Tuesday night will bring something special -- yet surprisingly not all that rare -- in men's college basketball: a matchup of the No. 1 and No. 2 team in the AP Top 25. This is the 72nd season of the AP men's college basketball poll; No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 2 UCLA in the Empire Classic at 10 p.m. ET in Las Vegas will mark the 43rd all-time meeting between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the AP Top 25.
It would've been the 44th instance, if not for last year's early December meeting between Gonzaga (then No. 1) and Baylor (then No. 2) getting canceled just before tipoff due to multiple COVID positives on Gonzaga's roster. Cancellations may not be on the table this year, thankfully.
What makes this tilt even tastier is the familiarity and revenge factor involved. Gonzaga of course knocked off UCLA 93-90 in overtime in the 2021 Final Four on a 37-foot winner by Jalen Suggs to keep the Zags undefeated (before losing in the championship game to Baylor). The shot and the game are already etched in college basketball lore.
It's a good week for college hoops all around: the women's game also has No. 1 South Carolina playing No. 2 UConn on Monday. (The game is so big, in fact, the AP poll is taking the rare step of delaying the voting by one day so the game's result can have a say on the next edition of the women's top 25.)
On the men's side we happen to get No. 1-vs.-2 pretty frequently. The AP poll dates back to the 1948-49 season, so do the math: 73 years and 43 games means college hoops gets the top squaring off more frequently than an every-other-year basis. The most recent top-two tilt was on the opening night 2019-20 season, when No. 1 Michigan State was defeated by No. 2 Kentucky 69-62 in the Champions Classic.
Tuesday's game is the fourth No. 1-against-2 matchup since 2016. Though GU coach Mark Few and UCLA coach Mick Cronin were ambitiously agreeable in making sure this rematch could happen so soon after the Final Four, the backstory on what had to happen to ensure we got Zags vs. Bruins was a bit melodramatic. I documented it in the offseason.
Coming off a quality weekend that saw the likes of Purdue, St. Bonaventure, Arizona and Utah State win multi-team events, Thanksgiving week -- as it always does -- will provide a Thanksgiving-sized helping off great games between ranked teams. They'll all (even Gonzaga vs. Duke on Friday night) get in line behind Gonzaga-UCLA. There is always something special about No. 1 vs. No. 2, no matter when it lands on the calendar.
No. 1 vs. No. 2 by the numbers
Here's a historical look at what's happened when the top two teams have tipped off over the decades. Data retrieved from the NCAA, SportsReference.com, and College Poll Archive.
- Twenty-five of the 43 meetings have come in the regular season, including the past eight times (including Tuesday night). The No. 2-ranked team is 13-11 in regular-season affairs. No. 1 leads overall 22-20.
- The most recent instance of No. 1 playing No. 2 in a postseason game was the 2005 national championship between North Carolina and Illinois.
- A No. 1 vs. No. 2 game has never featured Gonzaga until now.
- This is UCLA's 10th appearance in a No. 1-vs.-No. 2 game, which will breaks the record of nine it shared with Kentucky. The Bruins have waited a long time for this: their last appearance came in 1976.
- This is wild: According to ESPN, teams ranked No. 2 have a one-point advantage (yes, total!) over the No. 1s in the previous 42 meetings.
- The average score the past 42 meetings: 75-75. (KenPom.com predicts Gonzaga 80, UCLA 74 for this one.)
- Gonzaga will be trying to become just the second team from a mid-major conference to win as the No. 1 team against No. 2 in the regular season. Top-ranked UNLV (when it was in the Big West) did it against No. 2 Arkansas in 1991. Watch this and enjoy the flashback.
- The average margin of victory in regular season No. 1-vs.-2 games is 11.2 points, but that is influenced by a 41-point Kentucky win over St. John's in 1951, the first top-two regular season matchup in history. The last six games have been decided by 4.3 points. The average margin for all 42 prior matchups is 10.1.
- This is the ninth time in the regular season that 1-against-2 has come on a neutral court. No. 1 is 5-3.
- There have been five games that required overtime, with two of those needing three OTs. In 1957, North Carolina beat Kansas 54-53 in triple OT in the NCAA Tournament title game. In 2016, Kansas beat Oklahoma in an epic 109-106 providing one of the five best top-two matchups in college basketball history. Buddy Hield dropped 46 points in OU's loss and had one of the best games in the history of Allen Fieldhouse.
- Largest gap for No. 1 over No. 2 was Duke's 31-point beatdown of Texas in 2005 (97-66).
- Largest gap for No. 2, as noted above, is Kentucky 81, St. John's 40 in 1951.
