2025-26 Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Week 15

Ariel Puterman gives his Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into week 15 of the 2025-26 season.

Week 14 team of the week: Arizona Wildcats

Week 14 game of the week: Kansas over Texas Tech

Week 14 player of the week: Xavier Edmonds, TCU

Week 15 matchup of the week: #1 Arizona vs. #9 Kansas

Week 15 under-the-radar matchup of the week: BYU at Baylor

1) Arizona Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)

Record: 23-0 (10-0)

Last week: W vs. Oklahoma State (84-47)

Next week: at #9 Kansas (Feb 9 – 9:00 p.m), vs. #16 Texas Tech (Feb 14 – 6:30 p.m)

Quality wins: at UConn, at BYU, Florida (Neutral), Alabama (Neutral), Auburn, UCLA (Neutral), San Diego State (Neutral), at UCF, at TCU

Bad losses:

Projected seed: 1 seed

Arizona demolished Oklahoma State at home to improve to 23-0. Since November 19th, Arizona has only won a game by single digits twice. However, the real fun starts now. From now until the end of the season, Arizona has eight games. Of those eight games, six are against top 25 teams. That starts with this week against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and Texas Tech at home.

A 2-0 week wouldn’t be surprising but extremely impressive. The undefeated season will truly be tested this week.

2) Kansas Jayhawks

Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)

Record: 18-5 (8-2)

Last week: W at #13 Texas Tech (64-61), W vs. Utah (71-59)

Next week: vs. #1 Arizona (Feb 9 – 9:00 p.m), at #5 Iowa State (Feb 14 – 1:00 p.m)

Quality wins: at Texas Tech, Iowa State, BYU, Tennessee (Neutral), at NC State, Missouri (Neutral), TCU

Bad losses:

Projected seed: 3 seed

Kansas stayed hot, increasing its winning streak to seven games. Darryn Peterson came up big when it mattered, hitting two clutch threes to push Kansas past Texas Tech in Lubbock. Flory Bidunga has looked like the best defender in college basketball, and the role players are stepping up when they need to. Kansas went from the bottom of the elite tier in the Big 12 to a national title contender.

This week, though, they have what might be the hardest week in all of college basketball this season. First, they welcome in the undefeated Arizona team, then travel to Iowa State, a team Kansas beat when they were undefeated, who are looking for revenge.

3) Houston Cougars

Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)

Record: 21-2 (9-1)

Last week: W vs. UCF (79-55), W at #16 BYU (77-66)

Next week: at Utah (Feb 10 – 9:00 p.m), vs. Kansas State (Feb 14 – 4:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Texas Tech, Arkansas (Neutral), at BYU, Auburn (Neutral), at TCU, UCF

Bad losses:

Projected seed: 1-2 seed

Houston took care of business, picking up two double-digit wins against potential tournament teams. Flemings continues to do his thing, and Chris Cenac has really stepped up of late, which makes this team even more dangerous long term. Houston gets the easiest week possible in the Big 12 before they have to play three straight top-ten teams.

4) Iowa State Cyclones

Last week’s ranking: 4 (-)

Record: 21-2 (7-2)

Last week: W vs. Baylor (72-69)

Next week: at TCU (Feb 10 – 9:00 p.m), vs. #9 Kansas (Feb 14 – 1:00 p.m)

Quality wins: at Purdue, St. John’s (Neutral), Iowa, UCF, Creighton (Neutral), at Baylor, Syracuse (Neutral), Oklahoma State

Bad losses: at Cincinnati

Projected seed: 2 seed

Iowa State picked up a win 21 over Baylor in a game that was maybe a little closer than they would have liked. The big three did their thing, and they are now 13-0 at home this season. They’ll need to use that home court to their advantage this week, because they take on the red-hot Kansas Jayhawks at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State has fallen under the radar since they haven’t played a big game since the Kansas one on Jan 13, but this could be a great reminder to the public that they are national title contenders.

