KSR's 2025-26 Kentucky High School Boys Basketball Top 25 Rankings: Sweet 16

The Road to Rupp has officially arrived.

Only 16 teams remain in contention for the 2026 UK HealthCare Boys Basketball Sweet Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Rupp Arena before deciding a state champion on Saturday night. Last week’s regional tournaments saw some of the best teams across the Bluegrass fail to advance out of their brackets, including the likes of Madison Central, Daviess County, McCracken County, and others.

But this year’s tournament is still loaded with big-time talents and high-level teams.

As we look ahead to this week at Rupp, we here at KSR are unloading another rankings update. As always, we have our usual statewide Top 25, but we’ve also ranked all 16 teams that will compete for the ultimate crown in Lexington. Dive in below to check out both rankings, along with a bracket for this week’s schedule. The real fun is about to begin.

KSR’s Top 25 Rankings: Pre-Sweet 16

1. St. Xavier [8 first-place votes] (+1)
2. Covington Catholic (+1)
3. North Oldham (+3)
4. Warren Central (+5)
5. George Rogers Clark (+5)
6. Louisville Ballard (-1)
7. Louisville Butler (+4)
8. Madison Central (-7)
9. Boyd County (+3)
10. North Laurel (+9)
11. Grayson County (+5)
12. Great Crossing (NR)
13. Frederick Douglass (-6)
14. Daviess County (-10)
15. Lyon County (+6)
16. Marshall County (NR)
17. McCracken County (-9)
18. Jeffersontown (-1)
19. DuPont Manual (-6)
20. Woodford County (-6)
21. Johnson Central (NR)
22. Taylor County (NR)
23. Henderson County (-5)
24. Male
25. Eastern (-10)

Others receiving votes: Danville Christian (13), Ashland Blazer (12), Hazard (12), Martin County (12), Lexington Catholic (10), Bell County (6), North Hardin (6)

Dropped out: North Hardin (No. 20), Lexington Catholic (No. 22), Ashland Blazer (No. 23), Bryan Station (No. 25)

KSR Top 25 voters: Troy Howell, Clark Howell, Sam Gormley, Lovell Martin, Phoenix Stevens, Travis Scaggs, Jalen Daugherty

---

Ranking the Sweet 16 teams

1. St. Xavier | 7th Region
2. Covington Catholic | 9th Region
3. North Oldham | 8th Region
4. Warren Central | 4th Region
5. George Rogers Clark | 10th Region
6. Louisville Butler | 6th Region
7. Boyd County | 16th Region
8. North Laurel | 13th Region
9. Grayson County | 3rd Region
10. Great Crossing | 11th Region
11. Lyon County | 2nd Region
12. Marshall County | 1st Region
13. Johnson Central | 15th Region
14. Taylor County | 5th Region
15. Danville Christian Academy | 12th Region
16. Hazard | 14th Region

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Kentucky fans and get exclusive scoop.