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College basketball rankings: Villanova may have lost to UCLA, but the Wildcats showed they are a top-five team

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I ranked UCLA No. 1 in Version 1.0 of the 2021-22 CBS Sports Preseason Top 25 And 1 last April. Then Gonzaga subsequently added some interesting pieces, which caused me to flipflop the Bruins and Zags. But I never had UCLA lower than No. 2 the entire offseason.

Some readers took great issue with it.

I was constantly asked, month after month after month, where I would rank UCLA if the Bruins had lost in the First Four last season and not advanced to the Final Four. Respectfully, I always thought it was a weird question, if only because it’s pretty normal to gauge and label teams based on what they actually do, and what UCLA actually did is make the Final Four, finish 13th at KenPom, return every player who was responsible for it, and add a five-star freshman in Peyton Watson who projects as a one-and-done lottery pick. I didn’t really understand why the Bruins had skeptics. But they did – although, after Friday night’s impressive comeback victory, I have to assume the number of skeptics is shrinking.

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Final score: UCLA 86, Villanova 77 in OT.

In this season’s first matchup of top-five teams, UCLA erased a double-digit deficit in the final 10 minutes of regulation, forced overtime, and then pulled away in OT to secure a nice non-league victory over the Big East favorite. Johnny Juzang, a CBS Sports First Team Preseason All-American, led all scorers with 25 points. Jaime Jaquez Jr., a CBS Sports Third Team Preseason All-American, added 21 points and 13 rebounds.

 “I told [Villanova coach] Jay [Wright], let’s just do it again tomorrow,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said with a grin afterward. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”

It really doesn’t.

So give credit to Wright and Cronin for scheduling this game and making it happen. Both coaches knew their teams would be good, understood the value of testing themselves early, and weren’t worried about possibly taking a non-league loss in November. This isn’t college football, where one early loss really can cost you an opportunity to play for a national title. College basketball isn’t dumb like that. Nothing that happens in terms of wins and losses in November is a season-killer. It’s nice when coaches recognize that and create fun games for the sport.

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Hopefully more will do it next season.

UCLA remains No. 2 in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Villanova remains No. 5 because — listen up, AP voters! — it would make no sense to punish a team for losing a game in overtime to a higher-ranked team on the road.

Top 25 And 1 rankings





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Robert Saleh Makes Clear Statement On Zach Wilson After Loss

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(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

 

The New York Jets have tried to remain even-keeled since Aaron Rodgers went down with an Achilles tear, but it might be time for them to start panicking after another loss.

Coming off an embarrassing defeat against the Dallas Cowboys, the Jets looked more competitive against the New England Patriots in Week 3.

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New York was in a position to win the game late, but unfortunately fell short and would suffer their second loss of the season.

Zach Wilson has been starting for the team and he had another uninspiring performance as he only completed half of his pass attempts for 157 yards and no touchdowns.

Robert Saleh opted to try and run the ball more in order to protect Wilson, but with the Jets trailing he had no choice but to let the signal caller try and win the game.

The noise is only growing louder for New York to find another quarterback, but Saleh reiterated his confidence in Wilson via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.

“Zach Wilson gives us the best chance to win,” Saleh said.

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There were rumors that New York was going to look around the trade market or free agency to bolster the quarterback room, but for now it seems like Saleh will continue rolling with Wilson despite his struggles on the field.

At 1-2, though, the Jets still have a chance to make up ground and get back into the playoff mix though it’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to do that so long as Wilson remains under center.

Week 4 could be the last straw as New York draws the Kansas City Chiefs.

The post Robert Saleh Makes Clear Statement On Zach Wilson After Loss appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa makes himself clear front-runner for NFL MVP

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In a 70-20 blowout of the Broncos, Tua Tagovailoa looked so in sync that Miami has started shattering records on offense.



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Sauce Gardner Speaks On Mac Jones’ Controversial Hit

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(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

 

For the second consecutive week in a row, the New York Jets find themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard as they lost to the New England Patriots 15-10.

Just like their showing against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, the Jets struggled to move the football as Zach Wilson managed to only complete 18 of his 36 pass attempts for 157 yards.

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The running game wasn’t much better either as Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook combined for just 36 yards on the ground on 20 attempts.

Life has been tough without Aaron Rodgers under center, but the defense has given New York ample opportunities to win games.

The Jets defense limited the Patriots to 15 points on the afternoon, though that apparently wasn’t enough to give them the win.

Sauce Gardner found himself in a scuffle with Mac Jones who hit him below the belt and the defensive back had a hilarious reaction afterwards via Ari Meirov.

“He’s trying to prevent me from having kids in the future,” Gardner said.

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Getting hit in the groin area is a painful experience for any athlete and it happened when tempers started to flare between the two teams.

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The AFC East looks like it might belong to the Miami Dolphins after they blew out the Denver Broncos, but there’s still bad blood amongst the other teams in the division.

Although this isn’t the first time Jones has been accused of a dirty hit, the fact remains that the Jets are going to really have to find a way to pull themselves together before the regular season gets away from them.

The post Sauce Gardner Speaks On Mac Jones’ Controversial Hit appeared first on The Cold Wire.





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