Just like everything else in college basketball, the pecking order of the top conferences seems to shuffle from year to year. With the constant churn of the transfer portal and a fresh round of coaching changes, this feels like the right moment to take stock of the Power 5. The goal: to predict which leagues are poised for the most success, whether by racking up tournament bids, producing true championship contenders or simply standing out in overall competitiveness.<\/p>\n
1. Southeastern Conference<\/b><\/p>\n
One consistency is the SEC\u2019s place atop the Power 5. After accumulating a record of 14 NCAA bids in 2025 (out of 16 SEC teams), the league\u2019s top teams have reloaded. Reigning champions, Florida\u00a0is back in contention with the No. 6 transfer class, while Kentucky came in just ahead at No. 5. Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas\u00a0are all likely preseason top-25 teams. As\u00a014 of the 16 schools sit in Bart Torvick\u2019s predicted top 50, depth and star power keep the league at No. 1.<\/p>\n
2. Big 12<\/b><\/p>\n
The Big 12 may not match the SEC\u2019s volume of bids, but the top of this conference is loaded. \u00a0Houston again has one of its best rosters under head coach Kelvin Sampson, while Brigham Young brings in a top-15\u00a0transfer class\u00a0and expected No. 1 draft pick\u00a0AJ Dybantsa. Texas Tech kept the 2025 Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin from their Elite Eight run. Also, Arizona and Iowa State project\u00a0as top-tier teams. This firepower makes the Big 12 dangerous.<\/p>\n
3. Big Ten<\/b><\/p>\n
The Big Ten impressed in March, with all eight of its tournament teams reaching the second round, matching the SEC\u2019s total.\u00a0They also match the SEC in the predictive rankings, notching 14 teams in Bart Torvick\u2019s top 50. Gary Parrish\u2019s \u201cTop 25 and 1\u201d features seven Big Ten teams, including two in the top 10.\u00a0If the predictions hold, the league has a strong argument for the No. 2 spot.<\/p>\n
4. Big East<\/b><\/p>\n
After a strong stretch, the Big East looks headed for a dip. Just four teams crack\u00a0Torvick\u2019s top 50, the lowest in the Power 5. Coaching changes at Villanova\u00a0and Xavier, plus limited portal success, leave most of the league scrambling. The exceptions are St John\u2019s, with the No. 1 transfer class in the nation, and UConn, returning a large portion of their 2025 squad. Both could be preseason top-five and are why the Big East ranks above the ACC.<\/p>\n
5. Atlantic Coast Conference<\/b><\/p>\n
The ACC has consistently fallen last in recent years. Once the sport\u2019s premier league, it now offers only a few serious contenders. Duke remains elite with Torvick\u2019s No. 2 ranking, and Louisville could be a real threat in March, but the rest of the league doesn\u2019t offer much. Until the depth improves, the ACC is secure here at the bottom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just like everything else in college basketball, the pecking order of the top conferences seems to shuffle from…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":271274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,1317,1337,1338,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-271273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-basketball","11":"tag-ncaabasketball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115303317886356545","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}