Aaron Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Andrew Harrison, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles and Dakari Johnson were Kentucky's[1] top seven scorers last season. None remain in school. Jahlil Okafor, Quinn Cook, Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones and Amile Jefferson were Duke's[2] top five scorers last season. None are playing for Duke right now.
Add it up, and that's the top 12 scorers from two of college basketball's very biggest brands who are either no longer in college (i.e., everybody except Jefferson) or currently injured (i.e., Jefferson), and the result has Kentucky and Duke taking resume-damaging losses that have caused both to drop completely out of the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one).
Kentucky is 13-4 with just two top-50 KenPom wins, and all four losses have come to schools ranked outside of KenPom's top 50, most recently Saturday's loss to an Auburn team that's ranked 162nd. Meantime, Duke is 14-4 with just two top-50 KenPom wins and two losses outside of KenPom's top 50. The Blue Devils have lost two straight games, most recently a home game to Notre Dame on Saturday that dropped Duke to 3-2 in the ACC.
So Duke and Kentucky are out.
Notre Dame[3] and Wichita State[4] are in.
And, before you ask, yes, I realize Wichita State is 11-5. But three of those losses came while Fred VanVleet was sidelined, and another came while he played but was hobbled. The Shockers have won nine of 10 since VanVleet returned. They're 10-2 with him.
It's also worth noting that Saturday wasn't a great day for Butler's resume.
Sure, the Bulldogs won.
But their body of work, in my eyes, has always been bolstered by the fact that the teams that had beaten them -- Villanova, Xavier, Providence and Miami -- were all really good teams, and that's still true. But Providence and Miami both lost to unranked schools Saturday, and they slipped in the Top 25 (and one), which caused Butler to slip a little, too.
Anyway ...
The full Top 25 (and one) is below.
(The CBS Sports Top 25 (and one) updates every morning throughout the season. Click this link[5] to view each team's previous ranking, recent results, future schedule, etc.)
- Oklahoma[6] (15-1)
- Kansas[7] (15-2)
- North Carolina[8] (16-2)
- Villanova[9] (16-2)
- Xavier[10] (16-1)
- West Virginia[11] (15-2)
- Iowa[12] (13-3)
- Michigan State[13] (16-2)
- Maryland[14] (16-2)
- Virginia[15] (13-3)
- SMU[16] (16-0)
- Texas A&M[17] (15-2)
- Baylor[18] (14-3)
- Providence[19] (15-3)
- Miami[20] (13-3)
- Butler[21] (13-4)
- Louisville[22] (14-3)
- Purdue[23] (15-3)
- Iowa State[24] (13-4)
- USC[25] (15-3)
- Pittsburgh[26] (15-2)
- Arizona[27] (15-3)
- South Carolina[28] (16-1)
- Indiana[29] (15-3)
- Notre Dame[30] (12-5)
- Wichita State[31] (11-5)
In: Notre Dame, Wichita State
Out: Kentucky, Duke
References
- ^ Kentucky's (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Duke's (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Notre Dame (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Wichita State (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Click this link (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Oklahoma (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Kansas (www.cb ssports.com)
- ^ North Carolina (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Villanova (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Xavier (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ West Virginia (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Iowa (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Michigan State (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Maryland (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Virginia (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ SMU (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Texas A&M (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Baylor (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Providence (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Miami (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Butler (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Louisville (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Purdue (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Iowa State (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ USC (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Pittsburgh (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Arizona (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ South Carolina (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Indiana (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Notre Dame (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ Wichita State (www.cbssports.com)
