2026–27 season

The teams that work
for every possession.

CBB ranks college basketball on how games are actually won: efficient offense, real defense, second chances off the glass and the turnover battle, every number adjusted for who a team played. Our own box-score formula is weighed against the established preseason rankings from KenPom, Torvik and ESPN, so the Top 25 agrees with the experts where the evidence is strong and breaks from them where our numbers see something they don’t.

The season is underway. Real 2026–27 numbers from the NCAA’s official stats now count alongside the preseason projection, and take over more each week as teams play more games.

Alongside it are a shot chart for every team and player from 2025–26, and Live Wire, the day’s college basketball news from ESPN and CBS Sports, running across the top of every page.

See the Top 25

638,605 shots charted · 6,262 games · 4,944 players

Top 25, 2026-27 preseasonFull page

Our box-score formula blended with the KenPom, Torvik and ESPN preseason rankings. How it works has the weights.

Live: moved by 211 final scores so far, up to 2 per team. Only finished games count. Re-ranked every hour on game days.

#TeamScoreOffOREB%TO +/-3P%Def
1Duke1-0 · ACCElite defenseAdds John Blackwell (Wisconsin), Drew Scharnowski (Belmont), Jacob Theodosiou (Loyola Maryland)+2.19127.710151.575+21.31216.734956.822
2Florida1-0 · SECElite defenseAdds Denzel Aberdeen (Kentucky)+2.17127.310446.4111+6.312439.39874.683
3Illinois1-0 · Big TenElite offenseAdds Stefan Vaaks (Providence)+1.89168.4468.87+12.27340.68239.02
4Houston1-0 · Big 12Elite defenseAdds Delrecco Gillespie (Kent State), Corey Hadnot II (Purdue Fort Wayne), Chendall Weaver (Texas)+1.76138.65158.438+13.85835.315959.332
5Michigan State1-0 · Big TenAdds Anton Bonke (Charlotte)+1.72143.83463.818+11.18243.45559.333
6Arizona0-1 · Big 12Elite defenseAdds RJ Godfrey (Clemson), Derek Dixon (North Carolina), Evan Otten (Idaho State)+1.71117.815940.2167+1.218923.931798.5180
7UCLA1-0 · Big TenAdds Jaylen Petty (Texas Tech), Filip Jovic (Auburn), Sergej Macura (Mississippi State)+1.65126.111147.2106+11.08338.410878.0100
8Gonzaga1-0 · Pac-12Elite defenseAdds Javon Bennett (Dayton), Massamba Diop (Arizona State), Xaivian Lee (Florida)+1.64123.612744.4127+0.919739.69594.4166
9Kansas1-0 · Big 12Adds Leroy Blyden Jr. (Toledo), Trey Kaufman-Renn (Purdue), Keanu Dawes (Utah)+1.63137.95568.59+5.113536.912570.766
10Iowa State0-1 · Big 12Wins the marginsAdds Leon Bond III (Northern Iowa), Ryan Prather Jr. (Robert Morris), Jaquan Johnson (Bradley)+1.63123.712651.377+9.010221.332998.2178
11Alabama1-0 · SECAdds Drew Fielder (Boise State), Jamarion Davis-Fleming (Mississippi State), Brandon Garrison (Kentucky)+1.58122.713233.0239-0.322437.5121104.7207
12UConn1-0 · Big EastAdds Nils Machowski (Wofford), Jaye Nash (Jacksonville State), Nik Khamenia (Duke)+1.57143.13637.8195+13.36335.315855.621
13Michigan1-0 · Big TenElite defenseAdds Kenny Noland (Columbia), Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati), J.P. Estrella (Tennessee)+1.57126.111251.972+13.66024.531069.160
14Virginia1-0 · ACCAdds Jurian Dixon (UC Irvine), Christian Harmon (Arkansas State), Jan Vide (Loyola Marymount)+1.49115.217532.9240-1.023635.7150101.1192
15BYU1-0 · Big 12Adds Collin Chandler (Kentucky), Jaxon Kohler (Michigan State), Jake Wahlin (Clemson)+1.48154.61347.3104+11.87646.237108.8245
16Texas Tech1-0 · Big 12Adds Cruz Davis (Hofstra), Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (UNLV), Darrion Williams (NC State)+1.46120.614241.5150+25.0522.932344.54
17Nebraska1-0 · Big TenAdds Trevan Leonhardt (Utah Valley), Boden Kapke (Boston College), Damon Wilkinson (South Dakota State)+1.43154.11450.285+17.33351.31964.648
18Tennessee1-0 · SECAdds Juke Harris (Wake Forest), Tyler Lundblade (Belmont), Dai Dai Ames (California)+1.39117.516229.0300+1.019435.615299.7185
19Texas1-0 · SECAdds Elyjah Freeman (Auburn), David Punch (TCU), Isaiah Johnson (Colorado)+1.37171.9274.14+13.56148.33171.268
20Arkansas1-0 · SECAdds Jeremiah Wilkinson (Georgia), Cooper Bowser (Furman)+1.35122.713132.3250+2.915933.5191105.7219
21Louisville1-0 · ACCAdds De'Shayne Montgomery (Dayton), Flory Bidunga (Kansas), LJ Wells (Northern Kentucky)+1.35126.310951.774+17.13724.930182.3116
22St. John's1-0 · Big EastAdds Keyshawn Hall (Auburn), Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor), Reed Bailey (Indiana)+1.33130.88641.5149+10.78735.216174.682
23McNeese1-0 · SouthlandWins the marginsAdds Corey Chest (Ole Miss), Dellquan Warren (Mississippi State), Alier Maluk (Florida State)+1.30155.31051.179+9.29748.430104.5205
24Purdue0-1 · Big TenElite offense+1.27119.214834.7222+6.012828.626890.7148
25Vanderbilt1-0 · SECAdds Sebastian Williams-Adams (Auburn), Ace Glass (Washington State), Bangot Dak (Colorado)+1.27145.03154.559+18.32833.918349.412

Honorable mentions

  1. Miami +1.27
  2. Iowa +1.18
  3. Kentucky +1.18
  4. Utah State +1.16
  5. Indiana +1.16
  6. TCU +1.13
  7. New Mexico +1.13
  8. Santa Clara +1.13
  9. NC State +1.10
  10. Georgia +1.10

Projected 2026-27 numbers. The small figure under each stat is that team’s rank among all 364 Division I teams.