The Precedent Daily: Wednesday, November 11, 2026

The Champions Classic delivers two statements, Winnipeg knocks the NHL's No. 1 off its spot, and Portland pulls away from Oklahoma City.

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

Tuesday's top five

1. Michigan State beat Duke 79-73 in the Champions Classic. The Spartans, No. 5 in the AP poll, never trailed against No. 2 Duke in Chicago and led 34-25 at halftime. Duke cut it to five in the final minutes but got no closer. Jeremy Fears Jr. had 18 points and 11 assists, and Michigan State held Duke to 33.3% shooting. Michigan State is 3-0 and tied for seventh in The Precedent Rating.
2. Kansas routed Kentucky and jumped into a tie for third. The Jayhawks scored the last four points of the first half to lead by 10 and kept pulling away after the break, winning 89-69 on the same night in Chicago. Tre White scored a career-high 30 points, and Tyran Stokes added 23 points and 10 rebounds. Kansas is 3-0 and moved from 46th to a tie for third with Florida.
3. Winnipeg beat the NHL's No. 1 team, and Boston took over first. The Jets, 25th in The Precedent Rating yesterday, beat New Jersey 4-2. The game was tied after two periods, and Winnipeg scored twice in the third. Dawson Mercer scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, in Connor Hellebuyck's first game back in Winnipeg; Hellebuyck did not play. New Jersey fell to fourth, and Boston moved up to first without playing.
4. Vanderbilt scored 58 second-half points to beat Memphis 105-81. Memphis came in tied for fourth in The Precedent Rating and trailed only 47-42 at halftime. Ace Glass scored all 23 of his points after the break. Vanderbilt, 118th yesterday, is 3-0 and climbed to a tie for 17th, the day's biggest upset by Rating among top-25 games.
5. Portland pulled away from Oklahoma City in the third quarter. The game was even at halftime before the Trail Blazers took over in the third quarter and won 123-103. Damian Lillard scored 25 points and Deni Avdija 24. Portland is 7-3 and moved up to sixth; Oklahoma City stays second. The two meet again in Portland tonight.

Also worth knowing

• Texas Tech never trailed against Illinois, No. 3 in the AP poll, and held off a second-half rally from 22 points down to win 84-78.
• Florida beat Florida State 81-72 in Tallahassee for its sixth straight win in the series; Thomas Haugh had 21 points and 10 rebounds.
• Alex Ovechkin's assist on Cole Hutson's overtime winner in Ottawa tied Nicklas Backstrom's Capitals record of 762 career assists.
• Virginia Tech beat Iowa 93-88 in overtime and moved from 179th to 30th in college basketball.
• Miami (OH) trailed Ohio by 10 at halftime, shut the Bobcats out after the break and won 34-17.

Men's College Basketball

Chart of the Day

The AP poll and The Precedent Rating are furthest apart on Louisville, 10th in the poll and tied for 203rd in the Rating at 2-0. Tennessee is 11th in the poll and also tied for 203rd, and UConn, fourth in the AP, is 179th at 3-0. All 10 teams on the chart are ranked lower by The Precedent than by the AP.

Full Men's College Basketball Ratings →

Two of the night's best teams by record met in Chicago, and both games had a clear winner by halftime. Michigan State led Duke 34-25 at the break and held on 79-73. Kansas led Kentucky by 10 at halftime and finished 89-69. Kansas' own win counted, and so did wins by Fordham and Middle Tennessee, two teams it had already played; the Jayhawks moved from 46th to a tie for third.

Boise State and South Dakota State, both 2-0, share first in The Precedent Rating. Florida, second yesterday, won 81-72 at Florida State and slipped into a tie for third with Kansas. The Gators led by two at halftime and pulled away late. Northwestern dropped from third to sixth without playing.

Memphis was the night's highest-ranked loser. The Tigers trailed by five at halftime in Nashville and gave up 58 points after the break. Texas Tech built a 20-point halftime lead over Illinois, then had to hold off a second-half rally to win 84-78.

Virginia Tech beat Iowa 93-88 in overtime on a neutral floor and climbed from 179th to 30th. Saint Louis beat Northern Kentucky 125-63 and stayed in the tie for seventh.

Top 25 results

Ranks are The Precedent Rating, yesterday → today. Games with a team ranked in the top 25 yesterday.

Biggest upsets by Rating

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full Men's College Basketball Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Full Men's College Basketball standings →

NHL

New Jersey's loss in Winnipeg was the biggest upset of the day by Rating: No. 25 over No. 1. The Devils came back from two goals down to tie it in the second period, and Winnipeg took the game back in the third. New Jersey fell to fourth. Boston, second yesterday, moved to first without playing; five of the seven teams it had already played won last night.

