Ariel Puterman gives his Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into week 7 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 6 team of the week: Arizona
Week 6 game of the week: BYU vs. Clemson
Week 6 player of the week: AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Week 7 matchup of the week: Houston at Arkansas
Week 7 under-the-radar matchup of the week: Stanford at Colorado
1) Arizona Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 9-0
Last week: W vs. #12 Alabama (96-75)
Next week: vs. Abilene Christian (Dec. 16 – 9 p.m.), vs. San Diego State (Dec. 20 – 10:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: at UConn, Alabama (Neutral), Florida (Neutral), Auburn, UCLA (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Is Arizona ever going to lose? They are now 5-0 against top 25 teams, most recently dominating Alabama in Birmingham. They’ve now scored over 95 in four straight games, and more importantly, promising freshman Brayden Burries has his best game of the season, scoring 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the win.
This might be the most impressive non-conference resume of all time, and with the Big 12 looking tough once again, they have tons of cushion. This week, a mid-major matchup before taking on a San Diego State team that has been underwhelming, but a team that can certainly give them a tough matchup.
2) Iowa State Cyclones
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 11-0
Last week: W vs. Iowa (66-62), W vs. Eastern Illinois (78-53)
Next week: vs. Long Beach State (Dec. 21 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Purdue, St. John’s (Neutral), Iowa, Creighton (Neutral), Syracuse (Neutral), Mississippi State
Bad losses:
Iowa State might want to move to the Big Ten. First, they dominate Purdue on the road, then welcome rivals Iowa and beat them as well. That one was a lot closer, but a big second half from Joshua Jefferson propelled them to a win. While the resume isn’t as good as Arizona’s, they’ve certainly done more than enough to prove to people that they are a national title threat.
Two easy games to close out the year before conference play starts, with Long Beach State a week from today.
3) BYU Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 9-1
Last week: W vs. Clemson (67-64), W vs. UC Riverside (100-53)
Next week: vs. Pacific (Dec. 16 – 9 p.m.), vs. Abilene Christian (Dec. 19 – 9:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Wisconsin (Neutral), Clemson (Neutral), Villanova (Neutral), Miami (Neutral), Dayton (Neutral)
Bad losses:
What a roller coaster of a game BYU played against Clemson. BYU trailed by as much as 22, but came all the way back. They then led by 5 with 26 seconds left, but allowed Clemson to tie it. Rob Wright would then go and hit a tough three-pointer at the buzzer to give them the win and improve to 8-1. They followed that up with a dominant win over UCR.
AJ Dybantsa is playing his best basketball to date. He scored 28 points to go with 9 rebounds and 6 assists against Clemson, then followed that up with 26,8, and 7 against Pacific. The better he plays, the better this team’s chances of going far in March become.
4) Kansas Jayhawks
Last week’s ranking: 6 (+2)
Record: 8-3
Last week: W at NC State (77-76 OT)
Next week: vs. Towson (Dec. 16 – 9 p.m.)
Quality wins: Tennessee (Neutral), at NC State, Syracuse (Neutral), Notre Dame (Neutral), Missouri (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Melvin Council Jr. came into the NC State game with five made three pointers on the season. In this game, he made nine, scoring 36 points in one of the most impressive performances in all of college basketball this season. There was a pretty long stretch in the game where he was the only player for Kansas to score the ball.
Darryn Peterson also played well, but he left with about two minutes left in the game with that nagging hamstring issue. His status is uncertain, but hopefully for the Jayhawks, it was more of a precaution than a concern. They have two mid major matchups to close out the year, so hopefully two easy wins and enough time for Peterson to rest and be ready for Big 12 play.
5) Houston Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-1)
Record: 10-1
Last week: W vs. Jackson State (80-38), W vs. New Orleans (99-57)
Next week: vs. #17 Arkansas (Dec. 20 – 5:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Auburn (Neutral), Syracuse (Neutral), Notre Dame (Neutral), Florida State
Bad losses:
Houston is starting to look like Houston. First, they hold Jackson State to 38 points, then beat the same New Orleans team that beat TCU by 42. Houston definitely doesn’t have the resume they’d like to have, despite being 10-1, with Auburn being their only win against a probable tournament team. However, they’ve got an excellent chance to pick up their biggest win of the year on Saturday, taking on a red-hot Arkansas team.
6) Baylor Bears
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 7-2
Last week: W vs. Norfolk State (97-67)
Next week: vs. Alcorn State (Dec. 19 – 8 p.m.), vs. Southern (Dec. 21 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: Washington, Creighton (Neutral), San Diego State (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Baylor with an easy week, beating their opponent by 30. Six of the seven players who played more than 2 minutes scored in double figures, and they all had four or more rebounds as well. More easy wins ahead, before a tough start to conference play where they play Houston and Iowa State back to back in their second and third games of the new year.
7) Texas Tech Red Raiders
Last week’s ranking: 9 (+2)
Record: 7-3
Last week: L vs. #17 Arkansas (86-93)
Next week: vs. Northern Colorado (Dec. 16 – 8 p.m.), vs. #3 Duke (Dec. 20 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Wake Forest (Neutral), LSU (Neutral)
Bad losses:
It was a great game, but Arkansas overpowered Texas Tech in the second half. JT Toppin and Christian Anderson were awesome, with Toppin scoring 30 and grabbing 11 rebounds, and Anderson going for 26 points and 11 assists. Per usual, no one else stepped up, though, with there being zero double-digit scorers besides the two.
Just looking at their wins, they have no top 25 wins, and 0-3 against those teams. They’ll have another chance for a big-time win this weekend, though, taking on Duke in NYC.
