AP men’s college basketball Top 25 poll breakdownplayMorez Johnson Jr. rocks an alley-oop slam for Michigan (0:22)Morez Johnson Jr. rocks an alley-oop slam for Michigan (0:22)ESPNMultiple AuthorsFeb 16, 2026, 01:20 PM ET
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The Arizona Wildcats enjoyed a nine-week run atop the AP Top 25 — then came back-to-back losses at Kansas and against Texas Tech.
Now the Michigan Wolverines take over, riding 10 straight wins to their first No. 1 ranking of the season — just in time for big matchups at Purdue (Tuesday) and against Duke in Washington D.C. (Saturday).
Below is the full edition of the just in AP poll, featuring a stat to know and what’s next for each team.
All times Eastern. All stats courtesy of ESPN Research unless otherwise noted.
Previous polls: Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
1. Michigan Wolverines
Previous ranking: 2
2025-26 record: 24-1
Stat to know: Michigan notched its 10th 30-point win with its victory over UCLA on Saturday — the most in Division I. It was also the Wolverines’ 20th double-digit win of the campaign.
What’s next: Tuesday at Purdue, 6:30 p.m., Peacock
2. Houston Cougars
Previous ranking: 3
2025-26 record: 23-2
Stat to know: Houston is on a six-game win streak, adding its 18th straight home victory with Saturday’s win over Kansas State.
What’s next: Monday at Iowa State, 9 p.m., ESPN
3. Duke Blue Devils
Previous ranking: 4
2025-26 record: 21-2
Stat to know: Duke notched its 29th straight home win with Saturday’s victory over Clemson, joining Miami (Ohio) and Akron for longest active home win streak in Division I.
What’s next: Monday vs. Syracuse, 7 p.m., ESPN
4. Arizona Wildcats
Previous ranking: 1
2025-26 record: 23-2
Stat to know: Arizona became the third Division I team in the past 40 years to lose consecutive games immediately following a 20-0 or better start, joining this season’s Nebraska team (started 20-0) and 2013-14 Syracuse (started 25-0).
What’s next: Wednesday vs. BYU, 9 p.m., ESPN
5. UConn Huskies
Previous ranking: 6
2025-26 record: 24-2
Stat to know: Alex Karaban upped his career 3-point total to 264, putting him within striking distance of surpassing Christian Vital (265) and Rashad Anderson (276) for the most in program history.
What’s next: Wednesday vs. Creighton, 7 p.m., TNT/HBO Max
6. Iowa State Cyclones
Previous ranking: 5
2025-26 record: 22-3
Stat to know: Iowa State snapped Kansas’ eight-game win streak with the Cyclones’ biggest victory against the Jayhawks since 1973.
What’s next: Monday vs. Houston, 9 p.m., ESPN
7. Purdue Boilermakers
Previous ranking: 13
2025-26 record: 21-4
Stat to know: Braden Smith notched his 12th game with 10 or more assists this season with his 12-assist effort in Saturday’s win over Iowa and now sits sixth on the all-time career assists list for Division I with 980.
What’s next: Tuesday vs. Michigan, 6:30 p.m., Peacock
8. Kansas Jayhawks
Previous ranking: 9
2025-26 record: 18-5
Stat to know: Flory Bidunga recorded his ninth double-double of the season while Melvin Council Jr. had his third game with 20 or more points en route to Kansas’ upset of Arizona last Monday.
What’s next: Wednesday at Oklahoma State, 9 p.m., Peacock
9. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Previous ranking: 7
2025-26 record: 22-3
Stat to know: Pryce Sandfort recorded his 11th 20-point game on Saturday with 29 points against Northwestern.
What’s next: Tuesday at Iowa, 9 p.m., Big Ten Network
10. Illinois Fighting Illini
Previous ranking: 8
2025-26 record: 21-5
Stat to know: With his 25 points against Indiana on Saturday, David Mirkovic joined Keaton Wagler as the first Illinois freshmen in the last 25 years to record multiple 25-point games in a season.
What’s next: Wednesday at USC, 10 p.m., Big Ten Network
11. Gonzaga Bulldogs
Previous ranking: 12
2025-26 record: 25-2
Stat to know: Graham Ike recorded his WCC-leading 13th double-double of season in Saturday’s win over Santa Clara, passing Drew Timme for the most games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds (16) by a Gonzaga player in the last 30 seasons.
What’s next: Wednesday at San Francisco, 11 p.m., ESPN2
12. Florida Gators
Previous ranking: 14
2025-26 record: 19-6
Stat to know: Rueben Chinyelu had his SEC-leading 15th double-double of the season in Saturday’s win over Kentucky — Florida’s first home victory against the Wildcats since 2018.
