CBS Sports shakes up college basketball Top 25 and 1 after wild week of upsets

Roughly a month into the college basketball season, CBS Sports’ Gary Parish has once again updated his Top 25 And One rankings.

It’s Finals Week for college students at many college campuses across the country, which meant and means some quiet weeknight slates during this portion of December. However, the weekends still feature rivalry matchups and other marquee out-of-conference contests. For instance, the Crosstown Shootout between Cincinnati and Xavier went down Saturday night, as did the hoops version of the Holy War between BYU and Utah.

So, with a jam-packed weekend of college basketball games to look back at, Parish performed some maintenance on his Top 25 And One ratings. Take a look:

1. Arizona (8-0)

Dormant during the last two work weeks, the near-consensus No. 1 Wildcats have looked worthy of the top spot in the last two Saturdays. Last weekend, it was Colgate who felt the wrath of Tommy Lloyd’s third team in Tucson as Arizona won 82-55 over a Raider program that’s made three straight NCAA Tournaments.

Then, this weekend, off seven days rest, the ‘Cats smoked a surging and experienced Wisconsin club. Frankly, the Badgers just don’t have the offensive firepower to match punches with Arizona when they’re firing on all cylinders, which was the case in the McKale Center Saturday as they hammered Wisconsin 98-73.

2. Purdue (9-1)

Outside of the titanic debacle against Fairleigh Dickinson last spring, Purdue has largely dominated non-conference competition over the last few seasons. Of course, they do have a loss this season and it happens to be in their only conference game to date, a road trip vs. a solid Northwestern club, who reminded the Boilermakers that a treacherous league slate once again awaits.

This past week, Purdue only added to a terrific resume through one month of the season. On Monday, they rebounded in Big Ten contest No. 2 to blow out Iowa at home, 87-68. Then, they met Alabama on a neutral court and were able to hold off a very pesky Crimson Tide team. That’s at least six quality wins already for this group.

3. Kansas (9-1)

The Jayhawks didn’t bathe in the spotlight in Maui or garner as much discussion as the team they beat in the Champion’s Classic, but Bill Self’s team is humming along and building another stellar resume outside of the conference. And we know the Big 12 will offer abundant Quad One opportunities.

Kansas was outplayed from tip to finish vs. Marquette out in the Aloha State but rebounded to score a win over Tennessee — who seems to have a knack for losing competitive games against top teams. Since, they’ve picked up a signature win over reigning champ UConn (at home) while taking care of rival Mizzou in Lawrence this weekend as well.

4. Houston (10-0)

At fourth, here’s Houston, humming along like the analytical army tank they are as the Cougars became the first team to reach the 10-0 mark. Admittedly, they did so by beating up on a lot of cupcake opponents, but UH did score a 10-point win over Utah, beat Xavier on the road, Dayton on a neutral court and have one more non-conference test, their toughest, against Texas A&M in the nearby Toyota Center.

That contest will reveal a lot, especially when it comes to Houston’s physicality. For now, this looks like another Kelvin Sampson type of team. They hit the offensive glass hard, force a ton of turnovers with aggressive defense, and have much better shooting this year compared to last with guys like LJ Cryer and Emmanuel Sharp leading the way.

5. UConn (9-1)

UConn finally fell to a non-conference opponent. For the first time since Teddy Allen and New Mexico State torched the Huskies in the first round of the 2022 NCA Tournament, Connecticut lost to a team outside of the Big East. That team was Kansas, who the Huskies visited.

Most college hoops fans would agree that Phog Allen Fieldhouse features the best environment in college hoops, with a whistle that may or may not lean towards the home team. And this season, those fans have another elite squad to scream about, so that’s about as excusable a loss as there is. Otherwise, with wins over Indiana, Texas and North Carolina, UConn is still a bonafide top five club.

6. Baylor (9-0)

Much like last season, the Bears are off to a scorching start on the offensive side of the basketball, scoring 1.28 points per possession through nine games, which leads the country as of Parish’s latest update to the rankings. In simpler numbers, BU also scored 88 points or more in five straight games before dipping to 78 in… an 18-point win over Seton Hall.

7. Marquette (8-2)

Marquette narrowly fell to Zach Edey and Purdue in the Maui Invitational final then made the trip down I-94 and lost to bitter in-state rival Wisconsin in the Kohl Center, which are two respectable losses. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles made Shaka Smart proud by showing up his former team, Texas, in a 21-point home win, before adding a 19-point home victory over Notre Dame to make it a 2-0 week.

Marquette isn’t quite as ruthlessly efficient as they were a season ago and you can see the absence of Oilvier Maxence-Prosper in that regard. However, this team is playing much better defense than they did a year ago. Or perhaps, they’re just more aggressive, because Smart’s group is looking like his old VCU team forcing turnovers like crazy lately.

8. North Carolina (7-2)

The rebound appears to be real in Chapel Hill as RJ Davis and Armando Bacot are reaching Van Wilder territory as Tar Heels, but this season are surrounding by a more suiting supporting cast. Particularly, sharpshooter Cormac Ryan and versatile forward and former five-star Harrison Ingram are perfect swingmen alongside the aforementioned inside-out duo.

Even down the roster, extremely young point guard Elliot Cadeau is thriving in a pass-first role, sophomore Seth Trimble has improved, and Jae’Lyn Withers is an interesting bench piece too.

9. Tennessee (6-3)

Tennessee got ran off the floor in the first 25 minutes of their game against that Carolina time right above them. However, you could argue the performance was actually pretty impressive, since the Vols did cut a 20+ point lead down to seven and were able to keep pace offensively with a UNC team that was hotter than the 2017 Warriors.

That’s been the story for this UT team, though. With transfer wing Dalton Knecht bringing NBA talent (potentially) and more scoring pop, Tennessee is more dangerous on offense while maintaining their bite on defense. But they’ve just come up short in three games already this season, allowing the more elite clubs to slightly out-play them. Besides Illinois, of course…

10. Illinois (7-2)

Brad Underwood’s groups are often a fun watch and their operation looked unique on paper this preseason since the roster featured no true point guard. Through nine games, Underwood and the Illlini charge on point-guard-less but with ball-handlers by committee, allowing him to deploy a lineup and and Bob Knight both prefer: all wings.

Well, Illinois doesn’t quite play the all-6-foot-6 lineup like Coach Knight once declared would be ideal, but they do attack you with a plethora of wings and versatile, lengthy pieces 1-5. They couldn’t quite keep pace with Tennessee on the road,

Top Top And One 11-26

11. Oklahoma (9-0)
12. Gonzaga (7-2)
13. FAU (7-2)
14. Texas A&M (7-2)
15. Clemson (9-0)
16. Kentucky (7-2)
17. Miami (7-1)
18. Colorado State (9-1)
19. Creighton (8-1)
20. Duke (6-3)
21. Wisconsin (7-3)
22. Virginia (8-1)
23. BYU (8-1)
24. James Madison (9-0)
25. Princeton (9-0)
26. Alabama (6-3)

Well, just after publishing this list, the Princeton Tigers actually went down Sunday afternoon against Saint Joseph’s, an A-10 school who also took Kentucky to overtime, beat Temple on a neutral court and won AT Villanova. Maybe the Hawks will take the Tigers spot next time. Meanwhile there’s other mid-major representation with James Madison sitting right up there in front of Princeton.