CBS Sports releases updated Top 25 and 1 ahead of 2023-24 college basketball season

Now that the 2023 NBA Draft withdrawal deadline is in the rearview mirror, most college basketball rosters have taken their final shape, with a few exceptions. So, after the latest round of big decisions from veteran players at various top schools, CBS Sports’ Gary Parish took another look at his early rankings for the 2023-24 season and revised them a bit. Most notably, a few programs who got (quite literally) massive pieces back took a leap up in the latest Top 25 and 1.

Take a gander:

CBS Sports Top 25 and 1

1. Kansas
2. Purdue
3. Duke
4. FAU
5. Michigan State
6. Marquette
7. Houston
8. UCONN
9. Creighton
10. Miami (FL)
11. Arkansas
12. USC
13. San Diego State
14. Tennessee
15. Texas A&M
16. Arizona
17. Alabama
18. Baylor
19. Gonzaga
20. Texas
21. Saint Mary’s
22. North Carolina
23. Illinois
24. Villanova
25. Mississippi State
26. Saint John’s

Recap

The big movers here were Purdue (for obvious reasons) as well as UConn, who just landed heady senior playmaker Cam Spencer from Rutgers to pair with a slew of returning rotation players off of the 2023 group. Sure, the engines of that title team are gone in Andre Jackson, Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, but the freshman class showed promise last year and that backcourt is loaded with talent. The Huskies will absolutely compete once again.

Elsewhere, FAU at four is pretty high compared to most rankings, but it’s hard to argue with that slotting when the Owls went 35-4, made a Final Four and then returned every one of their contributors. The real fun is in the SEC, where prognosticators have opinions all over the map on who and where the top teams in that conference should be ranked.

Parish went with Arkansas, and, frankly, that’s giving too much credit to last year’s postseason success and assuming most of these transfers end up hitting, which is always a wildcard. The safer option is Tennessee, the most consistent winners in the SEC over the last six seasons. But the correct pick and a sort of hot take is Texas A&M, who has the best roster in the league, seriously.

Buzz Williams’ group had a tough blowout exit in round one of the NCAA Tournament, but his Aggies were humming in SEC play, finishing 15-3 to come in second place by a comfortable margin — and in most seasons, that mark would at least tie or win you the conference crown outright.

This was a top-15 team in 2023 after the turn of the calendar year and they returned their four best players and then added mid-major stars who fit perfectly into the Williams system. They’re going to beat the living snot out of other SEC teams because they’re older, tougher and more physical than all of their foes in a conference that emphasizes those characteristics. A&M’s moment is here and they ought to be conference favorites.