Rankings Explained

Two separate polls

The rankings shown on this site come from two independent polls that are conducted separately and may produce different results:

• AP Top 25: A weekly poll of sportswriters and broadcasters, conducted by the Associated Press. This poll has been running since the 1948-49 season.
• Coaches Poll: A weekly poll of NCAA Division I head coaches, conducted by the USA Today Sports Board of Coaches.

Because these are separate polls with different voters, a team may be ranked differently in each. Use the tabs on the rankings page to switch between them.

Season structure

Each college basketball season is divided into three phases:

• Preseason: The poll released before the regular season begins.
• Regular Season: Weekly polls during the regular season.
• Postseason: Polls released during or after conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament.

Ranking movement

The "Change" column shows how a team's rank moved compared to the previous poll of the same type within the same season:

• Up arrow + number — the team rose by that many spots
• Down arrow + number — the team fell by that many spots
• Dash — the team's rank did not change
• New — the team entered the Top 25 and was not ranked in the previous poll

Others receiving votes

Teams that received votes but did not make the Top 25 are listed separately below the main table under "Others Receiving Votes." These teams do not have a numeric rank.

Data source and timing

All ranking data is fetched from CollegeBasketballData.com and stored in this site's database. The site does not call the data provider on every page load — rankings are synced periodically from the backend, and all visitors see the same stored data.

See the About page for more about this project.