College Basketball Couch Power 10 (Feb. 23rd)
- 3 days ago
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On a Saturday that very well could have given us two Final Four previews, Duke rode Cameron Boozer and a friendly whistle to a huge win over top-tanked Michigan in the nation's capital.
It's hard to believe, perhaps in large part because this is just the third Power 10 of the 2025-26 college basketball season, but this is also the last Power 10 before March! Yes, you read that correctly. The next time you hear from me, the calendar will have flipped over to the 3rd month of the year, the ONLY month of the year in which college basketball truly takes center stage: sweet, glorious March. We're almost home.
And you would think that as we enter the second-to-last week of the regular season, the carousel is mostly coming to an end, and everyone is sort of settling into their respective tiers. And yet...that's hardly what we can say is happening. Indeed, 18, yes, EIGHTEEN ranked teams lost last week, and 11 of them to unranked opponents! But beloveds, that's why this sports' postseason is nicknamed March Madness and not March Mundanity. The craziness never stops! The very night I published my Power 10 last week, in which I crowned Houston the 4th 1-seed in "the tournament according to The Couch," the Cougars fell on the road to Iowa State, and then pulled an Arizona by following that up with a home loss over the weekend to...well, Arizona. I made a big stink about making Texas Tech the first 6-loss team in the Power 10 this season, and then they repaid me by losing to unranked Arizona State. But they could take solace in the fact that they were one of just 6 teams to lose to unranked opponents on a night many people are calling Tumultuous Tuesday. Top-ranked Michigan avoided the curse that same night, instead notching a mammoth win to boost their postseason credentials with a road victory at Purdue. However, in the game of the week (and one of the most anticipated games of the season) on Saturday, the Wolverines laid an egg, losing to # 3 Duke in a late-season non-conference clash in Washington, D.C. It wasn't quite Tumultous Tuesday, but Wacky Wednesday served up its own small helping of chaos with two more Top 10 teams losing to unranked opponents, and 'Zona getting back to winning ways with a big win over BYU...the same BYU who would go on to dominate Iowa State on Saturday (yes, the same Iowa State who beat Houston earlier). Madness!!
True to form for the last few years in college basketball, it's been a wild and unpredictable season. Despite this, I’ll try my hand at ranking the top teams based on what they’ve done to date:
1. Arizona
The interesting dynamic atop the rankings is that not only is there a clear Top 3 teams in the country at this point, but each one has a unique argument for being # 1. Arizona technically has the weakest strength of record of the 3, but my argument for putting them top is this: they have the same "eye test" appeal Michigan has, spending the better part of this season completely smokin' fools, and their key wins and losses compare favorably to the other two as well, even if their schedule strength is ranked lower. Both losses came in the same week in which the Wildcats were missing their star PG, and to two Top 15 teams, the latter of whom has also beaten Duke. And I would even go further to say the combination of this weekend's road win at Houston and the early-season road win at UConn outweigh the best wins from either of their 1-seed peers, too.
2. Duke
I promise I'm not just being a hater (or more specifically, a Carolina fan) when I say this: of the "Big 3," I remain the least convinced of Duke as an elite team. They have looked the part at times, but this still mostly feels like the Cameron Boozer Show featuring the occasional outbreak from a teammate or two. That said, their body of work speaks for itself. A wide array of impressive ranked wins, two losses by a combined 5 points (and in two games in which they held double-digit 2nd-half leads), and now, a head-to-head win over # 1 Michigan on a neutral floor.
3. Michigan
Michigan's strength of record still dwarfs that of Arizona's and Duke's, and last week's road win at a different Top 10 team (and the top-ranked preseason) shows they're still every ounce capable of beating the best of the best. That said, I can't in good conscience rank them ahead of a team with the same record who just outdueled them head-to-head. That result doesn't mean Duke is definitively a better team than them-- anything can happen in a one-off, after all --but the game was an enormous opportunity for one of those teams to announce to the nation that they're the frontrunner, and Duke took the opportunity while Michigan didn't.
4. Connecticut
The Huskies' form had dropped off in recent weeks, even if the results largely hadn't, and finally the results caught up with them as they suffered a bad loss at home to a Creighton team likely to miss the tournament. The good news for Dan Hurley's squad is that they bounced back well with a road win over the weekend at likely tournament team Villanova, and they still own a sterling record against a Top 15-ranked schedule. UConn has a chance to avenge one of their losses on Wednesday night as they host Rick Pitino and St. John's.
