2024-25 College Basketball Power Rankings (Jan. 20)

College basketball season is back, which means it’s time to search for betting edges on the hardwood. 

Below, you’ll find FTN’s college basketball power rankings for the 2024-2025 season. These will be updated every week after games, adjusting for results, news and injuries. We can 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 to the top spot in our FTN Power Rankings, Duke Blue Devils. This is their first week in the No. 1 overall spot, coming on the heels of a 12-game winning streak. Duke is a perfect 8-0 in the ACC and ranks top two in both offensive and defensive efficiency, per KenPom. 
• Illinois may be the most underrated team in the nation, hiding with two understandable losses in its last three matchups. The Illini’s road loss to USC came without star freshman Kasparas Jakucionis, and yesterday’s stumble at Michigan State came with Jakucionis playing only nine minutes due to foul trouble. The Illini moved up five spots to No. 12 and rank top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. 
• Baylor is struggling. The Bears simply haven’t received the expected transfer production from point guard Jeremy Roach and center Norchad Omier. The Bears have lost three of their last five games and barely escaped an overtime win at Arizona State. Baylor is getting eviscerated from beyond the arc, allowing opponents to shoot 38% from deep. 
• Here come the Johnnies. Head coach Rick Pitino has St. John’s atop the Big East standings and has won 11 of its last 12 matchups. The Red Storm have a critical matchup on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden against Xavier. 
• Our biggest faller is Cincinnati, which fell four spots to No. 23 overall in our power rankings. The Bearcats managed to win their last two matchups at Colorado and home to Arizona State, but that was after an 0-4 start in the Big 12. Head coach Wes Miller’s squad is struggling offensively, shooting a conference-worst 26.9% from beyond in the arc against Big 12 opponents.