Excel H Sports Men’s College Basketball BEYOND THE BACKBOARD rankings February 23 2026

We have our own inhouse method of strength of schedule.

Steven Stremming is a member of the United Basketball Writers Association of America.

Rank	University	Record	Previous
1	Gonzaga	27-2	3
1	Miami of Ohio	27-0	1
3	St. Mary’s	25-4	6
4	St. Louis	25-2	2
5	Belmont	25-4	8
6	Akron	22-5	9
7	Utah State	23-4	4
8	New Mexico	21-6	11
9	South Florida	19-8	12
10	Virginia Commonwealth	21-7	10
11	Santa Clara	23-6	13
12	Stephen F Austin	25-3	14
13	San Diego State	18-8	7
14	Liberty	23-4	5
15	Nevada	18-9	15
16	Kent State	20-7	18
17	UNC Wilmington	23-4	16
18	High Point	25-4	19
19	McNeese State	23-5	20
20	Austin Peay	21-6	22
21	Tulsa	22-6	29
22	Wichita State	18-10	30
23	UC San Diego	19-9	28
24	Dayton	18-9	27
25	Hawai’i	19-7	23
26	North Dakota State	23-6	NR
27	UC Irvine	18-10	25
28	South Alabama	19-9	21
29	George Mason	21-6	26
30	Appalachian State	19-11	NR
30	Navy	23-6	NR

BELOW THE 30: (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Alabama Birmingham 18-10, Arkansas State 18-11, Bethune Cookman 15-13, Boise State 16-11, California Baptist 19-8, California State Fullerton 15-14, California State Northridge 18-10, Central Arkansas 18-11,Charleston 19-10,  Colorado State 17-10, East Tennessee State 21-8, Grand Canyon 17-10, Howard 18-10, Long Island University 19-10, Marshall 18-11, Merrimack 20-9, Morehead State 17-12, Murray State 20-10, Nevada Las Vegas 14-13, Oakland 15-14, Portland State 18-8, Robert Morris 19-10, Sam Houston 19-8, Southeast Missouri State 18-11, St. Joseph 17-10, St. Thomas Minnesota 21-8, Tennessee State 19-9, Texas State 18-12, Troy 18-11, Tulane 17-10, UC Davis 17-11, UC Santa Barbara 17-11, UMBC 18-8, Utah Tech 17-12, Utah Valley 20-7, UT Martin 20-9, Vermont 18-11, Western Kentucky 16-11, Winthrop 20-9, Wright State 18-11, Yale 21-4