Miami (Fla.) has 20 wins, a growing NCAA Tournament resume and a first-year coach pushing all the right buttons. And yet, the Hurricanes are still on the outside looking in when it comes to the AP Top 25.
In Monday's poll, Miami picked up 10 points but still finished outside the Top 25 at No. 31.
The Hurricanes are coming off of back-to-back wins over quality opponents, including a 75-66 win over No. 11 North Carolina on Feb. 10 in Coral Gables and a 77-76 road win at NC State on Feb. 14. Miami is now sitting 20-5 overall and 9-3 in the ACC, with a NET ranking of 35 and a 4-3 record in Quad 1 games.
NEW AP POLL! 🚨
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 16, 2026
1. Michigan
2. Houston
3. Duke
4. Arizona
5. UConn
6. Iowa State
7. Purdue
8. Kansas
9. Nebraska
10. Illinois
11. Gonzaga
12. Florida
13. Texas Tech
14. Virginia
15. Michigan State
16. North Carolina
17. St. John's
18. Saint Louis
19. Vanderbilt
20. Arkansas
21.…
Miami Hurricanes snubbed from Week 15 AP Top 25
So why isn't Miami in yet?
The Hurricanes dropped neutral-site games to Florida and BYU in November, then took home losses in conference play that hurt both perception and momentum. When you're building from outside the rankings, one bad week can erase two good ones in the minds of voters.
Still, Miami's gripe is real.
The good news for Miami is the next few weeks offer plenty of chances to rise. The Hurricanes are back home Tuesday against Virginia Tech, then head to No. 14 Virginia this weekend, with more ACC opportunities waiting behind it.
A couple teams jumped into the top 25 after being unranked last week. No. 25 Alabama (18-7) got double digit wins over Ole Miss and South Carolina. No. 24 Wisconsin (18-7) has the most wins of any division one team this season against AP top-10 opponents (3). Most recently, the Badgers defeated then-No. 10 Michigan State by 21 points on Friday.
Miami will need to take advantage of some of the tougher ACC teams left on the schedule to secure a top 25 ranking.