It was August 2003 when Baylor introduced Scott Drew as its new men's basketball coach. He was 32 years old and inheriting a program about to be placed on probation, hit with scholarship reductions and banned from playing non-league games in a season because of NCAA violations uncovered after one player (Carlton Dotson) murdered another player (Patrick Dennehy).
No coach has ever taken over more of a mess.
Predictably, Drew missed the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons and finished 11th or 12th in the Big 12 every time. But he broke through in 2008, made the NCAA Tournament after finishing fourth in the league, and that ended up being the first of six trips to the Big Dance in a nine-year span that includes two Elite Eights.
And now there's this: Baylor is the new No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one).
That's the result of the Bears improving to 14-0 Wednesday via a 65-63 victory over Iowa State while former No. 1, Villanova, lost 66-58 at Butler. Is Baylor really the nation's best? I don't know. But what I do know is that the Bears are one of only two undefeated teams remaining, and that they own wins over six top-55 KenPom schools - specifically Louisville, Xavier, Oregon, Iowa State, Michigan State and VCU.
Nobody can match that resume.
In other words, Baylor has earned this No. 1 ranking.
Villanova is now No. 2.
The complete Top 25 (and one) is below.
| Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0-0 | |
The Bears are undefeated with six top-55 KenPom wins on their resume. No other team in the country has more than five top-55 KenPom wins.
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| 2 | 1 | 0-0 | |
The Wildcats suffered their first loss since last March Wednesday at Butler. Their resume still features four top-55 KenPom wins - including victories at Purdue and at Creighton.
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| 3 | -- | 0-0 | |
Lonzo Ball got 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Friday's win at Oregon State. The freshman point guard is averaging 14.3 points, 8.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds.
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| 4 | -- | 0-0 | |
The Jayhawks extended their home winning streak to 50 games via Tuesday's victory over Kansas State. Josh Jackson had 22 points and nine rebounds against the Wildcats.
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| 5 | -- | 0-0 | |
Malik Monk scored 26 points on 11 shots in Tuesday's blowout of Texas A&M. The Wildcats have scored at least 100 points in five different games.
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| 6 | -- | 0-0 | |
Five-star forward Harry Giles is only averaging 7.7 minutes per game since joining Duke three games ago. He's shooting 22.2 percent from the field.
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| 7 | -- | 0-0 | |
The Zags' 14-0 start represents the best start to a season in program history. Washington transfer Nigel Williams-Goss is averaging 13.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
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| 8 | -- | 0-0 | |
FSU has won 10 consecutive games since losing to Temple. The Seminoles' resume features wins over Virginia and Florida.
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| 9 | -- | 0-0 | |
The Mountaineers only forced Texas Tech into 13 turnovers in Tuesday's loss that snapped West Virginia's eight-game winning streak. WVU's next two games are at home against TCU and Baylor.
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| 10 | 6 | 0-0 | |
Wednesday's win over Villanova was Butler's fifth top-55 KenPom win of the season. The Bulldogs snapped the reigning national champions' 20-game winning streak.
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| 11 | 1 | 0-0 | |
Justin Patton finished with 25 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's win at St. John's. The Bluejays' lone loss is last week's loss to Villanova.
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| 12 | 1 | 0-0 | |
Joel Berry finished with a career-high 31 points in Tuesday's OT win at Clemson. KenPom projects the Tar Heels to be favorites in each of their next nine games.
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| 13 | 1 | 0-0 | |
The Badgers have won nine straight games since losing to North Carolina in the Maui Invitational. Their only other loss is a November loss at Creighton.
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| 14 | 1 | 0-0 | |
The Musketeers have won five straight games since losing at Baylor and Colorado. Three of their next four games are against Villanova, Butler and Creighton.
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| 15 | 2 | 0-0 | |
The Wildcats have won seven straight games since they lost to Gonzaga. They're 2-0 in the Pac-12 with road victories over California and Stanford.
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| 16 | 2 | 0-0 | |
Canyon Barry got 20 points off the bench in Tuesday's win over Ole Miss. The Gators have won four straight since losing back-to-back games to Duke and Florida State.
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| 17 | 2 | 0-0 | |
Dillon Brooks finished with 28 points on 10 shots in Friday's win over USC. He's averaging 14.8 points and 3.1 assists.
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| 18 | 6 | 0-0 | |
Steve Vasturia finished with 24 points in Wednesday's win over Louisville. Notre Dame is 2-0 in the ACC for the second time in three years.
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| 19 | 9 | 0-0 | |
The Cavaliers have lost two straight games - first at home to Florida State, then at Pitt in OT. They're 1-2 in the ACC for the second straight season.
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| 20 | 9 | 0-0 | |
The Cardinals lost at Notre Dame on Wednesday and fell to 0-2 in the ACC. They're the lone ACC school that still doesn't have a league win.
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| 21 | -- | 0-0 | |
The Boilermakers lost Sunday at home to Minnesota despite being a 14-point favorite. Caleb Swanigan got 28 points and 22 rebounds in the loss.
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| 22 | -- | 0-0 | |
The Gaels have won six straight games since losing to UT Arlington. Jock Landale is averaging 17.6 points and 9.6 rebounds.
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| 23 | -- | 0-0 | |
Jarron Cumberland finished with 19 points off the bench in Sunday's win over Tulane. The Bearcats made 13 3-pointers in the victory.
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| 24 | 2 | 0-0 | |
The Trojans' lone loss came last week at Oregon. Their resume features wins over SMU, Texas A&M and BYU.
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| 25 | NR | 0-0 | |
Two of Clemson's three losses are to schools also ranked in the Top 25 (and one). The Tigers have four top-55 KenPom wins - most notably last month's victory at South Carolina.
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| 26 | NR | 0-0 | |
Sindarius Thornwell returned to the lineup Wednesday and led South Carolina to a win at Georgia. The Gamecocks are undefeated when their leading scorer and rebounder plays.
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