Written by Gary Parrish at CBS Sports.com
It was August 2003 when Baylor introduced Scott Drew as its new men’s basketball coach. He was 32 years old and inheriting a program about to be placed on probation, hit with scholarship reductions and banned from playing non-league games in a season because of NCAA violations uncovered after one player (Carlton Dotson) murdered another player (Patrick Dennehy).
No coach has ever taken over more of a mess.
Predictably, Drew missed the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons and finished 11th or 12th in the Big 12 every time. But he broke through in 2008, made the NCAA Tournament after finishing fourth in the league, and that ended up being the first of six trips to the Big Dance in a nine-year span that includes two Elite Eights.
And now there’s this: Baylor is the new No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one).
That’s the result of the Bears improving to 14-0 Wednesday via a 65-63 victory over Iowa State while former No. 1, Villanova, lost 66-58 at Butler. Is Baylor really the nation’s best? I don’t know. But what I do know is that the Bears are one of only two undefeated teams remaining, and that they own wins over six top-55 KenPom schools – specifically Louisville, Xavier, Oregon, Iowa State, Michigan State and VCU.
Nobody can match that resume.
In other words, Baylor has earned this No. 1 ranking.
Villanova is now No. 2.
The complete Top 25 (and one) is below.
| 1 |
Baylor |
The Bears are undefeated with six top-55 KenPom wins on their resume. No other team in the country has more than five top-55 KenPom wins. | 1 | 14-0 |
| 2 |
Villanova |
The Wildcats suffered their first loss since last March Wednesday at Butler. Their resume still features four top-55 KenPom wins – including victories at Purdue and at Creighton. | 1 | 14-1 |
| 3 |
UCLA |
Lonzo Ball got 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Friday’s win at Oregon State. The freshman point guard is averaging 14.3 points, 8.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds. | — | 15-1 |
| 4 |
Kansas |
The Jayhawks extended their home winning streak to 50 games via Tuesday’s victory over Kansas State. Josh Jackson had 22 points and nine rebounds against the Wildcats. | — | 13-1 |
| 5 |
Kentucky |
Malik Monk scored 26 points on 11 shots in Tuesday’s blowout of Texas A&M. The Wildcats have scored at least 100 points in five different games. | — | 12-2 |
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