NEW YORK — Michigan State has been No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 since the moment the first 2019-20 college basketball rankings were published, which was the night of the final game of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. And now, just one day into this season, Tom Izzo's Spartans are relinquishing the top spot.
That's a byproduct of what happened late Tuesday.
Despite being the favorite to win the 2020 NCAA Tournament, according to oddsmakers, the Spartans will carry an 0-1 record into the weekend because of a 69-62 loss to Kentucky in the second game of the Champions Classic inside Madison Square Garden. Michigan State missed 21 of the 26 3-pointers it attempted and committed 16 turnovers. Cassius Winston, the CBS Sports Preseason National Player of the Year, was 1-of-7 from 3-point range with four assists and three turnovers.
So now there's a new No. 1.
And the new No. 1 is … Kentucky.
A year after getting embarrassed in the season-opener on a similar stage, John Calipari's Wildcats controlled Michigan State pretty much from the opening tip to the final buzzer while Tyrese Maxey had one of the best debuts of any freshman in UK history. The 6-foot-3 guard came off of the bench, took 12 shots, made seven of them and finished with a game-high 26 points and five rebounds. He was tremendous and showed why he's probably best-equipped to be UK's best player and leading scorer.
Looking at the schedule, the Wildcats are likely to hold the top spot in the Top 25 And 1 for a while considering they will not play another team currently ranked in the top 60 at KenPom until they meet Ohio State on Dec. 21 in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas. So get used to this, college basketball fans. Like it or not, Kentucky is set up to be No. 1 for the next six weeks, at least.
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points on only 12 field-goal attempts in Tuesday's win over Michigan State. The Wildcats won despite shooting just 38.0 percent from the field. | 2 | 3-0 |
| 2 |  | Tre Jones scored a team-high 15 points in Tuesday's win over Kansas. The Blue Devils won despite shooting just 35.9 percent from the field because they took 14 more shots than KU. | -- | 3-1 |
| 3 |  | The Spartans missed 21 of the 26 3-pointers they attempted in Tuesday's loss to Kentucky. Preseason National Player of the Year Cassius Winston was responsible for six of those misses. | 2 | 3-1 |
| 4 |  | Jordan Nwora made four 3-pointers and finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's win at Miami. The Cardinals shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range in the game. | -- | 1-1 |
| 5 |  | The Jayhawks committed 28 turnovers in Tuesday's loss to Duke. Sophomore guard Devon Dotson finished with six turnovers and five made field goals. | -- | 4-0 |
| 6 |  | Jalen Smith got 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in Tuesday's win over Holy Cross. The Terrapins won easily despite making just five of the 27 3-pointers they attempted. | -- | 3-1 |
| 7 |  | James Wiseman took 14 shots and made 11 to finish with 28 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in Tuesday's win over South Carolina State. Fellow freshman Precious Achiuwa added 14 points and eight rebounds. | -- | 3-0 |
| 8 |  | Cole Anthony is gifted enough to lead UNC to what would be Roy Williams' 10th Final Four. The 5-star freshman is a legitimate candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. | -- | 2-1 |
| 9 |  | Kerry Blackshear, a transfer from Virginia Tech, got 20 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's win over North Florida. Freshman Scottie Lewis added nine points and five rebounds off the bench. | -- | 4-0 |
| 10 |  | The Cavaliers are replacing the top three scorers from last season's team that won the national championship. But, don't forget, Tony Bennett's average KenPom finish over the past six seasons, regardless of who left and who enrolled, is 4.8. | -- | 3-0 |
| 11 |  | Corey Kispert made five 3-pointers and scored 28 points in Tuesday's win over Alabama State. The Zags were 10-of-20 from 3-point range in the game. | -- | 4-0 |
| 12 |  | National Player of the Year candidate Myles Powell finished with 27 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's win over Wagner. Jared Rhoden added 12 points off the bench. | -- | 2-2 |
| 13 |  | Jeremiah Robinson-Earl got 24 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's victory over Army. Saddiq Bey added 22 points. | -- | 2-3 |
| 14 |  | Jahmi'us Ramsey finished with 19 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's win over Eastern Illinois. The Red Raiders shot 53.3 percent from 3-point range in the blowout. | -- | 4-0 |
| 15 |  | Payton Pritchard finished with 24 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in Tuesday's win over Fresno State. The Ducks won by double-digits despite shooting just 7.7 percent from 3-point range. | -- | 4-0 |
| 16 |  | Samir Doughty finished with 20 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's win over Georgia Southern. Austin Wiley added 13 points and nine rebounds. | -- | 4-0 |
| 17 |  | The loss of Carsen Edwards is obviously a big deal. But it would be naive to assume Matt Painter won't win at a relevant level again and guide the Boilermakers to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight year. | -- | 4-0 |
| 18 |  | Marcus Santos-Silva took 11 shots, made eight of them and finished with 21 points and 18 rebounds in Tuesday's win over St. Francis. De'Riante Jenkins added 16 points, four rebounds and three steals. | -- | 4-0 |
| 19 |  | Lamonte Turner finished with a team-high 17 points and six assists in Tuesday's win over UNC Asheville. Yves Pons added 15 points and seven rebounds. | -- | 4-0 |
| 20 |  | Jared Butler made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored 30 points in Tuesday's win over Central Arkansas. The Bears shot 56.3 percent from the field in the game. | -- | 3-1 |
| 21 |  | Five of the top seven scorers from a team that spent part of last season ranked are back - including Kaleb Wesson, who averaged 14.6 points and 6.9 assists as a sophomore. That's among the reasons why OSU coach Chris Holtmann should be in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. | -- | 2-1 |
| 22 |  | Sean Miller's Wildcats return only one player who averaged at least 7.5 points per game last season. But Arizona's top-10 recruiting class featuring 5-star studs Nico Mannion and Josh Green should provide enough talent to prevent the Pac-12 power from missing the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years. | -- | 2-1 |
| 23 |  | The top six scorers from a team that finished 14-4 in the Atlantic 10 are back - among them reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Jon Axel Gudmundsson. This should be Bob McKillop's best team since Stephen Curry led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. | -- | 3-0 |
| 24 |  | Sam Merrill, the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, scored 28 points in Tuesday's win over Montana State. The senior guard was 17-of-18 from the free-throw line. | -- | 4-0 |
| 25 |  | Jordan Ford scored 26 points in Tuesday's overtime victory over Wisconsin. The Gaels used a 21-3 run in the first half to erase what was an early deficit. | -- | 4-0 |
| 26 |  | The Tigers are returning three of the top six scorers from a team that won the SEC's regular-season title. The enrollment of 5-star forward Trendon Watford should have the Tigers at, or near, the top of their league again under third-year coach Will Wade. | -- | 3-0 |
