College basketball rankings: Here's why Louisville isn't ranked in the Top 25 (and 1)
The Cardinals haven't posted a signature victory this season, but get a chance Friday at Kentucky
The biggest game on Friday's schedule is obviously Louisville at Kentucky. It's a matchup between intense rivals, neither of which is having the type of season its fans wanted, or expected, in the preseason.
UK is 9-2 with zero top-35 KenPom wins and a neutral-court loss to unranked UCLA. That's a resume that's taken the Wildcats from fifth to 17th in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one). Meantime, Louisville is 10-2 with zero top-85 KenPom wins and a home loss to a Seton Hall team that subsequently lost at Rutgers. That's a resume so lacking that the Cardinals are no longer ranked anywhere in the Top 25 (and one).
So both teams need this win Friday.
Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m ET.
You can watch it on CBS.
As for Friday morning's update of the Top 25 (and one), the only change is a result of Seton Hall beating Creighton Thursday night. I had Creighton ranked 22nd and Seton Hall ranked 26th on Thursday morning. So, after Seton Hall beat the Bluejays 90-84, I simply flipped the two schools -- meaning Seton Hall is now 22nd and Creighton, which still has zero top-50 KenPom wins, is now 26th. Creighton's next chance to get a top-50 win should come Jan. 9 when Butler visits Omaha. That'll be followed by a game at Xavier and the regular-season rematch with Seton Hall.
Friday's updated Top 25 (and one)
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Wildcats' perfect record features wins over two other ranked schools - specifically Tennessee and Gonzaga. Ten of Villanova's 13 wins are double-digit victories. | -- | 12-2 | |
| 2 | The Sun Devils' perfect record features double-digit wins over Xavier and Kansas. Their next game is their Pac-12 opener at Arizona. | -- | 9-5 | |
| 3 | The Spartans have won 11 straight games since losing to Duke in Chicago. Michigan State still has two more non-league games before it opens the Big Ten schedule vs. Maryland. | -- | 12-2 | |
| 4 | The Aggies beat Buffalo easily on Thursday even though their leading scorer, D.J. Hogg, did not play. Texas A&M's resume features four top-50 KenPom wins. | -- | 11-3 | |
| 5 | The Mountaineers have won 11 straight games since losing to Texas A&M. Their resume features wins over Virginia, Missouri and UCF. | -- | 9-5 | |
| 6 | The Cavaliers' lone loss is a single-digit loss at West Virginia. Their next game is their ACC opener against Boston College. | -- | 12-2 | |
| 7 | The Blue Devils' lone loss is a loss at Boston College. That makes them the only team currently in the top 10 of the Top 25 (and one) with a sub-75 KenPom loss. | -- | 13-1 | |
| 8 | The Horned Frogs will take a 17-game winning streak that dates to last season into their Big 12 opener with Oklahoma. Their resume features wins over SMU, Nevada and St. Bonaventure. | -- | 11-3 | |
| 9 | The Musketeers have won eight straight games since losing to Arizona State. Their resume features wins over Baylor and Cincinnati. | -- | 9-6 | |
| 10 | The Sooners will take an eight-game winning streak into their Big 12 opener at TCU. Trae Young is leading the nation in both points and assists. | -- | 11-3 | |
| 11 | The Shockers own wins over Baylor and Oklahoma State. They had Markis McDuffie for the first time this season in Friday's win over Florida Gulf Coast. | -- | 9-6 | |
| 12 | The Tar Heels' resume features seven top-100 KenPom wins that help offset their loss to Wofford. UNC's best wins are over Tennessee, Arkansas, Michigan and Ohio State. | -- | 13-2 | |
| 13 | The Vols have beaten Purdue, NC State and won at Wake Forest. Their only losses are single-digit losses to Villanova and North Carolina. | -- | 10-4 | |
| 14 | The Boilermakers have won eight straight games since losing to Western Kentucky. They have three top-35 KenPom wins. | -- | 13-1 | |
| 15 | The Jayhawks have won three straight games since losing consecutive games to Washington and Arizona State. But their resume still features just one top-50 KenPom win. | -- | 10-4 | |
| 16 | The Wildcats have won seven straight games since losing three straight in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Rawle Alkins is averaging 16.0 points per game since returning from injury. | -- | 14-0 | |
| 17 | The Wildcats are 3-2 against the top-100 at KenPom with losses to Kansas and UCLA. Next up is Friday's showdown with Louisville. | -- | 9-5 | |
| 18 | The Hurricanes' lone loss is a single-digit loss to New Mexico State. Miami has top-65 KenPom wins over Minnesota and Middle Tennessee. | -- | 12-2 | |
| 19 | The Seminoles have won two straight games since they lost a single-point game to Oklahoma State. FSU's first three ACC games will be against Duke, UNC and Miami. | -- | 7-8 | |
| 20 | The Bears have won five straight games since losing to Wichita State. Their other loss came at Xavier. | -- | 10-3 | |
| 21 | The Zags have won four of their five games since losing to Villanova. The lone loss in that stretch is a close loss at San Diego State. | -- | 16-1 | |
| 22 | The Pirates own wins over Texas Tech, Creighton and Louisville.Their lone sub-100 KenPom loss is a single-digit loss at Rutgers. | 4 | 13-2 | |
| 23 | The Red Raiders have won five straight games since losing to Seton Hall in New York. Their next game is their Big 12 opener against Baylor | -- | 11-3 | |
| 24 | The Bearcats closed the non-league portion of their schedule with four straight wins. Next up is UC's AAC opener against Memphis on New Year's Eve. | -- | 8-6 | |
| 25 | The Razorbacks will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Tennessee. Arkansas is the only team to beat Oklahoma this season. | -- | 11-3 | |
| 26 | The Bluejays' three losses are all to teams also ranked in the Top 25 (and one). Their best wins are over UCLA and at Northwestern. | 4 | 9-6 |
















