I typically spend the few hundred words that top each update of the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings on a specific game or team or player. Rarely do I focus on days.
But what a day that was!
Absolutely incredible.
The first Saturday of February looked good on paper, as Matt Norlander and I discussed on Friday’s episode of the Eye On College Basketball Podcast. But good things on paper don’t always deliver. Sometimes they’re duds. But Saturday was anything but thanks to (among other things) A) North Carolina beating Duke 71-68 on a final-second 3-pointer from Seth Trimble, B) Michigan State topping Illinois 85-82 in overtime courtesy of a 26-point, 15-assist effort from Jeremy Fears Jr., C) Houston winning at BYU in a game featuring multiple projected top-10 NBA Draft picks, and D) Kentucky continuing its turnaround with a 74-71 victory over Tennessee that pushed Mark Pope’s Wildcats to 8-1 in their past nine games.
Anatomy of a comeback: How UNC erased a 13-point deficit to stun Duke in rivalry thriller
Kyle Boone
I could keep going — but surely you get the point.
If Super Bowl Sunday is as good as College Basketball Saturday, we’re in for a treat when the Seahawks and Patriots take the field. Either way, Arizona remains No. 1 in Sunday morning’s updated Top 25 And 1 for the 29th straight day thanks to Saturday’s 84-47 destruction of Oklahoma State that moved the Wildcats to 23-0.
And you know what’s next, right?
Yep, Big Monday should be appointment television with top-ranked and undefeated Arizona heading to Allen Fieldhouse to play the projected No. 1 pick of the 2026 NBA Draft (Darryn Peterson) and Kansas. As Rock Chalk Blog noted on X, Arizona, the first visiting No. 1 team to enter Allen Fieldhouse in the Bill Self Era, will be trying to become the first opponent to ever beat Self at home in a Big Monday game.
He’s 38-0 in such contests to date.
Monday’s tip is set for 9 p.m. ET.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
4
North Carolina
4
Vanderbilt
