College basketball rankings: Duke, Iowa State win huge road games, bust myth of 'building-truster'
The Blue Devils move up to No. 3 in the Top 25 And 1 after winning at Michigan State
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
Regular listeners of the CBS Sports Eye On College Basketball Podcast might know that I invented the term "building-truster" in recent years as a way to justify, with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, picking certain home teams all the time. I only tell you that now so that I can also tell you that this weekend was a bad weekend to be a building-truster -- especially in the Big Ten.
Did you see what happened at the Breslin Center? Can you believe what happened at Mackey Arena? Of the 365 teams playing Division I men's basketball, only nine of them remain undefeated -- and two of those nine recorded massive victories Saturday on the road.
Final score: Duke 66, Michigan State 60
Final score: Iowa State 81, Purdue 58
The Blue Devils and Cyclones, two elite teams built in two totally different ways, went into two of the best buildings in college basketball to play two of the best teams in college basketball, guided by two of the best coaches in college basketball -- and they both won. And Iowa State won by a historically relevant margin, specifically by 23 points. Because, remember, Purdue is No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, at least until Monday, and no team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll has ever lost a game at home by more points than the number of points Iowa State just beat Purdue by inside Mackey Arena.
"We played our absolute best," said Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger. "When you play an elite competitor and tremendous program, and have the respect we have for the program, you know it's going to take your best, and we were fortunate enough to do that. We made enough shots and made enough plays."
How Iowa State, sparked by an underrated freshman, pulled off an historic upset of No. 1 Purdue
Isaac Trotter
Indeed, they did. They've been doing it all season.
Thanks to the strength of undefeated Duke's latest road win, and to the strength of undefeated Iowa State's latest road win, I decided to jump the Blue Devils and Cyclones above one-loss UConn and one-loss BYU, which means Duke is No. 3, and Iowa State is No. 4, in Sunday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And daily college basketball rankings, and UConn is down to No. 5 while BYU is down to No. 6, no fault of their own.
Arizona remains No. 1 for the 18th consecutive day.
Michigan is No. 2.
And it should be noted that ESPN had an interesting graphic during Arizona's 97-68 win over Auburn late Saturday, one that detailed how 15 of the past 20 national champions were ranked and undefeated at the end of November. If that trend holds true this season, one of the schools in the top four of the Top 25 And 1 right now could be the one to extend it..
So who's it gonna be?
Arizona? Michigan? Duke? Iowa State?
(Note: Purdue, Michigan State, Louisville and Vanderbilt also technically meet this criteria -- but, for these purposes, I just wanted to highlight the top four that are all still undefeated.)
Arizona, Michigan, Duke and Iowa State all have net ratings above 30, according to KenPom.com. I realize that sentence doesn't mean much without context, but just know that schools have won national championships with lower net-ratings than the net-ratings those four teams all currently possess with a combined record of 35-0 featuring 26 double-digit victories.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
3
Duke
5
Purdue
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Koa Peat finished with 18 points and five assists in Saturday's 97-68 win over Auburn. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Alabama. | -- | 8-0 |
| 2 |  | Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 22 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 101-60 win over Rutgers. The Wolverines' next game is Tuesday against Villanova. | 1 | 8-0 |
| 3 |  | Cameron Boozer finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday's 66-60 win at Michigan State. The Blue Devils' next game is Dec. 16 against Lipscomb. | 3 | 10-0 |
| 4 |  | Milan Momcilovic finished with 20 points and two steals in Saturday's 81-58 win at Purdue. The Cyclones' next game is Thursday against Iowa. | 3 | 9-0 |
| 5 |  | Solo Ball finished with 14 points and four rebounds in Friday's 83-59 win over East Texas A&M. The Huskies' next game is Tuesday against Florida. | 1 | 8-1 |
| 6 |  | AJ Dybantsa finished with 22 points and five assists in Wednesday's 91-60 win over Cal Baptist. The Cougars' next game is Tuesday against Clemson. | 1 | 7-1 |
| 7 |  | Trey Kaufman-Renn missed seven of the eight shots he attempted in Saturday's 81-58 loss to Iowa State. The Boilermakers' next game is Wednesday against Minnesota. | 5 | 8-1 |
| 8 |  | Graham Ike finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 94-59 win over Kentucky. The Zags' next game is Sunday against North Florida. | 1 | 8-1 |
| 9 |  | Jeremy Fears missed each of the 10 shots he attempted in Saturday's 66-60 loss to Duke. The Spartans' next game is Saturday at Penn State. | 1 | 8-1 |
| 10 |  | Labaron Philon Jr. finished with 29 points and three assists in Wednesday's 90-84 win over Clemson. The Crimson Tide's next game is Sunday against UTSA. | -- | 7-2 |
| 11 |  | Henri Veesar finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 67-64 win at Kentucky. The Tar Heels' next game is Sunday against Georgetown. | -- | 8-1 |
| 12 |  | Darius Acuff Jr. finished with 18 points and eight assists in Saturday's 82-58 win over Fresno State. The Razorbacks' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | -- | 7-2 |
| 13 |  | Ryan Conwell finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 87-78 win over Indiana. The Cardinals' next game is Saturday against Memphis. | -- | 8-1 |
| 14 |  | Melvin Council Jr. missed nine of the 13 shots he attempted in Tuesday's 61-56 loss to UConn. The Jayhawks' next game is Sunday against Missouri. | -- | 7-3 |
| 15 |  | Kingston Flemings finished with 21 points and eight steals in Saturday's 82-67 win over Florida State. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against Jackson State. | -- | 8-1 |
| 16 |  | Keaton Wagler finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 75-62 win over Tennessee. The Illini's next game is Tuesday at Ohio State. | -- | 7-2 |
| 17 |  | JT Toppin finished with 27 points and nine rebounds in Sunday's 76-72 win over Wyoming. The Red Raiders' next game is Sunday against LSU. | -- | 7-2 |
| 18 |  | Pryce Sandfort finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 72-63 win over South Carolina State. The Cornhuskers' next game is Sunday against Creighton. | 1 | 9-0 |
| 19 |  | Nate Ament missed eight of the 10 shots he attempted in Tuesday's 62-60 loss at Syracuse. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Illinois. | 1 | 7-3 |
| 20 |  | Ja'Kobi Gillespie missed 14 of the 20 shots he attempted in Saturday's 75-62 loss to Illinois. The Vols' next game is Dec. 16 against Louisville. | 1 | 9-0 |
| 21 |  | Kevin Overton missed seven of the eight shots he attempted in Saturday's 97-68 loss at Arizona. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Chattanooga. | 1 | 7-3 |
| 22 |  | Zuby Ejiofor finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 63-58 over Ole Miss. The Red Storm''s next game is Saturday against Iona. | -- | 5-3 |
| 23 |  | Bennett Stirtz finished with 25 points and two steals in Saturday's 83-64 win over Maryland. The Hawkeyes' next game is Thursday at Iowa State. | 1 | 8-1 |
| 24 |  | Dedan Thomas Jr. finished with 23 points and seven assists in Wednesday's 78-69 overtime win at Boston College. The Tigers' next game is Sunday against Texas Tech. | 2 | 8-1 |
| 25 |  | Jacari White finished with 25 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 86-73 win over Dayton. The Cavaliers' next game is Tuesday against Maryland Eastern-Shore. | NR | 8-1 |
| 26 |  | John Blackwell finished with 30 points and three assists in Saturday's 96-76 win over Marquette. The Badgers' next game is Wednesday at Nebraska. | NR | 7-2 |
