs. Little Rock (Dec. 9 – 7 p.m.), vs. Ohio State (Dec. 13 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Pittsburgh
Bad losses:
Every Power 5 team West Virginia has played, except 5-5 Pittsburgh, they have lost to. With the Big 12 having no weak links, that is not encouraging as conference play nears. They can’t seem to get it going offensively against better talent, and haven’t had a player with five assists or more since November 17.
They’ll get another opportunity this week against Ohio State, before a really tough conference opening slate.
14) Cincinnati Bearcats
Last week’s ranking: 15 (+1)
Record: 6-3
Last week: W vs. Tarleton State (76-58), L at Xavier (74-79)
Next week: vs. Georgia (Dec. 13 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: Dayton
Bad losses: Eastern Michigan
Cincy really can’t get out of its own way. After beating in-state rival Dayton earlier in the season, they couldn’t add another, losing to Xavier. Cincinnati is 2-3 in their last five, with only one quality win so far. This team has a lot to figure out, and offensively, they need to figure out a pecking order.
They face Georgia this week with a chance to pick up arguably their best win of the year. This could be a big step in the right direction, or another setback in their hopes for a tournament bid.
15) Utah Utes
Last week’s ranking: 16 (+1)
Record: 7-3
Last week: L at California (72-79), W vs. Cal Baptist (91-85)
Next week: vs. Mississippi State (Dec. 13 – 10 p.m.)
Quality wins: Ole Miss (Neutral)
Bad losses: Cal Poly
Utah is clearly the worst team in the Big 12, but from a power rankings standpoint, they come up just above Kansas State due to its struggles. Defensively, they continue to struggle, allowing 85 to Cal Baptist, the same team that scored 70 against Colorado and 60 against BYU this week. Terrence Brown continues to put up big scoring numbers, but he’ll need to be better defensively.
Utah already has one win against a Power 5 Mississippi team, and will try to get the sweep this week against Mississippi State.
16) Kansas State Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 14 (-2)
Record: 5-4
Last week: L vs. Bowling Green (66-82), L vs. Seton Hall (67-78)
Next week: vs. Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 8 – 8 p.m.), at Crieghton (Dec. 13 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: California, Mississippi State (Neutral)
Bad losses: Bowling Green
Kansas State has officially hit rock bottom. After a convincing loss to Indiana, they had a chance to wipe that clean last week. Instead, they doubled down and lost by 16 at home to Bowling Green, then by 11 at home to Seton Hall. Neither game was particularly close, and the defense looked unmotivated. There were questions surrounding Jerome Tang’s future in the offseason, and they’ve only increased this season.
They’ll get a free win against Mississippi Valley State to start the week. If they somehow don’t win that one, they should forfeit the season. Then, a game against a Creighton team that has struggled as much as Kansas State. A huge week ahead for the Wildcats.
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