Top 25 and 1 college basketball rankings: Kansas’ Peterson misses another game

Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson missed his eighth game of the season Tuesday after leaving Saturday’s win over NC State with what was later described as quad cramps.

That clearly stinks to him.

But fell asleep Bill Self’s 54-word statement shared via social media Prior to tip-off, there was confirmation that Peterson was at and in Monday’s practice. The problem is that this is the projected No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 NBA draftaccording to recent test designs of Adam Finkelstein And Kyle Booneaccording to Self, just felt a similar kind of cramp. And as any basketball player who’s ever experienced something uncomfortable in a hamstring or quad will tell you — and Peterson has reportedly dealt with both — trying to push it by playing on it is usually just about the dumbest thing you can do, especially if you’re someone who is theoretically worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

So it’s not surprising that Peterson didn’t play in the Jayhawks’ 73-49 win over Towson on Tuesday. But if I were a Kansas fan, I would be encouraged by Self’s acknowledgment that Peterson at least tried to go two days after leaving the NC State game late, and also by the fact that Self chose to end Tuesday’s statement with this sentence:[Peterson] will continue to work tirelessly and prepare to compete with his teammates and represent Kansas in the very near future.”

I know a lot of people have theories about what’s going on with Peterson, so let me tell you mine: I think he wants to play but is being held back by his body, and as soon as he doesn’t, he’ll play again and star for the Jayhawks again.

When will that be?

It is of course difficult to predict. But KU’s next game is Monday at home against a Davidson team ranked 126th EvanMiya.comand the Jayhawks’ next game against a current opponent isn’t until Jan. 13 when they host Iowa State. So if Peterson can return before TJ Otzelberger’s Cyclones visit Allen Fieldhouse in 27 days, that would be excellent. But the four-game stretch immediately before Kansas is literally the easiest four-game stretch left on the schedule, which, in my opinion at least, adds no urgency to the situation at all.

Again, if Peterson can play against Davidson on Monday, great. But the most important thing here, way More important than that or anything else is getting him back to a place where he’s not uncomfortable from the waist down, and then seeing him stay that way until the finish of this season. Because when it comes to someone like Peterson, we will rarely study for two years. So it’s wise to do everything possible to increase the chances of seeing him in March, even if that means we don’t see him as often as we would like in November, December and January.

Anyway…

Kansas is ranked No. 12 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Michigan remains No. 1 for the eighth straight day. The Wolverines are 10-0 with a net rating of KenPom.com of +37.53. That’s more than four points better than anyone else this season, more than one point better than the net rating the national champions (Florida) finished with last season, and one of the reasons why Michigan is currently the clear favorite at +450 to win the 2026 NCAA Tournament, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Top 25 and 1 rankings