College basketball rankings, grades: Kansas earns 'A+', Kentucky and Michigan get 'F' on weekly report card

Kansas earned the highest grade of the week after strutting past Houston at home on Saturday

A laughably loaded slate of college basketball over the weekend netted some spectacular hoops across the country and provided further clarity on conferences races with March fast approaching. Purdue grabbed a stranglehold on the Big Ten with a road win at Wisconsin, while UConn did the same in the Big East with a dominant showing over St. John's. Saint Mary's won late Saturday inside The Kennel at Gonzaga for the first time since 2018 to remain unbeaten in a West Coast Conference that has been dominated by the Zags over the years.

There were plenty of sterling team performances to pick from that warrant further praise, and others that were less so that require further scrutiny. Those grades are below in our weekly report card, where I was kind to the deserving and unkind to the handful of teams that underwhelmed.

As always, the grades are handed out based on the week that was, running from Monday-Sunday. Let's get to it.

College basketball grades: This week's report card

Team		Grade	Analysis
	Kansas	A+	You'd be hard-pressed to find a more complete showing from any team all season than Kansas displayed Saturday. The Jayhawks jumped on Houston early and never relented in a 78-65 win to move into a tie atop the Big 12 standings.
	Saint Mary's	A	Saint Mary's has won 15 of its last 16 and now nine straight in WCC play after taking out Santa Clara on Wednesday then Gonzaga in Spokane on Saturday night. The Gaels struggled to an 8-6 start to the season but are playing like a top-10 team over the last month.
	UConn	A	UConn fans turned Madison Square Garden into Storrs South on Saturday in a 77-64 beatdown of Big East foe St. John's, maintaining its place at No. 5 in college hoops in total scoring margin this season. Whether or not UConn repeats as champs this season or not remains unclear, but what is clear right now is that there's not a better and more complete team than the Huskies.
	South Carolina	A	South Carolina has proven its merits this season as a true SEC contender, and this week it doubled down on its credentials with two massive road wins at Tennessee and Georgia. Lamont Paris deserves consideration for Coach of the Year because the Gamecocks -- picked to finish last in the SEC preseason -- have a real chance to win the league. Yowza.
	Dayton	A	A week after falling on the road in a close one to Richmond, Dayton responded with two resounding home wins this week over George Washington and St. Bonaventure to pull even in the A-10 race with Richmond. DaRon Holmes is playing like an All-American, and he tied a career-high with 34 points in the win over the Bonnies.
	Indiana State	A	Coach Josh Schertz kept his Sycamores atop the Missouri Valley Conference with a crucial win Saturday over Drake to improve to 11-1 in league play. Indiana State's trending towards being not just a fun mid-major team to track, but a potentially dangerous one capable of making real noise in March.
	Purdue	B+	It wasn't pretty, but Purdue went 2-0 on the week with an OT victory at home over Northwestern and a come-from-behind road victory Sunday over Wisconsin to pull ahead in the Big Ten title race. Three of its next four are at home, and the Boilermakers are likely to be favored in seven of their final eight regular-season games.
	North Carolina	B-	UNC got caught looking ahead earlier this week as Georgia Tech picked off the Tar Heels 74-73 in Atlanta, but it still gets a B- grade here after winning in rather decisive fashion Saturday over rival Duke in Chapel Hill. Armando Bacot looks back to his old, dominant self and Harrison Ingram is producing like an All-ACC player, which is a scary combo with RJ Davis en route to being an All-American.
	Duke	C-	Duke kept things relatively close on the road vs. UNC but it never really felt like the Blue Devils had the juice to stage a comeback in Chapel Hill. Their defense fell apart and was exposed, and the backcourt still lacks the pop and playmaking needed to be considered a true contender. Sobering week for the Blue Devils seeing that UNC is clearly on another level than they are right now.
	Kentucky	F	This Kentucky team has yet to play a game at full strength all season, so maybe they deserve some slack. It's just not getting it from me. Yes, I know D.J. Wagner is out and Justin Edwards is banged up, but losing twice in the same week at home -- even if it is to good Florida and Tennessee teams, respectively -- isn't cutting it. The Florida loss in particular is jarring; UK failed to foul up three late and wound up paying the price with an OT loss.
	Michigan	F	Michigan is the punch line of college hoops right now as it continues to build, then blow, leads against conference foes. The latest collapse came Saturday vs. Rutgers when it led by as many as 15 in the second half and went on to lose 69-59.