College basketball rankings: Coaches Poll top 25 sees Illinois, Texas Tech surge

Illinois is one of the hottest teams in the country as conference play heats up

By Will Backus

Jan 26, 2026 at 12:36 pm ET • 1 min read

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Illinois made its return to the top 10 of the latest Coaches Poll after an eventful week of college basketball, as the Fighting Illini used a pair of strong wins to propel themselves to No. 10. It's the highest that Illinois has been ranked since Nov. 17, when it landed at eighth amid a 4-0 start to the 2025-26 season.

The Illini are on a nine-game winning streak, dating back to Dec. 22's victory against SEC foe Missouri, with seven of those wins coming against Big Ten opponents. None were bigger than Illinois' Jan. 24 triumph against Purdue, which plummeted to No. 12 after suffering its first two Big Ten losses of the season last week.

Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler put on one of the best performances that college basketball has ever seen from a first-year player. He scored 46 points, a program record for Illinois freshman and tied for the second-most ever from an Illinois player, on 9-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, which set another Illinois record. He also scored all 14 of his team's points to open the game.

Texas Tech, meanwhile, continued its ascent to No. 11 after downing Houston on Jan. 24. That was the Red Raiders' second top-15 victory since Jan. 15. They have just two losses since the start of December.

Here's a look at the Jan. 26 Coaches Poll in its entirety.

First-place votes in parenthesis