College basketball rankings: Experienced Virginia makes big jump in Top 25 And 1 after easy win vs. Arkansas
The Cavaliers are in the top 10 of the Top 25 And 1 after rolling over John Calipari's Razorbacks
• 2 min read
Virginia returned four of the top six scorers from last season's team that won 30 games, including its best player, Thijs De Ridder. If you forgot that, you were likely reminded of it Sunday, when the Cavaliers trotted out a starting lineup featuring those four players and then used them to embarrass Arkansas at Capital One Arena in Washington.
Final score: Virginia 91, Arkansas 72.
The Cavaliers made 12 3-pointers, shot 46% from the field, led by as many as 27 points and cruised to an easy victory over an Arkansas team picked to finish third in what rates as the sport's best conference (SEC). De Ridder finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. If somebody at Duke doesn't win ACC Player of the Year, he likely will.
As Matt Norlander and I discussed on Sunday's episode of the Eye On College Basketball Podcast, among the interesting things about Virginia is how second-year coach Ryan Odom has built a top-10 team even though the price-tag connected to his roster doesn't even rank in the top 30 nationally, according to a recent study Norlander conducted alongside Isaac Trotter.
How did UVA do it?
The answer is in the first sentence of this post. Virginia returned four of its top six scorers, which is notable because what we've learned in this new era of legalized pay-for-play is that it's usually much less expensive to bring back a star than it is to purchase a new star from another school out of the transfer portal. So, by having returning stars instead of incoming stars, Virginia got a pretty good bang for its buck while building this team, and that's why it's reasonable to think the Cavaliers can compete with Duke and Louisville at the top of the ACC even though both of those schools out-spent Virginia roster-building this season by more than $5 million.
Rare opening-week title game rematch doubles as a familiar warning: UConn is yet again a national title threat
Matt Norlander
UVA is No. 9 in Monday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Florida remains No. 1 and Duke remains No. 2 with interesting tests on tap for both. Florida will play at Florida State on Tuesday in a game scheduled to tip at 6 pm ET. An hour later, the Champions Classic will get underway with Duke vs. Michigan State.
And that's not the only good stuff coming Tuesday.
Illinois at Texas Tech is a matchup of the teams ranked No. 3 and No. 16 in the Top 25 And 1. Kansas-Kentucky, in the second game of the Champions Classic, is a matchup of the teams ranked No. 5 and No. 19 in the Top 25 And 1. And Memphis at Vanderbilt is a matchup of the teams ranked 26th and 24th, respectively, in the Top 25 And 1.
What an awesome night of hoops that's going to be, one that guarantees the Top 25 And 1 won't look the same Wednesday morning as it will Tuesday morning. Can't wait to see how everything unfolds. Enjoy it -- and then join Norlander and I early Wednesday when we recap everything on the Eye On College Basketball Podcast.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
1 Gonzaga
8 Arkansas
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Rueben Chinyelu finished with 21 points and eight rebounds in Thursday's 88-57 win over Jacksonville. The Gators' next game is Tuesday at Florida State. | -- | 2-0 |
| 2 |  | Patrick Ngongba II finished with 28 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 113-52 win over Coastal Carolina. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against Michigan State. | -- | 2-0 |
| 3 |  | Andrej Stojakovic finished with 25 points and five rebounds in Thursday's 112-70 win over Penn. The Illini's next game is Tuesday at Texas Tech. | -- | 2-0 |
| 4 |  | Braylon Mullins finished with 23 points and four rebounds in Friday's 85-77 win over Michigan. The Huskies' next game is Monday against Wagner. | -- | 2-0 |
| 5 |  | Trey Kaufman-Renn finished with 17 points and four rebounds in Friday's 89-45 win over Middle Tennessee. The Jayhawks' next game is Tuesday against Kentucky. | -- | 2-0 |
| 6 |  | Matas Mokietaitis finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Thursday's 98-50 win over Gardner-Webb. The Longhorns' next game is Monday against Grambling State. | -- | 2-0 |
| 7 |  | Jasiah Jervis finished with 16 points and five rebounds in Thursday's 91-61 win over Toledo. The Spartans' next game is Tuesday against Duke. | -- | 2-0 |
| 8 |  | Obinna Ekezie Jr. finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday's 107-57 win over Morehead State. The Cardinals' next game is Nov. 15 at Memphis. | -- | 2-0 |
| 9 |  | Thijs De Ridder finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's 91-72 win over Arkansas. The Cavaliers' next game is Tuesday against Bucknell. | -- | 3-0 |
| 10 |  | Davis Fogle finished with 22 points and six assists in Saturday's 83-62 win over New Mexico State. The Zags' next game is Saturday against LSU. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 11 |  | Tounde Yessoufou finished with 23 points and seven rebounds in Sunday's 104-65 win over Iona. The Red Storm's next game is Wednesday against Colgate. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 12 |  | Dedan Thomas Jr. finished with 20 points and eight assists in Sunday's 86-68 win over Cal. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against Jacksonville State. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 13 |  | Nikola Kusturica finished with 29 points and six rebounds in Friday's 114-63 win over North Florida. The Bruins' next game is Wednesday against Arkansas Pine Bluff. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 14 |  | Motiejus Krivas finished with 30 points and eight rebounds in Thursday's 104-84 win over Cal Poly. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against Northern Arizona. | 1 | 1-1 |
| 15 |  | DeWayne Brown II finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds in Tuesday's 90-59 win over Wofford. The Vols' next game is Monday against Radford. | 1 | 1-0 |
| 16 |  | Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn finished with 25 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 76-58 win over Bethune-Cookman. The Red Raiders' next game is Tuesday against Illinois. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 17 |  | Shelton Henderson finished with 19 points and five assists in Friday's 83-57 win over Wagner. The Hurricanes' next game is Monday against North Alabama. | 1 | 1-1 |
| 18 |  | Jordan Smith Jr. missed nine of the 17 shots he attempted in Sunday's 91-72 loss to Virginia. The Razorbacks' next game is Wednesday against Robert Morris. | 8 | 1-1 |
| 19 |  | Zoom Diallo finished with 16 points and three rebounds in Friday's 89-80 win over James Madison. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against Kansas. | -- | 2-0 |
| 20 |  | Qayden Samuels finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Friday's 101-86 win over Arkansas State. The Crimson Tide's next game is Monday against Oakland. | -- | 2-0 |
| 21 |  | Elliot Cadeau missed eight of the 11 shots he attempted in Friday's 85-77 loss to UConn. The Wolverines' next game is Wednesday against Marquette. | -- | 1-1 |
| 22 |  | Rodney Rice finished with 32 points and nine assists in Sunday's 93-86 win over Wichita State. The Trojans' next game is Wednesday against Cal. | -- | 2-0 |
| 23 |  | Robert Wright III finished with 19 points and two steals in Friday's 108-67 win over Omaha. The Cougars' next game is Tuesday against Queens. | -- | 2-0 |
| 24 |  | Tyler Tanner finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 74-51 win over Wake Forest. The Commodores' next game is Tuesday against Memphis. | -- | 2-0 |
| 25 |  | Pryce Sandfort finished with 25 points and four assists in Saturday's 67-58 win over Providence. The Cornhuskers' next game is Wednesday against Lindenwood. | -- | 2-0 |
| 26 |  | Jayden Reid finished with 32 points and seven assists in Saturday's 89-88 win over VCU. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday at Vanderbilt. | -- | 2-0 |
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