Hey listeners, welcome back to the pulse of college hoops. Over the past few days, the rankings have been shaking up like a last-second buzzer-beater. CBS Sports' Top 25 And 1 as of December 25 puts Michigan at number one, with Arizona right behind at two, Iowa State holding three, and UConn at four. The AP Poll from December 22 echoes that vibe, crowning Arizona first, Michigan second, Iowa State third, and UConn fourth, while Purdue sneaks into fifth and Duke drops to sixth. Coaches Poll agrees, with Michigan leading the pack. Even the NET rankings through December 23 have Michigan on top, Arizona second, and Duke third. These teams are dominating early, building resumes that scream March Madness contenders.

Switching to the scorers lighting up scoreboards, ESPN's stat leaders show Duke freshman Cameron Boozer averaging 23.3 points per game, just ahead of BYU's AJ Dybantsa at 23.1. Kansas State's PJ Haggerty and Minnesota's Cade Tyson are neck-and-neck at 22.8. NCAA stats back it up, with Boozer at 23.2 and Dybantsa at 23.1 through recent games. These young guns are carrying their squads—Boozer's efficiency inside for Duke has them eyeing a number one seed, per ACC power rankings from All Sports Discussion on December 26.

Assists? Purdue's Braden Smith is dishing 9.6 per game, NCAA stats say, with Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. close at 9.2. Rebounding king is Kent State's Delrecco Gillespie at 12.6 boards a night. In the ACC, Duke stays number one at 11-1 with a NET of 3, North Carolina's at two with a 12-1 mark and RPI 13, looking unstoppable as they gear up against Florida State.

No massive announcements dropped, but the non-conference grind is heating up. Duke got exposed a bit by Texas Tech but should cruise past Georgia Tech. Louisville at 10-2 faces a tough west coast trip against Cal and Stanford. Virginia Tech and NC State are battling for those critical quadrant one wins. It's all building toward conference play, where these rankings could flip fast.

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