Jeff BorzelloFeb 26, 2026, 08:00 AM ETClose Basketball recruiting insider. Joined ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.Follow on XMultiple Authors
play1:17Arizona Wildcats vs. Baylor Bears: Game HighlightsArizona Wildcats vs. Baylor Bears: Game Highlights
play1:19Florida Gators vs. Texas Longhorns: Game HighlightsFlorida Gators vs. Texas Longhorns: Game Highlights
play1:17Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: Game HighlightsMississippi State Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: Game Highlights
Cameron Boozer tallies a double-double in Duke’s win (1:05)Cameron Boozer scores 24 points and grabs 13 rebounds in Duke’s rout over Notre Dame. (1:05)
Arizona Wildcats vs. Baylor Bears: Game HighlightsArizona Wildcats vs. Baylor Bears: Game Highlights
Florida Gators vs. Texas Longhorns: Game HighlightsFlorida Gators vs. Texas Longhorns: Game Highlights
Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: Game HighlightsMississippi State Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: Game Highlights
play0:13Pryce Sandfort drops in the smooth basketPryce Sandfort drops in the smooth basket.
For a team with the cachet of Duke, it’s a testament to the strength of this season’s contenders that it took this long for the Blue Devils to rise to No. 1 in the AP poll and these Power Rankings.
(Of course, it helps that they have National Player of the Year favorite Cameron Boozer leading the way.)
The question now becomes: Can any team pass Duke — or do the Blue Devils have the inside track to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament?
They have three games to go: vs. Virginia, at NC State and vs. North Carolina. Three top-30-caliber opponents; three chances to improve their 1-seed profile. They are first in the NET, third in average résumé metrics and second in average predictive metrics. And they are tied with Arizona with 12 Quadrant 1 wins.
The Blue Devils would have to lose in order to lose their position, and with less than three weeks until Selection Sunday, they have the edge moving forward.
Scheyer also became the first head coach in ACC history with multiple 40-point road wins against ACC opponents when Duke beat Notre Dame by 44 on Tuesday.
Tarris Reed Jr. was the best player on the floor in both games, particularly against St. John’s, finishing with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, six blocks and two steals. According to ESPN Research, he became just the third UConn player in the past 30 seasons to post over 20 points, 10-plus rebounds and five-plus blocks against a ranked opponent.
Florida’s winning streak was at risk in Austin on Wednesday, with Texas taking a three-point lead with 7:27 remaining — but the Longhorns didn’t make another shot.
Alex Condon again led the way for the Gators: He finished with 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and four blocks, going 10-for-12 from the field. That performance came after going for 24 points, four rebounds and six assists on 9-for-13 shooting in a win over Ole Miss over the weekend. That followed a 20-point, 10-rebound effort against South Carolina last week. Before this three-game stretch, Condon had scored 20 points just four times all season.
Florida Gators vs. Texas Longhorns: Game Highlights
Florida Gators vs. Texas Longhorns: Game Highlights
Pryce Sandfort drops in the smooth basketPryce Sandfort drops in the smooth basket.
Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: Game Highlights
Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: Game Highlights
Jon Scheyer isn’t getting enough credit for the coaching job he’s done this season, with limited buzz for National Coach of the Year honors. Sure, it’s Duke, and he has the best player in the country headlining the No. 1 recruiting class. But the Blue Devils are the No. 1 team with just two losses all season, with both coming in the final seconds. They were picked outside the top five in the preseason. They aren’t nearly as talented as last year’s roster yet are on track to be the No. 1 overall seed on Selection Sunday — something last year’s team didn’t accomplish.
Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries might not put up the stats of some of the other elite guards around the country, but there are very few players Tommy Lloyd would rather have late in games than the two backcourt stars. Bradley is one of the most clutch players in the country, while Burries’ late-game performance against Baylor was one of the more impressive stretches we’ve seen from any freshman guard this season. The two players combined for 26 points and seven assists in the second half against the Bears, finishing with 49 points and 10 assists. That came after Bradley went for 17 points against Houston and Burries hit a slew of clutch free throws.
While most of the focus has been on the frontcourt, the Wolverines’ guards are starting to look like the catalyst for their success moving forward. Take the past three games, for example. Against Purdue, Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney and L.J. Cason combined for 43 points and seven 3s. Against Duke, the three guards totaled only 17 points and two 3-pointers. And against Minnesota on Tuesday, the trio went for 41 points and 11 3-pointers. It’s easy to deduce which game Michigan lost of those three. Dusty May needs his guards to play well — and make shots.
