Ranking the Five Worst Power 5 Teams in College Basketball

College basketball season is in full swing, and we are deep into conference play with programs already starting to separate themselves as tournament teams while others have essentially thrown away any chance at making the field of 68.

Today, we’ll be taking a look at the five worst Power 5 teams in the country.

5. Oregon Ducks

At number five, we have a high-seeded tournament team from last season, the Oregon Ducks.

The Ducks were the five seed in the tournament last year and lost in the second round to the four seed Arizona. They have a record of 8-12 overall, and 1-8 in conference play.

Their lone conference win came over the number four team on this list, so it’s been quite the disappointment of a season for Ducks fans.

Their first two non-conference games were disasters, barely beating Hawaii by one and Rice by four.

The only reason Oregon isn’t lower on this list is that they’ve played multiple ranked teams close, only losing to Gonzaga by nine and Michigan by ten.

But hey, at least your Football team is bound for success next season.

4. Maryland Terrapins

It’s been quite the fall from grace for the Terps after the “crab five” led by Derik Queen took them to the Sweet 16 in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, where they were eventually defeated by the champions of that season, the Florida Gators.

Maryland currently sits with an identical record to Oregon with an overall record of 8-12 and a conference record of 1-8 thus far, with their only conference win coming over Penn State.

They’ve also had some relatively embarrassing performances in non-conference play, needing overtime to defeat Mount St Mary’s, who are currently 296th out of 365 teams in the NET.

They were only able to defeat UNLV by seven. The same UNLV that lost to UT Martin, ranked 213th in the NET.

After losing most of their starters to the draft or the portal, the rough year for Maryland will likely continue, but they are a historically solid program, and I expect them to turn things around.

3. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Yellow Jackets have struggled on the hardwood, having not made the tournament since 2021, when they were defeated by Loyola Chicago in the first round.

Since that run, they’ve been a part of the bottom feeders in the ACC. I say one of the bottom feeders because there has been one team significantly worse than them.

Georgia Tech is currently 11-10 with a 2-6 record in conference play.

They boosted their record with extremely weak non-conference opponents such as Georgia Southern, West Georgia, Bryant, Maryland Eastern and Florida A&M.

Every single one of those teams is 245th or lower in the NET, just simply not what a Power 5 school should be doing with their non-conference schedule.

The Yellow Jackets avoided the top two thanks to their win over the number two team on this list, the Boston College Eagles.

2. Boston College Eagles

Remember, I said Georgia Tech was one of the bottom feeders in the ACC? That’s because Boston College is the other one.

They are bad; there’s really no other way to go about it. They are 9-11 and 2-5 in conference play.

They lost to Central Connecticut, the 293rd team in the NET. They squeaked by Hampton, the 243rd team in the NET, and barely beat New Haven, the 338th team in the NET.

To top it all off, they lost to their ACC rival, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Boston College is bad, but there is a team that is worse than the Eagles.

1. Penn State Nittany Lions

Yes, the Nittany Lions are the worst Power 5 team in college basketball. It honestly isn’t particularly close. They are 9-11 and 0-9 in conference play.

They have not beaten a Power 5 school this year, with their best win being Navy.

They loaded their non-conference schedule with low-level schools to boost their record and have been exposed in conference play.

Did they almost beat what was at the time an undefeated Michigan? Yes. Did they only lose to ranked Purdue by eight? Yes.

However, they have not won a game in the Big Ten. They are the only Power 5 school without a conference win.

Despite having one of the best freshmen in the country in Kaden Mingo, they just cannot win ball games and, unfortunately, are the worst Power 5 team.

Can things change for any of these five teams? Yes, but time is running out if any of them want to make a run in this year's NCAA Tournament.

Sawyer Bogaty is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email him at sgb5468@psu.edu.