Month: February 2026

Every week, we have incredible storylines this season in men’s college basketball. This week, previously undefeated and top-ranked Arizona lost back-to-back games to bring the Wildcats back down to Earth a bit. Miami (Ohio) now remains the lone unbeaten team, so I need to address why I still don’t have them ranked in my rankings. I have tremendous respect for the RedHawks and coach Travis Steele for what they’ve accomplished. No matter the conference, going undefeated into late February is difficult to do. It’s a great story, and we love the underdog in America. However, I don’t believe Miami is one of the 25 best teams in college basketball. The word “undefeated” does matter, but not so much that I feel obligated to rank them. I’m still rooting for them to win, and I believe they should be included in the NCAA Tournament field — even if they don’t win their conference. That said, here’s the latest edition of my men’s college basketball rankings, as of Feb. 15. Utah State is tied with San Diego State for first place in the Mountain West. On Saturday, the Aggies flexed their muscles against a struggling Memphis team, beating the Tigers by 24 points. Louisville is back in my rankings after winning five consecutive games, including dropping 118 points against NC State and then beating Baylor handedly in a random non-conference game in February. (More of this, please!) Tennessee moved up two spots in my rankings after beating Mississippi State and LSU, which was expected. The Vols’ defense is still one of the toughest around. This Saturday’s contest at Vanderbilt is a big one. Alabama has won four games in a row in the SEC and made 31 3-pointers combined this week. Next up is a conference matchup against Arkansas on Wednesday. That will be a fun one! Wisconsin seems too low here, right? The backcourt duo of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell is wreaking havoc on the Big Ten right now. Wisconsin now has road wins at Michigan and Illinois, the conference’s two most talented teams. [COLLEGE HOOPS: 4 Takeaways From Wisconsin’s Dominant Big Ten Win Over Michigan State] Arkansas freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. is one of the best players in the country — period. Auburn had no answers for him on Saturday night, but they aren’t the only ones. I’m so bummed that one of the best players in the country, Caleb Wilson, is injured (hand) and out indefinitely. He’s the heartbeat of this team, while also being the most talented performer. I had to drop North Carolina because of this. Saint Louis played two bad teams this week but smashed them both by a combined 51 points. The Billikens are dominating the Atlantic 10 and rank 23rd in KenPom. St John’s win at Providence was marred by a fight followed up with the dirtiest play I’ve seen all year. Lost in some of the aftermath was the stellar play of St. John’s Dylan Darling, who had 23 points and eight rebounds off the bench. After its three-game skid a couple of weeks back, Vanderbilt is back to playing its fun brand of offensive basketball, and the Dores are winners of five of their past six games. Forward Tyler Nickel had 25 points against Texas A&M on Saturday. I watched Virginia beat an average Ohio State team on Saturday, but the Cavaliers did it very methodically. That’s meant to be a high compliment; Virginia plays both ends of the ball and doesn’t beat itself. Gonzaga is the most difficult team to rank. I understand those who think that the Zags have no business in my top 15 after Braden Huff’s injury (knee) and their loss to lowly Portland. However, I still believe this is a good team — but they are slowly falling in my rankings. Michigan State has lost three of its past four, including a road loss to Wisconsin on Saturday. The good news is that the Spartans get to host UCLA and Ohio State this week to get right. My early skepticism about Nebraska was well documented, but I’ve come around. Despite a home loss to an excellent Purdue team, Nebraska is one of the toughest teams in the country. No lead is safe, because the Huskers put five guys on the floor that can all shoot from 3. Illinois lost at home to a surging Wisconsin team but recovered on Sunday against Indiana, so it didn’t drop far. Home losses matter, of course, but I would still take the Fighting Illini on a neutral floor in the NCAA Tournament against all the teams that are below them right now. Texas Tech picked up the second-best win of any team this season by taking down top-ranked Arizona in Tucson. (Iowa State beating Purdue by 23 at Mackey Arena is still my No. 1.) That goes nicely with the Red Raiders’ neutral-court win over Duke. Kansas beat Arizona at home without Darryn Peterson (illness) and then got dominated at Iowa State with Peterson playing (only 10 points), so I kept the Jayhawks right where they were last week. The Arizona win means a lot about where this team can go. Florida’s 5-4 start to this season seems like another lifetime ago at this point, and I won’t hold it against the Gators because none of the losses were bad. The Gators are every bit what we thought they could be at the start of the season and are now the favorite to win the SEC. I was ready to leave Purdue out of the title contender conversation a few weeks ago, but their overtime win at Nebraska followed by a Saturday demolition of Iowa has the Boilermakers back in my top 10. UConn barely beat Georgetown at home on Saturday. Not that impressive — I know — but other than that entertaining loss at St John’s last week, UConn is one of the most consistent teams in the nation. Duke might be underrated at No. 5 because the Blue Devils’ defense is elite (and their NET is 2). They completely shut down a good Clemson team on Saturday. Their defense will give them a chance to win every game, but their offensive depth is what worries me. My feelings about who Iowa State is (top five) and what the Cyclones are capable of (national title) haven’t wavered much since the start of the year. Their revenge win against Kansas just confirmed that. Milan Momcilovic’s corner fade-away 3 in the first half was the most ridiculously made shot I’ve seen this season. Back-to-back losses aren’t ideal for Arizona fans, but I think it could be a good thing for this group. I think the Wildcats will regroup. Koa Peat’s injury (lower leg) is way more concerning, however. We’ll keep an eye on that. Houston is now in the lead in the Big 12. This will be an intriguing race and a fascinating conference tournament in March. The Cougars will host Arizona this week, which is one of the most important regular-season games of the year. Michigan demolished an improved UCLA team by 30 points on Saturday, a result that surprised no one. That’s why this team is the best in the land. Aday Mara got to beat up on his old coach, too. That had to be fun for him.