Eight teams in the AP Top 25 lost on Saturday amid the choas from the college basketball weekend, and it brought no shortage of highly-anticipated ranked matchups, pivotal conference games and big-time performances from star players across the country.
As March rears its head, ESPN has updated its BPI rankings following Saturday’s results from the last Saturday in January. ESPN ranks and updates its BPI every week based on a number of qaulifications, including strength of record and how many points above or below average a team is based on a number of analytics.
Here’s how ESPN shook up its BPI following another interesting weekend in college basketball.
It took Houston and Kansas two overtime periods the decide a winner, and in the end it was the Cougars who emerged victorious 92-86 over the Jayhawks inside the Phog. J’Wan Roberts scored 24 points during the victory while Mylik Wilson came off the bench to log as season-high 18 points for his squad.
The win is the 12th-straight of the Cougars, who haven’t lost since the week Thanksgiving. They’re 16-3 overall and the win improved Houston to 8-0 in conference play. Impressively, they’re 4-0 on the road as well.
For the first time in a long time, Duke found itself getting tested when they traveled to Wake Forest on Saturday. The Blue Devils pushed past the Demon Deacons for a low-scoring 63-56 victory — Duke’s lowest scoring output in a victory all season.
Just like Houston, Duke is in postseason form and playing its best basketball of the season. They’re currently one-upping the Cougars with their 13-game win streak. Continuing the trend, Duke’s only losses have come on neutral courts to ranked Kentucky and Kansas teams early in the season. They’re a perfect 6-0 in true road games.
Auburn has been living dangerously during the month of January. All but one of their games this month have been decided by five points or less. Luckily, their Wooden Award contender Johni Broome returned from his ankle injury to score 16 points and 13 rebounds to help beat No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday.
At 18-1, the Tigers improved to 9-0 in Neville Arena which has become one of the best home court advantages in recent years. Auburn remains undefeated in conference play and currently sits alone atop the SEC standings.
Iowa State bounced back from its upset loss to then-unranked West Virginia last week and responded with two blowout wins of UCF (108-83) midweek and Arizona State (76-61) on Saturday.
The Cyclones have had their efforts supported by a boost from different players during the get-back week. Joshua Jefferson scored 30 win the win vs. the Knights, while Curtis Jones went out and scored 33 points as Iowa State outscored ASU 43-21 in the second half.
Tennessee has lost two of its last three games after the heartbreaking 53-51 loss to Auburn on the road Saturday. Both losses were decided by two points or less, and they added a 12-point win over No. 14 Mississippi State between the losses. A couple of bounces the Vols’ way and Tennessee could have been 3-0 during that stretch.
Instead, they’ll look ahead to a perfect opportunity to add another Quad 1 victory to their resume when they host No. 9 Kentucky on Tuesday. The Wildcats are 1-3 in road games this season, and are coming off a road loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The only thing separating Alabama from the top of the SEC standings is Auburn. They’ll get their chance to play once in February, and another in March. Until then, the Crimson Tide have doing all they can in the meantime — and that’s win.
Nate Oats’ squad has rattled off wins in 10 of their last 11 games dating back to the start of December. In that time, they’ve earned wins over the likes of Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas A&M in SEC play so far. However, they’re being held back by their 4-3 record against Quad 1 opponents. In the SEC, however, those matchups aren’t hard to come across.
Kansas isn’t having the season they expected after beginning the year as the preseason No. 1 team. At 5-3 in Big 12 play, they’re tied for fourth place in the current conference standings. The Jayhawks most recently suffered their first loss of the season on their home court against Houston.
Despite the setbacks, Kansas has multiple opportunities coming up to start Febrauary against the likes of Baylor and Iowa State, which can bolster the Jayhawks’ NCAA Tournament projections heading into the back stretch of the regular season.
Arizona‘s 7-1 start to Big 12 play comes as no surprise for the Wildcats, who were ranked No. 9 in the preseason poll despite experiencing a few hiccups before conference action.
They had lost four games in the first month of the season, but currently sit 13-6 on the season. Their only loss in Big 12 action came to Texas Tech, who is having their own strong start to conference play in 2025.
Florida did not lose a single game during its non-conference schedule. They’re 5-2 since SEC play began and have logged impressive wins over the likes of Tennessee — a 30-point blowout that serves as one of the most eye-popping wins of the season — as well as Georgia and Missouri, who have both been ranked in recent weeks.
Tennessee gets its rematch against the Gators on Feb. 1, which will be the next time Florida takes the floor. The SEC gauntlet continues for UF, as one week later they’ll be in Auburn to take on the Tigers inside Neville Arena.
Illinois has lost its last two games — a two-point loss in a top 25 road matchup vs. Michigan State, and a 21-point loss to unranked Maryland on their home floor. This comes after a 5-2 start to Big Ten Conference action and a 13-4 start to the season.
The Fighting Illini has the opportunity to begin to right their wrongs by hosting Northwestern on Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats won the first game over Illinois 70-66 in overtime on Dec. 6.
11. Purdue Boilermakers (+1)
12. Gonzaga Bulldogs (+2)
13. Texas Tech Red Raiders (+2)
14. Baylor Bears (-3)
15. Marquette Golden Eagles (+4)
16. Texas A&M Aggies (+1)
17. Michigan State Spartans (-1)
18. UConn Huskies (-5)
19. Kentucky Wildcats (+1)
20. Maryland Terrapins (+2)
21. St. John’s Red Storm
22. Michigan Wolverines (-4)
23. Creighton Bluejays (+6)
24. Clemson Tigers (+3)
25. Wisconsin Badgers
