Auburn is not elite offensively. Auburn is not elite defensively.
Statistically speaking, the Tigers aren't great at much.
But they almost never lose. And I've long believed human rankings should respect the results of games and worry less with what predictive metrics show. Ultimately, basketball, like all sports in which we keep score, is about winning and losing. Big picture, it doesn't matter how you win or lose. It just matters if you win or lose. And a good argument could be made that nobody is better this season at avoiding potential losses, and winning improbable games, than Bruce Pearl's Auburn Tigers.
"Normally, teams don't win giving up 22 3s," Samir Doughty told reporters after Wednesday's 95-91 overtime victory over Alabama in which he and his teammates, yes, allowed the Crimson Tide to make 22 3-pointers.
And Doughty is exactly right.
It's hard to win when your opponent makes 22 3-pointers.
But, somehow, Auburn endured Alabama's 3-point onslaught and improved to 22-2 overall, 9-2 in the SEC and 5-0 -- FIVE AND ZERO!-- in overtime games this season. The Tigers are now 12-2 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first quadrant. So while some of the predictive metrics make it reasonable to be skeptical about how much longer this team can keep this up -- especially when you take into account that star freshman Isaac Okoro had to leave Wednesday's game with a hamstring injury -- for now, I think, the incredible body of work should be respected. And that's why Auburn is up to No. 8 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Thursday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Drew Timme got 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in Saturday's 90-60 victory at Saint Mary's. The Zags' 17-game winning streak features 13 double-digit victories. | -- | 27-8 |
| 2 |  | MaCio Teague finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in Monday's 52-45 win at Texas. The Bears' 21-game winning streak features victories over Kansas, Villanova and Butler. | -- | 24-11 |
| 3 |  | Matt Mitchell finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's 82-59 victory over New Mexico. The Aztecs are 25-0 for the first time in school history. | -- | 26-11 |
| 4 |  | Isaiah Moss made three 3-pointers and got 13 points off the bench in Wednesday's 58-49 victory at West Virginia. The Jayhawks will take a nine-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Oklahoma. | -- | 23-11 |
| 5 |  | Obi Toppin finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 81-67 victory over Rhode Island. Both of the Flyers' losses came in overtime to schools also ranked in the Top 25 And 1. | 1 | 25-8 |
| 6 |  | Jalen Smith finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 72-70 victory over Nebraska. The Terrapins will take a seven-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Michigan State. | 1 | 16-17 |
| 7 |  | Tre Jones finished with 13 points and six assists in Monday's 70-65 victory over Florida State. The Blue Devils will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Notre Dame. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 8 |  | Austin Wiley finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds in Wednesday's 95-91 overtime victory over Alabama. Auburn is 5-0 in overtime games this season. | 3 | 27-8 |
| 9 |  | The Seminoles missed 15 of the 18 3-pointers they attempted in Monday's 70-65 loss at Duke. Florida State is 3-2 in its past five games. | 1 | 17-16 |
| 10 |  | Mike Watkins got 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in Tuesday's 88-76 victory at Purdue. Penn State will take a seven-game winning streak in Saturday's game with Northwestern. | 2 | 16-17 |
| 11 |  | The Pirates missed 24 of the 31 3-pointers they attempted in Wednesday's 87-82 loss to Creighton. Seton Hall has a two-game lead in the Big East standings with just six regular-season games remaining. | 2 | 25-12 |
| 12 |  | Damien Jefferson finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 87-82 victory at Seton Hall. The Bluejays are 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Providence. | 7 | 25-10 |
| 13 |  | Tyler Bey finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 81-74 victory over Stanford. The Buffaloes are 10-5 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses coming outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 26-11 |
| 14 |  | Tyrese Maxey made three 3-pointers and finished with 25 points in Tuesday's 78-64 victory at Vanderbilt. The Wildcats are 7-1 in their past eight games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Auburn. | -- | 23-10 |
| 15 |  | Jordan Nwora only scored two points in Wednesday's 64-58 loss at Georgia Tech. The Cardinals are just 4-3 in Quadrant 1 opportunities with an additional loss coming outside of the first quadrant. | 10 | 8-24 |
| 16 |  | Jeremiah Robinson-Earl finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 72-71 victory over Marquette. The win snapped Villanova's three-game losing streak. | 1 | 18-16 |
| 17 |  | Markus Howard became the Big East's all-time leading scorer in Wednesday's 72-71 loss at Villanova. Marquette is 6-2 in its past eight games with the only losses in that stretch coming at Butler and at Villanova. | 1 | 27-10 |
| 18 |  | Henry Baddley got nine points off the bench in Wednesday's 66-61 victory over Xavier. The Bulldogs are 13-6 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 18-15 |
| 19 |  | The Mountaineers committed 19 turnovers in Wednesday's 58-49 loss to Kansas. West Virginia is just 4-4 in its past eight games with two of the losses coming to currently unranked teams. | 4 | 9-23 |
| 20 |  | Joe Wieskamp finished with 30 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 96-72 victory over Nebraska. The Hawkeyes are 6-2 in their past eight games with the only losses in that stretch coming at Maryland and Purdue. | -- | 19-15 |
| 21 |  | Payton Pritchard missed seven of the eight 3-pointers he attempted in Saturday's 63-53 loss at Oregon State. The Ducks will take a two-game losing streak into Thursday's game with Colorado. | -- | 24-12 |
| 22 |  | Skylar Mays finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 82-78 victory over Missouri. LSU is 9-1 in the SEC and tied with Auburn and Kentucky in the loss column atop the league standings. | -- | 17-16 |
| 23 |  | Quentin Grimes made three 3-pointers and finished with 22 points in Wednesday's 62-58 victory at USF. The Cougars are 8-1 in their past nine games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Cincinnati. | -- | 32-5 |
| 24 |  | Eli Brooks made four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points in Wednesday's 79-54 victory at Northwestern. The Wolverines are 4-1 in their past five games and remain the only team that's defeated Gonzaga. | -- | 8-24 |
| 25 |  | Xavier Tillman finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 70-69 victory at Illinois. Only one of Michigan State's eight losses has come outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 20-15 |
| 26 |  | Yoeli Childs finished with 32 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 90-76 victory over San Francisco. The Cougars are 11-2 with Childs in the lineup. | -- | 23-11 |