- No. 1 vs. No. 2. has been close as of late and history suggests there's a one-in-five chance it will be razor-thin. Eight times these matchups have either been decided by one point and/or required overtime. The hit rate historically jumps to 40% when a game ends with a margin of five points or fewer. Good news for Tuesday night, then.
- Gonzaga is 2-10 all time vs. No. 1/2. Mark Few has been the coach for nine of those 12 games and is 2-7.
No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the regular season
- Dec. 17, 1951: No. 2 Kentucky def. No. 1 St. John's 81-40
- Dec. 21, 1954: No. 1 Kentucky def. No. 2 Utah 70-65
- Dec.14, 1964: No. 2 Michigan def. No. 1 Wichita State 87-85
- Jan.20, 1968: No. 2 Houston def. No. 1 UCLA 71-69
- Dec.15, 1973: No. 1 UCLA def. No. 2 North Carolina State 84-66
- Jan. 19, 1974: No. 2 Notre Dame def. No. 1 UCLA 71-70
- Jan. 26, 1974: No. 2 UCLA def. No. 1 Notre Dame 94-75
- Nov. 29, 1975: No. 1 Indiana def. No. 2. UCLA 84-64
- Dec. 26, 1981: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Kentucky 82-69
- Jan. 9, 1982: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Virginia 65-60
- Dec.15, 1984: No. 1 Georgetown def. No. 2. DePaul 77-57
- Feb. 27, 1985: No. 2 Georgetown def. No. 1 St. John's 85-69
- Feb. 4, 1986: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Georgia Tech 78-77 (OT)
- Feb. 13, 1990: No. 2 Missouri def. No. 1 Kansas 77-71
- Feb. 10, 1991: No. 1 UNLV def. No. 2 Arkansas 112-105
- Feb. 3, 1994: No. 2 North Carolina def. No. 1 Duke 89-78
- Feb. 5, 1998: No. 2 North Carolina def. No. 1 Duke 97-73
- Dec. 10, 2005: No. 1 Duke def. No. 2 Texas 97-66
- Feb. 25, 2007: No. 2 Ohio State def. No. 1 Wisconsin 49-48
- Feb. 23, 2008: No. 2 Tennessee def. No. 1 Memphis 66-62
- Nov. 12, 2013: No. 2 Michigan State def. No. 1 Kentucky 78-74
- Jan. 4, 2016: No. 1 Kansas def. No. 2 Oklahoma 109-106 (3OT)
- Nov. 14, 2017: No. 1 Duke def. No. 2 Michigan State 88-81
- Nov. 5, 2019: No. 2 Kentucky def. No. 1 Michigan State 69-62
No. 1 vs. No. 2 in postseason play
- March 26, 1949: No. 1 Kentucky def. No. 2 Oklahoma A&M 46-36 (national championship)
- March 23, 1957: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Kansas 54-53 (3OT) (national championship)
- March 18, 1960: No. 2 California def. No. 1 Cincinnati 77-69 (national semifinals)
- March 25, 1961: No. 2 Cincinnati def. No. 1 Ohio State 70-65 (OT) (national championship)
- March 24, 1962: No. 2 Cincinnati def. No. 1 Ohio State 71-59 (national championship)
- March 20, 1965: No. 2 UCLA def. No. 1 Michigan 91-80 (national championship)
- March 18, 1966: No. 1 Kentucky def. No. 2 Duke 83-79 (national semifinals)
- March 22, 1968: No. 2 UCLA def. No. 1 Houston 101-69 (national semifinals)
- March 25, 1974: No. 1 North Carolina State def. No. 2 UCLA 80-77 (2OT) (national semifinals)
- March 31, 1975: No. 1 UCLA def. No. 2 Kentucky 92-85 (national championship)
- March 22, 1976: No. 1 Indiana def. No. 2 Marquette 65-56 (Elite Eight)
- April 2, 1983: No. 1 Houston def. No. 2 Louisville 94-81 (national semifinals)
- March 9, 1985: No. 1 Georgetown def. No. 2 St. John's 92-80 (Big East championship)
- March 29, 1986: No. 1 Duke def. No. 2. Kansas 71-67 (national semifinals)
- March 10, 1990: No. 1 Oklahoma def. No. 2 Kansas 95-77 (Big Eight semifinals)
- March 30, 1996: No. 2 Kentucky def. No. 1 Massachusetts 81-74 (national semifinals)
- March 27, 1999: No. 1 Duke def. No. 2 Michigan State 68-62 (national semifinals)
- April 4, 2005: No. 2 North Carolina def. No. 1 Illinois 75-70 (national championship)