College basketball rankings: Nebraska pulls off incredible turnaround with victory in regular-season finale

Every college basketball season is fun in its own way, but this seems better than most, right? The elite teams are really great. The freshman class is incredible. Many of the games feel like big events.

Speaking of which, did you see the scene in Nebraska on Sunday?

It was Great.

The Cornhuskers defeated Iowa 84-75 and improved to 26-5 overall, including 15-5 in the Big Ten. They are the No. 2 seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament and No. 6 in Monday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 daily college basketball rankings after being picked 14th in a preseason Big Ten media poll.

These things alone are the makings of a great story, but of course it’s even cooler when one of the team’s best players (Sam Hoiberg) is the son of the coach (Fred Hoiberg), especially when that player’s twin brother (Charlie Hoiberg) is one of the managers, especially when the other siblings (Paige and Jack Hoiberg) are present for Senior Day while the wife/mother (Carol Hoiberg) is in the stands at Pinnacle Bank proudly taking it all in.

“It was very special to have everyone there.” Fred Hoiberg, a longtime NBA player before entering the coaching profession, noticed that afterward. “My wife gets all the credit for this whole thing, for the way she’s kept everything intact. I’m on the road. I’m playing. She raised them a lot on her own during basketball season. She deserves a lot of credit for the kind of kids we’ve raised.”

That is of course well said.

Duke remains No. 1 in the Top 25 and 1 for the 16th straight morning and will be No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens between now and Selection Sunday. The same goes for No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Arizona. The fourth No. 1 seed remains up for grabs, with SEC champion Florida best positioned to grab it. The Gators are 20-2 as of December 13 and own 11 wins in Quadrant 1 this season. Only Duke, Michigan and Arizona have more.

Top 25 and 1 rankings