The weekend after Thanksgiving was slow. That’s how Monday was. But college basketball will get back on track Tuesday with the start of Big Ten play and a trio of games featuring six of the best programs of this century.
Here’s that trio of games:
- 7:30 PM ET: Florida and Duke
- 9:00 PM ET: UConn at Kansas
- 9:30 PM ET: North Carolina near Kentucky
As I noted in Monday’s Top 25 and 1, the six schools that played in these three games have combined to win 16 of the past 21 national championships. In other words, in a sport where 365 schools compete for the national championship, Florida, Duke, UConn, Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky have combined to win 76.2% of all national titles since 2003.
That’s incredible.
Tuesday night should be great.
The biggest question of the day was whether Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson would play for the first time since Nov. 7 – and only the third time this season. At 12:29 p.m. ET, Kansas coach Bill Self announced on social media that he will not.
“Darryn is not going to play tonight,” Self said. “He’s very close [to returning]. He has done his best, but he is still not 100%. He is day to day.”
That’s certainly a shame. But this is still a contest between top-15 teams in Tuesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 daily college basketball rankings, with Arizona remaining No. 1 for the 13th straight day.
UConn is No. 4. KU is No. 13.
UConn is a 1.5-point favorite at Allen Fieldhouse, meaning this is only the third time Self has been an underdog at home in 22 years at Kansas. The first time was on February 27, 2021, when Kansas was a 4.5-point underdog at home against Baylor. The Jayhawks won that game 71-58. The second time came on February 3, 2024, when Kansas was a 1.5-point underdog at home against Houston. The Jayhawks also won that game 78-65.
Top 25 and 1 rankings
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