College basketball rankings: Why Memphis' home loss to South Florida hurts Tigers more than it appears
Memphis fell out out of the top 10 of the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 after losing 74-73 at home to the Bulls
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
A two-point win over a Vanderbilt team ranked 244th in the NET. A three-point win over a Tulsa team ranked 186th in the NET. A six-point win over a UTSA team ranked 290th in the NET.
That was all part of Memphis' 10-game winning streak.
So, yeah, the Tigers had spent the past six weeks building a 15-2 record and rising in all human polls — but they'd undeniably been shaky, evidence being how they dropped from 41st to 44th at KenPom.com during their 10-game winning streak. On Thursday night, living that way finally caught up to Penny Hardaway's program when Memphis lost 74-73 at home to a South Florida team that entered ranked 141st in the NET.
That's a Quadrant 3 defeat.
It's a resume-damager.
"This one hurts because we worked so hard to get to this level," Hardaway said before later adding that it was a "bad loss. National TV. Scoring 26 points in the second half after scoring [47] in the first. But when you are not playing team-basketball, that can happen."
Memphis is down to No. 17 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue remains No. 1. The Tigers are now 7-2 in the first two quadrants with only one additional loss falling outside of the first two quadrants. That's still mostly solid. But one thing working against Memphis as it attempts to present the best possible resume to the NCAA Tournament selection committee is that most of the Tigers' big non-conference victories are now less impressive than they were when they were recorded.
For example: Missouri was 56th at KenPom when Memphis beat Dennis Gates' Tigers. Now Missouri is 103rd. Michigan was 37th at KenPom when Memphis beat Juwan Howard's Wolverines. Now Michigan is 77th. Arkansas was 35th at KenPom when Memphis beat Eric Musselman's Razorbacks. Now Arkansas is 90th. Texas A&M was 21st at KenPom when Memphis beat Buzz Williams' Aggies. Now Texas A&M is 36th. Clemson was 24th at KenPom when Memphis beat Brad Brownell's Tigers. Now Clemson is 39th. Virginia was 29th at KenPom when Memphis beat Tony Bennett's Cavaliers. Now Virginia is 67th.
It's an unusual situation.
The Tigers watched Quadrant 1 wins be downgraded to Quadrant 2 wins and Quadrant 2 wins be downgraded to Quadrant 3 wins during their 10-game winning streak. It clearly lessened their body of work, which is among the reasons it's crucial for Memphis to avoid more bad losses going forward, and that won't be simple given that eight of the Tigers' remaining 13 regular-season games currently project as Quadrant 3 or Quadrant 4 traps.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
1
Arizona
10
Memphis
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds in Tuesday's 87-66 win at Indiana. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday at Iowa. | -- | 8-1 |
| 2 |  | Tristen Newton finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 62-48 win over Creighton. The Huskies' next game is Saturday at Villanova. | -- | 8-1 |
| 3 |  | Kevin McCullar finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in a 90-66 win over Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at West Virginia. | -- | 7-3 |
| 4 |  | RJ Davis finished with 21 points and six assists in Wednesday's 86-70 win over Louisville. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday at Boston College. | -- | 8-1 |
| 5 |  | Dalton Knecht finished with 39 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 85-66 win over Florida. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Alabama. | -- | 7-3 |
| 6 |  | Jamal Shead finished with 29 points and 10 assists in Wednesday's 77-54 win over Texas Tech. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against UCF. | -- | 8-1 |
| 7 |  | Caleb Love finished with 20 points and five assists in Wednesday's 82-67 win over USC. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against UCLA. | 1 | 8-0 |
| 8 |  | Kyle Filipowski finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday's 84-79 win over Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against Pitt. | 1 | 10-0 |
| 9 |  | Jaylin Williams finished with 21 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 80-65 win at Vanderbilt. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Ole Miss. | 1 | 7-3 |
| 10 |  | Chucky Hepburn was 0 of 4 from the field in Tuesday's 87-83 loss at Penn State. The Badgers' next game is Friday against Indiana. | 1 | 7-2 |
| 11 |  | RayJ Dennis was 2 of 14 from the field in Tuesday's 68-64 loss at Kansas State. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Texas. | 1 | 6-2 |
| 12 |  | Antonio Reeves finished with 27 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 90-77 win over Mississippi State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Georgia. | 1 | 5-4 |
| 13 |  | Jalon Moore finished with 16 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 77-63 win over West Virginia. The Sooners' next game is Saturday at Cincinnati. | 1 | 6-3 |
| 14 |  | DaRon Holmes finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds in Tuesday's 70-65 win over Saint Louis. The Flyers' next game is Saturday against Rhode Island. | 1 | 7-3 |
| 15 |  | Darius Brown II was 4 of 13 from the field in Tuesday's 99-86 loss at New Mexico. The Aggies' next game is Saturday against Fresno State. | 1 | 8-1 |
| 16 |  | Spencer Johnson finished with 28 points and five assists in Tuesday's 87-72 win over Iowa State. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Texas Tech. | 1 | 7-1 |
| 17 |  | Jaykwon Walton was 1 of 6 from the field in Thursday's 74-73 loss to South Florida. The Tigers' next game is Sunday at Tulane. | 10 | 4-4 |
| 18 |  | Tamin Lipsey was 4-of-12 from the field in Tuesday's 85-72 loss at BYU. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday at TCU. | -- | 9-0 |
| 19 |  | Jaedon LeDee finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's 71-59 win over Nevada. The Aztecs' next game is Saturday at Boise State. | -- | 4-3 |
| 20 |  | Nique Clifford finished with 17 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 78-69 win over Air Force. The Rams' next game is Friday against UNLV. | -- | 7-2 |
| 21 |  | Kam Jones finished with 22 points and six rebounds in Monday's 87-74 win over Villanova. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at St. John's. | -- | 5-5 |
| 22 |  | Coleman Hawkins finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 88-73 win at Michigan. The Illini's next game is Sunday against Rutgers. | -- | 7-2 |
| 23 |  | Al-Amir Dawes finished with 21 points and one assist in Tuesday's 80-65 win over St. John's. The Pirates' next game is Saturday against Creighton. | -- | 9-1 |
| 24 |  | Trey Alexander was 3 of 12 from the field in Wednesday's 62-48 loss at UConn. The Bluejays' next game is Saturday at Seton Hall. | -- | 5-4 |
| 25 |  | Nelly Junior Joseph finished with 26 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 99-86 win over Utah State. The Lobos' next game is Saturday at Air Force. | -- | 7-2 |
| 26 |  | Pop Isaacs was 4 of 15 from the field in Wednesday's 77-54 loss at Houston. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against BYU. | -- | 7-2 |
