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The Calm Before the Madness
With football nearly finished, all eyes turn to college basketball and the road to March.
Hey Team 👋
With the CFP Championship in the books and the Super Bowl matchup set, football takes a brief back seat this week. Don’t worry: We’ll have your full Super Bowl preview ready next week. As the NFL season winds down, college hoops are heating up, and the madness is only about a month away.
Letter Rip!
< CBB >
Week 12 Men’s Basketball Rankings

Photo: Joe Loong / Wikicommons
We’ve reached the end of January, which can only mean one thing: Out with the old, and in with the new. While the NFL season will conclude with the Super Bowl next weekend, college basketball is barreling toward Selection Sunday. Conference play is in full swing, and we’re finding out what each team (and conference) is truly made of.
At this point in the season, only two teams remain undefeated: No. 1 Arizona and No. 24 Miami (Ohio). Meanwhile, the usual suspects round out the top 10, including UConn, Duke, Gonzaga and Houston.
College basketball offers a refreshing pivot from college football, thanks to its broader conference representation and endless potential for Cinderella stories. While the Big Ten and SEC usually account for most of the college football top 25, the Big 12 leads the charge in college hoops, along with representation from the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, WCC, Atlantic 10 and Mid-American. In the CFP, we all knew JMU’s run would likely end early. In college basketball, though, Miami (Ohio)’s undefeated start is turning heads, and it could signal the next great Cinderella story.
AP Top 25
Arizona (🟰)
UConn (🟰)
Michigan (🟰)
Duke (⬆️1)
Nebraska (⬆️2)
Gonzaga (⬆️2)
Michigan State (⬆️3)
Iowa State (⬆️1)
Illinois (⬆️2)
Houston (⬇️4)
Texas Tech (⬆️1)
Purdue (⬇️8)
BYU (🟰)
Kansas (⬆️5)
Arkansas (⬆️5)
North Carolina (⬆️6)
Virginia (⬇️3)
Vanderbilt (⬇️3)
Florida (⬇️3)
Louisville (⬆️3)
Saint Louis (⬆️3)
Clemson (⬇️4)
Alabama (⬇️6)
Miami (OH) (⬆️1)
St. John’s (previously unranked)
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