I wish you a cozy and quiet week between Christmas and New Year. Thanks for stopping by. Despite a lighter schedule in recent days, there has been enough action across the country to confirm the performance rankings update in the final week of 2022. On that note, in case you missed it, we just published my 22nd year in review, in which I ranked the 22 biggest stories in college hoops over the past 12 months. What I haven’t been able to do in this story, and what I want to do quickly here before we get to the Hey Nineteen, is to shed some light on the work done by my colleagues here at CBSSports.com this year.
If you have some free time this weekend, I encourage you to read these pieces.
From Kyle Boone
• Bronny James will sign and play for a school in 2023. In August, Boone wrote the article you need to know about his development and what we can expect from Bronny when he reaches the next level.
• The most enticing prospect since LeBron James is France’s Victor Wembanyama drafted in 2023. Read Boone’s definitive introduction to him here.
• One of the best players not drafted was someone you may not have heard of, but Boone did a great job charting his rise leading up to the NBA draft.
By David Cobb
• Cobb’s best story of 2022 is a dive into Southern Miss’ turnaround. I give her an urgent recommendation.
• Look around you, you’ll see more and more youngsters playing in the pro ranks of basketball and soccer. Cobb highlighted this and gave a brief history lesson on Father’s Day.
• A story line of the Kansas national title that many (but not Cobb) overlooked was the motivation behind many Jayhawks players being disqualified from a Final Four run in 2020.
By Gary Parish…
• Thinking back to March, GP’s column about hurting the entertainment value of March Madness rang true and will be relevant again in 23rd.
• I also liked Parrish’s article, which immediately touched on the wild play that allowed North Carolina’s story to continue. Remember when the Tar Heels almost screwed up against Baylor?
• Looking ahead to 2023, Parrish thinks Kansas fans needn’t worry too much about the IARP’s case against Bill Self and the Jayhawks.
As for you really, the story I was most proud of reporting was the description of the lives, concerns and circumstances of seven Ukrainian college basketball players who were trying to play the end of their season while their home country was at war besieged. I also enjoyed flying privately with Florida in July and sharing what it’s like for a first-year high major coach to build a program. And one of our most-read articles of the year was this in-depth profile of Chet Holmgren amid Gonzaga’s pursuit of a top spot.
As the year ends, thank you all for continuing to read our coverage here at CBS Sports. The conference game is complete here, so let’s move on to the leaderboards!
Hey Nineteen Power Rankings
As a reminder, my rankings aren’t just about who I think is the “best.” This is a weekly round-up of the 19 hottest, most successful and/or most *interesting* teams that combine team quality with winning quality, but are also not ashamed of timeliness and reward meaningful win streaks. Polite feedback is welcome: @MattNorlander.