AJ Hoops

By Aidan Joly

It took until mid-February to get a midseason coach firing, but we have one on the board.

Kansas State on Sunday night fired Jerome Tang in the midst of his fourth season with the team.

Tang had a meteoric rise in Manhattan. His first Kansas State team in 2022-23 won 26 games and went to the Elite Eight. But it’s been a slow decline since then – only being in the NIT in 2024, missing the postseason entirely in 2025 and then a 2025-26 where the Wildcats have been largely uncompetitive. At the time of the firing, Kansas State is 1-11 in Big 12 play and 10-15 overall. It has not won a game since Jan. 20. Matthew Driscoll, the longtime head coach at North Florida, will finish out the season.

Kansas State is not a bad job by any stretch, but it’s not one that coaches would be clamoring for. It probably sits somewhere in the middle of the Big 12 in terms of desirability. There is some money here as K-State has made some big splashes in the portal in the past couple years, namely in the forms of Coleman Hawkins and PJ Haggerty. It’s a place where you have a shot to win.

Tang came into the role in 2022 without any previous head coaching experience, so it makes sense that the powers that be in Manhattan will probably want to go with a sitting head coach. That being said, here are seven (and one) potential candidates for the gig. All but one are sitting head coaches.

Josh Schertz, Saint Louis head coach

Schertz is the hottest candidate to move up and he will surely be on the call list. After moving up from the Division II ranks in 2021 he had Indiana State rolling with a 32-win season in 2023-24 before taking the gig at Saint Louis, where he has the Billikens at 24-1 in his second season. He’s a guy who wins everywhere he goes.

This all being said, Schertz will likely have his pick of open jobs in this cycle. The regional ties are there, but this does not feel like the one he will end up picking.

Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State head coach

Another name that will be on the call list for every opening at the high major level. Calhoun got Utah State to the NCAA tournament in his first season last year and has followed that up with another strong season.

One problem: Calhoun is an Ohio native and Cincinnati graduate, and Cincinnati feels very likely to open. If it does, Calhoun will be the heavy favorite there.

Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa head coach

It wouldn’t be a flashy hire, but Jacobson is an example of a guy who has built a consistent winner at Northern Iowa for 20 years. He has won nearly 400 games in his time as a head coach. He has brought Northern Iowa to the NCAA tournament four times in his tenure, but not since 2016.

If the top names don’t hit, Jacobson could be a solid backup plan.

Travis Steele, Miami Ohio head coach

Steele is set to be another hot name in the coaching carousel. He coached at Xavier from 2018 to 2022 before going to Miami (Ohio), where he has the RedHawks to 25-0 this season.

Steele doesn’t have a ton of area ties, but if he wants to get back into the high major ranks this could potentially be a fit.

Matt Braeuer, Stephen F. Austin head coach

Braeuer is the second-youngest name on this list, just 39 and in the middle of his first season as a head coach. He has Stephen F. Austin at 23-3 in his first season at the helm after stints with Grant McCasland at North Texas and Texas Tech.

He has the area ties too, as an alum of Wichita State. It may be a little bit too big of a jump too early in his coaching career, but he will certainly be a name to keep an eye on.

Chris Jans, Mississippi State head coach

Jans is by far the most successful coach on this list. The 57-year-old has taken the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament in each of his first three seasons after a successful stint at New Mexico State.

However, it is certainly fair to wonder if Jans has hit the ceiling at Mississippi State. Kansas State offers more resources-wise than Mississippi State does. He also had two stints as an assistant at Wichita State, so he knows the area. Who knows if Kansas State can pluck another high major coach, but it could be worth giving it a shot.

Chester Frazier, Virginia Tech associate HC

A tick younger than Braeuer, Frazier is the youngest candidate on this list and the only one without head coaching experience. However, he’s the only one with significant ties to Kansas State. He spent seven seasons as an assistant under former head coach Bruce Weber. He has also spent time at Illinois and West Virginia on top of Virginia Tech.

It’s hard to see Kansas State going the way of high-major assistant again. However, if that is the route they go, Frazier is probably the name that makes the most sense.

Brad Underwood, Illinois head coach

And here’s the shoot for the moon option. Underwood is a Kansas State alum and a Kansas native, not to mention one of the best head coaches in college basketball right now.

The odds of him leaving Illinois are very low. Kansas State would have to pay a hefty buyout. It might take Kansas State leaving a blank check paired with Underwood feeling compelled to save the program to even consider the move. Probably won’t stop Kansas State making a phone call, though.

Prediction: It’s tough to say. It doesn’t feel like there’s an obvious option here.

