Welcome to the 2025-26 debut of the Hotline's Big 12 men's basketball power rankings, a weekly assessment of the conference using analytics and common sense, with a strand of pasta occasionally heaved at the wall when mayhem is rampant. The power rankings will be published each Tuesday through the end of the regular season.
The college basketball season is five weeks old, but the NET rankings roared into existence just eight days ago.
That gap allowed the closely watched metric, which assigns each result into one of four quadrants, to gather enough data to accurately reflect performance.
Thus far, one slice of the rankings supports the Big 12's stance that it's the best league in the land: The conference has more teams in the NET's top 25 than its Power Five (ACC, Big East, Big Ten and SEC).
But for quality depth, it appears, the Big Ten has the edge.
Here is the current breakdown by conference across four NET categories:
Top 25 teams
- Big 12: 6
- Big Ten: 5
- ACC: 5
- SEC: 5
- Big East: 2
Top 50 teams
- Big Ten: 10
- SEC: 9
- ACC: 8
- Big 12: 8
- Big East: 5
Quadrant I wins
- Big Ten: 16
- SEC: 13
- ACC: 12
- Big 12: 11
- Big East: 6
Teams ranked 100th or lower
- ACC: 5
- Big East: 5
- Big Ten: 4
- Big 12: 3
- SEC: 3
The most significant data point might be the last one listed.
The NET possesses a multiplier effect once conference play ramps up in January. Leagues with the highest percentage of top-100 teams are more likely to stack quality wins and avoid unseemly losses.
With just three of its 16 teams ranked in the triple digits (No. 109 West Virginia, No. 128 Cincinnati and No. 142 Utah), the Big 12 is positioned to maintain its total of top-50 teams into March.
In fact, the SEC (Mississippi State), ACC (Boston College, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech), Big Ten (Maryland, Rutgers, Oregon) and Big East (Marquette, DePaul) all have teams ranked lower than the Big 12's lowest.
Of course, the Big 12 must navigate a tricky December that includes resume-killing creampuffs — two or three bad losses could change the dynamics.
The Hotline will take another look at the NET rankings at the close of non-conference play.
To the power rankings ...
1. Arizona (8-0)
Next up: vs. Alabama in Birmingham, Ala. (Saturday)
Comment: The Hotline would not dare suggest Arizona, which has beaten Florida, Connecticut, UCLA and Auburn, is in danger of peaking too soon, but, well, the thought crossed our mind. On the brightest side possible, the Wildcats are building a resume that can withstand a few Big 12 lumps and stand worthy of a No. 1 or 2 seed.
2. Iowa State (9-0)
Next up: vs. Iowa (Thursday)
Comment: The Cyclones don't have as many quality wins as a few of their Big 12 counterparts, but they have the single most impressive result: the 23-point victory last weekend at then-No. 1 Purdue. According to ESPN, it was the largest non-conference home loss by a No. 1 team in AP poll history.
3. Houston (8-1)
Next up: vs. Jackson State (Wednesday)
Comment: The Cougars are merely No. 6 in adjusted defensive efficiency, per the KenPom ratings. What in the world is wrong with Kelvin Sampson's gang? We didn't think it was possible for them to be ranked that low, ever.
4. BYU (7-1)
Next up: vs. Clemson in New York City (today)
Comment: Cougars rookie AJ Dybantsa (19.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg) is not, despite the immense hype and gaudy stats, the clear and undisputed frontrunner for Big 12 Freshman of the Year. He has serious competition from Arizona's Koa Peat (15.9, 5.5).
5. Texas Tech (7-2)
Next up: vs. Arkansas in Dallas (Saturday)
Comment: Based on comparative scores against Purdue, the Red Raiders would lose to Iowa State by 53 points ... which is why we never place any value on comparative scores.
6. Kansas (7-3)
Next up: at NC State (Saturday)
Comment: The Jayhawks are one of several Big 12 teams whose resume is stronger than the record suggests. KU's losses are to No. 3 Duke, No. 5 UConn and No. 14 North Carolina. Against everyone else, Bill Self and Co. are undefeated.
7. Arizona State (7-2)
Next up: vs. Northern Arizona (today)
Comment: The Sun Devils are huge fans of Texas and Oklahoma after beating the SEC duo. The better they perform in one of the nation's toughest conferences, the more it boosts ASU's NET ranking.
8. Baylor (6-2)
Next up: vs. Norfolk State (Wednesday)
Comment: You have to scroll all the way down to No. 75 to find the Bears in the NET rankings. The reason: They have no Quadrant I victories, which is somewhat surprising given their wins over Creighton and San Diego State.
9. Colorado (8-1)
Next up: vs. UTSA (Saturday)
Comment: We would not have expected a team good enough to win eight in a row to lose to an in-state rival (Colorado State) that itself lost to an in-state opponent (Denver). But that's how the ball turns in Colorado, it appears.
10. Oklahoma State (9-0)
Next up: vs. Oklahoma in Oklahoma City (Saturday)
Comment: Consider us a tad skeptical of the Cowboys despite the impressive record. They own no Quad I wins and have faced a non-conference schedule rated 215th, according to KenPom.
11. TCU (6-3)
Next up: vs. Incarnate Word (Monday)
Comment: In assessing the Horned Frogs, we chose to focus on the narrow loss to Michigan and the wins over Wisconsin and Florida, as opposed to the ugly home loss to New Orleans.
12. UCF (8-1)
Next up: vs. Mercer (Dec. 17)
Comment: The Hotline has tracked coach Johnny Dawkins' career far too long to attach any meaning to the Knights' fast start. And frankly, the rest of the non-conference schedule is weak enough that we'll wait six weeks before passing judgment.
13. West Virginia (7-3)
Next up: vs. Little Rock (today)
Comment: The opening month under first-year coach Ross Hodge could have gone better for the Mountaineers (no quality wins), and it could have gone much, much worse (no terrible losses).
14. Utah (7-3)
Next up: vs. Mississippi State (Saturday)
Comment: Bad math thus far in Salt Lake City, where the Utes have faced the 244th toughest schedule but lost three times. On the bright side, the Las Vegas Bowl should be fun!
15. Cincinnati (6-3)
Next up: vs. Georgia in Atlanta (Saturday)
Comment: As if losing the Crosstown Shootout at Xavier wasn't bad enough for the Bearcats, they have an eight-point home loss to Eastern Michigan on the resume.
16. Kansas State (6-4)
Next up: at Creighton (Saturday)
Comment: We debated whether to slot the Wildcats at the bottom given that they have two Power Five wins (Cal and Mississippi State), but four losses in the past five games tipped their scale to the cellar.
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Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP Top 25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree. You can follow him on Twitter @WilnerHotline or send an email at jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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