This week’s NCAA Men’s College Basketball AP Top 25 is more than routine reshuffling. It’s a full-blown earthquake. There’s a new No. 1 team following an action-packed weekend that featured a massive on-court brawl, and coaches getting axed before March Madness even arrives.
Michigan Takes AP Poll No. 1 After Arizona’s Collapse
The Michigan Wolverines are No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time since January 2013, earning 60 of 61 first-place votes after rolling to 24-1 behind Dusty May’s rebuilt squad.
Michigan’s blowout win over UCLA on Saturday was its 10th 30-point victory this season — the most in Division I — and its 20th double-digit win. Arizona, meanwhile, became just the third D-I team in the last 40 years to lose consecutive games immediately after a 20-0 or better start, joining this season’s Nebraska squad and 2013-14 Syracuse.
Those twin losses to Kansas and Texas Tech sent the Wildcats tumbling from No. 1 all the way to No. 4. Houston grabbed No. 2 with the lone remaining first-place vote, and Duke slid into No. 3.
Purdue Boilermakers Make Big Jump in AP Poll
Purdue made the week’s most dramatic climb, jumping six spots to No. 7 behind point guard Braden Smith, whose 12-assist night against Iowa gave him 980 for his career — good for sixth all-time in D-I history, per ESPN.
Texas Tech vaulted three spots to No. 13 after JT Toppin torched No. 1 Arizona for 31 points and 13 boards in a road upset, making Toppin, per ESPN, just the second player since North Carolina’s Luke Maye to post a 30-point double-double on the road against the AP’s top-ranked team.
Louisville surged three spots to No. 21, fueled by Mikel Brown Jr., who poured in 74 points across his last two games — a two-game ACC scoring binge nobody’s matched since Boston College’s Jerome Robinson hit 75 back in 2018, per ESPN.
On the flip side, Michigan State and North Carolina each plummeted five spots — the biggest drops of the week. The Spartans’ 21-point beatdown at the hands of Wisconsin was their worst loss to a top-10 opponent since Iowa hung 26 on them in February 2022.
UNC’s slide could steepen with forward Caleb Wilson now sidelined indefinitely after suffering a fractured hand. Wisconsin and Alabama clawed their way back into the Top 25 at Nos. 24 and 25, respectively, while Clemson and Kentucky fell out completely.
Miami (OH) Remains College Basketball’s Cinderella at 25-0
Here’s a story nobody had on their bingo card. The Miami (OH) RedHawks sit at 25-0 — the last unbeaten team in Division I — and climbed to No. 22 in the poll. They’re not some mid-major afterthought, either; the RedHawks lead the entire country in scoring at 92.6 points per game and are quietly building something historic in Oxford, Ohio.
Brawls, Firings, and March Looming Large
It wasn’t just the rankings that made headlines this weekend. The St. John’s-Providence game on Friday devolved into a full-blown melee that cleared both benches, prompting the Big East to hit Providence’s Duncan Powell with a three-game suspension for igniting the chaos with a hard foul.
St. John’s hasn’t flinched — their 11th consecutive victory is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in D-I, per ESPN. Kansas State, meanwhile, pulled the plug on Jerome Tang’s tenure, a clear signal that some programs aren’t waiting for Selection Sunday to start making changes.
March Madness is Almost Here
The schedule ahead is absolutely stacked — starting Monday. No. 3 Duke hosts Syracuse at 7 p.m. on ESPN, then No. 2 Houston heads to No. 6 Iowa State at 9 p.m. on ESPN in the night’s marquee showdown.
Tuesday brings No. 1 Michigan at No. 7 Purdue at 6:30 p.m. on Peacock and No. 16 UNC at NC State at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Then comes Saturday’s crown jewel: No. 1 Michigan versus No. 3 Duke at 6:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C. on ESPN — a week that will either lock in the Wolverines’ grip on No. 1 or blow this whole thing wide open again.
NCAA Men’s College Basketball AP Top 25 – February 16th, 2026
Here’s Monday’s AP college basketball rankings:
- Michigan Wolverines (24-1) — 60 first-place votes ↑1
- Houston Cougars (23-2) — 1 first-place vote ↑1
- Duke Blue Devils (23-2) ↑1
- Arizona Wildcats (23-2) ↓3
- UConn Huskies (24-2) ↑1
- Iowa State Cyclones (22-3) ↓1
- Purdue Boilermakers (21-4) ↑6
- Kansas Jayhawks (19-6) ↑1
- Nebraska Cornhuskers (22-3) ↓2
- Illinois Fighting Illini (21-5) ↓2
- Gonzaga Bulldogs (25-2) ↑1
- Florida Gators (19-6) ↑2
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (19-6) ↑3
- Virginia Cavaliers (22-3) ↑1
- Michigan State Spartans (20-5) ↓5
- North Carolina Tar Heels (20-5) ↓5
- St. John’s Red Storm (20-5) —
- Saint Louis Billikens (24-1) —
- Vanderbilt Commodores (21-4) —
- Arkansas Razorbacks (19-6) ↑1
- Louisville Cardinals (19-6) ↑3
- Miami (OH) RedHawks (25-0) ↑1
- BYU Cougars (19-6) ↑1
- Wisconsin Badgers (18-7) NR
- Alabama Crimson Tide (18-7) NR
Dropped out: Clemson, Kentucky
New AP Top 25 Drops After Wild Weekend of Brawls & Upsets