Washington trailed Ottawa entering the third period, tied it and won 3-2 in overtime. The Capitals moved up to second. They are eighth in the league by record, the biggest gap between record and Rating in the NHL, because of the records of the teams they have played. Minnesota beat Montreal 2-1 in overtime after the Canadiens tied it late in the third, and climbed from fifth to third.

Nashville shut out Los Angeles 3-0 and moved up two places to 14th. Colorado broke open a 3-2 game with three goals in the third period at Toronto and won 6-3. Columbus lost 4-1 at home to Florida and had the day's biggest drop, from 18th to 23rd.

Tuesday's results

Ranks are The Precedent Rating, yesterday → today. In The Precedent Rating, an overtime or shootout winner gets a win and the other team a loss, so records here are W-L.

Biggest upsets by Rating

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full NHL Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Rating vs record

Record rank is by winning percentage. The gap comes from the records of the teams each has played.

Full NHL standings and playoff picture →

NBA

Oklahoma City and Portland were even at halftime before the Trail Blazers took over in the third quarter. Portland moved from seventh to sixth. Houston is still first, and the Thunder stay second at 8-3.

Boston won 123-101 at Philadelphia and climbed from 13th to 10th. The Celtics' own win counted, and the records of the teams they have played rose from a combined .327 to .377. New York beat Milwaukee 117-85 and still slipped from 12th to 13th: the Bucks are 1-10, and the Knicks' opponents' combined record fell from .489 to .448.

Miami led Utah 92-72 after three quarters, gave up 37 points in the fourth and won 115-109. Phoenix beat the LA Clippers 133-110, and Orlando won 107-100 at Sacramento.

Tuesday's results

Ranks are The Precedent Rating, yesterday → today.

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full NBA Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Rating vs record

Record rank is by winning percentage. The gap comes from the records of the teams each has played.

Full NBA standings →

College Football

Three MAC games filled Tuesday night. Miami (OH) was down 10 at halftime, held Ohio scoreless after the break and won 34-17, the biggest upset of the night by Rating: No. 94 over No. 68. The RedHawks climbed 21 places to 73rd. Bowling Green built a 13-point lead through three quarters and held off a late Kent State push to win 33-28. Western Michigan won 42-14 at Akron but fell from 51st to 60th; Akron is 1-9, and the records of the teams Western Michigan has played dropped from a combined .453 to .400.

Miami (FL) is still first in The Precedent Rating, ahead of Texas and Alabama. New Mexico moved into a tie for 25th without playing.

College Football Playoff rankings

Georgia moved up to first in the College Football Playoff committee's second ranking, ahead of 9-0 Utah, Alabama and 9-0 UCLA. Notre Dame made the biggest climb, six places to fifth, and Oregon rose seven to 16th. Miami (FL) fell six places to seventh and Ole Miss nine to 19th; Florida dropped out. The two rankings are furthest apart at the top: The Precedent has Miami (FL) first and Texas second, while the committee has UCLA fourth and Notre Dame fifth, 14th and 16th in The Precedent. Houston is fourth in The Precedent and 14th with the committee.

The selection committee's rankings, released last night. Move = change since the committee's last ranking. Precedent = The Precedent Rating rank this morning.

More on this week's rankings, with the teams the committee and The Precedent see differently: Georgia Takes No. 1 as Miami Slides to Seventh →

Biggest upsets by Rating

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full College Football Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Unbeaten tracker

Full College Football standings →

Full College Football schedule, week by week →

Coming up today

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Men's College Basketball · 11 games with a top-25 team

Both teams tied for first play at home: Boise State hosts Oakland at 8 PM, and South Dakota State hosts Valparaiso at 7 PM. San Diego State, fifth, hosts Bethune-Cookman at 4 PM, and UCLA, tied for seventh, hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 8 PM.

NBA · 10 games

Two top-10 matchups close the night. Golden State, fifth, visits first-place Houston at 8:30 PM; both are 8-3. At 9 PM Oklahoma City, second, and Portland, sixth, play for the second night in a row in Portland. The LA Lakers, 10-2 and third, visit 1-10 Milwaukee.

NHL · 6 games

Utah, 10th, visits eighth-place Vegas at 8:30 PM in the night's only top-10 matchup. Edmonton, fifth, hosts Philadelphia, 30th, and Tampa Bay, seventh, visits Buffalo.