College Basketball Power Rankings: Kansas moves into top 10 after Darryn Peterson's remarkable recovery
Illinois also makes a major move up to No. 3 as it rides a 12-game winning streak into the weekend
By
Kyle Boone
•
6 min read
The CBS Sports College Basketball Power Rankings has a major makeover this week with several teams you probably wrote off a month ago rocketing up into the top 10.
That shakeup starts with Kansas, which started the season 11-5 overall, 1-2 in Big 12 play and out of the rankings. The Jayhawks since then have reeled off six consecutive wins -- three vs. top-13 opponents -- and are up to No. 6 in this week's Power Rankings. They are finding their groove with March approaching, and Darryn Peterson's ability -- and availability! -- is a huge part of that.
Florida's recent surge is also instrumental to this week's big shakeup, as the Gators beat Alabama 100-77 on Sunday to emphatically state their case as the SEC's best. They are now tied for first in the SEC standings and have won 11 of their last 13 games. What once seemed improbable -- Florida being a top-10 team after a 5-4 start -- is now a reality.
College basketball rankings: St. John's, UConn set for Big East showdown on Friday in Madison Square Garden
Gary Parrish
At the top, though, there is little change -- and that of course starts with Arizona. The Big 12's best remains No. 1 with a bullet thanks to a perfect 22-0 record. They are the best of the sport, and also the best of the best by league this week. Of the 20 ranked teams, the Big 12 has five, which is more than the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big East.
Here they are broken down by conference:
- Big 12: 5
- Big Ten: 4
- SEC: 4
- ACC: 3
- Big East: 2
There's plenty of other surprises in this week's rankings -- Illinois is way up, Nebraska is way down, for example -- but I don't want to provide any more spoilers. Let's get to the rankings.
College Basketball Power Rankings
| 1 |  |
| Arizona remains the undisputed No. 1 team in the Power Rankings because it remains the only major conference team in college basketball yet to take a loss. The 22-0 Wildcats are off to their best start to a season in program history and are a near-lock to be a No. 1 seed next month. Previous: 1 | |
| 2 |  |
| If there was an option to make Michigan the 1B, not No. 2, then that's where it would be. This team has a strong case to be considered in the elite tier alongside Arizona. It is 21-1 and No. 1 in college basketball in scoring margin. Previous: 6 | |
| 3 |  |
| Illinois is the biggest riser in the rankings the last month and it is up to No. 3 after its home win over Northwestern on Wednesday to extend its winning streak to 12 games. The Illini are scorching the sport with the No. 1 offense in adjusted efficiency at KenPom and are T1 in the Big Ten standings with Michigan. Previous: 7 | |
| 4 |  |
| The Big East is down a smidge this year but that is no fault of UConn, and therefore I refuse to punish the Huskies. They have won 18-straight and are 22-1 on the season. That's a better start to the season than either of Dan Hurley's title teams had. Previous: 4 | |
| 5 |  |
| Duke is on a 10-game winning streak -- all vs. ACC opponents. The Blue Devils are unbeaten in conference play with UNC on deck Saturday in Chapel Hill. Previous: 5 | |
| 6 |  |
| I nearly wrote off this Kansas team a month ago after it slipped to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play. Since then: KU has won six-straight, three of which were vs. top-13 teams. They've turned a corner, and not coincidentally, that has coincided with Darryn Peterson's best stretch of play all season. Previous: NR | |
| 7 |  |
| Vandy's shaken off its three-game mid-January lull with three consecutive wins to get back into the top-10 of the Power Rankings. This Commodores team continues to show its resilience and experience. They are likely to be favored in all but one of their remaining regular season games according to KenPom. Previous: 16 | |
| 8 |  |
| Fourteen wins in its last 15 outings has Houston comfortably remaining inside the top-10. This team's toughest tests may be upcoming, though, with trips to BYU, Iowa State and Kansas -- as well as Arizona at home -- upcoming in the next three weeks. Previous: 8 | |
| 9 |  |
| An 87-80 road loss to Portland for Gonzaga, which was favored by 21.5 points, is brutal. No two ways about it. Still: Gonzaga's been unlucky with injuries of late, and it is 22-2 overall despite that slip-up. Previous: 10 | |
| 10 |  |
| Not sure I believed Florida would at any point be in the Power Rankings -- much less in the top 10 -- but here we are. We all saw with our eyes how they dismantled Alabama 100-77 last Sunday. That was the culmination of a great last month in which they went 7-1. They are currently T1 in the SEC standings. Previous: NR | |
| 11 |  |
| The St. John's team we've seen the last month isn't quite the same St. John's team we expected to get as a preseason No. 5 team. But it's sure close. Rick Pitino's Johnnies are winners of eight-straight heading into Friday night's game vs. UConn. Previous: NR | |
| 12 |  |
| Miami is the only other team aside from Arizona to remain perfect on the season. The 23-0 Redhawks have two OT wins and two two-point wins in their last five outings, but they continue to find ways to close out games. Previous: 3 | |
| 13 |  |
| ISU is second in college basketball in scoring margin with top-10 units on both offense and defense at KenPom in adjusted efficiency metrics. The Cyclones have won four in a row and are coming off a 95-61 road win over Kansas State. Previous: 14 | |
| 14 |  |
| Tied for first in the SEC standings, Texas A&M is long overdue for some love in this space. Whether or not the Aggies can sustain this start is one thing -- admittedly, I am dubious -- but they are 17-5 and outperforming expectations by a wide margin in the SEC under first-year coach Bucky McMillan. Previous: NR | |
| 15 |  |
| UNC's won four-straight leading into Saturday's rivalry game in Chapel Hill vs. Duke -- including in that span an impressive 85-80 road win over Virginia. With Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar, this team's talent and size seems to always give them a fighting chance. Previous: NR | |
| 16 |  |
| The home loss to UNC is the only slip-up that is keeping Virginia from an otherwise perfect run in 2026. The Cavaliers are 8-1 since the calendar flipped to 2026 and they are lurking quietly in the ACC title hunt. Previous: 9 | |
| 17 |  |
| Rick Barnes has rallied his Vols the last couple weeks with four consecutive wins in SEC play, including over Alabama and Auburn. This Tennessee team is tough as nails in typical Barnes fashion, and it its defense seems to be turning a corner at the right time. Previous: NR | |
| 18 |  |
| First-year coach Ben McCollum has Iowa riding a five-game winning streak into the weekend after a 1-3 start to the 2026 calendar year. This Hawkeyes team's most impressive trait is its ability to play big both at home and on the road. It has won its last three road outings -- at Indiana, at Oregon and at Washington -- as it preps for a home game Sunday vs. Northwestern. Previous: NR | |
| 19 |  |
| Nebraska's lost twice in a row after a 20-0 start to the season but let's not write the Cornhuskers off, huh? They are still more than just a good story; they're a really, really good team. They'll have a chance to rebound Saturday at Rutgers. Previous: 2 | |
| 20 |  |
| Two consecutive losses knocks the shine off Texas Tech, but remember: this team defeated BYU, Baylor and Houston in a one-week span in late January. This Red Raiders team is trending up. And if it had Christian Anderson for the KU game on Monday, I think we'd view this team in a very different way. Previous: 13 | |
