CBS Sports updates Top 25 and 1 after three ranked teams fall, including two in Top 10

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

Northwestern claimed another victim at home as Illinois lost to become the day’s biggest faller in Parish’s rankings. The Wildcats have now beaten three top-15 teams at home in the Illini, Purdue and Dayton. Meanwhile, Auburn fell out of the top-10 and Alabama hopped into the back end of the list after the Tide narrowly outlasted the Tigers in Tuscaloosa Wednesday evening.

See where those clubs and many others fall in the latest CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 down below:

1. Purdue (18-2)

Purdue and UConn have really separated themselves at the top of both the Coaches and AP Polls, with UConn earning No. 1 in the polls and the Boilermakers getting the top spot for Gary Parish. Aside from some uncharacteristic defensive performances in losses to Northwestern and Nebraska where they gave up 92 and 88, Purdue otherwise has been an even more dominant version of the team that earned the No. 1 overall seed last season.

Really, there’s not a ton of difference between the ’23 Boilermakers and the current group, just that this year’s rendition is older and more mature, arguably with more options. They have a guard trio you can truly rely on in Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones — who each average 11 points a game around Zach Edey’s monstrous numbers in the middle.

2. UConn (17-2)

Saturday’s victory over Villanova was the first in UConn’s seven-game winning streak where they only triumphed by one possession. Otherwise, the Huskies are having their way with Big East competition, and are only growing stronger, especially on defense, with big man Donovan Clingan back in the lineup.

He’s played a couple games but now gets a full seven-day break in between games since UConn doesn’t take the floor again until this Sunday. Even then, the Huskies get Xavier at home followed up by another home game vs. Providence next week. These guys could have a stranglehold on the Big East regular season race by February.

3. North Carolina (16-3)

Aside from the ridiculous Houston defense, North Carolina has posted the best defensive efficiency numbers in the country since Dec. 17. They’re holding opponents to 22% shooting from 3, 42% from 2, and are posting elite rebounding numbers as well.

Hubert Davis might just be one heck of a ball coach, folks. There was worry the 2022 title game run was a bit of a fluke after that regular season was up-and-down and the Tar Heels followed it up with the most disappointing year of any preseason No. 1 team in the history of the polls. Alas, with RJ Davis running the show alongside an elite defense, Davis has silenced the doubt and has this UNC group as an obvious title contender.

4. Tennessee (14-4)

From mid-December through early January, Dalton Knecht experienced a five-game stretch where he averaged just 7.6 points per game on 32% field goal shooting. But in his last four, he’s now averaged a whopping 32 points per game on 53% shooting from the field, including 48% on over seven 3-point attempts per contest.

With that sort of production, the Vols absolutely rolled in home wins this week — by 19 vs. Florida and then by 20 against an Alabama team that was red hot. Now, UT gets their easiest week of the season with just one game on the road Saturday vs. lowly Vanderbilt before heading to South Carolina and Kentucky the following week.

5. Houston (17-2)

Here comes a Tale of Two Sides of the Ball, starting with the Cougars’ superior defensive unit. If you like charts, check out this one above which illustrates just how wide the margin is between Houston and the No. 2 defensive team in the country. It’s a canyon! UH is allowing .809 points per possession, which is absolutely wicked, while also scoring a whole eight points lower than No. 2 on schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency. They are historically great on that side of the ball and every metric agrees.

But not on offense. Kelvin Sampson’s teams have typically thrived on three-point shooting and offensive rebounding on this side of the ball — and while they’re still No. 6 in offensive rebounding rate, the knockdown shooters just aren’t there. LJ Cryer, Jamal Shead and Emmanuel Sharp have taken more than 75% of the team’s 3s but are only knocking down 36% of them, with no other player on the team shooting better.

6. Arizona (14-4)

The west-coast Wildcats have experienced an up-and-down start to conference play, but escaped this past week unscathed. They welcomed LA-area Pac-12 schools USC and UCLA for a pair of wins, although they needed a comeback effort to topple a struggling Bruins’ team on Saturday.

Regardless, Tommy Lloyd’s group still rate as analytical darlings, as they and Auburn are the only clubs to boast top-10 units in KenPom’s offensive and defensive efficiency metrics. After their home stand vs. California schools, Arizona will make a trip to Oregon for games at the Ducks and Beavers this weekend.

7. Wisconsin (15-4)

The Badgers suffered a pretty brutal loss early last week at Penn State. However, they did rebound to score a home win over Indiana over the weekend where they put up 91 points, their highest mark since the very first game of the season vs. Arkansas State.

In the mid-week, Wisconsin didn’t put on their prettiest performance in the Barn against Minnesota, but they completed the task at hand and picked up a Big Ten road win, which Greg Gard will never take for granted. Now, they return home and welcome a hot Michigan State team this Friday night.

8. Kansas (16-3)

The Jayhawks did not come out of the gate firing on all cylinders offensively. But oddly, since the start of Big 12 play, KU has produced some of their better offensive performances of the season and are No. 8 in the country in Bart Torvik’s adjusted offensive efficiency since the turn of the year.

To be fair, the Jayhawks have had two of the conference’s best offensive players all year long in Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar, by far the best duo in the league. The two combine to average 38.8 points, 17.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.

9. Dayton (16-2)

The Flyers are currently projected to win in every remaining game on their schedule to finish with a 28-2 record. Obviously, they likely will not win every game the rest of the way, whether they’re favored or not. But UD has already rolled off 13 straight victories with only 15 more to go.

Those only two losses came in the first five games of the season at Northwestern and on a neutral court vs. Houston — both respectable quad one losses. Meanwhile, Dayton’s already solved the typical mid-major issue of putting together a solid resume of wins for the NCAA Tournament committee, having toppled SMU, Cincinnati and St. John’s away from home for quad one wins.

10. Baylor (14-4)

Baylor gets the work week off after a brutal two-game stretch last week. The Bears were off to an undefeated 3-0 mark in Big 12 play but suffered a pair of heartbreakers on the road: a four-point overtime loss at Kansas State, then a two-point loss to Texas at the horn.

Hard results to swallow, but Scott Drew’s group has played with fire during the Big 12 slate so far. In five total league games, two have gone to overtime and four have been decided by four points or less. But that’s life in America’s toughest conference.

CBS Sports 11-26 Rankings

11. Auburn (16-3)
12. Iowa State (15-4)
13. Utah State (17-2)
14. Duke (14-4)
15. Marquette (14-5)
16. Creighton (15-5)
17. Texas Tech (15-3)
18. Colorado State (15-4)
19. Kentucky (14-4)
20. Oklahoma (15-4)
21. New Mexico (17-3)
22. BYU (14-5)
23. San Diego State (16-4)
24. Illinois (14-5)
25. Alabama (13-6)
26. South Carolina (16-3)