CBS Sports updates its Top 25 and 1 college hoops rankings following more major upsets

CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish released his latest Top-25 And 1 college basketball rankings on Wednesday, making some major adjustments after some consequential results early in the week.

Particularly, a couple of Top-15 clubs went down as Kentucky lost by 17 points at South Carolina to tie for the largest drop in then rankings with Oklahoma, who lost a home contest vs. rival Texas. Meanwhile, Dayton was the highest-riser of this update and we’ll spotlight why this Flyer team climbed into Parrish’s top-10.

See where those powerhouses and 24 others fall in the rankings as well as this week’s full top-25 from the coaches just below:

1. Purdue (18-2)

Purdue is virtually unbeatable, unless their opposition goes absolutely nuclear from three-point range. Nebraska knocked down an absurd 14 of 23 from deep in that win, and Northwestern hit 10 of 20 in their overtime victory vs. the Boilermakers. Otherwise, Purdue has won every other game with most not even being close.

They did scrape by in single-digit wins vs. Tennessee and Marquette in Maui, who were top-five at the time, and Alabama drained 19 three-pointers in a six-point loss. But seriously, they’re undefeated when teams make less than 50% of their three-pointers. So, in four straight games where the opponents have shot below average, Purdue rolled off one blowout after the next, with the latest coming by 32 points against Michigan.

2. UConn (17-2)

The UConn offense has operated with elite efficiency from the first game of the season and that machine has not slowed down. But it’s their progress on the defensive side of the ball that’s really been encouraging. As noted, ‘Nova scored just 65, but in the midweek, despite a tough night offensively themselves, UConn still handled Creighton on the back of lockdown defense, holding the Blue Jays’ potent scoring attack to just 48 total points.

Perhaps that’s the Donovan Clingan effect. Unfortunately, the sophomore center has struggled with foot injuries for much of the season and still isn’t completely 100%. Either way, with him back in the lineup, UConn’s defense is finally starting to come around as one of the best in the nation of late.

3. North Carolina (16-3)

Speaking of defense, these North Carolina Tar Heels are playing it better than anyone since New Year’s. According to analytics modeler, Bart Torvik, UNC is No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency since New Year’s Day. They hold opponents to the lowest effective field goal percentage and defensive rebound at a top-10 rate. The Heels are forcing misses and cleaning ’em up.

Offensively, though, Carolina isn’t quite championship-caliber yet. In Torvik’s same measurements since Jan. 1, UNC is 85th in offense but an encouraging 21st throughout the entire season. They’ve showcased top-end play on both ends of the court for stretches of games this season, and there’s no reason to think they can’t combine the two for a special run in March.

4. Tennessee (14-4)

The Volunteers remain the only top-five squad with four losses, but that’s because Tennessee has played arguably the toughest schedule in the country. They picked up three of those defeats in a two-week span facing superpowers Purdue, Kansas and North Carolina all away from home and then fell on the road against an extremely veteran and physical Mississippi State team.

But along with those quad one setbacks is still an impressive list of victories. UT scored an early marquee win by beating Wisconsin in Madison back in November, and then took down Illinois before the Terrence Shannon Jr. saga became an issue for the Illini. Wins at Georgia and home vs. Alabama also fall into the Q1 category to give the Vols one heck of a resume thus far.

5. Houston (17-2)

Houston had its Welcome to the Big 12 moment when they dropped its first two conference road games against Iowa State and TCU. With only a victory over West Virginia as part of their 1-2 start, worry began to creep in nationally that perhaps the Cougars’ dominant regular seasons the last few years were a product of the much weaker AAC.

However, Houston responded to put to bed those worries and assure skeptics that, while the Big 12 is undoubtedly a bigger challenge, Kelvin Sampson’s group is still a national contender and will likely be in the mix for a Big 12 crown in year one. Since the TCU defeat, they rolled off home wins over Texas Tech (by 23 points) and UCF (by 15) before taking down a strong BYU team in Provo. They’ve now told the Big 12: Welcome to Houston Basketball.

