Duke has overtaken Auburn as the new No. 1 in the latest college basketball power rankings. The Blue Devils, who have won a nation-leading 12 consecutive games, have a net rating of 36.71 en route to a 16-2 start -- the best in KenPom.com's database since 2014-15 Kentucky -- and are the only team in the sport with both a top-five offense and defensive unit in adjusted efficiency ratings.
Don't hear what I'm not saying: Auburn is a great college basketball team. It is 17-1 overall (5-0 SEC) and cruising at a high level even without star Johni Broome, once considered the favorite to win National Player of the Year.
But Duke, which beat Auburn by six on Dec. 4, is itself its own force worthy of recognition. The latest 12-game winning streak gets it to No. 1 for the first time this season at a time when it will likely be favored in each of its remaining regular-season games.
There's much to unpack in the latest power rankings, so let's dive in with the guidelines as we always do and make clear how we operate in this space. I promise to abide by these as closely as I can throughout the season.
Power Rankings definition: Ranking teams with an emphasis on recent performance based on their level of competition. These are heavily unscientific in nature and can be distilled down to a "vibes" ranking -- with things like margin of victory, injuries, performance vs. top competition, momentum and other sometimes subjective factors weighing into the equation. The power rankings can be thought of in a weekly setting as a reaction -- or sometimes even an overreaction -- to the small sample of the week that was.
Let's get to it.
| 1 |  |
| In a down year for the ACC, Duke is consistently setting itself apart vs. league opponents. It is now No. 2 in scoring margin on the season after blowout wins over Miami and Boston College leading into the weekend and will be favored by double digits in 10 of its remaining 13 games, per KenPom. Last week: No. 3 | |
| 2 |  |
| It's hard to drop a team from the No. 1 spot if it doesn't lose, but I make the rules 'round here. And Duke has dominated its way to the top spot, while Auburn's latest outing was a near-loss at Georgia in a game it probably should've lost. Broome can't get back soon enough. Last week: No. 1 | |
| 3 |  |
| Houston's won 11-straight after a 4-3 start to the season and is 7-0 in Big 12 play sitting alone atop the conference standings. No team has won by an average margin greater than the Cougars this season. Last week: No. 4 | |
| 4 |  |
| Tiny knock down for Iowa State this week. It fell at West Virginia over the weekend before bouncing back to beat UCF at home Tuesday. It'll have plenty of chances to make its case for the top spot by season's end. Last week: No. 2 | |
| 5 |  |
| With a thrilling home win over Illinois on Sunday, Michigan State has won 11 consecutive games. That's the longest winning streak the Spartans have enjoyed since their 2018-19 Final Four season. Last week: No. 9 | |
| 6 |  |
| Despite leading for just a few seconds -- the final ones -- Florida emerged with a road win Wednesday over South Carolina and won a game when it didn't have its best stuff. Will Richard scored 22 points and sealed the win with a go-ahead shot in the closing seconds to get the Gators to 17-2. Last week: No. 8 | |
| 7 |  |
| After moving up to No. 5 last week, Marquette turned around and laid an egg at home in a 59-57 loss to Xavier as a double-digit favorite. Shaka Smart's team has a strong résumé, however, and remains in contention in a loaded Big East. Last week: No. 5 | |
| 8 |  |
| Alabama rebounded from its home loss to Ole Miss last week with wins over Kentucky and Vanderbilt -- including Kentucky AT Kentucky -- to earn its way up two spots from last week. The SEC looks like it could legitimately be an eight-team race. Last week: No. 10 | |
| 9 |  |
| Kentucky suffered its first home loss of the Mark Pope era on Saturday in a thrilling 102-97 shootout vs. Alabama. There's no consolation prize here, but UK scoring 100 and making 11 3s -- while its offense tracks up to No. 3 in adjusted efficiency -- continues to be encouraging. Last week: No. 6 | |
| 10 |  |
| With two losses in its last five outings, Tennessee has fallen from the No. 1 spot back toward the middle of the pack, with its latest loss coming at unranked Vanderbilt. This Vols team still has a great defense and one of the best overall résumés in the sport. Last week: No. 7 | |
| 11 |  |
| No, this is not 2013. Louisville is BACK. First-year coach Pat Kelsey has his Cardinals playing hard with nine-straight wins at its sails. This is a fun team. That has not been said of Louisville in far too long, but it's true. Last week: NR | |
| 12 |  |
| The new leader in the Big East race is St. John's, which won twice this week to improve to 8-1 in league play and 17-3 overall. The Johnnies had to down Xavier in overtime at home Wednesday, but a win is a win, and that should be enough given its consistency the last few months. It enters the weekend having won 12 of its last 13 dating back to November. Last week: NR | |
| 13 |  |
| A rare loss inside Mackey Arena on Tuesday cost Purdue its best start in league play since 2022-23. Still, it's 7-2 in Big Ten action and in the hunt with a body of work that includes seven wins in its last eight games. Last week: NR | |
| 14 |  |
| It's taken some time for this Kansas team to find its footing after opening the season No. 1. It's suffered just one loss in the New Year -- a road defeat at Iowa State -- and beat K-State and TCU by big margins this week. Last week: NR | |
| 15 |  |
| A 1-2 record in its last three games for Illinois doesn't reflect the team's overall ceiling as one of the best in the Big Ten and beyond. (Plus, that Michigan State loss, with Kasparas Jakucionis fouling out after eight minutes, was just odd.) This is a top-15 team. Last week: No. 14 | |
| 16 |  |
| Old Big 12 foe Texas snapped Mizzou's winning streak at four this week but not after Dennis Gates' Tigers downed Vanderbilt, Florida and Arkansas all inside of a week's time. Missouri had a no-good, very-bad season in 2023-24 but is tracking to be a tourney team once again for a second time under Gates. Last week: NR | |