While Killyan Toure has emerged as the breakout freshman for the Cyclones, TJ Otzelberger is beginning to get consistent production from another first-year player. Jamarion Batemon was generating significant buzz in the offseason, but his role fluctuated during the first couple months of the season. Over the past four games, though, he has hit double figures three times while making multiple 3-pointers in three of the games. He had 11 points and three 3s against Kansas, 14 points in a loss to BYU and 13 points in Tuesday’s win over Utah.
While Purdue’s loss to Michigan came in its highest profile game of the month, impacting perceptions of the Boilermakers’ ceiling, the team is playing some of its best offensive basketball over the past couple weeks. On Feb. 1, the Boilermakers scored 1.45 points per possession against Maryland. On Feb. 14, they scored 1.35 points per possession against Iowa. And on Friday against Indiana, they scored 1.47 points per possession. Against the Hoosiers, Purdue shot 70% on 2s, 56% on 3s and had 24 assists on 33 made shots. It was remarkably efficient offense.
Houston is in the midst of its first three-game losing streak in nine seasons, and while its defense — specifically its inability to force turnovers against Iowa State and Arizona — is partially to blame, the Cougars’ shotmakers are becoming an issue. Since the Cougars don’t have a reliable inside scorer in the mold of what J’Wan Roberts had been for the previous three seasons, there’s more pressure on Kingston Flemings, Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan to carry the offense. Flemings is shooting just 34.7% over his past five games; Sharp is shooting 21.9% during the losing streak; and Uzan is averaging 9.3 points on 38.5% in his past six games.
Illinois has lost three of its past five games, with all three coming in overtime. Only one of the Illini’s six losses this season has come by more than four points. The problem hasn’t been their offense; it’s a defense that allowed at least 1.19 points per possession in each of their three losses this month. Over that recent five-game stretch, their defense is ranked No. 60 in adjusted efficiency at advanced analytics site BartTorvik, with teams shooting better than 36% from 3 over that span. In their six losses, opponents have made an average of 11.5 3s.
It’s not often a team has a 29-point swing in back-to-back games against Cincinnati and Houston, but that’s what Kansas did over the past week. The Jayhawks were steamrolled by the Bearcats in the second half on Saturday but turned around to hand Houston its third straight loss on Monday. Kansas’ defense was fantastic against Houston, holding it to 0.86 points per possession and limiting it to 5-for-24 shooting from the perimeter. In the Jayhawks’ seven losses, their defense is ranked No. 208 nationally at CBB Analytics, shooting nearly 57% from inside the arc.
Since returning from a three-game absence due to an ankle injury, Graham Ike has been playing some of the best basketball of his college career. In his eight games since returning, Ike is averaging 23.9 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 58.5% from the field and 37.9% from 3-point range. He made three 3-pointers twice during that span, which is notable given he made six total 3s in his first 78 college games. The Zags also avenged their lone WCC loss this season with a 41-point win over Portland on Wednesday, when Ike had 19 points, eight boards and a career-high seven steals.
Nebraska has righted the ship over the past two games, beating Penn State and Maryland after losing four of its previous six. There are a couple headlines for the recent stretch. One, the Cornhuskers have tightened things defensively. They allowed at least 1.05 points per possession three times in a four-game stretch between Jan. 27 and Feb. 10. They haven’t allowed any opponent to score more than 0.96 since then, with their past four opponents averaging 57.8 points. The other is Pryce Sandfort, who had 33 points against Penn State and is averaging 20.8 points and shooting 42.4% from 3 in his past 12 games.
Michigan State has bounced back after a 1-3 stretch between the end of January and early February, blowing out UCLA and then coming back down the stretch to beat Ohio State on Sunday. Carson Cooper’s return to form could be key for Tom Izzo. After failing to score in double figures in any of the aforementioned four-game stretch, Cooper had 12 points and seven boards against UCLA before finishing with a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds on 7-for-10 shooting in the win over Ohio State. He is averaging 11.1 points in Michigan State’s wins this season, compared to just 6.8 in its losses.
Texas Tech had its first two full games without JT Toppin this week, and the Red Raiders dispatched Kansas State and Cincinnati with relative ease. While Christian Anderson was already one of the highest-usage guards in the country before Toppin’s injury, Tech is going to go as far as its All-American point guard can carry it. In the two games since Toppin’s injury, Anderson is averaging 26.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists, while shooting 59.3% from the field and 42.9% from 3. A date with Iowa State’s elite perimeter defenders is up next.