Men's Basketball Ranked 23rd in Preseason Coaches Poll
10/22/2025 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Coaches rank CU in preseason for fourth straight year
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton University men's basketball team has earned the No. 23 spot in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll that was released on Wednesday. Creighton is one of 12 schools to be ranked in the preseason Coaches poll each of the last four seasons, joining Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and UCLA.
The Bluejays are one of three BIG EAST Conference teams represented, joining No. 4 Connecticut and No. 6 St. John's. Creighton will face both of those teams twice and also play against non-conference foes No. 18 Iowa State and No. 20 Gonzaga. CU could also play No. 2 Houston, No. 7 Michigan, No. 16 Alabama, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 19 Kansas or No. 22 Auburn in Las Vegas at the Players Era Men's Championship. Other opponents that dot the Bluejay schedule and are receiving votes include Villanova and Kansas State, as well as potential foes Oregon and San Diego State.
Purdue earned the top spot in the poll, earning 18-of-31 first-place votes to edge out Houston by six points. The rest of the top-five consisted of Florida, Connecticut and Duke. Creighton earned 103 points in the poll to rank 23rd, just behind Auburn's 114 and just ahead of Wisconsin's 62.
This year's preseason hype is CU's eighth preseason ranking from the coaches in the last 20 seasons, and ninth occurrence all-time. CU was previously tabbed 19th in the preseason poll in 1962-63, 23rd in both 2006-07 and 2016-17, 15th in 2012-13, 11th in 2020-21, ninth in 2022-23, eighth in 2023-24 and 14th last year in 2024-25.
This is the 177th time in program history that Creighton has been ranked in the Coaches poll, and 135th week under the direction of Greg McDermott. Creighton is 213-90 all-time when ranked in the Coaches poll, including a 162-70 mark under McDermott. Of Creighton's 19 different teams to be ranked in the Coaches poll, 11Â have been mentored by McDermott. Creighton's best ranking ever in the Coaches poll is No. 5, done the week of Jan. 4, 2021.
A spot in the top 25 of the preseason poll is no guarantee of success. Ten teams ranked in the preseason last year were not in the rankings at year's end (No. 1 Kansas, No. 3 Connecticut, No. 8 Baylor, No. 10 North Carolina, No. 17 Marquette, No. 18 Indiana, No. 19 Texas, No. 20 Cincinnati, No. 22 UCLA and No. 24 Illinois). In the previous eight seasons, 79 of the 200 ranked teams (39.5 percent) from the preseason were not ranked in the year-end poll.
Creighton was also ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll released last Monday by the Associated Press.
Creighton hosts an exhibition game on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Colorado State. The regular-season tips off on Nov. 5 against South Dakota. Single-game tickets are now available at http://GoCreighton.com/buy.
USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25
Oct. 22, 2025 (Preseason Poll)
Rk  School  W-L   PTS  LW
1Â Â Purdue (18)Â Â 24-12Â Â 755Â Â 12
2Â Â Houston (12)Â Â 35-5Â Â 749Â Â 2
3Â Â Florida (1)Â Â 36-4Â Â 704Â Â 1
4  Connecticut  24-11  647  NR
5  Duke   35-4  623  3
6  St. John's  31-5  609  10
7  Michigan   27-10  569  11
8  Brigham Young   26-10  532  15
9  Kentucky   24-12  529  14
10  Louisville   27-8  456  21
11  Texas Tech   28-9  455  8
12Â Â UCLAÂ Â Â 23-11Â Â 421Â Â NR
13  Arizona   24-13  398  13
14  Illinois   22-13  349  NR
15  Arkansas   22-14  329  25
16  Alabama   28-9  322  6
17  Tennessee   30-8  292  5
18  Iowa State   25-10  289  17
19  Kansas   21-13  235  NR
20  Gonzaga   26-9  185  20
21  Michigan State   30-7  144  7
22  Auburn   32-6  114  4
23  Creighton   25-11  103  24
24  Wisconsin   27-10  62  16
25  North Carolina   23-14  37  NR
Others receiving votes: North Carolina State (12-19) 33; Oregon (25-10) 26; Ohio State (17-15) 15; San Diego State (21-10) 15; Baylor (20-15) 13; Virginia (15-17) 11; Vanderbilt (20-13) 10; Southern California (17-18) 7; Texas (19-16) 6; Missouri (22-12) 5; Villanova (21-15) 5; Mississippi (24-12) 4; Cincinnati (19-16) 3; Iowa (17-16) 3; Saint Mary's (29-6) 3; Washington (13-18) 3; Virginia Commonwealth (28-7) 2; Boise State (26-11) 1; Kansas State (16-17) 1; Oklahoma State (17-18) 1.
