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Baylor moved to No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings the morning after Purdue lost at Rutgers. It was Dec. 10. Since then, Scott Drew's Bears have won five more games, improved to 13-0, and are now No. 1 basically everywhere.

They're No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, in the Coaches poll, in the NET, at KenPom.com — and they also have the nation's best strength of record. This weekend, they added a third Quadrant 1 victory by going on the road and eliminating Iowa State from the list of unbeatens. It really has been just a fabulous start to the season. And, believe it not, even though the Bears are playing in college basketball's best conference, KenPom currently projects them to be favorites in every remaining game this regular season besides the Feb. 5 contest at Kansas.

Will Baylor really still be undefeated heading into that game?

It seems (and is) unlikely.

There are plenty of obstacles between now and then — most notably road games at West Virginia (Jan. 18), Oklahoma (Jan. 22) and Alabama (Jan. 29). But the fact that the question can even reasonably be asked on the third day of 2022 speaks to the job Drew and his staff have done after losing four starters from last season's team that won the national championship. These Bears have seven players averaging between 13.5 points and 8.6 points per game. Sometimes they're led by James Akinjo. Other times it's L.J. Cryer. Other times it's Kendall Brown. Other times it's Matthew Mayer. No one person is the key to anything they do — but, collectively, they're great. And that's the biggest compliment you can give Baylor's program right now, that Drew and his staff have gotten it to a place where players are able to comfortably step into new and bigger roles and keep things operating at the tip-top of the sport.

Baylor might not win back-to-back national titles.

That's hard to do.

But, it's already clear, the Bears are good enough to do it.

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Top 25 And 1 rankings

Biggest Movers
Rk
Teams
 
Chg
Rcrd
1 Baylor James Akinjo finished with 16 points and three assists in Saturday's 77-72 win at Iowa State. The Bears' next game is Tuesday against Oklahoma. -- 24-11
2 Duke Paolo Banchero finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 76-65 win over Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils are currently on a COVID pause. -- 26-8
3 UCLA Jamie Jaquez finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 67-56 win at Marquette on Dec. 11. The Bruins are currently on a COVID pause. -- 16-17
4 Purdue Zach Edey finished with 21 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 104-90 win over Nicholls. The Boilermakers' next game is Monday against Wisconsin. -- 31-4
5 Gonzaga Julian Strawther finished with 15 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 93-63 win over North Alabama. The Zags are currently on a COVID pause. -- 27-7
6 Kansas Christian Braun finished with 14 points and six assists in Saturday's 76-67 win over George Mason. The Jayhawks' next game is Tuesday at Oklahoma State. -- 23-11
7 Michigan St. Gabe Brown finished with 20 points and two blocks in Sunday's 73-67 win at Northwestern. The Spartans' next game is Wednesday against Nebraska. -- 20-15
8 Auburn Walker Kessler finished with 16 points, 11 blocks and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 70-55 win over LSU. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday at South Carolina. -- 27-8
9 USC Boogie Ellis finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in a 67-53 win over Georgia Tech on Dec. 18. The Trojans are currently on a COVID pause. -- 15-18
10 Iowa St. Iowa State missed 13 of the 14 3-pointers it attempted in Saturday's 77-72 loss to Baylor. The Cyclones' next game is Wednesday against Texas Tech. -- 29-7
11 Houston Fabian White finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds in Sunday's 66-61 win at Temple. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday at South Florida. -- 32-4
12 Texas Tech Davion Warren finished with 15 points and two steals in Tuesday's 75-53 win over Alabama State. The Red Raiders' next game is Wednesday at Iowa State. -- 23-11
13 Arizona Arizona missed 18 of the 27 3-pointers it attempted in a 77-73 loss at Tennessee on Dec 18. The Wildcats' next game is Monday against Washington. -- 27-8
14 Ohio St. Malaki Branham finished with 35 points and six rebounds in Sunday's 87-79 overtime win at Nebraska. The Buckeyes' next game is Thursday at Indiana. -- 22-14
15 Tennessee Tennessee was without two of its top three scorers in Wednesday's 73-68 loss at Alabama. The Vols' next game is Wednesday against Ole Miss. -- 26-8
16 Providence Al Durham finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 70-53 win at DePaul. The Friars' next game is Tuesday at Marquette. -- 21-14
17 Texas Marcus Carr finished with 20 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 74-59 win over West Virginia. The Longhorns' next game is Tuesday at Kansas State. -- 21-13
18 Colo. St. David Roddy finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in a 66-63 win over Mississippi State on Dec. 11. The Rams are currently on a COVID pause. -- 25-11
19 Villanova Collin Gillespie finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 73-67 win at Seton Hall. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Creighton. -- 18-16
20 Xavier Xavier missed 17 of the 23 3-pointers it attempted in a 71-58 loss at Villanova on Dec. 21. The Musketeers' next game is Friday at Butler. -- 16-18
21 Seton Hall Seton Hall allowed Villanova to offensive rebound 44.8% of its own missed shots in Saturday's 73-67 loss to the Wildcats. The Pirates' next game is Tuesday at Butler. -- 23-12
22 Kentucky Kellan Grady made seven 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in Friday's 92-48 win over High Point. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday at LSU. -- 23-10
23 Alabama Noah Gurley finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 73-68 win over Tennessee. The Crimson Tide's next game is Wednesday at Florida. -- 23-11
24 LSU LSU missed 23 of the 29 3-pointers it attempted in Wednesday's 70-55 loss at Auburn. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday against Kentucky. -- 17-16
25 Wisconsin Steven Crowl finished with 21 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 89-85 win over IIllinois State. The Badgers' next game is Monday at Purdue. -- 22-14
26 Loyola Chi. Braden Norris scored 18 points and finished with nine assists in a 69-58 victory at Vanderbilt on Dec. 10. The Ramblers are currently on a COVID pause. -- 23-10