5) Texas Tech Red Raiders

Last week’s ranking: 2 (-3)

Record: 17-6 (7-3)

Last week: L vs. #11 Kansas (61-64), W at West Virginia (70-63)

Next week: vs. Colorado (Feb 11 – 8:00 p.m), at #1 Arizona (Feb 14 – 6:30 p.m)

Quality wins: Duke (Neutral), Houston, BYU

Bad losses:

Projected seed: 4-5 seed

Texas Tech dropped a home game against Kansas, but you can throw on an asterisk if you’d like, since Christian Anderson was unable to go due to illness. He did play against West Virginia, scoring 13 points and adding 11 assists in the win. This week, they get another big matchup opportunity, facing Arizona on the road. Texas Tech is in a good position, but picking up a win like that could put them in a great position with just a few more games left in the regular season.

6) BYU Cougars

Last week’s ranking: 7 (+1)

Record: 17-6 (5-5)

Last week: at Oklahoma State (92-99), vs. #8 Houston (66-77)

Next week: at Baylor (Feb 10 – 7:00 p.m), vs. Colorado (Feb 14 – 4:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Clemson (Neutral), Wisconsin (Neutral), Villanova (Neutral), Miami-Fla (Neutral)

Bad losses:

Projected seed: 5-7 seed

The big six in the Big 12 has turned into a big five thanks to BYU’s struggles. They’ve lost four straight and five of their last six. Before, they could justify those losses by saying they were against Texas Tech, Arizona, and Kansas, but losing to Oklahoma State is not a good look. The supporting cast outside of Wright, Dybantsa, and Saunders hasn’t been good enough, and teams are capitalizing on that.

The good news is that there are no ranked teams this week. They have a two-game stretch here to get things back on track, but that’s a big if given their recent performance.

7) UCF Knights

Last week’s ranking: 6 (-1)

Record: 17-6 (6-5)

Last week: L at Houston (55-79), L at Cincinnati (72-92)

Next week: vs. West Virginia (Feb 14 – 6:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Kansas, Texas Tech, at Texas A&M

Bad losses: at Cincinnati

Projected seed: 8-9 seed

UCF took a road trip, and it did not go well at all. They went 0-2 and lost both games by 20+. In the Houston game, they didn’t have a single player score in double figures. The Cincinnati loss is bad, there’s no way around it, and they’ll need to go on a run here to stay comfortably in the bracket. The good news is they have just one more ranked game, and only one game this week to regroup and play like the team that beat Kansas and Texas Tech.

8) West Virginia Mountaineers

Last week’s ranking: 8 (-)

Record: 15-9 (6-5)

Last week: W at Cincinnati (59-54), L vs. #13 Texas Tech (63-70)

Next week: at UCF (Feb 14 – 9:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Kansas

Bad losses:

Projected seed: OUT

West Virginia continues their pattern of winning the games it’s supposed to and losing the ones it’s supposed to. In theory, that sounds good, but now we enter February with only one quality win. They only have one game left against a ranked team, so on one hand, they can enter conference play with 10 wins, but they don’t have those big wins to keep them comfortable. They’ll play UCF on the road, a tough matchup and a huge opportunity for both teams.

9) Cincinnati Bearcats

Last week’s ranking: 11 (+2)

Record: 12-12 (4-7)

Last week: L vs. West Virginia (54-59), W vs. UCF (92-72)

Next week: at Kansas State (Feb 11 – 9:00 p.m), vs. Utah (Feb 15 – 12:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Iowa State, UCF

Bad losses: Eastern Michigan

Projected seed: OUT

Cincinnati led West Virginia by 10 at halftime, but couldn’t get it done in a pivotal game for both teams. However, they followed that up with a dominant win over UCF. Cincinnati has no chance at an at-large, but they can definitely increase their standing to get a bye in the Big 12 tournament and get hot at the right time. They’ll face the bottom two teams in the Big 12 this week.

10) Oklahoma State Cowboys

Last week’s ranking: 13 (+4)

Record: 16-7 (4-6)

Last week: W vs. #16 BYU (99-92), L at #1 Arizona (47-84)

Next week: at Arizona State (Feb 10 – 9:00 p.m), vs. TCU (Feb 14 – 12:00 p.m)

Quality wins: BYU, UCF, Texas A&M, South Florida

Bad losses:

Projected seed: Last Four In / First Four Out

Oklahoma State picked up its biggest win of the season, taking down BYU at home. Anthony Roy scored 30 in the win, and the offense was firing. Against Arizona, they couldn’t say the same, but that BYU win is going to hold a lot more value than the Arizona loss. They are squarely on the bubble, making this week extremely important. They should win both of these games, and if they are unable to do so, they might find themselves back on the outside looking in.

