Jeff BorzelloJan 22, 2026, 09:00 AM ETCloseJeff Borzello is a basketball recruiting insider. He has joined ESPN in 2014.Follow on X
play1:16Duke Blue Devils vs. Stanford Cardinal: Game HighlightsDuke Blue Devils vs. Stanford Cardinal: Game Highlights
play1:15BYU Cougars vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Game HighlightsBYU Cougars vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Game Highlights
play1:17LSU Tigers vs. Florida Gators: Game HighlightsLSU Tigers vs. Florida Gators: Game Highlights
play1:19Louisville Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Panthers: Game HighlightsLouisville Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Panthers: Game Highlights
Miami (OH) stays perfect after Luke Skaljac forces OT with acrobatic layup (0:29)Luke Skaljac hits an off-balance layup in the closing seconds as Miami (OH) forces overtime and ultimately beats Kent State. (0:29)
Duke Blue Devils vs. Stanford Cardinal: Game HighlightsDuke Blue Devils vs. Stanford Cardinal: Game Highlights
BYU Cougars vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Game HighlightsBYU Cougars vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Game Highlights
Louisville Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Panthers: Game HighlightsLouisville Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Panthers: Game Highlights
Before this season tipped off, it would have seemed equally unlikely that this late-January edition of Power Rankings would feature Nebraska in the top five or Miami (Ohio) at all. And yet, that’s where things stand after two of the three remaining unbeatens survived another week without a loss. (Arizona is the third.)
Looking purely at efficiency-based metrics, which tend to be more predictive than résumé-based metrics, neither team fits the bill on paper. Nebraska entered Wednesday ranked No. 12 in KenPom and No. 19 in the ESPN’s BPI, while Miami (Ohio) was No. 90 at KenPom and No. 89 in the BPI. But the actual results tell a different story.
Nebraska has one of the best résumés in the country. The Cornhuskers rank top five nationally in both strength of record and wins above bubble. They also possess fantastic top-line victories over Illinois and Michigan State, with the former coming on the road.
Miami (Ohio), meanwhile, entered Wednesday ranked No. 21 in strength of record and No. 28 in wins above bubble. We so often see how difficult it is for teams to win on the road in conference play, making the RedHawks’ away victories at Kent State, Bowling Green and Toledo — three of their biggest competitors in the Mid-American — notable. They already beat MAC preseason favorite Akron and won at Horizon favorite Wright State in nonconference play, too.
With Arizona heading to BYU on Monday and Nebraska traveling to Michigan on Tuesday, there’s a good chance Miami (Ohio) is the last remaining unbeaten.
After a lull offensively to start January, Aday Mara appears to be back to his efficient self. The UCLA transfer has scored in double figures in each of his past three games — only the third time in his college career he has had such a streak. Over this three-game span, Mara is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 75%, highlighted by his 20-point performance on 10-for-11 shooting at Washington last week. Mara has also blocked three shots in each, proving his worth at both ends of the floor.
Duke Blue Devils vs. Stanford Cardinal: Game Highlights
Duke Blue Devils vs. Stanford Cardinal: Game Highlights
Joe Lunardi breaks down why the Houston Cougars can be a championship team.
BYU Cougars vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Game Highlights
BYU Cougars vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Game Highlights
LSU Tigers vs. Florida Gators: Game HighlightsLSU Tigers vs. Florida Gators: Game Highlights
Clemson’s nine-game winning streak was snapped Tuesday when NC State came to town and handed the Tigers their first ACC loss of the season. It was a difficult night for the ACC’s most efficient defense. The Tigers allowed 1.12 points per possession, the most an opponent has scored against them since Alabama back on Dec. 3. NC State also turned the ball over just seven times in 45 minutes, the lowest turnover percentage anyone has had against Clemson all season.
Louisville Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Panthers: Game Highlights
Louisville Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Panthers: Game Highlights
It’s almost like Tommy Lloyd’s team decides to feature a new top performer each week. This time, it was junior big man Motiejus Krivas. The Lithuania native, whom scouts have pegged as a breakout performer entering each of the past two seasons, put together maybe the best two-game stretch of his college career over the past week. He had 17 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday’s win at UCF — even making an uncharacteristic 3-pointer (the second of his career) — then put up 17 points and 9 rebounds in Wednesday’s win over Cincinnati.
Silas Demary Jr.’s return to form has been a massive development for UConn since the start of Big East play. The Georgia transfer was expected to upgrade the Huskies at both ends of the floor but hit a lull during most of November. Over his past five games, though, he has been one of the best point guards in the conference. During that stretch, he’s averaging 14.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.6 steals, shooting 57% from the field and 62.5% from 3-point range. And in eight conference games this season, he has totaled 60 assists to just 16 turnovers.
