College Basketball Rankings Shake Up: CBS Sports Drops a Bombshell Update After Alabama Falls to Purdue
College basketball didn’t deliver a packed slate this week, but one game one loud, nationally televised, Top-10 showdown was all it took to send shockwaves through the sport. After No. 2 Purdue marched into Tuscaloosa and handed No. 8 Alabama an 87–80 loss in front of a hostile, roaring Coleman Coliseum crowd, CBS Sports wasted little time making adjustments to its Top 25 & 1 rankings.
And if Thursday night’s drama was the tremor, what’s coming next week might be the earthquake.
This is shaping up to be one of those rare stretches in November when every night feels like a postseason preview. Bluebloods are colliding, early contenders are getting exposed, and teams ranked inside the Top 10 are about to run into each other like bumper cars.
But first, here’s how CBS Sports reshuffled the deck on Friday morningand what it all means for the days ahead.
1. Purdue Boilermakers – Still King of the Rankings
Despite losing their No. 1 spot in the AP Poll earlier this week, Purdue remains No. 1 in the CBS Sports rankings. And honestly? After what they pulled off in Tuscaloosa, how could they fall?
Behind All-American-type performances Braden Smith erupting for 29 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn dropping a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double, and the team knocking down nine threes the Boilermakers did what elite programs do:
They won when everything seemed set up against them.
CBS Sports put it perfectly:
“Winning is what the Boilermakers do.”
At 3–0, Purdue looks every bit the gritty, disciplined, offensively lethal team that can weather storms and turn hostile road games into résumé centerpieces.
2. Houston Cougars – Defense, Domination, and a New No. 1 in the AP Poll
Houston has climbed to the top of the AP Poll for the third time in four seasons, an absurd achievement for any program not named Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky.
Kelvin Sampson’s team is 3–0 with an average margin of 22.7 points, including a ferocious 78–45 destruction of Oakland. And now, after feasting at home, the Cougars finally get their first real test:
No. 22 Auburn, Sunday in Birmingham.
If Houston locks down that game the way they’ve locked down everything else, expect some serious debates next week about who really deserves the No. 1 spot everywhere.
3. BYU Cougars – The Surprise Titan of November
Raise your hand if you had BYU as the No. 3 team in the entire nation this early.
Exactly.
BYU’s rise has felt almost cinematic:
A Vegas win over Villanova → A dominant blowout → Another double-digit victory → And now, suddenly, they’ve flown all the way to the top of CBS’s leaderboard.
But turbulence has hit. Off-court complications have made headlines, and on-court reality is about to get much tougher.
BYU now enters a gauntlet of three straight power-conference opponents, starting with No. 4 UConn at TD Garden. How the Cougars survive that run will tell us whether they’re a cute early-season storyline or a legitimate Final Four contender.
4. UConn Huskies – The Champions Look Terrifying Again
The defending champs aren’t tiptoeing through their schedule they’re blasting people.
Three games.
Three blowouts.
Average margin of victory: 38 points.
UConn plays the kind of basketball that feels inevitable: deep roster, suffocating defense, the best pace-control in the country, and an efficiency level that would make a mathematician blush.
The Huskies face BYU next, and then they brace for a pair of Top-10 battles in the coming week. In short: UConn’s season is about to get real, real fast.
5. Arizona Wildcats Ready to Crash the Top Four
Arizona already has a résumé win (over Florida in Vegas) and two dominant home victories. Now they head into the fire first No. 15 UCLA, then a trip to…
Storrs to battle UConn.
That’s the type of stretch that forges national title contenders.
Arizona’s size, shot creation, and depth have them comfortably in the top five, but the Wildcats now get a chance to either secure that spot or rocket themselves even higher.
6. Florida Gators The Champs Are Still Searching
Florida is 2–1 after dropping the opener to Arizona, and although the Gators followed up with two wins, questions continue to swirl.
Yes, the 40-point blowout of North Florida looked great.
Yes, the win over Florida State was gritty.
But a defending champion isn’t expected to wobble this early.
With a tough neutral-site game against Miami right around the corner, Florida needs to find its identity fast.
7. Michigan Wolverines Strong Start, But Warning Lights Are Flashing
Michigan sits at 2–0, but the vibes are… complicated.
They annihilated Oakland by 43.
Then they barely escaped Wake Forest in overtime.
A true road game at TCU will tell us a lot more about what this team is or isn’t.
8. Duke Blue Devils Rolling Into a Monster Week
Duke has been scorching teams, winning by 51 and 55 in their last two outings. The Blue Devils look every bit like a squad with:
✔ Elite scoring
✔ Young stars ascending
✔ And a growing defensive identity
Next week, though?
They play Kansas in the Champions Classic under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.
That’s the type of game that shapes national narratives.
9. Louisville Cardinals (+1) The Upset Heard Across Kentucky
Louisville beat Kentucky for the first time since 2020, and the ripple effects are still being felt.
After the 96–88 upset in a Top-12 showdown, Louisville is suddenly:
3–0
Owning one of the best offenses in America
Winning by an average of 34.3 points
They rise one spot in the CBS rankingsand with several winnable games left this month, the Cardinals might not be done climbing.
10. Alabama Crimson Tide (-1) A Good Loss That Still Stings
Losing to Purdue isn’t a problem.
Getting bullied on the boards is.
Alabama now enters a two-game stretch that could define their early season:
Two top-tier matchups.
Two chances to rise or fall.
Rounding Out the Rankings
- St. John’s
- UCLA
- Illinois
- Iowa State
- Gonzaga
- Texas Tech
- Kentucky
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- Arkansas
- North Carolina
- Kansas
- Tennessee
- Auburn
- Wisconsin
- Ole Miss
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