There are a lot of different reasons why Tennessee secured a No. 2 seed in last season's NCAA Tournament, won 27 times and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight.
(It's never one thing.)
But, undeniably, the main reason the Vols accomplished everything they accomplished last season was Dalton Knecht -- the 6-foot-6 guard whom Tennessee coach Rick Barnes pulled from the mid-major ranks via the transfer portal two offseasons ago. Knecht, fresh off of a two-year stint at Northern Colorado, averaged 21.7 points for the Vols last season while shooting 39.7% from 3-point range en route to securing SEC Player of the Year honors and becoming the 17th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
He was great.
And, man, it looks like Barnes might've done it again.
Have you seen Chaz Lanier?
Lanier, like Knecht, enrolled at Tennessee after previously starring at the mid-major level — specifically at North Florida, where Lanier averaged 19.7 points last season while shooting 44.0% from 3-point range. He was First Team All-Atlantic Sun and now appears on his way to also being named First Team All-SEC, especially after what he did late Friday in the championship game of the Baha Mar Championship.
Final score: Tennessee 77, Baylor 62.
Lanier took 16 shots, made nine of them and finished with 25 points -- all of which came in the first half while the Vols jumped to a 28-point lead that proved insurmountable. The 6-4 guard was 7 of 10 from the 3-point line. He's now shooting 54.8% from beyond the arc on 7.0 attempts per contest this season.
"Yeah, when the first shot goes in, all the jitters that you have leading up to the game, they just all go out of your body," said Lanier, who sank his first five shots against Baylor before discussing the effort with the Vol Network. "So it was good seeing that first shot go in."
"Rick Barnes has got this thing operating at an extremely high level, consistently now, since he's got it going."@GaryParrishCBS reacting to Tennessee's 77-62 win over Baylor and Chaz Lanier's hot start at UT pic.twitter.com/Rs1xSZYG9T
— Josh Ward (@Josh_Ward) November 23, 2024
Friday's developments -- first Tennessee's overwhelming beatdown of Baylor, then Duke's impressive upset at Arizona -- caused some unusual movement in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Kansas remains No. 1 for the 20th straight day of this season. In an effort to reward Tennessee for starting 6-0 with all six wins coming by at least 15 points, I moved the Vols up to No. 9 in the Top 25 And 1. Obviously, I also wanted to reward Duke for winning 69-55 at Arizona. But I can't rationalize moving Duke ahead of an undefeated Kentucky team that owns a neutral-court victory over the Blue Devils, so I moved Kentucky up to No. 10 and Duke up to No. 11. And all of that movement is what caused Purdue, Alabama and Arkansas to each be pushed down in the rankings, no fault of their own.
Creighton has been removed from the Top 25 And 1 because of Friday's 74-63 loss at home to Nebraska. The Bluejays were replaced by Pitt, which is 6-0 heading into a game with Wisconsin. The Panthers are 18th in the Top 25 And 1. The Badgers are 15th. They'll meet Sunday at 5:30 pm ET on CBS Sports Network.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Dajuan Harris finished with 17 points and six assists in Tuesday's 84-66 win over UNC Wilmington. The Jayhawks' next game is Tuesday against Duke. | -- | 7-2 |
| 2 |  | Johni Broome finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds in Monday's 102-69 win over North Alabama. The Tigers' next game is Monday against Iowa State. | -- | 8-1 |
| 3 |  | RJ Davis finished with 18 points and four assists in Friday's 87-69 win over Hawaii. The Tar Heels' next game is Monday against Dayton. | -- | 5-4 |
| 4 |  | Solo Ball finished with 12 points and two rebounds in Tuesday's 81-46 win over East Texas A&M. The Huskies' next game is Monday against Memphis. | -- | 7-3 |
| 5 |  | Curtis Jones finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Monday's 87-52 win over IU Indy. The Cyclones' next game is Monday against Auburn. | -- | 7-1 |
| 6 |  | Graham Ike finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 84-41 win over Long Beach State. The Zags' next game is Wednesday against West Virginia. | -- | 7-2 |
| 7 |  | Joseph Tugler finished with 17 points and four assists in Friday's 80-44 win over Hofstra. The Cougars' next game is Tuesday against Alabama. | -- | 6-3 |
| 8 |  | Stevie Mitchell finished with 21 points and four steals in Tuesday's 76-58 win over Purdue. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday against Georgia. | -- | 9-1 |
| 9 |  | Chaz Lanier finished with 25 points and four rebounds in Friday's 77-62 win over Baylor. The Vols' next game is Wednesday against Tennessee Martin. | 2 | 9-0 |
| 10 |  | Koby Brea finished with 22 points and two rebounds in Friday's 108-59 win over Jackson State. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against Western Kentucky. | 2 | 8-1 |
| 11 |  | Cooper Flagg finished with 24 points and six rebounds in Friday's 69-55 win at Arizona. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against Kansas. | 2 | 8-2 |
| 12 |  | Purdue committed 15 turnovers in Tuesday's 76-58 loss at Marquette. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Marshall. | 3 | 8-2 |
| 13 |  | Grant Nelson finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 100-87 win over Illinois. The Crimson Tide's next game is Tuesday against Houston. | 3 | 7-2 |
| 14 |  | Myles Rice finished with 20 points and six assists in Thursday's 69-58 win over UNC Greensboro. The Hoosiers' next game is Wednesday against Louisville. | -- | 8-2 |
| 15 |  | John Blackwell finished with 17 points and five rebounds in Friday's 86-70 win over UCF. The Badgers' next game is Sunday against Pitt. | 2 | 8-3 |
| 16 |  | Jayden Nunn missed six of the seven shots he attempted in Friday's 77-62 loss to Tennessee. The Bears' next game is Wednesday against New Orleans. | 1 | 7-3 |
| 17 |  | Adou Thiero finished with 23 points and six steals in Friday's 79-67 win over Little Rock. The Razorbacks' next game is Monday against Maryland Eastern Shore. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 18 |  | Jaland Lowe finished with 22 points and six assists in Friday's 74-63 win over LSU. The Panthers' next game is Sunday against Wisconsin. | NR | 8-2 |
| 19 |  | Wade Taylor IV finished with 17 points and six assists in Wednesday's 71-54 win over Southern. The Aggies' next game is Tuesday against Oregon. | -- | 8-2 |
| 20 |  | John Mobley Jr. finished with 23 points and two steals in Friday's 104-60 win over Campbell. The Buckeyes' next game is Monday against Green Bay. | -- | 6-3 |
| 21 |  | Tre Johnson finished with 17 points and two rebounds in Friday's 67-58 win over Saint Joseph's. The Longhorns' next game is Friday against Delaware State. | -- | 7-2 |
| 22 |  | Caleb Love missed 10 of the 15 shots he attempted in Friday's 69-55 loss to Duke. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Davidson. | 4 | 4-4 |
| 23 |  | Alijah Martin finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 93-68 win over Southern Illinois. The Gators' next game is Thursday against Wake Forest. | -- | 9-0 |
| 24 |  | Ace Bailey finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 74-63 win over Merrimack. The Scarlet Knights' next game is Wednesday against Merrimack. | -- | 6-4 |
| 25 |  | Simas Lukosius finished with 18 points and three assists in Tuesday's 76-60 win at Northern Kentucky. The Bearcats' next game is Saturday against Georgia Tech. | -- | 7-1 |
| 26 |  | Matthew Murrell finished with 19 points and four assists in Thursday's 100-68 win over Oral Roberts. The Rebels' next game is Thursday against BYU. | -- | 8-1 |
In: Pitt
Out: Creighton