The ways in which Maliq Brown contributes to winning are incredibly unique for someone his size. The most obvious is on the defensive end, where he leads the ACC in steal percentage and is averaging 2.5 steals over his past four games. He ranks seventh in steals percentage. Nobody taller — he’s 6-foot-9 — ranks ahead of him. He’s also just outside the top 25 in the ACC in assist rate, and the only player taller than Brown inside the top 25 is do-it-all top-five draft pick Caleb Wilson. On top of that, he ranks among the conference leaders in offensive rebounding and is fourth nationally in 2-point percentage, shooting nearly 79% inside the arc.
Entering a critical stretch of their unbeaten campaign, the Cornhuskers will hold their collective breaths as they await the status of freshman guard Braden Frager, who left the first half of Wednesday’s win over Washington and returned to the bench with a boot on his left foot. Frager had been playing like one of the best freshmen — and one of the best sixth men — in the country in recent weeks, including 23 points against Oregon and 20 points against Northwestern in his last two games before the injury. Coach Fred Hoiberg will need Pryce Sandfort to continue his ridiculous play; Sandfort is averaging 24.3 points and shooting 57.1% from 3 in his past three games.
Gonzaga’s edge over nearly every team in the country is its post tandem of Graham Ike and Braden Huff. Already without Ike (ankle) for the past two games, the Zags are also losing Huff for 1-2 months to a left knee injury suffered last week. Ismaila Diagne has gone from seeing barely any minutes to starting two games in place of Ike, totaling 19 rebounds, while Jalen Warley has scored in double-figures in his first starts without Huff. Warley in particular brings a different level of versatility.
Kingston Flemings is still the Houston freshman getting the most national attention, and his production hasn’t slowed down in Big 12 play, but another first-year player is surging as a consistent offensive option for coach Kelvin Sampson. The 6-11 Chris Cenac Jr. came out of high school as a top-10 recruit and projected lottery pick, but a stellar first five games were followed by a slow in production for the next six weeks. In his past four games, though, he has scored in double figures three times — including Sunday’s 18-point, 8-rebound, 5-assist performance against Arizona State. Over that stretch, he’s averaging 11.8 points and 8.3 rebounds, and shooting 42.9% from 3.
Michigan State has the best defense in the country according to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency numbers. The Spartans usurped in-state rival Michigan for the No. 1 spot with two more lockdown defensive performances in the past week. They have now held six straight opponents to under one point per possession, and only four opponents all season have hit that threshold (oddly enough, Cornell on Dec. 29 was the best offensive performance against Michigan State this season). Michigan State leads the Big Ten in defensive rebounding percentage and 3-point defense and is second in 2-point percentage.
When looking at statistical anomalies in Iowa State’s two-game losing streak compared to the rest of the Cyclones’ season, one obvious area stood out: defensive turnover percentage. Kansas coughed it up just nine times, and Cincinnati gave it away just eight. Both of those were the two lowest opposing turnover percentages of any Iowa State opponent this season. The Cyclones righted the ship against UCF, though, forcing 19 turnovers and turning them into 31 points. Joshua Jefferson also became the first Iowa State player to have two triple-doubles, posting 17 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the win against the Knights.
Purdue suffered its second loss of the season Tuesday, falling in the final seconds to UCLA. The Boilermakers led by 12 in the first half and held a six-point lead with under two minutes left in the second but allowed the Bruins to go on an 8-0 run to close the game out. While the offense hasn’t been firing on all cylinders the past couple of games — the Boilermakers scored just under one point per possession against USC, and Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer shot a combined 7-for-23 against UCLA — the defense really struggled against the Bruins, especially down the stretch. The Bruins shot 65.2% from the field and 62.5% from 3 after halftime, and they had a stretch spanning both halves when they missed just one of 12 shots. That has to tighten up in Purdue’s next game against Illinois, which entered Wednesday with the nation’s most efficient offense.
Illinois will be without starting guard Kylan Boswell for the next month after he suffered a fractured hand earlier this week. In the Illini’s first game without him, Brad Underwood opted for a bigger starting lineup, using 3-point specialist Jake Davis in Boswell’s place. Davis responded with 12 points and four 3s in his first start, while freshman Keaton Wagler (8 assists) continued to excel as the team’s primary playmaker at 6-foot-6. Saturday’s matchup against Purdue will feature the two best offenses at KenPom.