MIES (Switzerland) - The Basketball Champions League Season X, powered by Ameresco SUNEL returned with the Round of 16 last week.
The 16 teams are spread through four groups, but there is one place where they are all in it together.
The Ameresco Power Rankings mix them all together to figure out which teams are in the best form at the moment.
That is why the domestic results are also taken into account when ranking these 16 teams - you'll feel better about a team that's on a five-game winning run in all competitions, than about a team that's potentially at 6-1 in the BCL, but 6-11 in their national championship.
#16 Karditsa Iaponiki
BCL record: 4-5 Domestic league record: 4-11 Streak in all competitions: L4
Yep, they had the MVP of the Play-Ins, so that helped get them to the Round of 16, and they were really good at AEK last week, owning a six point lead with 10 minutes left to play.
However, the ball bounced the other way and now they find themselves in a four-game losing streak, down at 4-11 in the Greek League. Not ideal, right? Right.
#15 ERA Nymburk
BCL record: 3-6 Domestic league record: 21-1 Streak in all competitions: W1
This is weird, to say the least. We're talking about a 24-7 team this season, so a team that's used to winning games, and their game on the road at Tenerife had its moments, too.
Yet, we put them at #15. Tough crowd here at the BCL Power Rankings Headquarters...
Sir' Jabari Rice is still the leading scorer of the League, he's getting 20.5 points per game, the only player with 20+ per game this season. Check him out, he's got something Tyson Carter-esque to his game.
#14 Hapoel Netanel Holon
BCL record: 4-4 Domestic league record: 9-6 Streak in all competitions: W1
Holon defeated Kiryat Ata over the weekend to bounce back, but they were struggling so much on the road in Vilnius last week, so much so, we considered putting them at #16 here.
But to be fair, their campaign is decent, they are three games above .500 in their League, so yeah, let's keep them at #14 for now.
But if they lose to Le Mans this week, we're gonna run out of excuses to keep them in the Top 15 of the Power Rankings.
#13 Tofas Bursa
BCL record: 5-5 Domestic league record: 8-9 Streak in all competitions: L3
Should we be worried?
No?
Three straight defeats, two of them at home. Okay, they were to Fenerbahce, ALBA and Galatasaray, but still, three Ls in a row is something that hasn't happened April 2025.
If they are going to start winning again, they need to feed the coolest Floyd since Pink: Jordan Floyd.
#12 Fitness First Wurzburg Baskets
BCL record: 6-4 Domestic league record: 11-6 Streak in all competitions: L3
Okay, that was a cruel stretch of games, traveling to Bamberg, Malaga and Munich, and they probably could've grabbed one win, maybe even two - definitely did not deserve to lose all three.
The schedule doesn't get any easier, either, as they travel to France now to face Elan Chalon, one of the toughest teams of this whole season.
If they win there, they're a Top 10 team here, for sure.
#11 Dreamland Gran Canaria
BCL record: 6-1 Domestic league record: 6-10 Streak in all competitions: L4
Four defeats in a row. Three of them at home, too.
That's why we say you should always observe a team through all their competitions, because when you look at 6-1 in the BCL, you'd think they're easily a top four team, but when you take a look at all their games, you'll notice they are struggling.
In fact, they are in such a slump that even Andrew Albicy wrote a long message to ask the fans for some patience.
#10 Galatasaray MCT Technic
BCL record: 5-2 Domestic league record: 10-7 Streak in all competitions: W1
Losing at home is a big no-no in this phase of the competition. They did bounce back with a win over Tofas Bursa in the Turkish League over the weekend, and you know what's the best cure for a big no-no loss?
A big yes-yes win on the road. Like, against Rytas in Vilnius? Yeah, exactly like against Rytas in Vilnius.
(Nobody mention the fact that exactly a year ago they lost to Rytas in Vilnius by 20, please.)
#9 Elan Chalon
BCL record: 7-2 Domestic league record: 9-8 Streak in all competitions: W1
We put them as the best ranked losing team of the Round of 16. That's how much we believe in these guys, really. Even though they just lost to Joventut by (wait, counting)... 32 points.
But even coach Elric Delord saw something good in that defeat: "We didn't have a bad game. It was pretty good on our side. We had a lack of efficiency and it was great on their side, with a lot of efficiency. That makes a big difference. I think the 30 points were a little bit bigger than the difference between the two teams, but they were honestly better than us, that's the best team we've ever met this year."
Need to defeat Wurzburg at home this week. If you lose that one, yeah, not even us believing in you would save you from moving to double digits in the Power Rankings next week.