11) Baylor Bears

Last week’s ranking: 12 (+1)

Record: 13-10 (3-8)

Last week: W vs. Colorado (86-67), L at #7 Iowa State (69-72)

Next week: vs. #22 BYU (Feb 10 – 7:00 p.m), vs. #24 Louisville (Feb 14 – 4:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Creighton (Neutral), San Diego State (Neutral)

Bad losses:

Projected seed: Next Four Out / OUT

Baylor has started to look a lot better. They beat Colorado convincingly, then nearly picked up a giant win against Iowa State. Unfortunately, they still sit at 13-10 and have a lot of work to do to get into the tournament. The good news? They scheduled a non-conference game in mid-February to boost their resume opportunities. They probably didn’t expect to be in this position when they scheduled it, but the game against Louisville in Fort Worth could be a huge opportunity for this Baylot team.

12) TCU Horned Frogs

Last week’s ranking: 10 (-2)

Record: 14-9 (4-6)

Last week: W vs. Kansas State (84-82)

Next week: vs. #5 Iowa State (Feb 10 – 9:00 p.m), at Oklahoma State (Feb 14 – 1:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Florida (Neutral), Wisconsin (Neutral)

Bad losses: New Orleans, at Colorado

Projected seed: First Four Out / OUT

TCU trailed by 5 with 1:10 to go against Kansas State at home. Luckily, Kansas State did what they do best and choked the lead, avoiding a bad loss. Xavier Edmonds has been terrific as of late, scoring 26 in the game and hitting the game-winning free throws for TCU. They sit at 53 in NET and 54 in KenPom, so they need to do a little work to get back on the right side of things. Let’s see if two big opportunities this week can help that cause.

13) Colorado Buffaloes

Last week’s ranking: 13 (-)

Record: 14-10 (3-6)

Last week: L at Baylor (67-86), W vs. Arizona State (78-70)

Next week: at #16 Texas Tech (Feb 11 – 8:00 p.m), at #22 BYU (Feb 14 – 4:00 p.m)

Quality wins: TCU

Bad losses: Northern Colorado

Projected seed: OUT

Colorado won 14 games all of last year, so getting there with seven games to go this year is a big win. Hargress was great in the win against Arizona State, scoring 23 points. He might not have had the season some Colorado fans were hopeful for after how good he was last year at UCR, but he has big game potential every week. Two ranked teams this week more than likely means two losses, but hopefully, they can keep it competitive.

14) Arizona State Sun Devils

Last week’s ranking: 14 (-)

Record: 12-12 (3-8)

Last week: W at Utah (71-63), L at Colorado (70-78)

Next week: vs. Oklahoma State (Feb 10 – 9:00 p.m),

Quality wins: Texas (Neutral), Santa Clara

Bad losses:

Projected seed: OUT

A 1-1 week to get win number three in conference play. Their three wins are against 1-9 Utah, Kansas State, and Cincinnati. Just a few more games with Bobby Hurley, hang in there, Sun Devil fans.

15) Kansas State Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 15 (-)

Record: 10-13 (1-9)

Last week: L at TCU (82-84)

Next week: vs. Cincinnati (Feb 11 – 9:00 p.m), at #3 Houston (Feb 14 – 4:00 p.m)

Quality wins: at Creighton, California

Bad losses: Bowling Green

Kansas State once again blows a win opportunity and falls to 1-9. Without a doubt, one of the most disappointing teams in the country, and at this point, there’s nothing you can do but just let it ride. Tang has an expensive buyout, but it’s worth considering given the team’s performance.

16) Utah Utes

Last week’s ranking: 16 (-)

Record: 9-14 (1-9)

Last week: L vs. Arizona State (63-71), L at #11 Kansas (59-71)

Next week: vs. #3 Houston (Feb 10 – 9:00 p.m), at Cincinnati (Feb 15 – 12:00 p.m)

Quality wins: Ole Miss (Neutral)

Bad losses: Cal Poly

Safe to say year one for Alex Jensen hasn’t gone as planned. The team is 4-14 in their last 18 games, and 1-9 in conference play. At this point, just try to get one more win and call it a season.

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