After Baylor defeated Kansas inside Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in history on Saturday, there was a push on Twitter suggesting the Bears should move to No. 1 in all rankings produced by humans.
Let the record show, I get the argument.
Baylor is 13-1 with five Quadrant 1 victories -- specifically wins over Kansas, Butler, Villanova, Arizona and Texas Tech. The Bears are suddenly on track to win their first-ever Big 12 regular-season title, which would likely lead to Scott Drew winning his first-ever Big 12 Coach of the Year award. So there is nothing crazy about ranking Baylor No. 1 right now. The Bears are awesome and worthy. But, that said, I've decided to leave Gonzaga No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings because to drop the Zags from the top spot while on a 10-game winning streak would be tantamount to dropping the Zags for being members of the West Coast Conference -- and I'm not a fan of punishing teams based on league affiliation. All Mark Few can do at Gonzaga is schedule aggressively in the non-league portion of his schedule; everything else is out of his control. So he took his team to the Battle 4 Atlantis, agreed to road games at Washington and Arizona, agreed to a home game with North Carolina and generally challenged his program as much as anybody could reasonably expect. And when the Zags were done with that stretch of non-league games, I, and most others, had them ranked No. 1 in the country.
I see no great reason to change now.
It's not like the Zags have been struggling. They haven't lost in six weeks. They've won their four West Coast Conference games by an average of 21.8 points. Their lone loss on the season is a neutral-court loss to a Michigan team that's better than the Washington team that dealt Baylor its only loss. And, for what it's worth, Gonzaga's resume features a win over that same Washington team that dealt Baylor its only loss.
So, with all due respect to Baylor -- not to mention Duke, which is also a reasonable option for the top spot -- Gonzaga remains No. 1 in Sunday morning's updated Top 25 And 1. Baylor is No. 2. Duke is No. 3. And, if you're wondering, LSU and Arkansas are the first two teams I left out. I instead went with Illinois and Rutgers at No. 25 and No. 26. So LSU and Arkansas are essentially No. 27 and No. 28.
Sunday's Top 25 And 1
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Drew Timme finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 87-62 win at Loyola Marymount. The Zags will take a 10-game winning streak into Thursday's game with Santa Clara. | -- | 7-3 |
| 2 |  | Jared Butler finished with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in Saturday's 67-55 win at Kansas. The Bears will take a 12-game winning streak into Wednesday's game with Iowa State. | 5 | 7-3 |
| 3 |  | Tre Jones finished with 23 points, five assists and four steals in Saturday's 90-59 victory over Wake Forest. The Blue Devils will take a nine-game winning streak into Tuesday's game at Clemson. | -- | 8-2 |
| 4 |  | Samir Doughty finished with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in Saturday's 82-60 victory over Georgia. The Tigers are 15-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season. | -- | 9-1 |
| 5 |  | Payton Pritchard finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Thursday's 74-73 victory over Arizona. The Ducks own five wins over top-40 KenPom teams - among them Michigan, Seton Hall and Memphis. | -- | 10-1 |
| 6 |  | KJ Feagin made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in Saturday's 83-65 victory over Boise State. This is the Aztecs' best start to a season since they opened 20-0 in the 2010-11 season. | -- | 7-2 |
| 7 |  | Jordan Tucker got 17 points off the bench in Friday's 70-58 victory at Providence. The Bulldogs' lone loss is a one-point loss at Baylor. | 1 | 7-4 |
| 8 |  | The Jayhawks trailed by 13 points at the half and never seriously threatened Baylor in Saturday's 67-55 loss to the Bears. Kansas is 5-3 in Quadrant 1 opportunities. | 6 | 8-2 |
| 9 |  | Trent Forrest finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 78-68 victory at Wake Forest. Florida State is 16-2 in its past 18 regular-season ACC games. | -- | 8-3 |
| 10 |  | Cassius Winston finished with 27 points and six assists in Thursday's 74-58 victory over Minnesota. The Spartans will take an eight-game winning streak into Sunday's game at Purdue. | -- | 8-2 |
| 11 |  | Jordan Nwora finished with 20 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 67-64 win at Notre Dame. All three of the Cardinals' losses are to teams also ranked in the Top 25 And 1. | -- | 6-5 |
| 12 |  | Saddiq Bey finished with a career-high 33 points in Saturday's 80-66 victory over Georgetown. The Wildcats are 8-1 in their past nine games. | -- | 7-4 |
| 13 |  | Miles McBride came off the bench and got 22 points in Saturday's 66-54 victory over Texas Tech. The Mountaineers' resume also features wins over Wichita State and Ohio State. | -- | 8-2 |
| 14 |  | Immanuel Quickley got 19 points off the bench in Saturday's 76-67 victory over Alabama. The Wildcats will take a four-game winning streak into Wednesday's game at South Carolina. | -- | 10-1 |
| 15 |  | Obi Toppin finished with 16 points and five steals in Saturday's 88-60 victory over UMass. The Flyers will take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday's game with VCU. | 1 | 9-2 |
| 16 |  | The Terrapins finished with 17 turnovers and 11 assists in Friday's 67-49 loss at Iowa. Anthony Cowan missed eight of the 10 shots he attempted in defeat. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 17 |  | Zavier Simpson finished with 22 points and nine assists in Thursday's 84-78 victory over Purdue. The Wolverines are the only team that's beaten Gonzaga. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 18 |  | Jamarius Burton finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists in Thursday's 76-67 victory over Memphis. Wichita State's lone loss is a neutral-court loss to West Virginia. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 19 |  | Ty-Shon Alexander finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 77-65 victory at Xavier. All four of the Bluejays' losses are to schools also ranked in the Top 25 And 1. | 4 | 7-4 |
| 20 |  | Myles Powell finished with 23 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 69-55 victory over Marquette. The Pirates will take a six-game winning streak into Wednesday's game at Butler. | 4 | 5-6 |
| 21 |  | Ohio State finished with 16 turnovers and just eight assists in Saturday's 66-54 loss at Indiana. The Buckeyes will take a four-game losing streak into Tuesday's game with Nebraska. | 6 | 6-4 |
| 22 |  | The Red Raiders missed 21 of the 27 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 66-54 loss at West Virginia. Only three of Texas Tech's five losses have come with Jahmi'us Ramsey in the lineup. | -- | 8-2 |
| 23 |  | The Tigers missed 17 of the 21 3-pointers they attempted in Thursday's 76-67 loss at Wichita State. Memphis is now 10-2 without James Wiseman, who quit the team the week before Christmas. | 2 | 8-2 |
| 24 |  | The Wildcats finished with 12 turnovers and 11 assists in Thursday's 74-73 loss at Oregon. Arizona is 2-4 in its past six games. | 2 | 4-5 |
| 25 |  | Ayo Dosunmu finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 54-51 victory over Rutgers. Illinois' resume features four wins over top-40 KenPom teams -- among them Michigan and Rutgers. | NR | 7-3 |
| 26 |  | The Scarlet Knights shot just 33.9% from the field in Saturday's 54-51 loss at Illinois. Rutgers' resume features three wins over top-35 KenPom teams -- among them Seton Hall and Wisconsin. | 6 | 7-4 |
IN: Illinois
OUT: Penn State