What’s next: Tuesday vs. South Carolina, 7 p.m., SEC Network
13. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Previous ranking: 16
2025-26 record: 19-6
Stat to know: JT Toppin joined former North Carolina star Luke Maye as the only players in AP poll history (since 1948-49) to have a 30-point double-double in a road win over the AP No. 1 team with a 31-point, 13-rebound effort against Arizona on Saturday.
What’s next: Tuesday at Arizona State, 11 p.m., ESPN2
14. Virginia Cavaliers
Previous ranking: 15
2025-26 record: 22-3
Stat to know: Virginia is off to its best start through 25 games since 2018-19, when it opened that campaign 23-2 before going on to win that season’s national championship.
What’s next: Wednesday at Georgia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
15. Michigan State Spartans
Previous ranking: 10
2025-26 record: 20-5
Stat to know: Michigan State’s 21-point loss to Wisconsin on Friday was its largest since Feb. 22, 2022 (26-point loss at No. 25 Iowa). It was also the Spartans’ fourth-largest loss as a top-10 team in the AP poll era (since 1948-49).
What’s next: Tuesday vs. UCLA, 8:30 p.m., Peacock
16. North Carolina Tar Heels
Previous ranking: 11
2025-26 record: 20-5
Stat to know: In their first game since losing Caleb Wilson to a fractured hand, four Tar Heel players recorded at least 15 points for the second time this season: Seth Trimble (19), Jarin Stevenson (19), Luka Bogavac (15) and Zayden High (15).
What’s next: Tuesday at NC State, 7 p.m., ESPN
17. St. John’s Red Storm
Previous ranking: 17
2025-26 record: 20-5
Stat to know: After recording its 11th straight win with Saturday’s victory over Providence, St. John’s is now tied with Winthrop and Stephen F. Austin for the fourth-longest active streak in Division I behind Miami (Ohio) with 25, Saint Louis with 18 and Liberty with 15.
What’s next: Wednesday at Marquette, 9 p.m., TNT
18. Saint Louis Billikens
Previous ranking: 18
2025-26 record: 24-1
Stat to know: Saint Louis’ 18 straight wins represent the second-longest active streak in Division I this season — and just one short of the program record (19) set in 2013-14.
What’s next: Tuesday at Rhode Island, 7 p.m., ESPN+
19. Vanderbilt Commodores
Previous ranking: 19
2025-26 record: 21-4
Stat to know: Vanderbilt’s 21 wins surpass last season’s win total (20-13) and are tied for the program’s most wins in a 25-game span since 2007-08.
What’s next: Wednesday at Missouri, 9 p.m., SEC Network
20. Arkansas Razorbacks
Previous ranking: 21
2025-26 record: 19-6
Stat to know: Darius Acuff Jr. became the first SEC freshman to reach 500 points and 150 assists in a season since 2017-18, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did it at Kentucky and Tremont Waters did it at LSU.
What’s next: Wednedsday at Alabama, 7 p.m., ESPN
21. Louisville Cardinals
Previous ranking: 24
2025-26 record: 19-6
Stat to know: Mikel Brown Jr.’s 74 points over the last two games are the most in a two-game span by any ACC player since Jerome Robinson had 75 for Boston College in February 2018.
What’s next: Tuesday at SMU, 7 p.m., ESPN2
22. Miami (Ohio) RedHawks
Previous ranking: 23
2025-26 record: 25-0
Stat to know: The only unbeaten team in Division I, Miami (Ohio) leads the nation in scoring with 92.6 points per game.
What’s next: Tuesday at Massacusetts, 7 p.m., ESPN+
23. BYU Cougars
Previous ranking: 22
2025-26 record: 19-6
Stat to know: With Richie Saunders sidelined for the season with an ACL tear, Robert Wright III finished with a career-high 39 points in Saturday’s overtime victory against Colorado — just one game after setting a previous career-high 30 points at Baylor (his previous school).
What’s next: Wednesday at Arizona, 9 p.m., ESPN
24. Wisconsin Badgers
Previous ranking: Unranked
2025-26 record: 18-7
Stat to know: Wisconsin’s 21-point win over Michigan State on Friday was its largest against an AP top-10 opponent in program history — and third victory against an AP top-10 opponents this season, the most in Division I.
What’s next: Tuesday at Ohio State, 8:30 p.m., FS1
25. Alabama Crimson Tide
Previous ranking: Unranked
2025-26 record: 18-7
Stat to know: Latrell Wrightsell became the third player in Division I to score 21 or more points in multiple games this season.
What’s next: Wednesday vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m., ESPN
