Boise State takes No. 1 alone as The Precedent Ratings start to spread out

The Precedent: College Basketball

Every league's Ratings on one page, and how The Precedent Rating works: theprecedentmedia.com/ratings

The weekend in college basketball

The biggest game of the weekend was a rematch of last season's national championship game, and UConn won this one. The Huskies, fourth in the AP poll, beat Michigan 85-77 on Friday night in Boston. UConn led by 13 at halftime and kept Michigan at arm's length the rest of the way; the Wolverines won the second half but never got close enough to make it a one-possession game. Braylon Mullins led UConn with 23 points, and Trey McKenney had 22 for Michigan. UConn is 2-0, Michigan 1-1, and Michigan slid from 16th to 20th in the AP poll.

Saint Louis and Missouri met for the first time in about 25 years, and the Billikens won 90-84 in St. Louis. They did it from outside: Saint Louis made 14 of its 25 three-pointers, built a 49-38 halftime lead and held on after Missouri won the second half. Amari McCottry and Ishan Sharma scored 17 apiece, and Saint Louis did it without center Robbie Avila, who has not played yet this season. The Billikens are 2-0 and tied for 18th in The Precedent Ratings, still with no AP ranking.

Sunday's statement belonged to Virginia. The Cavaliers, sixth in the new AP poll, ran away from Arkansas 91-72 in Washington, D.C., with the game decided by halftime and the second half dead even. Five Virginia players scored in double figures. Virginia is 3-0, and Arkansas fell to 1-1 and 19th in the AP poll.

Elsewhere among the ranked teams, UCLA kept rolling. The Bruins beat North Florida 114-63, are 2-0 and climbed to ninth in the AP poll. Houston beat California 86-68, and St. John's beat Iona 104-65. Nebraska, 25th in the AP poll, beat Providence 67-58 at a neutral site, and that one moved The Precedent Ratings: Providence had been one of the 10 teams tied for No. 1 on Friday and is now 57th at 1-1.

Two other teams from that group of 10 also lost. Yale led UCF at halftime and fell 87-75, and Dartmouth dropped its first game. Both slid well down the list.

A few finishes were worth staying up for. Memphis edged VCU 89-88. Nevada beat Saint Mary's 96-95 in overtime at a neutral site. Pittsburgh is 3-0 after beating Penn State 82-76, and Georgetown beat Maryland 86-74.

The Ratings and the AP poll

After one weekend, The Precedent Ratings are no longer a 10-way tie. Boise State stands alone at No. 1 at 2-0, after beating Butler 100-81 on Sunday. The Broncos built a 20-point halftime lead and played Butler even after the break. Boise State was tied for 307th on Friday, before its first win counted, and now sits on top with the only Rating above 0.500.

Behind Boise State, 16 teams share No. 2. Three of them are in the AP Top 25: Michigan State (fifth), Houston (eighth) and UCLA (ninth). St. John's, 13th in the AP poll, is close behind in a tie for 18th. The rest are a mix of power-conference teams like Auburn, Texas A&M, Xavier and Northwestern, and mid-majors like Hawaii (3-0), UC Irvine, UNC Wilmington, San Diego State and South Dakota State. UC Irvine and UNC Wilmington, like Boise State, jumped from a tie for 307th once their wins counted.

The gap between The Precedent and the AP poll is still wide at the very top. Duke is second in the AP poll, Illinois third, Louisville 10th, Tennessee 11th and Gonzaga 14th. All are unbeaten, and all are tied for 158th in The Precedent Ratings. Texas Tech (16th in the AP), Michigan (20th) and Vanderbilt (22nd) share 114th. Their records are fine; what holds them back for now is the records of the teams they have played. The Precedent Ratings will keep spreading out as those opponents play more games.

Looking ahead

The marquee night of the week is Tuesday, with two games between AP Top 25 teams at a neutral site, both on ESPN. Michigan State meets Duke at 6:00 PM in a matchup of the AP's fifth and second teams. The Spartans are tied for No. 2 in The Precedent Ratings; Duke is tied for 158th, so this one carries a lot of weight for both lists. At 8:30 PM, Kansas, 15th in the AP poll, plays Kentucky, 24th. Both are 2-0.

Also Tuesday, Memphis, tied for No. 2, visits 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt at 6:15 PM on SECN+, and Saint Louis hosts Northern Kentucky at 7:00 PM on ESPN+.

Monday night, Auburn hosts 2-0 Appalachian State at 8:00 PM on SEC Network, Northwestern hosts Boston University at 7:00 PM on BTN, and Minnesota visits Cincinnati at 6:00 PM on ESPN+.

No. 1 Boise State is home against Oakland on Wednesday at 8:00 PM on YouTube, and 21st-ranked USC visits California at 10:00 PM on ESPN2. Thursday, Texas A&M hosts Oklahoma State at 7:00 PM on SECN+, a meeting of two 2-0 teams.

The full Precedent Ratings for every team and the standings, updated every morning: College Basketball Ratings · College Basketball Standings