Â
The Bluejays are one of three BIG EAST Conference teams represented, joining No. 4 Connecticut and No. 6 St. John's. Creighton will face both of those teams twice and also play against non-conference foes No. 18 Iowa State and No. 20 Gonzaga. CU could also play No. 2 Houston, No. 7 Michigan, No. 16 Alabama, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 19 Kansas or No. 22 Auburn in Las Vegas at the Players Era Men's Championship. Other opponents that dot the Bluejay schedule and are receiving votes include Villanova and Kansas State, as well as potential foes Oregon and San Diego State.
Purdue earned the top spot in the poll, earning 18-of-31 first-place votes to edge out Houston by six points. The rest of the top-five consisted of Florida, Connecticut and Duke. Creighton earned 103 points in the poll to rank 23rd, just behind Auburn's 114 and just ahead of Wisconsin's 62.
This year's preseason hype is CU's eighth preseason ranking from the coaches in the last 20 seasons, and ninth occurrence all-time. CU was previously tabbed 19th in the preseason poll in 1962-63, 23rd in both 2006-07 and 2016-17, 15th in 2012-13, 11th in 2020-21, ninth in 2022-23, eighth in 2023-24 and 14th last year in 2024-25.
This is the 177th time in program history that Creighton has been ranked in the Coaches poll, and 135th week under the direction of Greg McDermott. Creighton is 213-90 all-time when ranked in the Coaches poll, including a 162-70 mark under McDermott. Of Creighton's 19 different teams to be ranked in the Coaches poll, 11Â have been mentored by McDermott. Creighton's best ranking ever in the Coaches poll is No. 5, done the week of Jan. 4, 2021.
A spot in the top 25 of the preseason poll is no guarantee of success. Ten teams ranked in the preseason last year were not in the rankings at year's end (No. 1 Kansas, No. 3 Connecticut, No. 8 Baylor, No. 10 North Carolina, No. 17 Marquette, No. 18 Indiana, No. 19 Texas, No. 20 Cincinnati, No. 22 UCLA and No. 24 Illinois). In the previous eight seasons, 79 of the 200 ranked teams (39.5 percent) from the preseason were not ranked in the year-end poll.
Creighton was also ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll released last Monday by the Associated Press.
Creighton hosts an exhibition game on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Colorado State. The regular-season tips off on Nov. 5 against South Dakota. Single-game tickets are now available at http://GoCreighton.com/buy.
USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25
Oct. 22, 2025 (Preseason Poll)
Rk  School  W-L   PTS  LW
1Â Â Purdue (18)Â Â 24-12Â Â 755Â Â 12
2Â Â Houston (12)Â Â 35-5Â Â 749Â Â 2
3Â Â Florida (1)Â Â 36-4Â Â 704Â Â 1
4  Connecticut  24-11  647  NR
5  Duke   35-4  623  3
6  St. John's  31-5  609  10
7  Michigan   27-10  569  11
8  Brigham Young   26-10  532  15
9  Kentucky   24-12  529  14
10  Louisville   27-8  456  21
11  Texas Tech   28-9  455  8
12Â Â UCLAÂ Â Â 23-11Â Â 421Â Â NR
13  Arizona   24-13  398  13
14  Illinois   22-13  349  NR
15  Arkansas   22-14  329  25
16  Alabama   28-9  322  6
17  Tennessee   30-8  292  5
18  Iowa State   25-10  289  17
19  Kansas   21-13  235  NR
20  Gonzaga   26-9  185  20
21  Michigan State   30-7  144  7
22  Auburn   32-6  114  4
23  Creighton   25-11  103  24
24  Wisconsin   27-10  62  16
25  North Carolina   23-14  37  NR
Others receiving votes: North Carolina State (12-19) 33; Oregon (25-10) 26; Ohio State (17-15) 15; San Diego State (21-10) 15; Baylor (20-15) 13; Virginia (15-17) 11; Vanderbilt (20-13) 10; Southern California (17-18) 7; Texas (19-16) 6; Missouri (22-12) 5; Villanova (21-15) 5; Mississippi (24-12) 4; Cincinnati (19-16) 3; Iowa (17-16) 3; Saint Mary's (29-6) 3; Washington (13-18) 3; Virginia Commonwealth (28-7) 2; Boise State (26-11) 1; Kansas State (16-17) 1; Oklahoma State (17-18) 1.
Â
Creighton Men's Basketball vs. Iowa State. Press Conference - 10/17/25
Tuesday, October 14
Creighton Men's Basketball Availability - 9/24/25
Wednesday, September 24
Meet the Jays - MBB Blake Harper
Friday, August 15
Meet the Jays - MBB Austin Swartz
Friday, August 15
