The way I go about ranking schools once the season begins is that I more or less assume teams are what I believed they would be until they prove otherwise one way or another. If I assumed you would be mediocre or bad, I hold that opinion until you prove otherwise. If I assumed you would be good or great, I hold that opinion until you prove otherwise.
So in Saturday morning's CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, Arkansas was No. 7 and Kentucky was No. 8 — not so much because of anything either program had accomplished this season, but because the Razorbacks and Wildcats started 10th and 14th in the preseason Top 25 And 1, and neither had really done anything damaging to their resumes (while others ranked ahead of them did). Arkansas entered the weekend 9-0. Kentucky entered the weekend 7-1 with the lone loss being a single-digit loss on a neutral-court to Duke. So though it's true that neither had recorded a good win, it's also true that neither had taken a bad loss to ruin their ranking that was, again, entirely based off of preseason expectations.
That changed Saturday, though.
Arkansas lost 88-66 on a neutral court to an Oklahoma team that had previously lost to Utah State and Butler, then Kentucky lost 66-62 on the road to a Notre Dame team that had previously lost to Texas A&M and Boston College. Consequently, Arkansas is now 9-1 with zero wins over top-65 KenPom teams and a loss to unranked Oklahoma, and Kentucky is 7-2 with zero wins over top-100 KenPom teams and a loss to unranked Notre Dame. Furthermore, if you remove the preseason bias from BartTorvik.com, Kentucky is now 42nd in that computer ranking while Arkansas is 64th. Thirty-four days into this season, those are not resumes worthy of being ranked. So I realize removing Arkansas and Kentucky from Sunday morning's Top 25 And 1 might seem drastic to some given where they were ranked Saturday morning, but I've already explained the rationale for both Saturday morning's ranking and Sunday morning's removal. So if you're confused, just back up and read all of this again.
To be clear, I still believe in both Arkansas and Kentucky longterm. But, right now, based on what they've done and haven't done to date, neither are worthy being ranked.
Anyway …
Baylor remains No. 1 in Sunday morning's Top 25 And 1 — but the Bears must pass their biggest test to date on Sunday afternoon to stay No. 1 come Monday morning. The reigning national champions are hosting Villanova at 3 p.m. ET. It's a matchup between two programs that have won three of the past six national championships. If Baylor wins, Scott Drew's team will not only remain No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 but also probably move to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and Coaches Poll when they update Monday. So the stakes will be high inside what will be a sold-out Ferrell Center.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | LJ Cryer got 20 points off the bench in Saturday's 99-54 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Bears' next game is Sunday against Villanova. | -- | 4-2 |
| 2 |  | Duke was outscored 14-1 in the final five minutes of Tuesday's 71-66 loss at Ohio State. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against South Carolina State. | -- | 4-1 |
| 3 |  | Jamie Jaquez finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 67-56 win at Marquette. The Bruins' next game is Wednesday against Alabama State. | -- | 5-1 |
| 4 |  | Justin Moore finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 67-53 win over Syracuse. The Wildcats' next game is Sunday at Baylor. | -- | 3-4 |
| 5 |  | Purdue allowed Rutgers to shoot 52.1% from the field in Thursday's 70-68 loss to the Scarlet Knights. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against NC State. | -- | 5-1 |
| 6 |  | Chet Holmgren finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in Thursday's 80-55 win over Merrimack. The Zags' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | -- | 5-0 |
| 7 |  | Bennedict Mathurin finished with 30 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 83-79 win at Illinois. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Northern Colorado. | 2 | 2-2 |
| 8 |  | Juwan Gary finished with 19 points annd four rebounds in Saturday's 83-82 win over Houston. The Crimson Tide's next game is Tuesday at Memphis. | 2 | 4-1 |
| 9 |  | Ochai Agbaji finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 102-65 win over Missouri. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Stephen F. Austin. | 2 | 5-0 |
| 10 |  | Gabe Brown finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 80-64 win over Penn State. The Spartans' next game is Tuesday against Oakland. | 2 | 4-1 |
| 11 |  | Jabari Smith finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists in Saturday's 99-68 win over Nebraska. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday against North Alabama. | 2 | 4-0 |
| 12 |  | Isaiah Mobley finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 80-68 win over Eastern Kentucky. The Trojans' next game is Sunday against Long Beach State. | 2 | 4-1 |
| 13 |  | Izaiah Brockington finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 73-53 win over Iowa. The Cyclones' next game is Sunday against Jackson State. | 3 | 3-0 |
| 14 |  | Terrence Shannon finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's 57-52 overtime win over Tennessee. The Red Raiders' next game is Tuesday against Arkansas State. | 3 | 5-1 |
| 15 |  | Houston allowed the Crimson Tide to shoot 52.0% from the field in Saturday's 83-82 loss at Alabama. The Cougars' next game is Tuesday against Louisiana. | -- | 3-1 |
| 16 |  | Josiah-Jordan James finished with 12 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 76-36 win over UNC Greensboro. The Vols' next game is Tuesday against USC Upstate. | 2 | 6-0 |
| 17 |  | Dawson Garcia finished with 22 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 80-63 win over Elon. The Tar Heels' next game is Tuesday against Furman. | 2 | 3-1 |
| 18 |  | E.J. Liddell finished with 28 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 73-55 win over Wisconsin. The Badgers' next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | 2 | 4-1 |
| 19 |  | Jared Rhoden finished with 18 points and five rebounds in Thursday's 64-60 win over Texas. The Pirates' next game is Sunday against Rutgers. | 2 | 3-3 |
| 20 |  | Tari Eason finished with 23 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 69-53 win at Georgia Tech. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday against Northwestern State. | 4 | 5-1 |
| 21 |  | R.J. Cole finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 74-64 win over St. Bonaventure. The Huskies' next game is Saturday against Providence. | 2 | 4-0 |
| 22 |  | Texas missed 12 of the 13 3-pointers it attempted in Thursday's 64-60 loss at Seton Hall. The Longhorns' next game is Tuesday against Arkansas Pine Bluff. | -- | 5-1 |
| 23 |  | Jack Nunge finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday's 83-63 win over Cincinnati. The Musketeers' next game is Wednesday against Morehead State. | 3 | 5-0 |
| 24 |  | David Roddy finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 66-63 win over Mississippi State. The Rams' next game is Saturday against Tulsa. | NR | 3-2 |
| 25 |  | Wisconsin missed 20 of the 26 3-pointers it attempted in Saturday's 73-55 loss at Ohio State. The Badgers' next game is Wednesday against Nicholls State. | -- | 6-0 |
| 26 |  | Braden Norris finished with 18 points and nine assists in Friday's 69-58 win at Vanderbilt. The Ramblers' next game is Dec. 19 against Norfolk State. | NR | 6-0 |
IN: Colorado State, Loyola Chicago
OUT: Arkansas, Kentucky
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