8) Arizona State Sun Devils
Last week’s ranking: 11 (+3)
Record: 9-2
Last week: W vs. Northern Arizona (73-48), W vs. Santa Clara (82-79)
Next week: at #25 UCLA (Dec. 17 – 10:30 p.m.), vs. Oregon State (Dec. 21 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: Texas (Neutral), at Hawaii, Oklahoma, Santa Clara
Bad losses:
Arizona State was trailing by 17 right before halftime. Bobby Hurley would be ejected right before then for arguing with the ref. After he got ejected, Arizona State would proceed to outscore Santa Clara by 20 and pick up the win. Is Arizona State better when Hurley isn’t coaching, or did his ejection fire the team up? Depends who you ask. Regardless, that’s a good win for this Sun Devil team.
This week, they get to face some old friends from the Pac-12, traveling to UCLA for the first one, then welcoming Oregon State for the second.
9) Oklahoma State Cowboys
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-4)
Record: 9-1
Last week: L vs. Oklahoma (76-85)
Next week: vs. Kansas City (Dec. 18 – 8 p.m.), vs. Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 21 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Northwestern, Texas A&M, South Florida, Grand Canyon
Bad losses:
Oklahoma State finally lost its first game of the season, dropping to rival Oklahoma. This is the same Oklahoma team that lost to Arizona State by 16 a week ago. Defensively, they struggled, allowed 85, and the team shot 38% overall.
If they win their next three games against mid-major opponents, they’ll enter conference play 12-1, which not many people could have predicted, but they’ll need to be better defensively if they want to be towards the top of the Big 12 once it kicks off.
10) Colorado Buffaloes
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-)
Record: 9-1
Last week: W vs. UTSA (88-64)
Next week: vs. Portland State (Dec. 17 – 9 p.m.), vs. Stanford (Dec. 20 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Providence, San Francisco (Neutral), Washington (Neutral)
Bad losses:
Colorado bounced back from their first loss nicely, beating UTSA by 24. Barrington Hargress scored 23 points on 9-12 shooting, and Sebastian Rancik added 15 points. This week, like ASU, they get to face a former Pac-12 friend, facing Stanford in Phoenix.
11) TCU Horned Frogs
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 6-3
Last week: None
Next week: vs. Incarnate Word (Dec. 15 – 8 p.m.), vs. Oral Roberts (Dec. 18 – 8 p.m.), vs. Florida A&M (Dec. 21 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins: Florida (Neutral), Wisconsin (Neutral)
Bad losses: New Orleans
TCU took the week off, and as a result, will have to play three games this week. All three games should be comfortable victories, but good practice before the long break ahead of conference play.
12) UCF Knights
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-)
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:
You have to respect UCF for being 8-1 and winning 7 straight, but none of those wins are against teams that are top 50 in KenPom. They only faced one, and they lost by double digits. Themus Fulks leads the Big 12 in assists per game, and they have four guys averaging double figures.
Two more free wins this week as they look to improve their outlook before conference play begins.
13) Kansas State Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 16 (+3)
Record: 7-4
Last week: W vs. Mississippi Valley State (108-49), W at Creighton (83-76)
Next week: vs. South Dakota (Dec. 20 – Noon)
Quality wins: California, Mississippi State (Neutral), at Creighton
Bad losses: Bowling Green
Kansas State got back on track after that 4 games losing streak, beating the worst team in the country, Mississippi Valley State, by 69. Then, they picked up their best win of the season, beating Creighton on the road. Creighton has been bad this year, so this isn’t the same value of a win as it would be in years past, but a good win for now.
They have two more free wins to end the 2025 year, so perhaps entering conference play on a four-game win streak can give them the momentum to be a competitor in Big 12 play.
14) West Virginia Mountaineers
Last week’s ranking: 13 (-1)
Record: 8-4
Last week: W vs. Little Rock (90-58), L vs. Ohio State (88-89 2OT)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Pittsburgh
Bad losses:
West Virginia dropped an absolute heartbreaker, losing in double overtime to Ohio State on a neutral site. That was a huge missed opportunity, considering they are now 1-4 this season against Power 5 opponents. Their only win was against Pitt, who are 5-6 and have lost five of their last six games. They haven’t been bad by any means, but they just can’t get it done in these big games.
They’re going to have to do a lot of work in Big 12 play if they want a shot at the tournament, and playing Iowa State, Kansas, and Houston in three of the first four games isn’t the best-case scenario for them.
15) Cincinnati Bearcats
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 6-4
Last week: L vs. Georgia (65-84)
Next week: vs. Alabama State (Dec. 14 – 7 p.m.), vs. Clemson (Dec. 21 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: Dayton
Bad losses: Eastern Michigan
Cincinnati has truly hit rock bottom. They’ve lost three of their last four, including a 19-point loss to Georgia in a neutral-site game. This is a team that prides itself on having good defensive players, yet allowed 85. This team almost looks like it’s quit, and the writing is on the wall for Wes Miller.
They’ll have their last chance against Clemson on Sunday, but if they come out like they have the last four games, don’t expect anything different.
16) Utah Utes
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-1)
Record: 7-4
Last week: L vs. Mississippi State (74-82)
Next week: vs. Eastern Washington (Dec. 20 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Ole Miss (Neutral)
Bad losses: Cal Poly
Cincinnati is second to last in the Big 12 on KenPom at 84. Utah is last, at 131. The point is, the gap between the second-worst team and the worst team in this conference is pretty significant. Utah proved that this week, losing to the second-worst team in the SEC by 8 in Utah. This team doesn’t play defense, and outside of Terrence Brown and Don McHenry, doesn’t have any consistent scoring option.
They’ll face Eastern Washington this week, looking to add win number eight to their record.
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