College basketball rankings, grades: Purdue gets an A+; disappointing USC earns D-

USC and Michigan had rough weeks, while the top of the sport led by Purdue and Houston continued to shine

It's the official end of the 2023 calendar year and the end of a semester, so before we turn the page to a new year and look ahead to college basketball's second and most important semester -- replete with conference play, conference tournaments and March Madness -- it's time to first kick off our first official report card series of the season.

I'll be the teacher now and moving forward, and each week, I will hand out grades for a number of teams based on performances, with the evaluation period running Monday-Sunday.

The first grades of the season are chock-full of both good and bad for some of the sport's best and worst, highlighted by the highs of No. 1 Purdue and two undefeateds -- Houston and James Madison -- along with some struggling squads ranging from FAU (yikes!) to USC (yikes yikes!).

Let's hop to it. Class is officially in session.

College basketball grades: This week's report card

Team		Grade	Analysis
	Purdue	A+	Purdue smacked Eastern Kentucky on Friday to win its 35th straight non-conference regular-season game, becoming the third team in the last five decades to record three straight unbeaten, non-conference regular seasons. The Boilermakers are 12-1 and have been even better than last season when they were a No. 1 seed.
	James Madison	A+	Say what you want about JMU's schedule -- which is fair, because outside of the season-opener vs. Michigan State, it has been relatively soft -- but the Dukes are doing enough to race out to a 13-0 record on the year. They dismantled Texas State on Saturday in their first Sun Belt game of the season and own the longest win streak in CBB.
	BYU	A	We are quickly approaching the moment where it may be mandatory to talk with your children about BYU basketball. The Cougars improved to 12-1 on the season with a 94-68 beatdown of Wyoming on Saturday and they march into league play next week as one of the best in the remade Big 12.
	Houston	A	Houston's first year in the new Big 12 is shaping up to potentially be special as it improved to 13-0 on the season with an 81-42 win over Penn on Saturday ahead of conference play next week. Kelvin Sampson has the most fearsome defensive team in all the land and balance across the board led by star L.J. Cryer.
	Marquette	B+	The one and only outing for Marquette this week resulted in a win over No. 22 Creighton inside Fiserv Forum. Creighton didn't play its best game and neither did Marquette, but the Golden Eagles deserve high marks nonetheless for finding a way to win behind a huge Sean Jones game off the bench.
	Notre Dame	B	New Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry lit a fire under his team after it lost by 20 to The Citadel on Dec. 19. The team responded with a fiery finish to the 2023 calendar year, culminating with a stunning 76-54 win over Virginia on Saturday.
	Virginia	C	Notre Dame earned high marks above but the recipient of ND's beatdown this week -- Virginia -- wasn't as fortunate. UVA went 1-1 on the week with a 35 point win over Morgan State and a 22 point loss to the Irish, the former helping the Cavaliers sneak by with a passing grade.
	Gonzaga	C-	There's no shame in losing to San Diego State by 10, even in The Kennel -- SDSU may be the best team on the west coast -- but the loss is a continuation of a disappointing season for the Bulldogs. At 9-4 they enter league play with the losses in nonconference play as a program since the 2010-11 season.
	Florida Atlantic	D	FAU suffered a demoralizing loss to Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday -- an FGCU team that last week had to hit a buzzer-beater in OT to get past an NAIA team. The Owls have looked great at times and lifeless in others during nonconference play, and this was ... more the latter.
	Michigan	D	Michigan fell to 1-2 since Juwan Howard's return with an 87-76 loss to McNeese State on Friday ... in a game that was played in Ann Arbor. Not good. The Wolverines (6-7) are in a tailspin losing juice quickly, and things could turn sideways if they continue their sluggish play from the last two months.
	USC	D-	There's a case to be made that USC is the most disappointing team in CBB this season. The Trojans are 6-7 after suffering consecutive losses to Oregon and Oregon State this week to open league play. Neither game was close, and the team -- led by former No. 1 recruit Isaiah Collier -- just has not quite clicked.