5. Iowa State
I mentioned last week that Iowa State is a very good, very tough, but clearly flawed team and their results tend to epitomize that. Well, the very night I published those words, they defeated the # 2 team and defending runners-up in the country on their home floor...and then 5 days later, got stomped by AJ Dybantsa and BYU on the road. Each of the Cyclones' 4 losses have come away from home, which may spell trouble for the penultimate game of the season, a visit to Arizona. But with the game and home contests vs. a Top 15 Texas Tech team and an Arizona State team on the bubble, there are plenty of chances left for Iowa State to impress the committee and jostle for a 1-seed in the tournament.
6. Houston
Similar to the Michigan and Duke conundrum, I still believe in my heart of hearts that Houston is a better team than Iowa State...but I'm not going to rank the Cougars ahead of a team with an identical record that just beat them head-to-head. After just 1 loss in nearly 3 months, Houston had an 0-2 week, and is in real danger of a 3-game slide with a road trip to a hostile Kansas environment later tonight. A win would be a huge turnaround point for Kelvin Sampson's crew, of course, but a loss doesn't spell doom; even in that case, Houston is poised for a Top 3 seed in the all-important Big 12 tournament and a battle for the remaining 1-seed.
7. Gonzaga
Mark Few has made Gonzaga perennial contenders at this point, but the perennial question surrounding is "...but is this team, you know, actually good?" Such is life when you play in the West Coast Conference, which typically doesn't boast more than 1 ranked team at a time. Sure enough, Zaga is in the same spot again, through little fault of their own; their non-conference slate included six teams that were ranked at the time, but all but two of those six opponents have turned out to be fringe tournament teams rather than contenders, and one of the two exceptions (Michigan) beat them by 40 points. They've cruised through most of their conference slate, but the lone exception was one of the biggest upsets of the season, a loss to 21-point underdogs Portland. Still, with the second-best record in college basketball and a mostly clean slate against solid-to-good opponents, the Bulldogs could again be a force to be reckoned with in March.
8. Purdue
Purdue's frustratingly inconsistent season continued last week, as the preseason favorites failed to take advantage of their biggest big win opportunity of the season and lost comprehensively to top-ranked Michigan at home. However, the Boilermakers didn't let the Wolverines beat them twice, and avenged one of their losses in a 30-point romp over rivals Indiana. Purdue clearly are not the elite team most everyone expected them to be, but they're not a far cry from it. There's a reason they still own a Top 5 resume-- they have as many wins over ranked teams as they do losses on the season.
9. Florida
Last week, I made a big to-do about allowing a team with 6 losses into my Power 10, and then that team immediately crashed out. I'm replacing them with another 6-loss team, now, so let's see if the reigning national champions can stick around a little longer than Texas Tech. Florida started the season falling a bit off the radar, as a brutal non-conference stretch saw them upset by plucky TCU on the road, and dropping decisions to Arizona, Duke and UConn in quick succession. Since then, though, they've quietly been in terrific form and starting to resemble the level they reached last year in their title run. Their lone loss in the calendar year 2026 came a month ago at home to Auburn, a game that looks more and more like an aberration as the Gators continue to tear through the SEC. The conference isn't nearly as strong as it was last year when it boasted two 1-seed, Final Four teams, but the fact that a weaker version of this Florida side only lost to those three powerhouses early on by a combined 10 points speaks to the fact this team really could be a title threat yet again.
10. Miami (Ohio)
Miami of Ohio kept their perfect season alive with two wins last week, one on the road at UMass, and a blowout at home vs. Bowling Green. Yes, their schedule's a joke!! Who cares!! They're 27-0!!! It's Miami-Ohio!! It's fun!! It's almost March!!!
Just missed: Michigan State, Nebraska, Virginia, Alabama, Illinois, Estonian legend Henri Veesaar
BONUS!
Couch Regional Seeding
WEST (San Jose):
1. Arizona
2. Gonzaga
3. Nebraska
4. Illinois
EAST (Washington, D.C.):
1. Duke
2. Purdue
3. Miami (Ohio)
4. Virginia
MIDWEST (Chicago):
1. Michigan
2. Iowa State
3. Michigan State
4. Kansas
SOUTH (Houston):
1. Connecticut
2. Houston
3. Florida
4. Alabama
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