I spent a few minutes on Friday morning's episode of the Eye On College Basketball podcast explaining how Saint Mary's has been the best team in college basketball over the past month, according to BartTorvik.com.
The. Best. Team.
I assume most fans have no idea.
In that stretch, the Gaels are 8-0 and winning games by an average of 21.4 points. KenPom.com currently projects them to prevent Gonzaga from taking at least a share of the West Coast Conference title for the first time since 2012. It's one of the more interesting developments in the sport, especially considering Saint Mary's received zero votes in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The body of work is lacking, though.
Despite incredibly strong computer numbers (Saint Mary's is No. 3 at BartTorvik.com, No. 6 in the NET and Sagarin, No. 7 at KenPom.com and No. 9 at EvanMiya.com), the Gaels are only 1-2 in Quadrant 1 and in possession of a resume featuring two Quadrant 3 losses. I realize one has little to do with the other. Still, it's interesting that this school with just one win over a top-55 KenPom team and two losses to sub-100 KenPom teams is now projected by KenPom to win an outright West Coast Conference title for the first time in more than a decade.
Saint Mary's is No. 21 in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Gaels' next game is Saturday night at BYU, where they're listed as 6.5-point favorites. The first of two regular-season games with Gonzaga is scheduled for next Saturday night inside McKeon Pavilion.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 19 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 75-70 win at Michigan. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Michigan State. | -- | 5-1 |
| 2 |  | Noah Clowney finished with 13 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 66-63 win over Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday at Oklahoma. | -- | 4-1 |
| 3 |  | Marcus Carr finished with 21 points and five assists in Tuesday's 89-75 win over Oklahoma State. The Longhorns' next game is Saturday at Tennessee. | -- | 5-1 |
| 4 |  | Jaren Holmes finished with 23 points and seven assists in Tuesday's 80-76 win over Kansas State. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday at Missouri. | -- | 3-0 |
| 5 |  | Kansas State allowed the Cyclones to shoot 57.1% from the field in Tuesday's 80-76 loss at Iowa State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Florida. | -- | 4-1 |
| 6 |  | Jarace Walker finished with 17 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 82-71 win at UCF. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Cincinnati. | -- | 3-1 |
| 7 |  | Zakai Zeigler finished with 11 points and seven assists in Wednesday's 70-41 win over Georgia. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Texas. | -- | 6-0 |
| 8 |  | Azuolas Tubelis finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in Thursday's 63-58 win at Washington State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Washington. | -- | 2-2 |
| 9 |  | Kansas missed 14 of the 19 3-pointers it attempted in Monday's 75-69 loss at Baylor. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Kentucky. | -- | 5-0 |
| 10 |  | UCLA nearly allowed the Trojans to shoot 50% from the field in Thursday's 77-64 loss at USC. The Bruins' next game is Thursday against Washington. | -- | 5-1 |
| 11 |  | Colby Jones finished with 20 points and four assists in Wednesday's 82-79 win at UConn. The Musketeers' next game is Saturday at Creighton. | -- | 5-0 |
| 12 |  | Armaan Franklin finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 76-67 win at Wake Forest. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday against Boston College. | -- | 3-2 |
| 13 |  | Mike Miles Jr. finished with 23 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 79-52 win over Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs' next game is Saturday at Mississippi State. | -- | 4-1 |
| 14 |  | LJ Cryer finished with 22 points and three assists in Monday's 75-69 win over Kansas. The Bears' next game is Saturday against Arkansas. | -- | 4-2 |
| 15 |  | Kam Jones finished with 22 points and three steals in Saturday's 74-53 win at Seton Hall. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at DePaul. | -- | 6-0 |
| 16 |  | Drew Timme finished with 38 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 99-90 win at Pacific. The Zags' next game is Saturday at Portland. | -- | 5-0 |
| 17 |  | Bryce Hopkins finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 79-58 win over Butler. The Friars' next game is Sunday at Villanova. | -- | 5-0 |
| 18 |  | Johnell Davis finished with 25 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 85-67 win over Middle Tennessee. The Owls' next game is Saturday against Western Kentucky. | -- | 4-3 |
| 19 |  | Jarkel Joiner finished with 28 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 85-82 win over Notre Dame. The Wolfpack's next game is Saturday at Wake Forest. | -- | 5-0 |
| 20 |  | Isaiah Wong finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 86-63 win at Florida State.The Hurricanes' next game is Saturday at Pitt. | -- | 3-2 |
| 21 |  | Aidan Mahaney finished with 20 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 77-58 win over Santa Clara. The Gaels' next game is Saturday at BYU. | -- | 5-0 |
| 22 |  | Auburn missed 13 of the 16 3-pointers it attempted in Wednesday's 79-63 loss to Texas A&M. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at West Virginia. | -- | 4-0 |
| 23 |  | Marcus Shaver Jr. finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 63-53 over Fresno State. The Broncos' next game is Saturday against Colorado State. | -- | 3-1 |
| 24 |  | Adam Seiko finished with 25 points and three rebounds in Wednesday's 85-75 win over Utah State. The Aztecs' next game is Saturday against San Jose State. | -- | 2-1 |
| 25 |  | Kendric Davis finished with 25 points and 11 assists in Thursday's 99-84 win over SMU. The Tigers' next game is Sunday at Tulsa. | -- | 4-0 |
| 26 |  | UConn allowed Xavier to shoot 53.4% from the field in Wednesday's 82-79 loss to the Musketeers. The Huskies' next game is Tuesday at DePaul. | -- | 4-0 |