Getting Schertz or Calhoun would be a major win for the program, but it feels unlikely. But getting a head start certainly doesn’t hurt.

Jans would kind of make sense, but they are banking on him being willing to leave another high-major job. However, that should be the plan, and make sure to give him better resources than he currently has. Let’s go with him.

By Aidan Joly

The Wolverines certainly looked the part on Saturday, as they have done for much of the year.

Following Saturday’s 30-point, 86-56 destruction of UCLA, Michigan is in line to earn the No. 1 ranking in the country for the first time this season when the new rankings come out on Monday.

It was a slow first 20 minutes of the game for Michigan. It only led by two at the half, 40-38, and didn’t take advantage of opportunities it had to pull away in the final handful of minutes in the first half.

The second half was different, though. The Wolverines got the lead from two to 21 in a matter of less than 12 minutes into the second half and carried it all the way to its 10th 30-point win of the season, all the while improving to 14-1 in the Big Ten and 24-1 overall. It is set to take over the No. 1 spot in the country after Arizona’s two losses on Monday and Saturday since the latest AP rankings came out.

All in all, Michigan outscored UCLA 46-18 in the last 2o minutes. It shot an incredible 78% from the field (18-23) in the second half while making four of its six threes, compared to UCLA’s 25.9% (7-27). Yaxel Lendeborg, coach Dusty May’s prized addition for this season, finished with 17 points on 4-8 from the field, but was 7-10 from the free throw line and grabbed eight rebounds along the way. Morez Johnson had 15 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field, while Nimari Burnett had 12 on 5-9 from the field.

And now, Michigan seems to have another major weapon coming off the bench, one that has introduced itself more and more in the past two weeks. L.J. Cason had 13 points on 5-8 shooting off the bench in just 20 minutes of play and now has scored in double figures in three of Michigan’s last four games – in the other game he had eight against Ohio State. In that time, he has averaged 12.8 points per game. If he can prove to be a weapon down the stretch and into the NCAA tournament, that is just another guy that teams have to plan for.

The key to this Michigan team has been finding ways to win even if did not play a complete game. There has been a faction of those nervous about the Wolverines and feel they are vulnerable for a loss – and sure, all teams are – but it’s tough to see many legitimate reasons to be nervous about them. Even if they don’t play particularly well, the main examples being a 74-72 win against lowly Penn State on Jan. 6 and an 87-75 win against Northwestern this past Wednesday – it still wins the game. The competition in the later rounds of the NCAA tournament will certainly be tougher than the likes of Penn State and Northwestern, but if the Wolverines have that X-factor, they can beat anybody.

A critical portion of the schedule is coming up – it will go to Purdue on Tuesday, followed by a neutral site game in Washington, D.C. against Duke on Feb. 21, then gets a break with a home game against Minnesota on Feb. 24 and finally go at Illinois on Feb. 27. All in all, four of Michigan’s final six regular season games come against ranked opponents.

There will be plenty of tests, but it feels like Michigan should be able to overcome them. If they can keep winning, the squad will be playing its best ball heading into the NCAA tournament.

As for the other game I attended today: lots and lots of credit goes to Todd Simon.

Bowling Green took down rival Toledo at the Stroh Center 80-70, a win that puts the Falcons in a tie for fourth in the MAC. It moves them to 7-6 in the league and 16-10 overall. It was also Simon’s 50th win as Bowling Green’s coach.

The Falcons have not been to the NCAA tournament since 1968. The MAC is a very top-heavy league with Miami (Ohio) as the last undefeated team in the country and is in the top 25, 11-1 Akron and 10-3 Kent State. Those are the top three teams with a sizeable gap before you hit the rest of the league, but the Falcons are one of those teams that can take advantage should something weird happen in Cleveland.

By Aidan Joly

It’s hard to believe but there are only six weeks remaining in the college basketball season and the teams that will play in the NCAA tournament are beginning to take shape.

What is the bracket going to look like? Let’s go conference by conference and take a look.

First, we’ll go over how the outlook works. Going over locks, these are teams that barring total disaster will be in the field. As for ‘should be in,’ those are teams that if the season ended today they would more than likely be in the field, but have not yet locked themselves into the field. As for ‘work to do,’ these are the bubble teams. These teams can solidly put themselves into the field with wins between now and the end of the regular season, but can fall out of the field with some losses.

ACC

Locks: Duke, Virginia, Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, NC State, SMU

Should be in: Miami

Work to do: Virginia Tech

Credit where credit is due to SMU coach Andy Enfield, who has the Mustangs up over .500 in ACC play and now sit at 15-5 overall after Saturday’s win against Florida State. The signature win here is a victory over North Carolina on Jan. 3, one that puts SMU solidly in the field.

