NCAA Men's Basketball Power Ranking: January 21

Another action-packed week of college hoops brought plenty of turnover to the Ballislife NCAA Men’s Basketball Power Rankings (through Tuesday, Jan. 20), with some highly-ranked teams dropping out entirely while some new teams made quite the entrance.

Top Five

1. Arizona (18-0, 5-0 Big 12)

Last week: 1

Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona Wildcats did one better than last week, earning a unanimous 61 of 61 first-place votes in this week’s AP Top 25 after falling a single vote short of the sweep last week. Last Wednesday’s game against rival Arizona State turned out to be one of the toughest tests the Wildcats have faced so far this season, but they still escaped with a 7-point win. They punctuated that with an 84-77 triumph over a surprisingly formidable UCF team that entered 14-2 and in the top 45 of the ever-so-important KenPom ratings.

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of this Arizona team for opponents is its offensive depth, as evidenced by the fact that a different player has led the Wildcats in scoring in each of their last four games. Arizona has had seven different players lead the team in scoring in a single game, and the same player has led the team in scoring consecutively only twice this season. The Wildcats also play a suffocating style of defense, ranking in the top five in adjusted defensive efficiency nationally according to both statisticians.

2. Nebraska (18-0, 7-0 Big 10)

Last week: 6

The nation’s eyes have been opened to the wonders of Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers as their undefeated start to the season continues to roll on. However, it still feels like the media is yet to recognize how tough this team truly is and how impressive their 18-0 record is to this point. That’s best evidenced by the fact that Nebraska only came in at No. 7 on Monday’s edition of the AP Poll, despite the fact it is ranked second nationally in Strength of Record, ahead of Michigan, UConn and Houston and all of the other teams the voters have mindlessly decided deserve to be ranked higher than an undefeated team playing in the best conference in college basketball.

The Huskers are off to a 7-0 start in Big 10 play, and two of those wins are among the most impressive on any team in conference so far. They went to Champaign and downed the No. 8 ranked Illinois Fighting Illini on the road in mid December, and a few weeks later, they beat Tom Izzo and the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans at home in Lincoln. And they haven’t tapered off either, beating Oregon by 35 points and Northwestern by 18 this past week.

Fred Hoiberg is one of 5 COLLEGE HC’s that I could watch offensive sets from the entire day.

Nebraska has played a ton of 5 OUT this season. They initiate a lot of their dead ball offense using a Weave or an Away Stagger.

Their false motion and tag manipulation associated… pic.twitter.com/AsVToSSb7z

— Chris Steed (@steeder10) January 20, 2026

3. Michigan (17-1, 6-1 Big 10)

Last week: 4

Michigan trailed a pair of unbeatens (Iowa State and Vanderbilt) in last week’s power rankings, but that was probably unfair then, and it certainly aged poorly with both of those previously unbeaten schools dropping not one, but two games, since those rankings were published. However, as much as the metrics will attempt to convince you Michigan is a historically great team, what happens on the court is still paramount. And losing to Wisconsin on your home floor as an 18.5-point favorite was an incident that simply couldn’t go unpunished.

Since that shocking slip-up, Michigan collected back-to-back 10-point wins over Washington and Oregon on a Pacific Northwest road swing. Michigan then punctuated that performance with a decisive 86-72 win over Indiana in the Wolverines’ return to the Chrysler Center on Monday.

Both KenPom and Torvik rank the Wolverines No. 1 in the country, with a top-five offense and a top-two defense. Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. headline perhaps the most dominant front court in recent college basketball history, as Michigan leads the nation in both 2-point field goal percentage and 2-point field goal percentage allowed. And the kicker? Neither Lendeborg or Johnson Jr. has led Michigan in scoring across the Wolverines’ last three games because other players have stepped up offensively.

4. UConn (18-1, 8-0 Big East)

Last week: 5

Even when UConn was clearly in the throes of a down year last season, it still felt like they were a formidable national championship contender until they were eliminated by the eventual national champion, Florida. If you’re a fan of another program, I hope you enjoyed that year of reprieve, because Danny Hurley’s boys likely aren’t going away anytime soon.

The Huskies came in at No. 2 in the latest edition of the AP Poll and are third in ESPN’s current strength of record rankings, with their lone slip-up being a four-point loss to Arizona at home in a game that really could have gone either way. After a close call on Saturday against Georgetown, UConn is now 8-0 to start Big East play, thanks to a fast start in-conference that saw the Huskies win each of their first four games by 16 points or more.

(Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)

5. Houston (17-1, 5-0 Big 12)

Last week: 10

When Kelvin Sampson’s crew suffered their lone loss to then-No. 17 Tennessee at the Players Era in November, it certainly seemed like a loss that would age better than it has. That’s the only reason Houston is behind UConn in this week’s power rankings, despite the fact that they rank multiple spots higher than the Huskies in both KenPom and Torvik ratings.

Still, my philosophy is that what you’ve done on the court to a given point actually matters in these rankings, even if the analytics paint a pretty good picture about who is currently a more viable title threat (albeit not by much).

Houston has made up for what turned out to be a weak non-conference slate with a blistering start to Big 12 play, winning their first five games against conference opponents (and their last three by at least 22 points apiece). The Cougars have greatly benefited from the emergence of freshman phenom Kingston Flemings Jr., who averages 15.6 points and 5.4 assists per game for the defending national runner-ups. Chris Cenac Jr., another highly touted freshman and probable NBA lottery pick, adds an additional 9.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game to a lineup that returned three starters from last season.

Next Five

6. Duke (18-1, 6-0 ACC)

Last week: 8

The Blue Devils cruised to blowout wins over Cal and Stanford during their road trip in the Golden State but were beaten out by Houston for the final spot in the top five because the Cougars had a more impressive week, all things considered.

7. Gonzaga (19-1, 7-0 WCC)

Last week: 9

The Zags kept on rolling in West Coast Conference play, beating Washington State by 40 and Seattle by 21 this past week. A single slip-up in the WCC would mean all but certain expulsion from the rankings.

8. Michigan State (17-2, 7-1 Big 10)

Last week: NR

Sparty just missed out on the Top 10 last week, but impressive wins against Indiana at home, plus Washington and Oregon on the road this past week, made their case. Multiple losses from Iowa State and Vanderbilt and a Purdue upset to UCLA certainly helped.

9. Purdue (17-2, 7-1 Big 10)

Last week: 7

In fairness, Purdue was probably a tad bit underranked last week, so a tough one-point loss to UCLA on a game-winner in Westwood won’t knock them out. Don’t let it happen again, Boilermakers.

10. Iowa State (17-2, 4-2 Big 10)

Last week: No. 2

Iowa State was unbeaten when we last got together, and that changed almost immediately. Two straight decisive losses to Kansas and Cincinnati are certainly cause for concern, but 30-point win over UCF on Tuesday kept them clinging for life in the top 10 after being ranked No. 2 last week.