Ranking men’s basketball power conferences

play

Abilene Christian Wildcats vs. Arizona Wildcats: Sport Highlights

Abilene Christian Wildcats vs. Arizona Wildcats: Sport Highlights

We’re altering the components for this season’s month-to-month rankings of males’s faculty basketball energy conferences. As an alternative of measuring solely the projected variety of NCAA match bids and seeding, our rating relies on a single query: Which convention is almost definitely to provide the 2026 nationwide champion?

Trace: It is a shut race between the Massive Ten and Massive 12 for the highest spot within the December version.

Be aware: “Present bids” represents the variety of groups from every convention within the latest Bracketology. “Projected bids” represents the variety of bids we forecast a convention might have on Selection Sunday.

5. Massive East

November rank: 4

Current bids: 4 (-1 from Nov.)
Projected bids: 3
Common seed: 6.8

Championship caliber: UConn is even higher than we projected heading into the season. St. John’s is not, a minimum of not but. And the combination Massive East image is lower than promising. It is conceivable that solely the Huskies and Pink Storm make the NCAA match, which might internet the convention’s lowest bid complete but.

Joey Brackets says: The trendy Massive East has formally advanced from a convention carried by Villanova to at least one carried by UConn. That reinforces the convention’s profile when the Huskies attain the primary Monday of April however would not change its footprint on Choice Sunday. Seton Hall‘s nice emergence is not sufficient to make up for lackluster nonconference slates for Nova, Creighton, Xavier and Providence. And this would be the final time Marquette is talked about for an extended whereas.

Sport of the 12 months: UConn at St. John’s on Feb. 6 (8 p.m. ET)

4. ACC

November rank: 5

Current bids: 8 (+3 from Nov.)
Projected bids: 8
Common seed: 5.9

Championship caliber: Duke stays the obvious nationwide championship contender, however soon-to-be-healthy archrival North Carolina has joined Louisville amongst ACC groups with Remaining 4 potential. We additionally like Virginia as a sleeper.

Joey Brackets says: The ACC bounce-back is actual. Any projection through which the convention doubles its NCAA output from a season in the past might be acquired fortunately by anybody who felt slighted by pundits like yours actually the previous a number of seasons.

Sport of the 12 months: Duke at Louisville on Jan. 6 (7 p.m. ET)

3. SEC

November rank: 2

Current bids: 9 (-2 from Nov.)
Projected bids: 9
Common seed: 5.3

Championship caliber: In contrast to a season in the past, when the SEC would have been hard-pressed to not produce the nationwide champion, there is no such thing as a sure title contender in an in any other case deep and ferocious convention. It boasts each high quality and amount, simply not on the similar elite degree as 2024-25.

Joey Brackets says: The decrease likelihood of producing a champion doesn’t suggest there aren’t a half-dozen SEC groups that might make the Remaining 4, together with we-should-have-seen-it-coming Vanderbilt. There simply is not a transparent favourite or perhaps a “possible” to do the deed, akin to the place the Massive Ten has been in on a number of events over the previous few seasons.

Sport of the 12 months: Alabama at Vanderbilt on Jan. 7 (9 p.m. ET)

play

Spotlight: No. 13 Vanderbilt stuns Memphis in additional time thriller

Duke Miles powers the offense with 22 factors and Tyler Tanner places up 16 because the Commodores outlast the Tigers in additional time to safe the 77-70 victory.

2. Massive Ten

November rank: 1

Current bids: 10 (-1 from Nov.)
Projected bids: 10
Common seed: 5.3

Championship caliber: If we despatched the highest two Massive Ten groups (Michigan and Purdue) and the highest two Massive 12 groups (Arizona and Iowa State) to the Remaining 4 proper now, would anybody exterior of Durham or Storrs complain? Put one other approach: If somebody desires to provide me these 4 towards the sector, I am all ears.

Joey Brackets says: I will not victory lap my preseason national champion prediction of Michigan for a minimum of one other month, however the margin between the Massive Ten and Massive 12 for the No. 1 spot on this month’s rating is razor skinny. The Massive Ten loses out ever so barely as a result of it has a worse (and bigger) backside. I can also’t get Iowa State’s 81-58 thrashing of Purdue at Mackey Area out of my thoughts.

Sport of the 12 months: Michigan at Purdue on Feb. 17 (6:30 p.m. ET)

1. Massive 12

November rank: 3

Current bids: 9 (8 in Nov.)
Projected bids: 9
Common seed: 5.2

Championship caliber: The Massive 12 at the moment holds two projected No. 1 seeds (Arizona and Iowa State) and a No. 2 seed (BYU). And that is with out mentioning Houston — a preseason 1-seed by acclamation and losers of only a single one-possession sport to this point — or Kansas, which has collected a staggering 11 high seeds below Invoice Self. In different phrases: The Massive 12 is loaded.

Joey Brackets says: Previous to the SEC’s record-setting storm a season in the past, the Massive 12 was the No. 1 convention on KenPom for 3 straight seasons and 9 of the previous 11. It’s on monitor to regain the highest spot in 2026.

Sport of the 12 months: Iowa State at Arizona on March 2 (9 p.m. ET)