The past four Wooden Award winners have been veteran bigs. If that trend continues this season, it looks like Auburn's Johni Broome is the leading candidate to make it happen.
Did you see what he did Saturday?
The 6-foot-10 senior took 18 shots, made half of them and finished with 21 points, 20 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and zero turnovers in a 91-53 win over Ohio State. That stat line makes him the first Division I player in the past 25 years to have at least 20 points, at least 20 rebounds and at least five assists with zero turnovers in the same game. According to Jared Berson, there have now been three individual performances of at least 20 points, at least 15 rebounds and at least five assists in Division I games so far this season.
Broome is responsible for all three.
"A 20-20 game — and he missed nine shots," said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. "He's so incredibly talented."
Broome is now averaging 19.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 blocks in 29.7 minutes per game for an Auburn team that's 9-1 and No. 2 in Sunday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Not bad for someone who started his college career at Morehead State after being labeled a three-star recruit in the Class of 2020. By the way, if Broome does win the Wooden Award, he'll join Zach Edey as three-star prospects from the Class of 2020 who went on to hold what amounts to college basketball's Heisman Trophy.
Tennessee remains No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 for the 11th consecutive day and is one of nine SEC teams in these rankings — joining No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 6 Alabama, No. 8 Florida, No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 17 Mississippi State and No. 26 Oklahoma. That's just one way to illustrate why there's a growing sentiment around the sport that the SEC will send a record of at least 12 schools to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
As always, we'll see.
But, right now, the SEC has four of the top eight, seven of the top 24, 12 of the top 40 and nobody lower than 68th at KenPom.com. So it's strong at the top, strong at the bottom and possibly in the process of turning in the greatest season any conference has ever produced.
Movement within the Top 25 And 1 — specifically Texas A&M jumping to No. 14, and Memphis and UConn re-entering the Top 25 And 1 at No. 21 and No. 22, respectively — caused Maryland, San Diego State, Houston, Oklahoma and Georgia to each be pushed down the rankings, no fault of their own. Georgia actually got pushed completely out, making Mike White's Bulldogs what amounts to No. 27.
The biggest downward mover?
That's Gonzaga -- and not because there's anything embarrassing about losing to UConn inside New York's Madison Square Garden. (Most people do it.) It's just that, when you take a fresh look at the Zags' body of work, there's not as much there as some seem to think. They have zero wins over teams in the top 20 of the Top 25 And 1, only one victory over a top-40 KenPom team, and losses to one team that finished last in the Maui Invitational (UConn) and another that's 47th at KenPom (in addition to a third loss to Kentucky). So that's why Gonzaga is down to No. 23 in the Top 25 And 1. If you're curious, that's still six spots better than the Zags' current strength of record.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Jordan Gainey finished with 23 points and two assists in Saturday's 66-64 win at Illinois. The Vols' next game is Tuesday against Western Carolina. | -- | 10-0 |
| 2 |  | Johni Broome finished with 21 points and 20 rebounds in Saturday's 91-53 win over Ohio State. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday against Georgia State. | -- | 9-1 |
| 3 |  | Curtis Jones finished with 23 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 89-80 win at Iowa. The Cyclones' next game is Sunday against Nebraska Omaha. | -- | 8-1 |
| 4 |  | Lamont Butler finished with 33 points and six assists in Saturday's 93-85 win over Louisville. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Ohio State. | 1 | 10-1 |
| 5 |  | Khaman Maluach finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 72-46 win over Incarnate Word. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against George Mason. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 6 |  | Mark Sears finished with 27 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 83-75 win over Creighton. The Crimson Tide's next game is Wednesday at North Dakota. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 7 |  | Hunter Dickinson finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 75-60 win over NC State. The Jayhawks' next game is Dec. 22 against Brown. | 3 | 8-2 |
| 8 |  | Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 25 points and three steals in Saturday's 83-66 win over Arizona State. The Gators' next game is Tuesday against North Carolina. | 8 | 10-0 |
| 9 |  | Stevie Mitchell was 2 of 9 from the field in Saturday's 71-63 loss at Dayton. The Golden Eagles' next game is Wednesday against Butler. | 5 | 9-2 |
| 10 |  | Jaden Akins finished with 18 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 89-52 win over Nebraska. The Spartans' next game is Tuesday against Oakland. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 11 |  | Sean Pedulla finished with 18 points and four assists in Saturday's 77-46 win over Southern Miss. The Rebels' next game is Tuesday against Southern. | 1 | 9-1 |
| 12 |  | Tyler Bilodeau finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 57-54 win over Arizona. The Bruins' next game is Tuesday against Prairie View A&M. | 1 | 9-1 |
| 13 |  | TJ Bamba had five turnovers in Sunday's 73-71 loss to UCLA. The Ducks' next game is Sunday against Stephen F. Austin. | 1 | 9-1 |
| 14 |  | Zhuric Phelps finished with 16 points and four assists in Saturday's 70-66 win over Purdue. The Aggies' next game is Friday against Houston Christian. | NR | 9-2 |
| 15 |  | Braden Smith had six turnovers in Saturday's 70-66 loss to Texas A&M. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Auburn. | 6 | 8-3 |
| 16 |  | Rodney Rice finished with three turnovers and handed out one assist in Sunday's 83-78 loss at Purdue. The Terrapins' next game is Tuesday against Saint Francis. | 1 | 8-2 |
| 17 |  | RJ Melendez finished with 18 points and two steals in Saturday's 66-63 win over McNeese State. The Bulldogs' next game is Tuesday against Central Michigan. | -- | 9-1 |
| 18 |  | Cade Tyson finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 93-67 win over La Salle. The Tar Heels' next game is Tuesday against Florida. | 1 | 6-4 |
| 19 |  | Zed Key finished with 15 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 71-63 win over Marquette. The Flyers' next game is Tuesday against UNLV. | 1 | 9-2 |
| 20 |  | Kasparas Jakucionis was 5 of 15 from the field in Saturday's 66-64 loss to Tennessee. The Illini's next game is Dec. 22 against Missouri. | 2 | 7-3 |
| 21 |  | Tyrese Hunter finished with 23 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 87-82 overtime win at Clemson. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday at Virginia. | NR | 8-2 |
| 22 |  | Liam McNeeley finished with 26 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 77-71 win over Gonzaga. The Huskies' next game is Wednesday against Xavier. | NR | 8-3 |
| 23 |  | Dusty Stromer was 1 of 5 from the field in Saturday's 77-71 loss to UConn. The Zags' next game is Wednesday against Nicholls. | 15 | 7-3 |
| 24 |  | Miles Byrd finished with 19 points and two assists in Wednesday's 81-75 win over Cal Baptist. The Aztecs' next game is Dec. 21 against Cal. | 3 | 7-2 |
| 25 |  | L.J. Cryer finished with 22 points and two steals in Tuesday's 62-42 win over Troy. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against Toledo. | 3 | 6-3 |
| 26 |  | Sam Goodwin finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 80-65 win over Oklahoma State. The Sooners' next game is Wednesday against Michigan. | 3 | 10-0 |
In: Texas A&M, Memphis, UConn
Out: Clemson, Arizona State, Georgia
