College basketball rankings: Louisville finds its own freshman star as Mikel Brown leads Cards over Kentucky
Louisville moved into the top 10 of the Top 25 And 1 with a big win vs. the rival Wildcats
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
The biggest mistake any of us made when talking about college basketball's freshman class this preseason is how we usually framed it as a great class led by a big three of Darryn Peterson (Kansas), AJ Dybantsa (BYU) and Cameron Boozer (Duke), mostly because those three players were the consensus top-three prospects in the Class of 2025 and are the prospects most are projecting to go first, second and third in the 2026 NBA Draft.
They're special, all of them.
But what we've already learned through nine days of this season is that even if Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer are in a tier by themselves in some regards, the list of elite freshmen is much longer than three names, and Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. announced himself as part of it with a great performance in Tuesday's 96-88 victory over Kentucky.
"My goodness, was he special tonight," said Louisville coach Pat Kelsey in reference to Brown's 29-point, five-assist, two-rebound effort that lifted the Cardinals to their first win over Kentucky since December 2020.
Jury is still out on Kentucky, but freshman Mikel Brown Jr. shows Louisville is back after beating rival
David Cobb
Brown took 16 shots, made half of them and was clearly the best player on the court even though the court also featured Kentucky's Oteha Oweh, who doubles as the SEC's Preseason Player of the Year. And, if you're keeping track, in addition to the brilliance Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer have already shown, yes, others in this freshman class continue to shine early. In addition to Brown's 29-point effort against Kentucky, Arizona freshman Koa Peat already has a 30-point game in a win over Florida, North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson already has a 24-point game in a win over Kansas, and Virginia Tech freshman Neoklis Avdalas already has a 33-point game in a win over Providence.
That's among the reasons some are already calling this the best freshman class ever. Honestly, it's probably too early to definitively make a claim that strong — but it's not too early to consider. Because, we've known for years that the top three in this class would be special, and now we also know there are other freshmen beyond them similarly competing for First Team All-America honors.
Thanks to Brown's big game, not to mention a 24-point effort from fellow newcomer Ryan Conwell, Louisville is up to No. 10 in Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue remains No. 1 for the fourth consecutive day. Kentucky is down to No. 16. Gonzaga jumped from 20th to 15th thanks to a 90-63 win over Creighton. That development resulted in Michigan State, Oregon and Arkansas all be pushed down one spot each, no fault of their own.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
5
Louisville
9
Texas Tech
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Braden Smith finished with 20 points and nine assists in Friday's 87-77 win over Oakland. The Boilermakers' next game is Thursday at Alabama. | -- | 2-0 |
| 2 |  | Kingston Flemings finished with 20 points and three assists in Saturday's 65-48 win over Towson. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against Oakland. | -- | 2-0 |
| 3 |  | Robert Wright III finished with 26 points, nine assists and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 85-68 win over Delaware. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against UConn. | -- | 3-0 |
| 4 |  | Solo Ball finished with 23 points and three assists in Monday's 89-62 win over Columbia. The Huskies' next game is Saturday against BYU. | -- | 3-0 |
| 5 |  | Koa Peat finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 84-49 win over Northern Arizona. The Wildcats' next game is Friday against UCLA. | -- | 3-0 |
| 6 |  | Thomas Haugh finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 78-76 win over Florida State. The Gators' next game is Sunday against Miami. | -- | 2-1 |
| 7 |  | Aday Mara finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds in Tuesday's 85-84 overtime win over Wake Forest. The Wolverines' next game is Friday at TCU. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 8 |  | Dame Sarr finished with 19 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 114-59 win at Army. The Blue Devils' next game is Friday against Indiana State. | 1 | 3-0 |
| 9 |  | Labaron Philon Jr. finished with 25 points and three assists in Saturday's 103-96 win at St. John's. The Crimson Tide's next game is Thursday against Purdue. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 10 |  | Mikel Brown Jr. finished with 29 points and five assists in Tuesday's 96-88 win over Kentucky. The Cardinals' next game is Saturday against Ohio. | 5 | 3-0 |
| 11 |  | Joson Sanon was 1-of-6 from the field in Saturday's 103-96 loss to Alabama. The Red Storm's next game is Saturday against William & Mary. | -- | 1-1 |
| 12 |  | Tyler Bilodeau finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Monday's 83-62 win over West Georgia. The Bruins' next game is Friday against Arizona. | -- | 3-0 |
| 13 |  | Andrej Stojakovic finished with 23 points and three steals in Tuesday's 81-77 win over Texas Tech. The Illini's next game is Friday against Colgate. | 3 | 3-0 |
| 14 |  | Tamin Lipsey finished with 25 points and six assists in Monday's 96-80 win over Mississippi State. The Cyclones' next game is Monday against Stonehill. | -- | 3-0 |
| 15 |  | Graham Ike finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 90-63 win over Creighton. The Bulldogs' next game is Friday at Arizona State. | 5 | 3-0 |
| 16 |  | Christian Anderson was 4-of-12 from the field in Tuesday's 81-77 loss at Illinois. The Red Raiders' next game is Friday against Milwaukee. | 9 | 2-1 |
| 17 |  | Otega Oweh was 4-of-13 from the field in Tuesday's 96-88 loss at Louisville. The Wildcats' next game is Friday against Eastern Illinois. | 4 | 2-1 |
| 18 |  | Cam Ward finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 69-66 win over Arkansas. The Spartans' next game is Thursday against San Jose State. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 19 |  | Nate Bittle finished with 25 points and eight rebounds in Friday's 67-63 win over Rice. The Ducks' next game is Wednesday against South Dakota State. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 20 |  | Darius Acuff Jr. finished with 21 points and four assists in Tuesday's 93-56 win over Central Arkansas. The Razorbacks' next game is Friday against Samford. | 1 | 2-1 |
| 21 |  | Caleb Wilson finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds in Tuesday's 89-74 win over Radford. The Tar Heels' next game is Friday against North Carolina Central. | -- | 3-0 |
| 22 |  | Kohl Roasrio finished with 16 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 77-46 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Princeton. | -- | 2-1 |
| 23 |  | Nate Ament finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 95-56 win over Northern Kentucky. The Vols' next game is Wednesday against North Florida. | -- | 2-0 |
| 24 |  | Elijah Freeman finished with 21 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 93-62 win over Wofford. The Tigers' next game is Sunday against Houston. | -- | 3-0 |
| 25 |  | Nolan Winter finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 86-55 win over Ball State. The Badgers' next game is Monday against SIUE. | -- | 3-0 |
| 26 |  | Ilias Kamardine finished with 26 points and four assists in Tuesday's 83-77 win over Memphis.The Rebels' next game is Friday against Cal State Bakersfield. | -- | 3-0 |