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Chase Elliott could see the finish line of the 2026 Daytona 500. He was running up front and feet away from taking his first checkered flag in The Great American Race on Sunday. He was in perfect position — until he wasn’t. When the white flag flew signaling the last lap of the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening race, Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was running 10th amid several three-wide rows. But as race leaders Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Erik Jones began wrecking, a path opened for Elliott on the outside lane. As they exited Turn 2, Elliott and Zane Smith in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford behind him had momentum, and Elliott cruised down the backstrech out front. “I’m not really sure what happened with the first wreck,” Elliott told FOX Sports’ Josh Sims after the race. “That’s a little further around. But we ended up kind of getting gifted the lead, and [No.] 38 and I had got out by ourselves down the back. “He had given me a good shove off into [Turn] 3, and then it was kind of just he and I. And at that point I just felt momentum shift, like there was going to be another run coming behind us there at some point. Unfortunately, that was accurate.” In the final two turns, Tyler Reddick popped out from behind Smith and found the outside lane behind Elliott, who threw a block to maintain the lead. But when Reddick in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota slid down to the inside lane to fight Elliott for the lead, the cars behind them began wrecking. They collected NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, as Reddick took the checkered flag, delivering a win for team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, who finished 31st in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Elliott was credited with a fourth-place finish. “At that point in time, you’re just on defense,” Elliott told Sims. “Man, that’s a really, really tough place to be, truthfully. Obviously, looking back, you can run it through your mind 1,000 times — do you do something different? I feel like if I had thrown a double block on [Reddick], probably would have just crashed us at that point in time. “So I felt like you had to pick your battles. I thought maybe if somebody would pick me up on the top, you might have one more run to the line, but unfortunately ended up getting turned around. … This really sucks to be that close and come off Turn 4 with the lead and not finish it off. But that’s part of this event, and unfortunately we were on the bad end of it today.” Elliott’s quest to win his first Daytona 500 will have to wait another year.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Michael Jordan has won his seventh title, or at least that’s how he’s feeling after Tyler Reddick’s Daytona 500 victory. Reddick was able to outlast multiple crashes on the final lap of Sunday’s 2026 Daytona 500, driving by Chase Elliott at the end to give Jordan’s 23XI Racing its first victory in the “Great American Race.” Following the race, Jordan compared the victory to winning an NBA championship. “I’m ecstatic. I don’t even know what to say,” the six-time NBA champion told FOX Sports’ Jamie Little. “It feels like I won a championship. But until I get my ring, I won’t even know.” Reddick’s victory came after a trying 2025 season for the driver and Jordan’s 23XI Racing. Reddick didn’t win a single race last season, while 23XI Racing was stuck in a legal battle with NASCAR over a lawsuit that was eventually settled in December. [REDDICK’S VICTORY Tyler Reddick Gives Michael Jordan, 23XI Monumental Win] With the lawsuit behind 23XI Racing, the team wound up having a strong day to open the 2026 season on Sunday. Bubba Wallace led the race for 40 laps, claiming victory for Stage 2. He ultimately finished in 10th. It was a different driver for 23XI Racing who wound up securing the victory for Reddick. After Reddick moved from fourth to first on the final lap, Riley Herbst caused some chaos to prevent Chase Elliott from re-taking the lead. Herbst wound up finishing in eighth, but Jordan wanted to make sure he got his due for helping Reddick get the victory. “I thought Riley did a really unbelievable job by pushing at the end,” Jordan said. “That shows you what teamwork can really, really do. He won’t get enough credit, but we feel the love. We understand exactly what he did. We just hung in there, all day. We had a great strategy by the team and we gave ourselves a chance at the end.” In Wallace’s post-race interview with FOX Sports, he expressed some disappointment in himself for losing the lead. But he also gave credit to Reddick, Jordan and the rest of their team for prevailing on Sunday. “I can’t even believe it. It was so gratifying,” Jordan added. “We had four guys that were really fighting, that were helping each other out. You never know how these races are going to end. You’re just trying to survive.” As for that ring Jordan wants for being the owner of the team that won the Daytona 500, Little asked him what his ring size is. “Size 13,” Jordan said, smiling as he now anticipates getting his seventh title ring.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports