Top 25 Mid-Majors: Saint Mary's Returns to No. 1
Saint Mary’s, UC San Diego, and Utah State keep winning. Check out the latest mid-major rankings as we near Selection Sunday.
We are now just weeks away from Selection Sunday, while conference tournaments start within the next two weeks. As we approach the end of the regular season, everything is about conference tournament seedings for our schools outside of the power conferences. This week, Saint Mary’s clinched their second consecutive West Coast Conference title, UC San Diego continuef to win, Utah State picked up a huge win over San Diego State, High Point clinched the Big South title, and more. Let’s dive in.
Use the code “BracketBusters” when checking out at Crow’s Nest Coffee Roasters to receive 20% of your order! Want two bags of coffee shipped to your door every month? Sign up for a monthly subscription here and receive 25% off your monthly subscription!
Sign up for Bracket Busters’ Discord to discuss all things Mid-Major Basketball!
The Saint Mary’s Gaels incredible season has continued as they won their fifth game in a row, taking down Portland 79-66 and Gonzaga 74-67 on the road. The Gaels are now 25-4 and 15-1 in the West Coast Conference while clinching their second consecutive WCC title. There’s not much more to say about the Gaels. They’ve lose just once since December 28th to San Francisco by one point on the road. We are witnessing one of the most incredible seasons from a non-traditional power school in years. They’ve been snubbed many times in the AP Poll, but they will certainly earn their first ranking of the season this week. The Gaels are up to 18th in KenPom and are cruising their way to the NCAA Tournament.
VCU jumped up to second on our rankings this week after taking down UMass 80-51 and George Mason 70-54. The Rams have won six games in a row and have lost just once in 2025 to Saint Louis. The Rams are up to 31st in KenPom with a 22-5 record on the season. They’ve solidified their at-large resume and will look to finish out the season strong against Richmond and Davidson this week.
Utah State moved up to third after knocking off San Jose State 105-57 and San Diego State 79-71. The Aggies are 24-4 on the season and up to 41st in KenPom. Ian Martinez and Mason Falslev are a lethal duo that could take the Aggies on a run in the Mountain West. The Aggies finish out the season with Boise State, Colorado State, and Air Force as they look to battle with New Mexico for the Mountain West title.
New Mexico stands right there with Utah State at the top of the Mountain West. The Lobos lost their only game this week to Boise State 86-78. The Lobos have lost just twice since December 14th, once to San Jose State by one point in January and now Boise State. They’ll take on San Diego State, Air Force, Nevada, and UNLV to close out the season over the next two weeks. We won’t have six bids from the Mountain West, but the Lobos and Aggies are well positioned to do some damage in the NCAA Tournament this season.
Memphis bounced back from their loss to Wichita State last Sunday with an 84-65 win over Florida Atlantic. The Tigers are 22-5 on the season and 12-2 in the AAC as they look to finish out the year with wins against Rice, UAB, UTSA, and South Florida. The Tigers are 46th in KenPom and could be dangerous in the tournament this year.
San Diego State took down Fresno State 83-60 on Tuesday, before falling to Utah State 79-71 on Saturday. The Aztecs have snapped the close game streak that we had mentioned the last few weeks. The Aztecs will wrap up the regular season with New Mexico, Wyoming, UNLV, and Nevada over the next two weeks. Looking at the metrics, they sit at 42nd in KenPom with an 18-7 record. They are still the only team in the top 50 of KenPom with an offensive efficiency outside of 100 as they sit at 122nd. The defense continues to carry them as they sit at 10th overall.
UC San Diego just keeps winning as they took down Cal Poly 81-67 and Hawaii 83-44. They are absolutely rolling right now, as they sit at 24-4 overall and 14-2 in the Big West. The Tritons are up to 35th in KenPom now. They finish out the season with Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, and UC Davis over the next two weeks. Pending a total meltdown, we will be seeing the Tritons in the NCAA Tournament regardless of whether or not they win the Big West Conference Tournament. If they win out, they are going to be remembered for many years to come.
Drake bounced back this week from their two point loss to Bradley on last Sunday with a 74-57 win over UIC and a thrilling 64-58 win over Northern Iowa on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs have been nothing less than incredible this season and Bennett Stirtz is going to be the type of story that explodes in the NCAA Tournament if the Bulldogs can pick up a win or two.
Boise State as previously mentioned took down New Mexico this week, pulling them back into the Top 10 after briefly falling out last week. The Broncos went 2-0 this week as they also took down Nevada 70-69. Boise State is 19-8 on the season and 11-5 in the Mountain West, while sitting at 48th in KenPom. They close out the season with Utah State, Fresno State, Air Force, and Colorado State.
