2024 College Basketball Power Rankings (Dec. 30)

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 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.

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

Key Takeaways 

• Houston remains the top team in our CBB Power Rankings despite its three losses against a brutal non-conference schedule. The Cougars have not played since a 36-point win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Saturday, December 21. They open their Big 12 schedule tonight at Oklahoma State. Houston ranks third overall in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. 
• Michigan is our high riser of the week, blasting up 11 spots to No. 13 overall in our power rankings. The Wolverines notched two easy wins over Purdue Fort Wayne by 31 and Western Kentucky by 48 to move to 10-3 on the season. Michigan has a five-day break before traveling to USC for its third Big Ten game of the season. Michigan is currently a perfect 2-0 in conference play. 
• Don’t sleep on Buzz Williams’ Texas A&M Aggies, who rose two spots to No. 19 overall. The Aggies have won seven straight games and open SEC play with a tough home matchup against rival Texas on Saturday. 
• If you suffer from the popular East Coast CBB bias, you are missing out on a fantastic Oregon Ducks team that resides at 12-1 on the season. Oregon scored a 15-point win against Stanford and capped off 2024 with a 40-point blowout of Weber State. The Ducks’ only loss was 73-71 at home to UCLA, making their January 2 home battle with Illinois a critical need to stay near the top of the Big Ten. 
• St. John’s dropped two spots to No. 21 in our power rankings despite a 21-point home win over Delaware. The Red Storm have solid two-way metrics but can struggle to shoot consistently. They are 2-0 in the Big East but have a massive road test tomorrow night at Creighton. If St. John’s can earn that win, they will stamp themselves as a legitimate threat to Connecticut’s supremacy in the Big East.