Miami is pretty close to a lock under first year coach Jai Lucas, sitting at 5-2 in the ACC and 16-4 overall, but the Hurricanes do not have a ranked win this year and is 1-3 in Quad 1 games and has a Quad 3 loss.

Virginia Tech is on the outside looking in for now but has opportunities to give itself a better chance in the next couple weeks with a home game against Duke on Jan. 31 and visiting Clemson on Feb. 11. Road games against North Carolina and Virginia await too.

Big 12

Locks: Arizona, Houston, Iowa State, BYU, Texas Tech, Kansas

Should be in: UCF

Work to do: TCU

Six teams have locked themselves into the field, usual suspects out of the Big 12.

As for a team that’s not a usual suspect, UCF is looking good and seems fairly set to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019. The Knights are 15-4 on the season and has a pair of Quad 1 wins against Texas A&M during the non-conference and beat Kansas at home. It has also done a good job at avoiding bad losses, something the team has struggled with in recent years.

TCU feels squarely on the bubble. The Horned Frogs have a few nice wins but have lost four of their last six games, which certainly does not help their chances. Remember too, the Horned Frogs took a really ugly loss to New Orleans in the season opener, a Quad 4 loss and a real stain on the resume. A few opportunities for signature wins are still ahead on the schedule.

Big East

Locks: UConn, St. John’s, Villanova

Should be in: none

Work to do: Butler, Creighton

First year coach Kevin Willard has Villanova locked into the tournament, somewhere the program has not been since 2022, Jay Wright’s final year with the program. Willard has a revamped Villanova team at 15-5 overall and 6-3 in the Big East.

Creighton has not missed the NCAA tournament since 2019, but it feels like that streak is going to come to an end this year. The Bluejays are 1-5 in Quad 1 games this season and they have a Quad 3 loss to Kansas State during non-conference. Greg McDermott’s squad has certainly taken a step back. Butler is on the outside looking in, as is Seton Hall, who I didn’t mention here. The Pirates started 11-1 but are 3-5 since.

Big Ten

Locks: Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Iowa

Should be in: Wisconsin, Indiana

Work to do: UCLA, Ohio State

Some of the best hoops in the country is being played in the Big Ten this season. Several teams: Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Illinois and Purdue, all feel like very real national title contenders this season. The streak of the league having not won a national championship since 2000 could come to an end.

Shoutout to Iowa and first year coach Ben McCollum, who has things humming in Iowa City and is poised to bring the program back to the tournament for the first time since 2023.

Jake Diebler has yet to make the NCAA tournament during his time at Ohio State and probably needs to this year in order to keep his job for next season. The Buckeyes still lack a signature win – its only Quad 1 win being a road win against Northwestern. It could maybe help its chances with a road win against Wisconsin on Jan. 31. It has another shot at Michigan on Feb. 8.

UCLA recently helped its chances with a massive win against Purdue on Jan. 20. If the Bruins can get another ranked win, it will help their chances.

SEC

Locks: Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Auburn, Georgia

Should be in: Kentucky

Work to do: Texas

The SEC is highly, highly unlikely to return 14 teams to the NCAA tournament like it did last year, but it will still have plenty of representation.

Much has been made of Kentucky’s struggles this season, but the Wildcats still should be comfortably in the tournament despite a lack of wins against the league’s top teams. The Wildcats are 2-5 in games against ranked opponents this season.

Things have been topsy-turvy in Sean Miller’s first year at the helm for Texas and the Longhorns seem about as 50/50 as you can get. It has a win at home against Vanderbilt and beat Alabama on the road but could certainly use a third big-time win to feel good about its chances in March.

Mountain West

Locks: Utah State

Should be in: New Mexico

Work to do: San Diego State

The Mountain West seems poised to be a multi-bid league again. Utah State has had a terrific season and is 16-3 on the season, 7-2 in league play.

Eric Olen has done a nice job in his first season at New Mexico and is 16-4 overall and also 7-2 in league play. The Lobos have a Quad 1 win, a road win against VCU.

San Diego State has a good chance at making the field but is probably not quite there yet. Hurting its chances are an early season loss to Troy, a Quad 3 loss.

The rest

Locks: Gonzaga

Should be in: Saint Louis, St. Mary’s

Work to do: Miami (Ohio), Santa Clara

It feels like there is less Gonzaga talk than normal this year, likely because the Zags are in a better spot than they were last season and will again be a national title contender once the calendar turns to March. The Zags will have an outside chance at being a No. 1 seed once the bracket is out.

