This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. How do you rank the best teams in college basketball when you don't even know the full set of fifth-year players who will be eligible? Understanding the sport's landscape inside and out like senior writer/insider Matt Norlander helps cut through all the eligibility lawsuit noise.
The unpredictability of the college hoops campaign means there will be a few swings and misses, but Norlander's assessment of the top 101 teams in the land is an excellent starting point as we gear up for Sunday's season opener between Notre Dame and Villanova. The teams are placed into four tiers from national title hopefuls to Final Four contenders and from Sweet 16 candidates to at-large and bubble candidates. The strongest championship challenger?
This season is the first of the 76-team NCAA Tournament era. More programs will be in the at-large and bubble conversation than ever before. If preseason projections play out over the course of the next few months, expect these squads and others to be fighting for a spot in the bracket until the very end: The Vikings probably need to improve offensively in order to contend for a championship.
A brutal four-game stretch over the next month could bring them back down to earth. But the NFL's best defense is more than strong enough to carry them to a special season, and it already produced a 6-0 start to the year. As the only undefeated team left, Minnesota is the obvious choice for the No. 1 spot in Pete Prisco's Week 8 NFL Power Rankings.
That is more a product of other unbeaten teams losing than the Vikings earning top billing, because Prisco still is not fully sold on them even after moving up. Prisco has more conviction in the biggest movers of the week, for better or worse. These teams climbed and fell more steeply than any others: ⚽ Bologna at AC Milan, 1:30 p.m. on Paramount+ ⚽ UEFA Women's Champions League: Real Madrid at Bayern Munich, 1:45 p.m. on Paramount+ ⚽ Carabao Cup: Chelsea at Liverpool, 4 p.m. on Paramount+ ⚽ UEFA Women's Champions League: Benfica at Arsenal, 4 p.m. on CBS Sports Network/Paramount+ 🏈 Kennesaw State at Middle Tennessee, 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network ⚽ Red Bulls at Revolution, 7:30 p.m. on Apple TV ⚾ Brewers at Rays, Game 5, 8 p.m. on Fox 🏈 Jacksonville State at New Mexico State, 8 p.m. on ESPN2 ⚽ Union at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. on Apple TV 🏀 Thunder at Mavericks, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN ⚽ Rapids at Earthquakes, 10:30 p.m. on Apple TV
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