College Basketball Rankings: ESPN shakes up BPI Top 25 after upsets rock Saturday slate

Once again, ESPN shook up its latest college basketball rankings in the Basketball Power Index (BPI) after a pivotal final week of regular season action.

March proved it was here this weekend. Saturday featured buzzer-beating overtime upsets, the crowning of regular season conference champions and much more as teams made their final push before the postseason.

Following another exciting weekend around the country, here’s how the BPI top 25 rankings have shaken up following the final Saturday of the regular season. Notably, the top three teams in the BPI remain the same after last week.

1. Duke Blue Devils

Duke closed out the 2024-25 regular season with an 82-69 win over bitter rival North Carolina on Saturday. The victory helped the Blue Devils win the regular season conference championship outright, and will now head into the ACC Tournament having won its last eight games. During that eight-game win streak, they beat the Tar Heels twice.

Star forward Cooper Flagg finishes his freshman regular season with 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. He led Duke in all of these categories.

2. Houston Cougars

Houston finished its regular season 19-1 in Big 12 Conference action, and 27-4 overall having won its last 10 games dating back to Feb. 1 when they lost to Texas Tech 82-81 in overtime. Only three of those games down the stretch were won by double digits, which means the Cougars are coming out on the winning side of close games almost every time.

Ultimately, all four of the Cougars’ losses would come by five points or less. With three of those coming in November, Houston has won 23 of its last 24 games.

3. Auburn Tigers

Auburn has been the consensus No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for a few weeks now. Despite the overtime loss to Alabama on Saturday, the Tigers are expected to remain atop bracketology makers’ projections heading into SEC Tournament play.

Tigers star Johni Broome finishes the regular season averaging a double-double with 18.6 points per game, and 10.6 rebounds. He also leads Auburn in assists (3.3) per game, and blocks (2.4) per game.

4. Florida Gators (+1)

After suffering an upset defeat to Georgia to end February, the Gators came out on fire to start March. Defeating a ranked Texas A&M team by 19 points in Gainesville, Florida then travelled to Alabama and took down the nation’s highest-scoring team 99-94.

Florida finished its regular season with a 90-71 win over Ole Miss and will ride this wave of momentum as the 2-seed in next week’s SEC Tournament. At 14-4 overall in conference play, the Gators finish one game back from Auburn for first place.

5. Alabama Crimson Tide (+1)

It doesn’t get much better than the finish to Alabama’s buzzer-beating win over No. 1 Auburn. It was a feel-good moment for the Crimson Tide, who had lost four of its last six games coming into the matchup.

The victory keeps Alabama’s hopes for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament alive. A strong showing from the Crimson Tide in Nashville at the SEC Tournament could go a long way in solidifying their final spot in the Big Dance.

6. Tennessee Volunteers (-2)

After Tennessee defeated Alabama on March 1, they turned around and lost the final mid-week matchup of the regular season to unranked Ole Miss on the road. However, the Volunteers were able to close out the regular season with a win over South Carolina at home.

Tennessee finishes the regulae season with a 25-6 record overall, and 12-6 in SEC play. The win over the Gamecocks ensured the Volunteers top-four seed next week, as they will get a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

7. Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State closed out the regular season having lost three of its last five games. The skid ultimately slots the Cyclones as a No. 5 seed in next week’s Big 12 Conference Tournament.

Before heading to the postseason, Iowa State did manage to win two of its last three, including a strong 84-67 win over a ranked Arizona team. They beat down Kansas State 73-57 in the regular season finale.

8. Texas Tech Red Raiders (+1)

Texas Tech’s rise from unranked in the preseason to a top 10 team heading into the postseaon has seen the Red Raiders become one of the best teams in the Big 12. Two years after finishing 16-16, the Red Raiders have become a postseason sleeper team of sorts over the past few months.

While Houston won the Big 12 regular season title by a four-game margin, Texas Tech’s 15-5 record gives them sole possession of second place to finish the season, and a No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

9. Gonzaga Bulldogs (+1)

Gonzaga’s early season, non-conference losses to the likes of West Virginia, Ketucky, UConn and UCLA kept the Bulldogs out of the national spotlight as they began their conference slate. However, the Bulldogs finished the regular season 23-8, and 14-4 in WCC play.

That puts them three games back from Saint Mary’s, who boasted. a 17-1 record against conference opponents this season. Gonzaga lost to them twice in the regular season.

10. Arizona Wildcats (-2)

Arizona didn’t finish the regular season the way they envisioned. They fell to unranked Kansas 83-76 on the road and losing three of its last five games overeall heading into the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

They finished the season 20-11 overall and 14-6 against conference competition. That mark earned the Wildcats a top four seed into next week’s tournament, enough to finish the regular season top 10 in ESPN’s BPI.

ESPN BPI No. 11-25

11. Kansas Jayhawks (+1)
12. Michigan State Spartans (-1)
13. Kentucky Wildcats (+6)
14. Maryland Terrapins
15. Clemson Tigers (-2)
16. St. John’s Red Storm (-1)
17. UConn Huskies (+3)
18. Purdue Boilermakers (-2)
19. Marquette Golden Eagles (-2)
20. Texas A&M Aggies (+2)
21. Illinois Fighting Illini (+3)
22. Baylor Bears (-1)
23. Wisconsin Badgers (-5)
24. BYU Cougars (-1)
25. UCLA Bruins (+1)