Saint Louis is 19-1 on the season in its second season under Josh Schertz and have been blowing out most of their opposition in the Atlantic 10. Its only loss was a one-point loss to Stanford back in November, albeit its only game against a power conference opponent. The Billikens probably can’t take more than one or two losses if they want an at-large bid.

Miami (Ohio) is one of the last three remaining undefeated teams in the nation. Under former Xavier coach Travis Steele the Redhawks are 20-0, 8-0 in the MAC and found themselves in the AP top 25 for the first time this past week. There are still 11 games to go. They did not play anybody of note in the non-conference portion of the year but if they finish the regular season undefeated (or maybe even with only one loss), it will be hard to hear an argument for keeping them out if they lose in the conference tournament. The last time the MAC had two bids was in 1999, when Toledo and Kent State were both in the field. The Golden Flashes and Akron are the top jobbers to Miami (Ohio) right now.

By Aidan Joly

Heading into the Christmas break in college hoops, six teams remain undefeated: Michigan, Arizona, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Nebraska and Miami Ohio.

The first three of that group are the top three teams in the country right now. Miami Ohio has benefitted playing largely a mix of non-Division I teams and teams ranked in the 300s in KenPom.

That leaves the other two – Vanderbilt and Nebraska, two of the sport’s biggest surprises of the season. How did each of them get here?

Let’s start with Vanderbilt.

Second-year coach Mark Byington has done a yeoman’s job of turning the dormant program around. He reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last year in year one and has an even better squad this time aroumd.

The Commodores have done it with a fantastic group on offense. Byington’s style of play has wielded excellent results from the likes of Duke Miles, who has quietly become one of the best players in the country to the tune of 17.1 points per game while dishing out nearly five assists per contest. He hits nearly half of his shots. Tyler Tanner has 15.4 PPG on 52% shooting. Tyler Nickel shoots 52%. Devin McGlockton shoots 60% and leads the team in rebounds.

Sensing a theme here?

Vanderbilt is one of the most efficient teams on offense in the nation with an effective field goal percentage that ranks in the top 10 in the country and is doing it with experienced players who know what they are doing. The Commodores rank in the top 10 in the country when it comes to Division I playing experience.

To note, Vandy is sixth in the country when it comes to field goal percentage inside the three-point line. It doesn’t take a lot of two-point shots, but when they do they go in.

Vanderbilt has scored at least 83 points in all but one of its games. It doesn’t play particularly quick – 44th in the nation when it comes to adjusted tempo, fast but not too fast – but when it gets the ball moving it takes shots with the best. The wins on its resume so far include UCF, VCU, Saint Mary’s, SMU, Memphis and Wake Forest.

Now, Vanderbilt has one more non-conference game before it moves into the SEC portion of the schedule, possibly the toughest conference in all of college basketball. Right now, it seems like the Commodores are the top jobber to Alabama to win the SEC.

Moving onto Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers are now 12-0 on the season and have won each of their first two Big Ten games, including an incredibly impressive road win over Illinois on Dec. 13. It doesn’t matter how the Illini are – going into Champaign and winning is one of the tougher things to do in all of college basketball.

Fred Hoiberg’s job had been in jeopardy for seemingly multiple years and it felt like he always did just enough to hang onto his gig. In his first four years in Lincoln he went 17-63 in Big Ten play. Most places, that will certainly get you canned.

Now, he has a squad full of guys who are having the best years of their career. Rienk Mast has returned after missing all of last season due to injury and has become one of the most important players in the Big Ten, to the tune of 17 PPG and nearly seven rebounds per game. Pryce Sandford at 16.3 PPG is not far behind him and has become an excellent option. Freshman Braden Frager is in double figures. Jamarques Lawrence has become an impact portal add. Sam Hoiberg and Berke Buyuktuncel are both playing their best basketball since they arrived in Lincoln.

The stars seem to be all aligning for the Cornhuskers. Multiple players having career years at the same time will do that. Dating back to last season Nebraska has the nation’s longest active win streak at 16 in a row and have wins over Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas State, Creighton, Wisconsin and the aforementioned Illinois during the 12-0 start.

One more non-conference game awaits them before resuming Big Ten play against Michigan State on Jan. 2.

Famously, Nebraska is the only power conference program in the country that has never won an NCAA tournament game. Does that have a chance at changing this year? It certainly has a lengthy path ahead of them but that path is getting shorter and shorter by the day.

Both of these teams have been big-time and unexpected storylines in college basketball. It will be very interesting and fun to see how the rest of their seasons play out.

By Aidan Joly

It is one of the stranger coincidences in college basketball – every season since the 2003-04 season, a team ranked in the top 12 in the week 6 AP poll has gone on to win the national championship.

