College basketball rankings: Louisville appears hesitant to fire Kenny Payne, but it would be the right move
Kentucky, ranked No. 9 in the Top 25 And 1, won easily over the Cardinals, who are 5-7 this season under Payne
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
Kentucky beat Louisville 95-76 on Thursday to remain No. 11 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The 19-point beatdown dropped Cardinals coach Kenny Payne to 0-2 against John Calipari, his close friend and in-state rival, with the losses coming by an average of 21.0 points.
Will Payne get a third shot at UK next season?
That seems doubtful.
But it was interesting to hear Louisville athletic director Josh Heird announce Friday morning that Payne will continue as the Cardinals' coach as they "move into the new year." That suggests Payne will at least be on the sideline when Louisville visits Virginia in 12 days.
Respectfully, I think it's a mistake.
But what would be the point of removing Payne now?
I've heard some ask that question in recent days, which feels like a silly question, if only because the answer seems obvious. The point of moving on from Payne now would be so that people like me would stop writing and talking about it, so that fans would stop wondering about it, so that the focus could be on the future instead of the dreadful present. Every single time Louisville loses, Kenny Payne is trending on X, formerly known as Twitter. Every. Single. Time.
We led Friday morning's episode of the Eye On College Basketball podcast with Kentucky-Louisville, and the cover of the YouTube page was a big picture of Payne. Neither of those things would've happened if Louisville were operating with an interim coach because nothing that happens with an interim coach is ever worthy of national headlines unless it's something surprisingly good.
Louisville would be wise to recognize as much.
Every day Payne remains at Louisville is a day somebody will be compelled to point out that he's 9-35 as his alma mater's coach -- 8-14 against sub-100 teams at KenPom.com, just 1-21 against top-100 teams at KenPom.com.
It's unbelievably bad.
The idea that a top-10 program of all-time could sink to this level -- Louisville finished 290th at KenPom last season and is 185th right now -- was truly unimaginable before Payne sank it to this level. And the best way to get people all over the country to stop focusing on that would be for Louisville to agree to pay Payne every penny it owes him, generously remove him from this tour of humiliation, name an interim coach and let all of the attention turn away from this disastrous two-season experiment and instead toward what has to happen next for this once-proud program to return to its usual elite place in the sport.
For now, Louisville remains hesitant to do that.
Respectfully, I think it's a mistake.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in Thursday's 100-57 win over Jacksonville. The Boilermakers' next game is Dec. 29 against Eastern Kentucky. | -- | 11-1 |
| 2 |  | Kevin McCullar finished with 21 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 75-71 win at Indiana. The Jayhawks' next game is Friday against Yale. | -- | 10-3 |
| 3 |  | Emanuel Sharp finished with 17 points and four steals in Thursday's 72-37 win over Texas State. The Cougars' next game is Dec. 30 against Penn. | -- | 11-1 |
| 4 |  | Oumar Ballo finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's 87-74 win over Alabama. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against FAU. | -- | 12-0 |
| 5 |  | Zakai Zeigler finished with 13 points and five assists in Thursday's 65-46 win over Tarleton State. The Vols' next game is Jan. 2 against Norfolk State. | -- | 9-3 |
| 6 |  | Coleman Hawkins finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Sunday's 74-57 win over Colgate. The Illini's next game is Friday against Missouri. | -- | 9-3 |
| 7 |  | Alex Karaban was 3-of-12 from the field in Wednesday's 75-60 loss at Seton Hall. The Huskies' next game is Saturday against St. John's. | -- | 12-1 |
| 8 |  | David Jones finished with 26 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 77-54 win over Virginia. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Vanderbilt. | -- | 5-7 |
| 9 |  | Chase Ross was 0-of-7 from the field in Tuesday's 72-57 loss at Providence. The Golden Eagles' next game is Friday against Georgetown. | -- | 5-8 |
| 10 |  | Johnell Davis finished with 16 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 64-54 win over St. Bonaventure. The Owls' next game is Saturday against Arizona. | -- | 8-5 |
| 11 |  | Antonio Reeves finished with 30 points and two steals in Thursday's 95-76 win over Louisville. The Wildcats' next game is Dec. 29 against Illinois State. | -- | 9-4 |
| 12 |  | RJ Davis finished with 23 points and five assists in Wednesday's 81-69 win over Oklahoma. The Tar Heels' next game is Dec. 29 against Charleston Southern. | -- | 12-1 |
| 13 |  | Oklahoma finished with 18 turnovers and six assists in Wednesday's 81-69 loss to North Carolina. The Sooners' next game is Thursday against Central Arkansas. | -- | 9-3 |
| 14 |  | Graham Ike finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 100-76 win over Jackson State. The Zags' next game is Dec. 29 against San Diego State. | -- | 12-1 |
| 15 |  | Isaiah Stevens finished with 18 points and six assists in Sunday's 86-54 win over CSU Pueblo. The Rams' next game is Friday against Loyola Marymount. | -- | 9-3 |
| 16 |  | Richie Saunders finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 86-54 win over Georgia State. The Cougars' next game is Friday against Bellarmine. | -- | 12-1 |
| 17 |  | Matthew Murrell finished with 18 points and 10 steals in Tuesday's 74-53 win over Troy. The Rebels' next game is Saturday against Southern Miss. | -- | 7-5 |
| 18 |  | Chase Hunter was 3-of-11 from the field in Saturday's 79-77 loss at Memphis. The Tigers' next game is Friday against Queens. | -- | 10-3 |
| 19 |  | Jared McCain finished with 21 points and three assists in Wednesday's 78-70 win over Baylor. The Blue Devils' next game is Dec. 30 against Queens. | -- | 11-1 |
| 20 |  | Jayden Nunn was 0-of-5 from the field in Wednesday's 78-70 loss to Duke. The Bears' next game is Friday against Mississippi Valley State. | -- | 9-2 |
| 21 |  | Steven Crowl finished with 19 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 75-60 win over Jacksonville State. The Badgers' next game is Friday against Chicago State. | -- | 8-4 |
| 22 |  | T.J. Bickerstaff finished with 18 points and four steals in Tuesday's 87-48 win over Coppin State. The Dukes' next game is Friday against Morgan State. | -- | 7-6 |
| 23 |  | Devin Carter finished with 22 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 72-57 win over Marquette. The Friars' next game is Saturday against Butler. | -- | 7-6 |
| 24 |  | Aden Holloway finished with 15 points and six assists in Sunday's 91-75 win over USC. The Tigers' next game is Friday against Alabama State. | -- | 8-4 |
| 25 |  | Isaac McKneely was 1-of-8 from the field in Tuesday's 77-54 loss at Memphis. The Cavaliers' next game is Wednesday against Morgan State. | -- | 11-1 |
| 26 |  | Jace Carter was 3-of-11 from the field in Saturday's 70-66 loss to Houston. The Aggies' next game is Friday against Houston Christian. | -- | 9-3 |
