ESPN shakes up BPI Top 25 rankings after turbulent college basketball Saturday

The 2025-26 college basketball season is in full swing, and with that brought another full slate of marquee games on Saturday. In response, ESPN has overhauled its BPI Top 25.

Some highlights from the slate to consider include No. 19 Kansas’ 77-76 overtime victory at NC State, No. 17 Arkansas prevailing over No. 16 Texas Tech in a high-scoring, ranked matchup, No. 23 Nebraska’s buzzer-beating win over No. 13 Illinois, top-ranked Arizona blowing out No. 12 Alabama in Birmingham and No. 8 Gonzaga beating No. 25 UCLA by 10 points. In total, there were four games between teams both in the top 25.

Please note that ESPN’s BPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the “best predictor of performance going forward.” This formula represents how many points above or below average a team is. A team’s strength of record is based on how difficult a team’s W-L record is to achieve.

The level of difficulty is determined using a number of predictions. These account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance and day’s rest and altitude. It’s simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. With that being said, see below how ESPN overhauled this week’s BPI.

1. Duke (-)

Duke did not play on Saturday, but remain atop ESPN’s BPI with a 10-0 record. The Blue Devils most recently beat a top-10 Michigan State team in the Breslin Center 66-60.

That was after a one-point win over defending national champions Florida earlier that week in the ACC/SEC challenge. Duke also has wins over the likes of Kansas and Arkansas so far this season. Their final non-conference test comes on Dec. 20 vs. Texas Tech inside Madison Square Garden.

2. Gonzaga (-)

Gonzaga took its 40-point loss to Michigan on the chin and the Bulldogs haven’t looked back. They went on to win their next two games 94-59 vs. Kentucky and 109-58 to North Florida.

On Saturday, they kept the momentum rolling with an 82-72 win over UCLA in Seattle. Gonzaga will play Oregon on Dec. 21, and could enter conference play with one loss. Being in the West Coast Conference, Gonzaga may enter March with only a loss or two on their resume.

3. Arizona (+3)

The No. 1 team in the country per the AP Poll, Arizona looked every bit the part when they beat No. 12 Alabama 96-75 in the Crimson Tide’s back yard. The Wildcats are 9-0, but have five wins over top 25 opponents.

This includes wins over Florida, UCLA, UConn, Auburn and now, Alabama. After a strong start, Arizona won’t play another ranked team until Jan. 26 when the Wildcats travel to BYU.

4. Michigan (-)

Michigan is 2-0 in Big Ten play so far this season, beating their conference foes by an average of 29.5 points. This continues a trend the Wolverines’ set during non-conference play.

They’ve beaten all but two teams by 15 or more points this season, both coming during the first three games of the season (vs. Wake Forest, at TCU). Michigan has wins by 40 points over Gonzaga and 30 points over Auburn so far on the year.

5. Iowa State (-2)

Iowa State won a crucial Cy-Hawk series matchup vs. Iowa 66-62 on Thursday to help improve the Cyclones to 10-0 this season. They didn’t play Saturday, but instead are set to top at 1 p.m. ET against E Illinois on Sunday.

Before taking down the Hawkeyes, the Cyclones dominated former No. 1 Purdue 81-58 in West Lafayette. Iowa State won’t take on any more notable opponents until it begins Big 12 play in January.

6. Louisville (-1)

The lone blemish on the Cardinals’ record is an 89-80 loss to John Calipari’s Arkansas squad in Fayetteville. Louisville has since responded with a win over a formerly ranked Indiana team and a 26-point win over Memphis.

Louisville is now gearing up for a true ranked road matchup against No. 20 Tennessee on Tuesday. The Cardinals will play Montana next weekend before beginning ACC play against California on the road on Dec. 30.

7. Houston (-)

Houston’s 10-1 start to the season will be tested next weekend in a neutral site matchup against Arkansas. They’ve won their last four games since falling to Tennessee during the Thanksgiving week.

A loss vs. the Razorbacks wouldn’t be the end of the world, especially with Houston’s upcoming conference schedule. The Cougars are in a conference that feature four teams in the top 25 — Houston, Iowa State, Arizona and BYU — and six ranked in total.

8. Purdue (+3)

The preseason No. 1-ranked team, Purdue’s lone hiccup during the regular season was its blowout loss to Iowa State last weekend. The Boilermakers have since bounced back with a 28-point win over Minnesota and a 20-point win over Marquette and in turn, have jumped three spots in ESPN’s BPI.

Next Saturday will be Purdue’s last major non-conference test before Big Ten play gets into full swing. They’ll take on No. 21 Auburn inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Dec. 20.

9. UConn (-1)

UConn has some of the best wins of the young season having beaten teams like BYU, Illinois, Kansas and Florida. When March rolls around, they’ll likely look back a the Huskies’ four-point loss to current No. 1 Arizona as one of the better losses on the season on a neutral court.

The Big East has had a strong non-conference as a whole during the early portion of the season. This bodes well for the Huskies down the stretch after piecing together such an impressive non-conference schedule.

10. BYU (-)

BYU doesn’t have the impressive non-conference resume that some of the other teams in ESPN’s BPI top 10 have. However, the Cougars will most likely enter Big 12 play next month with just one loss on its resume.

Still, the Cougars won’t meet another ranked team until Jan. 17 at Texas Tech. That tips off a six-game stretch where BYU will face four of the conference’s five other ranked teams.

11. Florida (-2)
12. Illinois (+1)
13. St. John’s (+2)
14. Kentucky (+4)
15. Alabama (-1)
16. Indiana (-)
17. Vanderbilt (-5)
18. Tennessee (+1)
19. Kansas (+1)
20. Michigan State (-3)
21. UCLA (+2)
22. Auburn (-)
23. Clemson (-2)
24. NC State (+6)
25. Texas Tech (+4)