Nonconference play in college basketball wrapped up across the country this week as the 2024 calendar year came to a close, which serves as a perfect prompting point to reset the table in the power rankings as we shift our focus toward the 2025 calendar year and conference play.
That couldn’t come at a better time after the top of the sport leveled off of late — with Auburn, Tennessee, Iowa State, UConn and Florida in some order consistently popping at or near the top. And with conference action kicking into gear, I’d expect the power rankings will begin to fluctuate more week to week as competition toughens.
For now, though, in our first look at the landscape of 2025, it’s crystal clear: Auburn and Tennessee are No. 1 and No. 2 in the final power rankings of the nonconference portion of the season. Not only have they been the best all season, they’ve been the best of late, too. And the former weighs more heavily than the latter since this is a power rankings and not Gary Parrish’s Top 25 And 1.
That means after the wacky week that was, where recent results are prioritized, we’ve got some fresh new teams in our midst.
There’s much to unpack here, so let’s dive in with the rankings 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.
College Basketball Power Rankings
