When Bruce Pearl was fired at Tennessee in March 2011 and subsequently hit with a three-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA, there was no guarantee he’d ever coach at the high-major level again. I mean, I guess, I always figured he would. Because he’s great. But, still, there was no guarantee he’d ever coach at the high-major level again. And, even if he did, his entry point would probably be a historically bad job — and historically bad jobs typically lead to historically bad results.
Plus, eventually, pink slips.
So I’m compelled to congratulate Pearl on winning his 214th game at Auburn on Tuesday, making him the winningest coach in program history. That’s an amazing accomplishment, all things considered. And, as chance would have it, the record-setting victory, an 87-82 win at Texas, came on the same night No. 1 Tennessee took its first loss, a 73-43 beatdown at Florida. So — drumroll, please — immediately following Pearl’s record-setting victory, his Tigers have been moved to No. 1 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Tennessee is down to No. 7.
The biggest advancer in the Top 25 And 1 is Michigan, which won 94-75 at UCLA on Tuesday. On the strength of that victory, I pushed the Wolverines to No. 19, which caused Gonzaga and Houston to be pushed down one spot each, no fault of their own.
West Virginia has been removed from the Top 25 And 1 after its loss to Arizona. Georgia has entered the Top 25 And 1 after its win over Kentucky. It was a fun Tuesday night filled with things worth discussing. So, please join us on Wednesday morning’s episode of the Eye On College Basketball Podcast, where we’ll spend an hour discussing them.
