Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings: Arkansas surges after signature win vs. Louisville

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Arkansas entered its game against Louisville with a 5-2 record that featured no good wins and no bad losses. In simple terms, the Razorbacks had beaten everyone they were supposed to beat and lost to everyone they were supposed to lose to.

That changed Tuesday.

Despite closing as a 2-point home underdog, Arkansas controlled the game from start to finish, led by as many as 20, never trailed and walked out of Bud Walton Arena with an 89-80 victory.

Coach John Calipari is now 20-8 all-time against Louisville, including a 14-3 mark since leaving Memphis for Kentucky in March 2009. Naturally, Calipari was asked about his relationship with the Cardinals after spending 15 seasons coaching their chief rival.

“Louisville’s fine with me,” Calipari said, noting his long and friendly relationship with the late Denny Crum. “We played them a bunch, beat them more than we lost to them. Tried to downplay the game, tell them it’s just one game so people wouldn’t lose their minds — but they didn’t listen to me.”

No, they did not.

Either way, how about Arkansas? In front of a capacity crowd — and with new football coach Ryan Silverfield firing up the students — the Razorbacks got 21 points and five rebounds from Trevon Brazile, the lone holdover from the Eric Musselman era, and handed Louisville its first loss of the season. With the win, Arkansas rises to No. 12 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1, where Arizona remains No. 1 for the 15th straight day.

Louisville drops to No. 13.

(Note: Arkansas moving from No. 18 to No. 12, combined with Louisville falling from No. 7 to No. 13, pushed Kansas, Houston, Illinois, Texas Tech and Tennessee down one spot each through no fault of their own.)

Next up for the Razorbacks is Saturday’s game against Fresno State. Seven days later, they’ll face No. 17 Texas Tech in Dallas.