#8 Pallacanestro Trieste
BCL record: 5-5 Domestic league record: 8-7 Streak in all competitions: W4
Thought process with Trieste this season: Wow these guys look good - wait why aren't they good - okay that jersey is beautiful - wow they are losing some games they should be winning - wow they'll fall apart - okay I need that jersey - hold up they aren't falling apart - wait are they good now - (bunch of profanities) - OH I'M GETTING A JERSEY THEY ARE ON A FOUR-GAME WINNING RUN!
In other words, impossible to read. Could they lose the next five games and finish the Round of 16 at 1-5? Of course.
Could they also advance to the Quarter-Finals and reach the Final Four? Also "of course."
Is that the best jersey? You know you want it, so we're hitting you with an "of course" again.
#7 Le Mans Sarthe Basket
BCL record: 5-4 Domestic league record: 10-7 Streak in all competitions: L1
The last time we had our Power Rankings, Le Mans Sarthe Basket were in at #6!
Actually, wait. There's a typo. They were at #26!?
Crazy to think that these guys were on the brink of elimination after losing to SL Benfica, and are now winners of eight of their last ten games in all competitions, including on the road at Galatasaray.
Imagine going 2-0 with a pair of road games... It could happen, they travel to Samokov to take on Holon this week. Top 5 team here if they win? Probably. But look at the names ahead of them.
#6 Rytas Vilnius
BCL record: 5-2 Domestic league record: 9-6 Streak in all competitions: L1
Those records may fool you - Rytas Vilnius lost four (YES, FOUR!) straight games in the Lithuanian League, so the fact that they cruised towards the Round of 16 here so easily, plus the way they defeated Holon last week, we take them with an asterisk*.
Big game coming up this week, if they beat Galatasaray, we'll know all is well again. If they don't... Let's not go there yet.
#5 La Laguna Tenerife
BCL record: 5-2 Domestic league record: 10-7 Streak in all competitions: W2
Imagine thinking something was off when they lost three straight ACB games, feeling like maaaaaaybe this is the start of the end of an era in La Laguna.
There is no way that is happening. They responded with a wild win over ERA Nymburk, reaching triple digits, then went on to defeat Barcelona on the road on Sunday in a close game down the line.
If you had one guess to name the play that pointed them to the win, what would you say?
Yep. Marcelinho to Shermadini. Relentless.
#4 AEK BC
BCL record: 6-1 Domestic league record: 10-4 Streak in all competitions: W6
Hold up, we've got the hottest team of the moment in the BCL! The Queen won its last six games in all competitions, including a winning start in the Round of 16 with a come-from-behind triumph against Karditsa Iaponiki.
It was their 22nd BCL win after trailing at the end of the third quarter. Nobody else has more than 13 such wins in BCL history. We call them the ComebAEK kings for a reason.
Lukas Lekavicius played his best game of the season with 28 points in 27 minutes, can't wait to see what he does against ALBA BERLIN this week.
#3 ALBA BERLIN
BCL record: 6-1 Domestic league record: 12-5 Streak in all competitions: W4
Speaking of ALBA... While AEK have the longest current winning run, ALBA BERLIN are actually the ones who have completely turned their season around. So, they started at 1-3 in all competitions, and then lost Boogie Ellis, clearly their best scorer to start the season.
Since then, they went 19-3 in all competitions (German Cup included). Two of those last three defeats were by single possessions, so it could've been 21-1, when you think about it.
Oh, and the best part? One of their crucial players during that hot streak was also their youngest guy:
#2 Joventut Badalona
BCL record: 7-0 Domestic league record: 10-7 Streak in all competitions: L1
Just one sentence for you: Joventut Badalona are the first team to win their first seven Basketball Champions League games since Virtus Bologna did it in 2018-19.
Okay, another sentence for you: Virtus Bologna went on to win the BCL in 2018-19.
Sorry, one final sentence for you: Badalona will host the Season X Final Four.
Done. No more sentences. These last three clearly don't count.
#1 Unicaja
BCL record: 7-0 Domestic league record: 11-6 Streak in all competitions: W4
The two-time defending champions had heir toughest home game test in the BCL since Galatasaray pushed them all the way through 40 minutes last season, but pushing the champs was the only thing Wurzburg got out the game last week, as Unicaja extended their streak to 14 straight BCL wins.
Big game -- probably the biggest of the season so far in the BCL coming up this week -- as they take on Joventut Badalona on the road on Wednesday.
Only one of them will remain unbeaten, which will make our life at the BCL Power Rankings Headquarters so much easier - winner of that one will be #1, for sure.
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The power rankings are entirely subjective and are in no way a true and accurate ranking system. All comments are purely those of the author.
The Basketball Champions League takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.