The college basketball polls have spoken for the first time in 2025. So, what exactly are they trying to say about the rest of the season? All top 25 teams come with a message, but for drama purposes, let’s start with these eight.

No. 1 Tennessee

This is not exactly a shocker since the Vols are the last unbeaten team standing. They have the nation’s most efficient defense, according to KenPom, and have trailed just under 47 total minutes in 14 games, leading by as many as 18 points in 13 of them. The last time Tennessee was the lone unbeaten in the nation was 1916, back when the Vols’ uniforms were orange but the basketball wasn’t.

But what makes Tennessee’s spotless record especially compelling is trying to guess how long it’ll stay that way in the hothouse of the  SEC. There’s Auburn, which hasn’t played a game closer than 16 points in a month, Kentucky and Florida and Texas A&M and…hey, we’re not even out of the Associated Press top-10 yet. There are nine members in the AP rankings. The previous two weeks there were 10, the most for any league since the AP started conducting its poll in 1948. On the KenPom ratings, four of the five most efficient offenses reside in the SEC. How long can the Vols run this gauntlet before stepping on a landmine?

Katz’ Weekly Word: Kentucky, Illinois jump into top 10 in latest men’s basketball Power 37 rankings

No. 4. Duke

Because of added eligibility left over from the pandemic and the transfer portal, college basketball has become a senior citizens’ center, filled with fifth and sixth and sometimes seventh-year vets. But here are the Blue Devils plowing forward on freshman power. Will it work? They haven’t lost since before Thanksgiving, and Cooper Flagg scored 24 points in three of his past four games. But the ACC road is waiting.

No. 6. Kentucky

The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth in the SEC, and with a coaching change, maybe they might have lost a step.

Wrong.

They’ve broken 100 four times and the 106-100 win over Florida might have just been the official opening of indoor track season. Can Mark Pope keep his team in this kind of relentless scoring mode in the SEC? Kentucky is second in the nation in scoring and also sixth in fewest turnovers, a hard combination to beat. Imagine Florida’s plight last Saturday: The Gators go into Rupp Arena, put up 100 points, shoot 55 percent, win the rebounding department…and lose.

No. 9 UConn

They’re baaaack. The Huskies, that is, returning to the top-10 with eight consecutive wins. Life is not quite the bowl of cherries it has been the past two years, when they had more walks in the park than a New York City carriage horse. Five of the eight victories in this streak were decided by five or fewer points and the rally from 12 points down against Providence Sunday was the first time in seven years they won a game after trailing by double digits at halftime. And now, freshman star Liam McNeeley is likely out for weeks with a high ankle sprain. The response will be interesting to watch.

But UConn has been showing something it didn’t need to display much in the past two championship runs: the ability to overcome doubt and adversity. The Huskies are 4-0 in conference play for the first time in 23 years. Explosive talent and a relentless nature got them the past two titles, but what will grit and presence get them?

RANKINGS: AP Top 25 Poll | NET rankings

No. 11 Kansas

The Jayhawks were No. 1 and looked like it, until they didn’t. Now they’re No. 11, with three losses in the past six games, the latest being the most conspicuous and baffling when they dropped their first conference opener in 33 years at home to West Virginia. A momentary glitch or real trouble? The past weekend was a fine start in recovery, crushing Central Florida 99-48, the largest victory margin for a road team in Big 12 history. The Jayhawks dominated scoring in the paint 62-10.

No. 12. Houston

De-fense! De-fense! De-fense!

No, this isn’t third down in the Rose Bowl, this is watching the Cougars remind college basketball how they do things.

On Nov. 30, they lost in overtime to San Diego, their third defeat of the month and second in overtime in five days. That made their record 4-3 and their preseason No. 4 ranking had turned into some questioning if Houston might not be its customary top-10, infrequently-losing machine.

Fat chance.

“There were still things we were sorting out,” coach Kelvin Sampson said the other day. “I don’t care about records or stuff that people who don’t know basketball look at. We’ve had a lot of things happen that required pain, discomfort, and uncertainty, but you get through that. Once you come through that, it shows who we are now.”

Now they’re back to being Houston, the defense where shooting percentages go to die.

The Cougars are 6-0 since the last loss, the closest margin by 13 points and five of the six by at least 20. None of the six opponents scored more than 55 points and three couldn’t get out of the 40s. Only two opposing players have managed more than 12 points and none more than 17. The six teams combined shot 29.5 percent against Houston, and only one — Oklahoma State — ever led for 4:26 minutes.

Sampson addressed the issue the other day after the Cougars had rolled over BYU 86-55 for their 30th consecutive home victory. “We’ve won 30 games for a reason. We can guard,” he said. “Our identity has been that way for a long time. We do what we do. We didn’t do anything different today.”

Six different Cougars blocked a Troy shot. Seven different Cougars had at least one steal against Toledo. Butler had only two more field goals than turnovers and scored only four baskets inside the 3-point arc. BYU was outscored 24-5 in points off turnovers. Oklahoma State’s starting lineup managed only 19 points and made only four of 24 shots.

No big deal, then, that the Cougars lost early to the likes of Auburn and Alabama and San Diego State. Sampson was just getting his team reacquainted with how Houston goes about its work; the attention to detail and hard labor required if it is to turn into a boa constrictor around another team’s offensive game plan. “Discipline is a big part of team defense. We’ve got some guys who are really evolving there,” Sampson said. ”The biggest thing was growth, Who cares about November losses? We could have not played those teams. and played a bunch of nobodies and won. I think those three losses helped us. We had a chance to win all three by the way.

“That’s called November basketball. It’s different than January basketball, than February. We tried to use those opportunities to further entrench ourselves in how we want to play. It’s a process. You don’t start off in November playing March basketball, unless you’re Auburn. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.”

A busy Saturday slate: Kentucky men’s basketball wins top-10 battle, Tennessee remains undefeated

No. 13 Illinois

Suddenly, the Illini — otherwise known as the only team so far to play Tennessee close — are the highest-ranked program in the Big Ten at No. 13. That’s the reward for going 2-0 in its first conference swing through the Northwest, especially plastering Oregon by 32 points in Eugene. But as a reminder that anyone is vulnerable in the Big Ten, the Illini also lost to Northwestern. Hard to pick a favorite in that league right now. Happen to notice Michigan State has won seven games in a row? Not to worry, most people haven’t.

Unranked North Carolina

No, the Tar Heels are not in the top 25, but their journey will still be fascinating to watch. They didn’t receive one single vote this week, a team that began the season ranked No. 9. And they needed a 4-point play in the final seconds to escape Notre Dame. Bubble talk begins soon. Right now, the 9-6 Tar Heels would be on it.