George Mason fell down to 10th after falling to VCU 70-54 in their only game this week. The Patriots are still sitting strong at 21-6 and 12-2 in the A-10 while ranking 72nd in KenPom. The Patriots will finish out the season with a favorable schedule of Fordham, Duquesne, La Salle, and Richmond.
Looking at 11-15, North Texas picked up their fourth win in a row with a 63-44 win over Tulsa and a 64-57 win over South Florida. The Mean Green are 20-6 on the year and 11-3 in the AAC. They rank 61st in KenPom, and it’s going to be a blast to see what they do in the AAC tournament. They’ll take on FAU this Thursday. San Francisco picked up a win over Pacific this week in their lone game. The Dons are now 22-7 on the year and 12-4 in the WCC. The Dons enter the week 63rd in KenPom. UC Irvine took their third loss in the Big West this week in an 84-72 loss to Cal State Northridge. The Anteaters bounced back with a 73-64 win over Cal State Bakersfield. The Anteaters are down to 73rd in KenPom and will most likely be headed to the NIT unless they can win the Big West Tournament. Liberty extended their winning streak to five games with a win over FIU on Saturday. The Flames are 22-5 and 10-4 in the Conference USA, while ranking 68th in KenPom. The Flames will take on Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State this week. High Point picked up their tenth game in a row with wins over Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb. The Panthers will look to win their last game of the season against South Carolina Upstate on Wednesday. High Point sits at 25-5 on the season and 13-2 in the Big South.
Coming in at 16 is Colorado State. The Rams are on a three game winning streak after taking down Nevada and UNLV this week. Colorado State is up to 18-9 on the season and 12-4 in the Mountain West, good enough for 64th in KenPom. The Rams will take on Air Force and Utah State this week. Santa Clara picked up a couple wins this week over Loyola Marymount and Washington State. The Broncos are quietly 19-10 and 11-5 in the WCC, winning 5 of their last six games. They’ll look to complete the season sweep of Gonzaga and Pacific this week. Yale escaped a close one with Cornell this week, while also taking down Columbia to move to 18-6 on the season and 11-0 in the Ivy League. The Bulldogs are going to be must watch in March. They’ll take on Dartmouth and Harvard this week. Bradley split a couple of games this week, dropping to Illinois State 82-71 on Wednesday, but bouncing back with an 85-83 overtime win over Murray State. The Braves needed this bounce back win and look to finish the regular season strong against Valpo and Northern Iowa this week. Akron took their first loss in the MAC against Ohio on Saturday as they move to 21-6 on the season and 13-1 in the MAC. The Zips are still going to be a tough team come the tournament.
Dayton fell down to 21 and are risking fall out of the rankings all together. The Flyers lost their only game of the week to Loyola Chicago 76-72. The Ramblers have been hot lately, but this continues to be an up-and-down season for Dayton that’s being carried by their non-conference performance. The Flyers move to 18-9 and 8-6 in the A-10 as they look to bounce back against Rhode Island and Richmond this week. Lipscomb split their games this week, taking a loss to Eastern Kentucky, while taking down North Alabama to take first place. Jacob Ognacevic has been unreal and the Bisons deserve to show the world his abilities in the NCAA Tournament. They’ll take on Austin Peay and Central Arkansas to close out the regular season this week. Samford split their games again this week, taking down Western Carolina, but dropping a game to Furman. They are 21-8 on the season and 11-5 in the SoCon, but just 2-3 in their last five. They are looking to turn it around and close out the year strong against VMI and UNC Greensboro. McNeese extended their winning streak to six games as they clinched the Southland Conference Title. The Cowboys are 22-6 on the season and 16-1 in the Southland, good enough to sit at 64th in KenPom. They’ll take on UT Rio Grande Valley and Lamar this week.
To close out the top 25, this might be the first time we’ve put in a new team that took a loss in the current week. Northern Iowa enters at 19-10 and 13-5 in the Missouri Valley as they took down Belmont on the road, but had their six-game winning streak snapped by Drake. The Panthers are flying under the radar in the MVC as they had cracked the top 100 of KenPom prior to the loss to Drake on Sunday afternoon. The loss was a close one as well, 64-58 in an overtime game that was influenced by the refs on both sides. The Panthers will close out the regular season against UIC and Bradley.
Arkansas State fell out this week as the Red Wolves are just 2-4 in their last six games. They are still 20-9 on the season and 11-5 in the Sun Belt, but they need to stop the bleeding and win their last two games of the year over Louisiana and UL Monroe.
Notable Movement
Dayton - #15 → #21
Yale - #21 → #18
Dropped Out
Arkansas State
On the Bubble
UNC Wilmington
Charleston
Utah Valley
Grand Canyon
Arkansas State