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On the same day Auburn's Johni Broome suffered an ankle injury at South Carolina that sidelined him for two weeks, Duke's Cooper Flagg scored a career-high 42 points in a victory at Notre Dame.
That's when the Player of the Year race flipped.
With Broome on the mend and Flagg on the rise, a decent percentage of us who cover the sport started publicly suggesting that the Wooden Award is Flagg's to lose. And, in fairness, it probably is; there's data to support the claim. But if you thought the Player of the Year race was over, think again. Because in just his second game back from that ankle injury, Broome delivered a monster performance of 26 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks in Wednesday's 87-74 win at LSU that tightened what feels like a two-man race between the two best players on the two best teams.
"That's a Quad 1 win," said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. "That's a great win for our ball club."
This season has been filled with great wins for Pearl's ball club, evidence being that Auburn (19-1 overall) is 12-1 in Quadrant 1 games. It's a body of work so good that the Tigers are No. 1 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings for the 23rd consecutive day — and I'll even take it a step further. Auburn's body of work is so good, and so superior to anybody else's, that AP voters should keep the Tigers No. 1 on Monday even if they lose Saturday at Ole Miss.
I know I will.
Obviously, ranking basketball teams is a subjective process and different people do it different ways. Whatever. But this deep into any season, I've long believed the body of work should be the biggest factor. And, undeniably, Auburn's body of work will still be far superior to anybody else's on Monday regardless of what happens between now and then.
That's a fact.
Like I explained earlier in the week, to understand my approach to ranking teams, and, more importantly, the selection committee's approach to selecting and seeding teams, it's best to think of Auburn as a golfer with a four-shot lead on the field. The Tigers could bogey the next hole, so to speak, watch everybody else par or even birdie, and they'd still be in the lead. From my perspective, that's Auburn right now as it sits at No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 with a 12-1 record in Quadrant 1 while No. 2 Duke is just 5-2 in the same quadrant. Yes, Duke does own a victory (at home) over Auburn, and that's an important data point. But that one data point isn't enough to offset the dramatic advantage Auburn holds when it comes to evaluating both teams' entire bodies of work, and it still won't be on Monday regardless of what happens over the next four days.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Johni Broome finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds in Wednesday's 87-74 win at LSU. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Ole Miss | -- | 30-5 |
| 2 |  | Cooper Flagg finished with 28 points and seven rebounds in Monday's 74-64 win over NC State. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 33-3 |
| 3 |  | Chris Youngblood finished with 23 points and two rebounds in Wednesday's 88-84 win at Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday with Georgia. | -- | 27-8 |
| 4 |  | Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 17 points and five steals in Saturday's 89-59 win over Georgia. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Tennessee. | -- | 32-4 |
| 5 |  | Curtis Jones was 1-of-11 from the field in Monday's 86-75 overtime loss at Arizona. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday against Kansas State. | -- | 25-10 |
| 6 |  | Stevie Mitchell finished with 22 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 78-79 win at Butler. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday against UConn. | -- | 23-11 |
| 7 |  | Tre Holloman finished with 12 points and three assists in Tuesday's 73-51 win over Minnesota. The Spartans' next game is Saturday at USC. | -- | 29-6 |
| 8 |  | Koby Brea finished with 18 points and three assists in Tuesday's 78-73 winat Tennessee. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Arkansas. | -- | 24-11 |
| 9 |  | L.J. Cryer finished with 17 points and three assists in Wednesday's 63-49 win at West Virginia. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | 1 | 32-4 |
| 10 |  | Braden Smith finished with 24 points and 10 assists in Friday's 91-64 win over Michigan. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against Indiana. | 1 | 24-11 |
| 11 |  | Jahmai Mashak was 1-of-5 from the field in Tuesday's 78-73 loss to Kentucky. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Florida. | -- | 29-7 |
| 12 |  | RJ Melendez was 1-of-6 from the field in Wednesday's 88-84 loss to Alabama. The Bulldogs' next game is Saturday against Missouri. | -- | 21-13 |
| 13 |  | Zeke Mayo finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 91-87 win over UCF. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Baylor. | -- | 21-13 |
| 14 |  | Nate Bittle was 0-of-3 from the field in Saturday's 77-69 loss at Minnesota. The Ducks' next game is Thursday at UCLA. | -- | 25-10 |
| 15 |  | PJ Haggerty finished with 23 points and nine assists in Sunday's 100-77 win over UAB. The Tigers' next game is Thursday at Tulane. | -- | 29-6 |
| 16 |  | Zhuric Phelps finished with 15 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 75-68 win over Oklahoma. The Aggies' next game is Saturday at South Carolina. | -- | 23-11 |
| 17 |  | Tamar Bates finished with 26 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 83-75 win over Ole Miss. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Mississippi State. | -- | 22-12 |
| 18 |  | Jaemyn Brakefield finished with 18 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 72-69 win over Texas. The Rebels' next game is Saturday against Auburn. | 2 | 24-11 |
| 19 |  | Kylan Boswell finished with 17 points and four assists in Sunday's 83-74 win over Northwestern. The Illini's next game is Thursday at Nebraska. | 1 | 22-13 |
| 20 |  | Danny Wolf was 1 of 7 from the field in Friday's 91-64 loss at Purdue. The Wolverines' next game is Monday against Penn State. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 21 |  | Zuby Ejiofor finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 66-41 win at Georgetown. The Red Storm's next game is Saturday against Providence. | 1 | 31-5 |
| 22 |  | Terrence Edwards Jr. finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 72-59 win over Wake Forest. The Cardinals' next game is Saturday at Georgia Tech. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 23 |  | JT Toppin finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesday's 71-57 win over TCU. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday at Houston. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 24 |  | Chauncey Wiggins finished with 16 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 72-57 win at Virginia Tech. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at NC State. | 1 | 27-7 |
| 25 |  | Derik Queen finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's 76-68 win over Wisconsin. The Terrapins' next game is Feb. 6 at Ohio State. | NR | 27-8 |
| 26 |  | Max Klesmit was 1-of-8 from the field in Wednesday's 76-68 loss at Maryland. The Badgers' next game is Saturday at Northwestern. | 7 | 27-10 |
