51 days from now, we’ll have the first Thursday of March Madness.
Here we will go through the 2025-26 season to-date, and discuss what awaits before 68 teams start dancing.
Who Are The Contenders?
The AP and the Coaches Poll both have the same 16 teams – Arizona, UConn, Michigan, Purdue, Duke, Houston, Nebraska, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Michigan State, Illinois, Texas Tech, BYU, Virginia, Vanderbilt, and Florida – albeit, in slightly different orders.
CBS Sports Top 25+1, has Kansas 16th overall.
The KenPom ratings include Louisville in their Top 16.
Per FanDuel, Arizona and Michigan are the prohibitive favorites both at +470. Duke is third at +900, with Houston and UConn next up at +1300.
If you go back to the KenPom ratings, those odds make sense with Arizona having the 4th rated offense, and 3rd rated defense. Michigan having 8th rated offense, and 2nd rated defense. Duke having the 5th rated offense, and 5th rated defense. Houston with the 15th rated offense, and 7th rated defense. UConn a bit of an outlier here, as they do have the 4th rated defense, but just the 38th rated offense.
How Do The Conferences Stack Up?
The NCAA Selection Committee replaced RPI Ratings with NET Ratings, but I still think think the Conference RPI ratings provide a decent snapshot of where things stand.
Currently the Big 12 is the top rated conference by RPI, followed by the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big East to round out the Top 5.
The 6th through 10th spots are held by the Mountain West, Atlantic 10, WCC, MVC, and the WAC.
Of the 18 teams listed above as contenders, the Big 12 has 6 teams, the Big Ten has 5, the ACC has 3, the SEC has 2, the Big East has 1, and the WCC has 1.
Who Are The Best Mid-Majors?
The Top 10 amongst the Mid-Majors are Gonzaga, Miami (Ohio), Liberty, Murray State, St. Mary’s, Yale, Belmont, High Point, Santa Clara, UNC Wilmington.
The Conference Races
American East – UMBC and Vermont are both 5-1 in conference, and will face each other twice.
American Athletic – Florida Atlantic is 6-1 in league play with Tulsa, Temple, and Charlotte each 5-2.
ACC – Duke is 7-0, Clemson is 7-1, and Virginia is 5-2.
Atlantic Sun – Austin Peay, Lipscomb, and Queens are each 7-1.
Atlantic 10 – Saint Louis is 7-0, George Mason is 6-1.
Big East – UConn is 9-0, St. John’s is 8-1, and Kevin Willard’s Villanova is 6-3.
Big Sky – Portland is 7-0, Montana State is 7-1.
Big Ten – Nebraska is 9-0, Michigan, Michigan State, and Illinois are each 8-1.
Big 12 – Arizona is 7-0, Texas Tech is 6-1, Houston and BYU are 5-1.
Big South – Winthrop is 7-1, and High Point is 6-1.
Big West – Hawaii and UC Irvine are both 7-2.
Coastal Athletic – UNC Wilmington is 7-1, Charleston is 6-2.
Conference USA – Liberty is 9-0.
Horizon League – Wright State is 8-2, Oakland 8-3.
Ivy League – Yale is 4-1.
MAAC – Merrimack is 9-2, St. Peter’s is 8-2.
MEAC – Maryland Eastern Shore is 4-0. NC Central 3-1.
Mid-American – Miami (Ohio) is 8-0 in conference, and 20-0 overall. Akron is 7-1.
Missouri Valley – Belmont and Murray State are both 8-2.
Mountain West – San Diego State is 8-1, Utah State and New Mexico are 7-2.
Ohio Valley – UT Martin is 7-2, Tennessee State and Morehead State are 7-3.
Northeast – LIU is 6-1, Le Moyne is 5-2.
Patriot League – Navy is 7-1, American and Colgate are 6-2.
SEC – Texas A&M is 6-1, Arkansas, Florida, and Kentucky are 5-2.
Southern – ETSU is 7-1, Wolford is 6-2.
Southland – SF Austin is 10-1, McNeese is 9-2.
SWAC – Florida A&M, and Bethune-Cookman are both 5-1.
Summit – North Dakota State is 8-0, St. Thomas is 6-1.
Sun Belt – Troy is 8-1, Georgia State is 6-3.
WAC – UT Arlington is 5-2, Utah Valley and Cal Baptist are 5-3.
West Coast – Gonzaga is 9-0, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara are 8-1.
Player of the Year
Cameron Boozer (Duke) is the betting favorite at -400.
Next up is BYU’s AJ Dybantsa at +500.
Purdue’s Branden Smith is third at +1,500.
Texas Tech’s JT Toppin is fourth at +1,800.
At fifth overall is Houston’s Kingston Flemings at +3,500.
The Current Bubble?
ESPN’s Bracketology has UCLA, New Mexico, USC, and Virginia Tech as the last four in, and Stanford, Santa Clara, Texas, and Indiana as the first four out.
CBS Sports’ Bracketology has the last four in as Missouri, USC, Seton Hall, and Virginia Tech and Texas, Oklahoma State, Butler, and TCC as the first four out.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.