Zach Edey, at this point, is guaranteed to be a First Team All-American for the second straight year. There's no debating that. The only question is which four players will join the Purdue star.
Dalton Knecht has to be one of them, right?
The Tennessee standout certainly continued to strengthen his case Wednesday with an incredible performance in a 92-84 victory over Auburn. The 6-foot-6 guard took 21 shots, made 12 of them and finished with a career-high 39 points, three steals and two rebounds in 33 minutes. With 12:02 remaining, Auburn was up 63-55. From there, Knecht outscored the Tigers by himself, 25-21, and flipped an eight-point deficit into an eight-point win.
"The last 12 minutes was one of the great performances I've been able to see," said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, who, by the way, once coached Kevin Durant at Texas.
"Dalton is terrific," added Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. "We thought we had guys who could guard him."
They didn't, though.
In reality, Auburn mostly only had guys who couldn't prevent Knecht from getting where he wanted to go without fouling, which is among the reasons the Northern Colorado transfer went to the free throw line 12 times. The big performance means Knecht is now averaging 20.8 points on the season — but an eye-popping 26.6 points in UT's past 14 games, all of which were SEC contests. In other words, Knecht has gotten better as the season has progressed and competition increased. If he and his teammates remain on anything close to this pace, the projected lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft will soon be named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
Tennessee remains No. 4 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, if only because there's really nowhere for the Vols to go. At least from a body of work perspective, Purdue, UConn and Houston have undeniably separated from the rest of the sport. Barring an unexpected collapse by one of them, those three schools will be No. 1 seeds on Selection Sunday. So we're really just searching for the fourth No. 1 seed. And, right now, I'd make the fourth No. 1 seed Tennessee.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 35 points and 15 rebounds in Sunday's 84-76 win at Michigan. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Michigan State. | -- | 34-5 |
| 2 |  | Cam Spencer finished with 25 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 78-054 win over Villanova. The Huskies' next game is Sunday against Seton Hall. | -- | 37-3 |
| 3 |  | L.J. Cryer finished with 22 points and three steals in Tuesday's 67-59 win over Cincinnati. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Oklahoma. | -- | 32-5 |
| 4 |  | Dalton Knecht finished with 39 points and three steals in Wednesday's 92-84 win over Auburn. The Vols' next game is Saturday at Alabama. | -- | 27-9 |
| 5 |  | Demarion Watson finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 58-45 win over Oklahoma. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday at UCF. | -- | 29-8 |
| 6 |  | Kam Jones finished with 17 points and two assists in Wednesday's 91-69 win over Providence. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Creighton. | -- | 27-10 |
| 7 |  | RJ Davis finished with 42 points and four steals in Monday's 75-71 win over Miami. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday against NC State. | -- | 29-8 |
| 8 |  | Oumar Ballo finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds in Wednesday's 85-67 win at Arizona State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Oregon. | -- | 27-9 |
| 9 |  | Ryan Kalkbrenner finished with 23 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 85-64 win over Seton Hall. The Bluejays' next game is Saturday against Marquette. | -- | 25-10 |
| 10 |  | Nick Timberlake was 1 of 9 from the field in Tuesday's 76-68 loss to BYU. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Baylor. | -- | 23-11 |
| 11 |  | Ja'Kobe Walter finished with 16 points and four rebounds in Monday's 62-54 win at TCU. The Bears' next game is Saturday against Kansas. | -- | 24-11 |
| 12 |  | Auburn allowed the Vols to shoot 50.9% from the field in Wednesday's 92-84 loss . The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Mississippi State. | -- | 27-8 |
| 13 |  | DaRon Holmes II finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 80-66 win over Davidson. The Flyers' next game is Friday at Loyola Chicago. | -- | 25-8 |
| 14 |  | Great Osobor finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 77-73 win at Fresno State. The Aggies' next game is Friday against Air Force. | -- | 28-7 |
| 15 |  | Jeremy Roach finished with 19 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 84-59 win over Louisville. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against Virginia. | -- | 27-9 |
| 16 |  | Jaedon LeDee finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 72-64 win over San Jose State. The Aztecs' next game is Tuesday at UNLV. | -- | 26-11 |
| 17 |  | Marcus Domask finished with 22 points and five assists in Wednesday's 105-97 win over Minnesota. The Illini's next game is Saturday at Wisconsin. | -- | 29-9 |
| 18 |  | Mark Sears finished with 26 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 103-88 win at Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Tennessee. | -- | 25-12 |
| 19 |  | Dallin Hall finished with 18 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 76-68 win at Kansas. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against TCU. | -- | 23-11 |
| 20 |  | Reed Sheppard finished with 32 points and seven assists in Tuesday's 91-89 win at Mississippi State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Arkansas. | -- | 23-10 |
| 21 |  | Jaylen Wells was 3 of 12 from the field in Saturday's 73-61 loss at Arizona State. The Cougars' next game is Thursday against USC. | -- | 25-10 |
| 22 |  | Meechie Johnson finished with 22 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 70-68 win at Texas A&M. The Gamecocks' next game is Saturday against Florida. | -- | 26-8 |
| 23 |  | Tyrese Samuel finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 83-74 win over Missouri. The Gators' next game is Saturday at South Carolina. | -- | 24-12 |
| 24 |  | Mitchell Saxen finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 88-62 win over San Diego. The Gaels' next game is Thursday at Pepperdine. | -- | 26-8 |
| 25 |  | Juwan Gary finished with 22 points and eight rebounds in Sunday's 73-55 win over Minnesota. The Huskers' next game is Thursday at Ohio State. | 1 | 23-11 |
| 26 |  | Chase Hunter finished with 15 points and two assists in Tuesday's 69-62 win over Pitt. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Notre Dame. | NR | 24-12 |
