Big 12 Men's Basketball Power Rankings: Week 17 - Houston Widens The Gap

Looking at where each men's basketball team sits in the Big 12 Conference.

Barry Lewis | Feb 27, 2025

Feb 22, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars forward Joseph Tugler (11) reacts after Iowa State Cyclones turned the ball over in the first half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

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TCU Horned Frogs

Disclaimer: The rankings below are for the games played through Sunday, February 23. Midweek games played since Sunday will be reflected on next week’s Power Rankings.

With just three games left in the regular season, one thing is for certain - the Houston Cougars (24-4, 16-1) are the top team in the conference this season. That was clearly reflected by our voters this week in our Big 12 Men's Basketball Power Rankings. Not only did they maintain their first-place standing, they created a huge separation between them and the rest of the top teams.

Texas Tech jumped up to the No. 2 spot—however, only seven points separate Tech, Iowa State, and Arizona. By comparison, Houston has a 32-point advantage over the Red Raiders. On the other end of the spectrum, Colorado remains at No. 16, a spot they have occupied all season long.

This week's rankings showed a lot of movement compared to last week's. Ten teams remained in the same position for Week 15, while this week, only six teams held steady, while ten teams made some movements.

How Power Rankings Are Determined

We have brought together a group from across the league to vote on the Big 12 Power Rankings each week during the season.

Approximately 20 Total Participants
TCU Horned Frogs On SI Editorial Staff (9) - this represents about half of our staff
One to two fans from many of the Big 12 current schools (11); we are still searching for volunteers from the schools not represented to participate each week.

Each week, each participant provides their rankings 1-16. Those rankings are compiled, and the average rank is then listed below. For the most part, our voters are not considering this week's midweek games. However, some may have considered those games depending on when their votes were submitted.

Here's where our panel of voters ranked the teams this week:

2025 Big 12 Men's Basketball Power Rankings – Week 17 (week of February 23)

Here are our Week 17 Big 12 Men's Basketball Power Rankings, as voted on by our group of sports journalists and fans representing many of the 16 teams in the conference. What did this week tell us? It told us it was Houston and everyone else. Teams will continue to jockey for position as the regular season winds down over the next couple of weeks.

Week 17 Power Rankings Highlights

Houston remained at No. 1 for the sixth consecutive week.
No other team received first-place votes this week.
Colorado remained the No. 16 team in our Power Rankings.
Oklahoma State also received last-place votes.
Texas Tech jumped the highest this week, moving up two spots. Other teams that moved up one spot week over week include Cincinnati, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Utah.
Kansas State dropped further than any other team, moving down three spots this week. Arizona fell two spots, and Arizona State and Baylor each fell one spot.
Six teams remained the same as last week: BYU, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, UCF, and West Virginia.
This week, four teams had six or more spots between their highest and lowest ranking: Kansas State (7), TCU (7), UCF (7), and West Virginia (8).
Houston had the lowest fluctuation (0) between their highest and lowest rankings.

(Team records and AP Top 25 rank are as of 2/23/25; games since then were not considered when voters made their selection)

16. Colorado (11-16, 2-14)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 16
Highest Ranking: #15
Lowest Ranking: #16
Last Week: Lost at #8 Iowa State 65-79; Beat Baylor 76-74

15. Arizona State (13-14, 4-12)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 14
Highest Ranking: #10
Lowest Ranking: #15
Last Week: Lost to #5 Houston 65-80; Beat Kansas State 66-54

14. Oklahoma State (13-14, 5-11)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 15
Highest Ranking: #13
Lowest Ranking: #16
Last Week: Lost at TCU 72-73; Lost to #12 Texas Tech 55-93

13. UCF (14-13, 5-11)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 13
Highest Ranking: #8
Lowest Ranking: #15
Last Week: Lost at Oklahoma State 95-104; Beat Utah 76-72

12. Kansas State (13-14, 7-9)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 9
Highest Ranking: #7
Lowest Ranking: #14
Last Week: Lost at Utah 69-74; Lost to Arizona State 54-66

11. Cincinnati (16-11, 6-10)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 12
Highest Ranking: #8
Lowest Ranking: #12
Last Week: Lost at West Virginia 59-62; Beat TCU 75-63

10. Utah (15-12, 7-9)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 11
Highest Ranking: #9
Lowest Ranking: #12
Last Week: Beat Kansas State 69-74; Lost at UCF 72-76

9. TCU (15-12, 8-8)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 10
Highest Ranking: #7
Lowest Ranking: #14
Last Week: Beat #9 Texas Tech 69-66; Lost at Cincinnati 63-75

8. West Virginia (16-11, 7-9)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 8
Highest Ranking: #3
Lowest Ranking: #11
Last Week: Beat Cincinnati 59-62; Lost at #9 Texas Tech 51-73

7. Baylor (16-11, 8-8)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 6
Highest Ranking: #4
Lowest Ranking: #9
Last Week: Lost to #19 Arizona 67-74; Lost at Colorado 74-76

6. #23 Kansas (18-9, 9-7)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 7
Highest Ranking: #5
Lowest Ranking: #9
Last Week: Lost at BYU 57-91; Beat Oklahoma State 96-64

5. BYU (19-8, 10-6)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 5
Highest Ranking: #4
Lowest Ranking: #6
Last Week: Beat #23 Kansas 91-57; Beat #19 Arizona 96-95

4. #19 Arizona (18-9, 12-4)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 2
Highest Ranking: #2
Lowest Ranking: #5
Last Week: Beat Baylor 74-67; Lost to BYU 95-96

3. #8 Iowa State (21-6, 11-5)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 3
Highest Ranking: #2
Lowest Ranking: #5
Last Week: Beat Colorado 79-65; Lost at #5 Houston 59-68

2. #9 Texas Tech (21-6, 12-4)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 4
Highest Ranking: #2
Lowest Ranking: #7
Last Week: Lost at TCU 66-69; Beat West Virginia 73-51

1. #5 Houston (23-4, 15-1)

Last Week's Power Ranking: 1
Highest Ranking: #1
Lowest Ranking: #1
Last Week: Beat Arizona State 80-65; Beat #8 Iowa State 68-59

Note: Power Rankings are determined by a group of fans representing most schools in the Big 12 Conference.

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