There are lots of interesting games sprinkled throughout Saturday’s schedule — among them are Kansas vs. Iowa State early and Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary’s late. Arguably, the most compelling contest of them all is Purdue at Indiana because they’re in-state rivals, one of which was the Big Ten preseason favorite (Indiana), while the other has been No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings 13 straight mornings.
Spoiler alert: It’s about to be 14 straight mornings, guaranteed.
Win or lose Saturday afternoon, the Boilermakers will remain No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 come Sunday morning because even if Purdue loses at Assembly Hall, it will still have the sport’s best body of work and thus still be considered the No. 1 overall seed in any sensible projected NCAA Tournament bracket.
Let me show you why.
If Purdue wins at Indiana, the Boilermakers will improve to at least 9-1 in Quadrant-1 games — and it could be 10-1 if Maryland slides back into the top 30 of the NET — with zero additional losses. That would easily be the sport’s best body of work, and nobody would try to argue otherwise. So if Purdue wins at Indiana, the Boilermakers will obviously remain No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 and (presumably) a unanimous No. 1 in both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.
Now here’s the important thing to realize: Even if Purdue loses at Indiana, the Boilermakers will still have the sport’s best body of work because they’d still be at least 8-2 in Quadrant-1 games — or 9-2 if, again, Maryland moves from 32nd in the NET to inside the top 30 of the NET — with zero additional losses.
Put another way, no matter what happens in Indiana or anywhere else Saturday, on Sunday morning literally every team in the country will still either have fewer Q1 wins than Purdue and/or more losses inside of Q1 than Purdue and/or more losses outside of Q1 than Purdue. Most will still have all three.
So enjoy Saturday’s games, everybody! I’ll meet you back here Sunday morning, where Purdue will remain No. 1 for a 14th straight day regardless of whether the Boilermakers are 23-1 or 22-2.
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