2024-25 College Basketball Power Rankings (March 3)

College basketball season is on the precipice of March Madness, which means it’s time to plan for tournament betting edges on the hardwood. 

Below, you’ll find FTN’s college basketball power rankings for the 2024-2025 season. These have been updated every week after games, adjusting for results, news and injuries. We use these ratings to create a point spread between any two teams in the country on a neutral court. Just subtract the lower team’s rating from the higher-ranked team’s rating. If you compare that number to the spread of a particular game, you can find situations where FTN identifies a betting edge. We will also keep track of teams that are trending up or down, helping to further identify value compared to the public’s perception on media polls.

Here is the latest iteration of the FTN College Basketball Power Rankings for the 2024-2025 season! 

Key Takeaways 

• Welcome the Duke Blue Devils to the top spot in our FTN Power Rankings. Despite temporarily losing point guard Tyrese Proctor to a bone bruise on his knee, Duke is now the top team in KenPom as well. Head coach Jon Scheyer has led the Blue Devils to 22 wins in the last 23 games, and rank top four in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency. This is the most dominant Duke team I have seen since the 2018-2019 season. 
• Houston fell one spot to No. 2, but we are still extremely bullish on the Cougars. They play at the fifth-slowest pace in the country but are incredibly elite on defense. As long as Emmanuel Sharp remains healthy, the Cougars are one of the top national championship contenders. 
• Iowa State is back and still very underrated by the public. The Cyclones have lost only one game when at full strength, a two-point nonconference loss to Auburn in Hawaii. When you see the Cyclones record at 22-7, and good but not great 12-6 in Big 12 play, it’s easy to overlook their roster. Iowa State rose 18 spots in our FTN Power Rankings to No. 7 overall, rising rapidly from last week’s No. 25 spot. 
• Marquette has seen a resurgence that parallel’s Iowa State’s, rising 12 spots to No. 11 overall. The Golden Eagles have two huge matchups this week, traveling to Connecticut Wednesday and hosting St. John’s Saturday. Marquette features the Big East’s second-best defensive turnover rate and the lowest offensive turnover rate. The Golden Eagles boast three of the most impressive nonconference victories over Wisconsin, Purdue and Maryland.
• Arizona dropped six spots to No. 14 overall, losing four of their last six games. The Wildcats were blitzed at Iowa State 84-67 and currently rank 310th in 3P accuracy (31.2%). Arizona is not a stranger to March upsets, and the Wildcats struggling in March is an ominous bellwether.