After all of the results were in late Thursday, and every number had been crunched, only one college basketball team went to sleep with an offensive efficiency rating and a defensive efficiency rating that both rank in the top six nationally.
It wasn’t Gonzaga. It wasn’t Baylor.
It was Juwan Howard’s Michigan Wolverines.
“[This game] was a battle,” Michigan freshman Hunter Dickinson said Thursday after he and his teammates extended their winning streak to six contests with a victory over Iowa.
And it was a battle, I guess. But if it was a battle, it was a battle that Michigan ultimately won easily thanks in part to Dickinson’s 14 points and eight rebounds. The final score was 79-57. That’s a blowout any way you slice it. So the Wolverines are now 17-1 overall, 12-1 in the Big Ten. They have a three-game lead in the loss column of the league standings despite the fact that they play in a conference that has at least two other schools (Ohio State, Illinois) competing for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s a remarkable story.
Michigan lost one of the sport’s greatest coaches, John Beilein, to the NBA in May 2019, replaced him with a first-time head coach, and continued to operate at the highest level of the sport without interruption. Not only does Howard have a team likely to receive a No. 1 seed next month, but he’s about to also enroll a recruiting class that currently ranks No. 1 nationally, according to 247Sports. So it’s reasonable to believe the Wolverines will continue to be a factor on the national level for the foreseeable future thanks to the incredible job Howard is doing.
Michigan remains No. 3 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. And Iowa remains No. 10 despite the loss to Michigan simply because I do not believe anybody below the Hawkeyes deserve to be above them right now. Same goes for Ohio State, by the way. The Buckeyes lost a close game Thursday night at Michigan State, I know. But they still lead the nation in Quadrant 1 wins and still have the fourth-best body of work, in my opinion.
Friday’s Top 25 And 1 rankings
1
Arkansas
2
Southern California
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Rk
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Teams
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Chg
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Rcrd
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|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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Gonzaga’s perfect record includes double-digit victories over Virginia, Iowa and Kansas. The Zags have won their 14 WCC games by an average of 24.6 points. | — | 23-0 |
2 |
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Baylor’s perfect record is highlighted by victories over Texas, Illinois, Texas Tech and Kansas. The Bears have won 15 of their 18 games by double-digits. | — | 18-0 |
3 |
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Michigan is 11-1 in the first two quadrants with double-digit wins over Iowa, Wisconsin and Purdue. The Wolverines’ lone loss came at Minnesota. | — | 17-1 |
4 |
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Ohio State dropped to 12-6 in the first two quadrants after Thursday’s loss at Michigan State. The Buckeyes lead the nation with nine Quadrant 1 wins. | — | 18-6 |
5 |
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llinois is 11-6 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. Five of the Illini’s six losses are Quadrant 1 defeats. | — | 17-6 |
6 |
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West Virginia is 11-6 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. The Mountaineers are 5-1 in their past six games with wins over Texas, Kansas and Texas Tech. | — | 16-6 |
7 |
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Alabama dropped to 12-5 in the first two quadrants after Wednesday’s loss at Arkansas. The Crimson Tide has one additional loss in Quadrant 3. | — | 18-6 |
8 |
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Villanova is 6-3 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. The Wildcats are 4-1 in their past five games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Creighton. | — | 15-3 |
9 |
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Florida State is 8-2 in the first two quadrants with one additional loss falling in Quadrant 3. The Seminoles are 9-1 in their past 10 games with victories over Virginia and Louisville. | — | 14-3 |
10 |
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Iowa dropped to 11-7 in the first two quadrants after Thursday’s loss at Michigan. Six of the Hawkeyes’ seven defeats are Quadrant 1 defeats. | — | 17-7 |
11 |
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Texas is 7-6 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. All six of the Longhorns’ losses are Quadrant 1 defeats. | — | 14-6 |
12 |
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Houston is 6-2 in the first two quadrants with one additional loss falling in Quadrant 3. The Cougars are 4-1 in their past five games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Wichita State. | — | 19-3 |
13 |
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Arkansas is 9-5 in the first two quadrants with only one loss outside of Quadrant 1. The Razorbacks are 8-1 in their past nine games with wins over Alabama and Missouri. | 1 | 18-5 |
14 |
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Creighton is 10-2 in the first two quadrants with three additional losses falling in Quadrant 3. The Bluejays are 7-1 in their past eight games with wins over Villanova and Seton Hall. | 1 | 17-5 |
15 |
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USC dropped to 7-5 in the first two quadrants after Thursday’s loss at Colorado. The Trojans are 1-2 in their past three games. | 2 | 19-5 |
16 |
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Wisconsin is 9-8 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. The Badgers’ resume is highlighted by victories over Loyola Chicago, Rutgers and Maryland. | — | 16-8 |
17 |
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Loyola Chicago is 5-4 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. The Ramblers are 12-1 in their past 13 games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Drake. | — | 19-4 |
18 |
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Virginia dropped to 8-4 in the first two quadrants after Wednesday’s loss to NC State. The Cavaliers have two additional losses in Quadrant 3. | — | 15-6 |
19 |
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Kansas dropped to 8-8 in the first two quadrants after Tuesday’s loss at Texas. All eight of the Jayhawks’ losses are Quadrant 1 defeats. | — | 17-8 |
20 |
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Oklahoma suffered its first Quadrant 3 loss of the season Tuesday at Kansas State. The Sooners are 3-2 in their past five games with two of those wins coming against Iowa State. | — | 14-6 |
21 |
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Virginia Tech dropped to 6-5 in the first two quadrants after Tuesday’s loss at Georgia Tech. The Hokies are 1-2 in their past three games with the lone win in that stretch coming at Miami. | — | 14-5 |
22 |
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Tennessee is 6-6 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. The Vols are 6-3 in their past nine games with wins over Kansas and Kentucky. | — | 16-6 |
23 |
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Purdue is 10-7 in the first two quadrants with one additional loss falling in Quadrant 3. The Boilermakers will take a two-game winning streak into Friday’s game at Penn State. | — | 15-8 |
24 |
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Oklahoma State is 7-5 in the first two quadrants with one additional loss falling in Quadrant 3. The Cowboys will take a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s game at Oklahoma. | — | 15-6 |
25 |
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BYU is 7-5 in the first two quadrants with zero additional losses. The Cougars will take a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s game with Saint Mary’s. | — | 18-5 |
26 |
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Missouri dropped to 8-7 in the first two quadrants after Tuesday’s loss to Ole Miss. The Tigers are 1-4 in their past five games with three losses in that stretch to unranked teams. | — | 14-7 |