6. Arizona (14-4)

Arizona started the season on an absolute tear, ripping through Duke (on the road), Michigan State and Wisconsin as part of an 8-0 start. That legwork keeps the Wildcats in discussion as a Top-10 team, but they’ll have to return to that form soon to remain ranked this highly.

After that start, Arizona went 4-4 in its next eight games with losses to Purdue, FAU in double-OT before some tough conference losses to Stanford and Washington State. The Pac-12 isn’t terribly strong this season, however, the Wildcats have plenty of quad one opportunities in front of them with four road games in their next six, including trips to NCAA Tourney hopefuls Oregon, Utah and Colorado. Sweep those and Arizona is right back in the national title discussion.

7. Auburn (16-2)

Without the star power or flair of past successful Bruce Pearl teams, the 2024 Tigers are quiet prowlers in the SEC and national title discussion. But as Pearl has emphasized every single time he’s taken the stage to talk about this team, it is the extraordinary depth that makes this group so special.

On Thursday, college hoops writer Kyle Tucker of The Athletic noted that the No. 1 lineup in the country to play 90+ possessions together, according to Evan Miyakawa’s analytics, is the Auburn bench unit, their second five. Stats like that can mean nothing or everything, and in this case, it’s indicative of what a tremendously deep and balanced unit these Auburn Tigers are.

8. Wisconsin (15-4)

Greg Gard hasn’t produced Final Fours or lit the world on fire with one of the greatest offenses in the history of college ball like his predecessor Bo Ryan, but he is reliable for producing a Top-20 team every few years. And this season, he has his best offensive unit yet, which ranks top-10 analytically so far.

Like many successful programs, Gard has gone with a model of experience and continuity, keeping the same core of guys around for the last several years: Chucky Hepburn at point guard, Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl down low with a fifth-year senior Max Klesmit next to Hepburn. Those same four were the leaders last season, except now, they’ve added a bit of a spark plug in St. John’s transfer AJ Storr, who adds the shot-creation element.

9. Kansas (16-3)

Kansas built up such a great resume in the first month or so that they can afford to drop as many Big 12 road games as they want. Wins over UConn, Tennessee and Kentucky mark the nation’s best trio of victories so far and set KU up for a No. 1 seed even with a few more slip-ups.

However, the recent losses are quite concerning. They fell on the road against UCF, which really shouldn’t be one of the tougher Big 12 road games. Then, against a 6-11 West Virginia squad, they gave up 91 to one of the conference’s worst offenses in another loss. This coming Saturday’s game at Iowa State could be very telling for where this Kansas group is heading.

10. Dayton (16-2)

This ain’t your typical great Mid Major club. No, no, Anthony Grant’s 2024 Flyers don’t win with terrific guard play the way most smaller-conference teams do in March. Instead, they boast a front-court that virtually every power conference program is jealous of with 6’11 star player DaRon Holmes and 6’7 super-athlete Nate Santos manning the starting front-court roles.

Then, here are Grant’s first four players off the bench: 6’6 Koby Brea, 6’11 Isaac Jack, 6’8 Petras Padegimas and 6’7 Zimi Nwokeji. You won’t find another mid-major packing that sort of size into its nine-man rotation And here’s the best part: they shoot! Holmes, Santos and Brea all knock down more than 43% of their combined 11.5 attempts per game. It’s not hyperbole to wonder if the Dayton Flyers have the best front-court in the nation.

CBS Sports 11-26 Rankings

11. Baylor
12. Iowa State
13. Utah State
14. Duke
15. Marquette
16. Colorado State
17. Creighton
18. Texas Tech
19. Kentucky
20. Oklahoma
21. Illinois
22. New Mexico
23. Utah
24. BYU
25. Seton Hall
26. San Diego State