College Basketball

Men's College Basketball Top 10, Bubble Team NET Rankings: Gonzaga Makes Its Push

Updated Dec. 30, 2025 4:35 p.m. ET

The top 25 rankings are important for understanding just who is killing it in college basketball, but we can go deeper — all the way to the bubble and beyond.

The NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, is a rankings system used in Division I basketball to help figure out which teams are going to participate in March Madness. As the NCAA puts it, NET "takes into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses," the latter of which is determined by placing every Division I matchup into different quadrants, ranked 1 through 4, with 1 being the strongest teams and 4 the weakest — Quads aren’t just determined by record, but also whether a game was played at home, on the road or at a neutral site.

Using NET, we can get a sense of which teams are the best at a given moment, as well as which ones are on the bubble for selection in March. While updated daily by the NCAA, we’ll track changes weekly.

With that, here are the top 10 men’s college basketball teams through Dec. 29, according to NET.

The Top 10

10. Illinois (previous: 10)

Illinois played one game this week and won, crushing Southern U, 90-55 on Monday. They are now off until 2026, when they will take on Penn State in Big Ten play.

9. BYU (previous: 9)

BYU didn’t play in the past week thanks to the break — and won’t play again until Jan. 3 against Kansas State — but that didn’t get them bumped from their perch.

8. UConn (previous: 8)

UConn is in the same boat as BYU, as they didn’t play since the last update, but will face Xavier (116 in NET) in Big East conference play on Wednesday.

7. Vanderbilt (previous: 6)

Vanderbilt did play, but it was against Division II New Haven, so despite the convincing 96-53 victory that helped cement coach Mark Byington as an October-December legend, it didn’t do anything for the Commodores’ NET ranking.

6. Purdue (previous: 7)

This also explains why Purdue and Vandy flipped in the rankings: the Boilermakers played on Monday, too, but their 101-60 W came against Kent State — Kent State might be 153rd in NET, but they are D-I.

5. Iowa State (previous: 4)

Iowa State didn't fall back to 5th so much as they were the victims of a significant leapfrogging. The Cyclones took down Houston Christian on Monday, 89-61, which was a weaker opponent than the school they were leapfrogged by had to contend with.

4. Arizona (previous: 2)

Arizona, too, slipped more because of what those around them were doing than anything they did wrong. Handling San Diego State — 85th in NET entering play on Monday — 99-71 was impressive.

3. Duke (previous: 3)

You can’t even say that Duke ran in place, because it didn’t have a game scheduled. The Blue Devils will take on Georgia Tech (178 in NET) on Wednesday to close out 2025.

Playing on the road has given Gonzaga a boost in NET. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)

2. Gonzaga (previous: 5)

Gonzaga shot up three spots in the rankings, but the why takes some untangling. The Bulldogs crushed Pepperdine, 96-56, and while the Waves are rated as an inferior opponent to the ones Arizona and Iowa State faced in the past week, Gonzaga delivered that beatdown on the road, which gives them more Quad 2 victories (and a loftier ranking) than either of those teams..

1. Michigan (previous: 1)

If anything, Michigan used their limited week to strengthen their hold on the top spot. The Wolverines took down McNeese, 112-71, which is a serious margin of victory considering the Cowboys rank 48th in NET. Michigan has played the fourth-toughest schedule of anyone this year, per NET, and it’s an undefeated 12-0 with seven wins with at least 100 points scored despite this. There’s a reason FOX Sports analyst Casey Jacobsen keeps defying the poll and leaving the Wolverines at No. 1.

Risers and Fallers

In the span of a week, some teams can see their spot in the rankings dramatically shift. Here are the five teams that rose the most in men’s college basketball in the last week…

5. Campbell, 271 to 244: Campbell took out Green Bay, then followed it up with a close loss to Hofstra, which ranked 86th in NET prior to beating the Fighting Camels 86-72 instead of by much more.

4. Jacksonville State, 288 to 258: JSU played one game, but made it count — Western Kentucky was ranked 124 in NET prior to its matchup against Jacksonville State, but slipped to 152 after a 78-67 upset that also propelled the Gamecocks 30 spots in NET’s eyes.

3. Tarleton State, 169 to 136: Tarleton took a similar leap after defeating the well-regarded UT Arlington, 69-63, on Monday.

2. New Orleans, 236 to 198: Texas-Rio Grande Valley lost to New Orleans, 85-69, thanks to senior guard Jakevion Buckley’s career night with 32 points, and that significant upset narrowed the gap between the two by NET from 82 spots to just 26.

1. Missouri State, 277 to 235: Missouri State played twice in the past week, with wins against Lindenwood and Delaware. While Delaware was ranked around where Missouri State used to be, Lindenwood was a top-200 school prior to its defeat at the hands of the Bears.

Playing more and winning more meant a significant rise for Missouri State in the past week. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

…and the five that fell the furthest.

T5: Norfolk State, 251 to 276: A loss to the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns stings, as that’s a team that has lost more of its Quad 4 games than its won at this point, even after a win against Norfolk State.

T5: Lipscomb, 112 to 137: Lipscomb was hammered by Cincinnati, which had Baba Miller’s 21-rebound double-double supporting it, and the result was a nosedive in NET.

3. Oregon State, 177 to 204: Santa Clara is legit — that’s a bubble team right there — but losing 102-64 is ugly regardless.

2. Western Kentucky, 123 to 152: You already read about Western Kentucky’s tragic tale, thanks to their loss to Jacksonville State.

1. Green Bay, 216 to 253: Green Bay had rattled off three wins in a row, but losing to Campbell by 23 points undid a lot of that progress.

On the Bubble

Of the 68 March Madness teams in the tournament, 31 of them are conference champions who receive automatic entry into the tournament. The other 37 spots are at-large bids. With that in mind, we will look at the teams ranked between 64-to-73 in NET each week, as those are the ones who are the most on the bubble for the tourney.

73. Oklahoma State (previous: 72): Oklahoma State has really settled in here, as they were ranked 72 the previous two weeks and are 73rd now. The Cowboys have a serious chance to move up in their next matchup, though, as they take on Texas Tech on Jan. 3.

72. Nevada (previous: 76): Into the bubble comes Nevada, despite not playing since Dec. 20. They face Colorado State — just outside of this list’s purview at 74 — on Tuesday, and that could determine which of the two you see in this space a week from now.

71. William & Mary (previous: 68): An 84-70 win against Towson is a positive, but a lack of Quad 1 matchups — William & Mary has just the one so far — is not.

William & Mary could boost their standing with better opponents. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

70. Murray State (previous: 70): Consider: Murray State and William & Mary have the same number of losses (3), but the Racers suffered two of theirs in Quad 1 matchups.

69. Northwestern (previous: 75): No games in the past week, but that also means no losses for Northwestern. While it’s just 7-5, all of those defeats came in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games.

68. South Florida (previous: 64): When is a win not good enough to stick in the rankings? When it’s against a Division II school.

67. Wake Forest (previous: 67): Inactive in the past week, but Wake Forest will kick off 2026 against Virginia Tech on Jan. 3.

66. Wisconsin (previous: 69): Another team that wasn’t in action, but Wisconsin takes on Milwaukee (185th in NET) on Tuesday.

65. Santa Clara (previous: 89): A huge leap for Santa Clara, as the Broncos crushed Oregon State in their lone game.

64. Texas A&M (previous: 65): The slightest of bumps in the rankings for defeating Prairie View, 111-82. Taking care of business, at the least, can keep a school from sinking.

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