There have now been 43 games in college basketball history between the teams ranked first and second in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Most of them are competitive. The latest was not.
Final score: No. 1 Gonzaga 83, No. 2 UCLA 63.
It was a Tuesday night beatdown from start to finish.
"We got exposed by a great team," said UCLA coach Mick Cronin.
I suppose that's possibly true. But, remember, UCLA beat an obviously good Villanova team just two weeks ago, so I'm not sure the Bruins got exposed as much as they simply ran into the best team in the country that seems capable of doing this to basically anybody.
What. A. Performance.
The Zags led 29-8 just 10 minutes after tipoff and made 13 of their first 18 shots en route to shooting 56.0% from the field for the game. They led by as many as 24 points and were never threatened while holding UCLA to just 34.8% shooting. Andrew Nembhard finished with 24 points, six assists and five rebounds. Drew Timme added 18 points and eight rebounds. And Chet Holmgren contributed 15 points, six rebounds, four blocks and an incredible coast-to-coast highlight that showed all of the reasons he might be the No. 1 pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.
Bottom line, here's the truth: Gonzaga has now played two preseason top-five teams and completely overwhelmed both of them with literally zero issues. It honestly looks a lot like last season, when the Zags destroyed the likes of Kansas, Auburn, Iowa and Virginia before finishing the regular season undefeated. Considering it's not even Thanksgiving, it would be a little premature to suggest they'll do that again, if only because Gonzaga will have to -- unlike last season -- play true road games in hostile environments in a much-improved West Coast Conference that currently has as many teams ranked in the top 45 at KenPom as the ACC, Big East and Pac-12. That's tricky.
But anybody completely dismissing the possibility of another undefeated regular season isn't using their eyeballs because this team -- which remains No. 1 in Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings -- is obviously special 9just like last season's team was special) and the clear favorite to win the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Andrew Nembhard finished with 24 points, six assists and five rebounds in Tuesday's 83-63 win over UCLA. The Zags' next game is Friday against Duke. | -- | 31-6 |
| 2 |  | Ochai Agbaji made four 3-pointers and finished with 25 points in Thursday's 88-59 win over Stony Brook. The Jayhawks' next game is Thursday against North Texas. | 1 | 28-8 |
| 3 |  | Zach Edey finished with 21 points and six rebounds in Sunday's 80-74 win over Villanova. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against Nebraska Omaha. | 1 | 29-6 |
| 4 |  | UCLA shot just 34.8% from the field in Tuesday's 83-63 loss to Gonzaga. The Bruins' next game is Saturday against UNLV. | 2 | 31-6 |
| 5 |  | Villanova allowed Purdue to shoot 52.7% from the field in Sunday's 80-74 loss to the Boilermakers. The Wildcats' next game is Sunday against La Salle. | -- | 17-17 |
| 6 |  | Jalen Duren finished with 22 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks in Friday's 74-62 win over Western Kentucky. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against Virginia Tech. | -- | 26-9 |
| 7 |  | Paolo Banchero finished 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists in Monday's 108-81 win over The Citadel. The Blue Devils' next game is Friday against Gonzaga. | -- | 27-9 |
| 8 |  | Timmy Allen finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 79-45 win over San Jose State. The Longhorns' next game is Wednesday against Cal Baptist. | -- | 29-9 |
| 9 |  | James Akinjo finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 86-48 win over Stanford. The Bears' next game is Wednesday against Arizona State. | -- | 23-11 |
| 10 |  | Au'Diese Toney finished with 19 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 73-67 win over Cincinnati. The Razorbacks' next game is Sunday against Penn. | -- | 22-14 |
| 11 |  | Jaden Shackelford finished with 20 points and five rebounds in Friday's 86-59 win over Oakland. The Crimson Tide's next game is Thursday against Iona. | -- | 31-6 |
| 12 |  | TyTy Washington finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Monday's 86-61 win over Albany. The Wildcats' next game is Friday against North Florida. | 1 | 22-12 |
| 13 |  | Caleb Lohner finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 97-61 win over Central Methodist. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against Texas Southern. | 1 | 19-15 |
| 14 |  | Christian Koloko finished with 22 points and seven rebounds in Sunday's 80-62 win over Michigan. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Sacramento State. | 1 | 28-7 |
| 15 |  | K.D. Johnson finished with 15 points off the bench in Friday's 58-52 win at USF. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against UConn. | 1 | 21-13 |
| 16 |  | Tyrese Martin finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 87-63 win over Binghamton. The Huskies' next game is Wednesday against Auburn. | 1 | 31-8 |
| 17 |  | Kennedy Chandler finished with 14 points and eight assists in Sunday's 89-72 win over North Carolina. The Vols' next game is Friday against Tennessee Tech. | 1 | 25-11 |
| 18 |  | Jaren Holmes finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday's 70-54 win over Marquette. The Bonnies' next game is Saturday against Northern Iowa. | 1 | 14-18 |
| 19 |  | Houston was down 13 points before it scored in Tuesday's 65-63 loss to Wisconsin. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against Oregon. | 7 | 33-4 |
| 20 |  | Justyn Mutts finished with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists in Sunday's 72-43 win over Merrimack. The Hokies' next game is Wednesday against Memphis. | -- | 19-15 |
| 21 |  | Boogie Ellis finished with 19 points and five rebounds in USC's 98-71 win over Dixie State. The Trojans' next game is Thursday against Saint Joseph's. | -- | 22-11 |
| 22 |  | Colin Castleton finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in Monday's 80-60 win over Cal. The Gators next game is Wednesday against Ohio State. | -- | 16-17 |
| 23 |  | Paul Scruggs finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in Thursday's 71-65 win over Ohio State. The Musketeers' next game is Sunday against Norfolk State. | -- | 27-10 |
| 24 |  | E.J. Liddell finished with 28 points and six rebounds in Monday's 79-76 win over Seton Hall. The Buckeyes' next game is Wednesday against Florida. | -- | 16-19 |
| 25 |  | Seton Hall missed 17 of the 22 3-pointers it attempted in Monday's 79-76 loss to Ohio State. The Pirates' next game is Wednesday against Cal. | -- | 17-16 |
| 26 |  | Marcus Bingham Jr. finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 83-59 win over Eastern Michigan. The Spartans' next game is Wednesday against Loyola Chicago. | -- | 21-13 |
