South Carolina’s résumé is better than its computer numbers. Auburn’s computer numbers are better than its résumé. That’s the simplest explanation for how we ended up in a situation where a lower-ranked team was an 11.5-point favorite over a higher-ranked team Wednesday — because efficiency margins matter more to the betting markets than Quadrant 1 wins.
Did you take all those points? If so, you made a mistake.
Final score: Auburn 101, South Carolina 61.
The 40-point win represented the Tigers’ largest margin of victory in history against a top-25 opponent and the largest margin of victory for any school against a top-15 team in the AP Top 25 poll since Villanova beat Oklahoma 95-51 in the 2016 Final Four. Auburn shot 61.0% from the field, 60.0% from 3-point range and 89.5% from the free throw line in the blowout, meaning this was nearly an amazing 60-60-90 performance.
“We made shots and played with great freedom,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “We also disrupted them defensively. We turned them over and were aggressive and made plenty of offense out of our defense.”
Pearl’s Tigers jumped from No. 14 to No. 9 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, which caused North Carolina and Kansas to be pushed down one spot each, no fault of their own. Next up for Auburn is Saturday’s showdown with Kentucky inside Neville Arena, where the Tigers are 13-0 this season with each of those 13 wins coming by double digits. Auburn’s average margin of victory at home this season is 22.1 points. That’s among the reasons KenPom.com is projecting the Tigers as 10-point favorites over John Calipari’s Wildcats, who will enter with a 6-6 record in the first two quadrants with just two Q1 victories. UK also has one additional loss to Wilmington in Quadrant 3.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
5
Auburn
4
South Carolina
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