On Monday, the all-important week 6 AP poll dropped. It went as follows:

• 1. Arizona
• 2. Michigan
• 3. Duke
• 4. Iowa State
• 5. UConn
• 6. Purdue
• 7. Houston
• 8. Gonzaga
• 9. Michigan State
• 10. BYU
• 11. Louisville
• 12. Alabama

History tells us that one of those 12 teams will win the national championship in April in Indianapolis. Now, a quick look at each team and how they can be the ones to cut down the nets.

Arizona

The Wildcats are off to an 8-0 start to the season, including wins over four ranked teams in Florida, UCLA, UConn and Auburn.

The key for the Wildcats is to continue to have the balance between youth and experience. Freshman Koa Peat is the team’s best player, to go along with a fellow freshman in double figures in Brayden Burries, but it also has plenty of experience Jaden Bradley, Anthony Dell’orso and Tobe Awaka.

Heading into the tournament the Wildcats will certainly be battle-tested after playing an 18-game Big 12 schedule. That will only help this team come March.

Michigan

A case can certainly be made that the Wolverines are the best team in the country.

Michigan has an absolutely explosive offense that has been unstoppable since Players Era, winning each game by at least 30 points, and then beating Rutgers by 41 in its conference opener last weekend. That’s not even talking about the defense either, which is the No. 1 KenPom defense in the country.

Yaxel Lendeborg has become one of the best players in the country and has a fantastic cast in Morez Johnson, Roddy Gayle, Trey McKenney and Aday Mara.

The Big Ten has not won a national championship since 2000. The Wolverines will have a great chance to be the ones to end that drought.

Duke

The Blue Devils are 10-0 on the season and have four wins against teams that were ranked at the time of the game: Kansas, Arkansas, Florida and Michigan State.

The key for Duke has been defense. It ranks No. 3 in the nation in KenPom in that category and is the top team in the country in terms of opponent effective field goal percentage. Point is, Duke doesn’t allow its opponents to take many good shots.

Freshman Cameron Boozer feels like not only the best freshman in the country but the best player in the country, while Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster have all had great games. The key for Duke will to get more strong performances from that cast of characters, and doing so consistently.

Iowa State

The Cyclones are another team that went 3-0 at Players Era and is coming off its most impressive win of the season, an 81-58 drubbing of then-No. 1 Purdue in a true road game.

It is top five in the country in both offense and defense, and No. 2 in the country in effective field goal percentage. Milan Momcilovic, Justin Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey and Killyan Traore all average more than 12 points per game.

Leaning into its experience is the way for the Cyclones to win the national title. Traore is a freshman, but the other three have all played a ton of college basketball, much of it in Ames in TJ Otzelberger’s system.

Much like Arizona, it will be battle-tested in the Big 12 and ready for a deep postseason run.

UConn

Last season, by UConn standards, was a down season.

The Huskies are back this year and are off to an 8-1 start to the season with wins over BYU, Illinois and Kansas, its only blemish coming from a home loss to Arizona.

Alex Karaban and Jaylin Stewart are the only guys still around from at least the 2024 national title team. The two of them take a back seat to guys like Tarris Reed and Silas DeMary, who have the largest roles on the team. Karaban is still in double figures though.

Dan Hurley knows how to build a championship-winning roster. He has done it twice now. All of the guys on this team know their role, from Reed and DeMary, to Solo Ball, to a role guy like Stewart. Playing into the roles and strengths of the roster will be the way for the Huskies to win a third title in four years.

Purdue

The Boilermakers were the No. 1 team in the AP poll up until last week until the aforementioned Iowa State had something to say about it.

Despite the loss, Purdue has the No. 1 KenPom offense in the country ran by Braden Smith, who has a strong argument for the best point guard in the country, and Trey Kaufmann-Renn, who is potentially the best No. 2 guy in the country. Fletcher Loyer and Oscar Cluff have also been very, very important.

The Boilermakers have the best point guard in the country. It is the most important position on the floor. Let him do what he needs to do, and he has a very real shot at guiding this team to a title.

Houston

The Cougars were a couple bounces away from winning a national championship last year and certainly have a great chance at finishing the climb to the top of the mountain this year.

Houston is 8-1 on the season, its only blemish coming against Tennessee during Players Era in a game where somebody had to lose.

Its offense does leave a little something to be desired and has likely taken a little bit of a step back as compared to last season. Still, Houston teams lean into its defenses and that is something the Cougars should continue to do, led by Milos Uzan, to win the title. Getting a little better on offense wouldn’t hurt though.

Gonzaga

The Zags are easily a top-10 team in the country this season following what would be considered a down year last year where it was an 8-seed in the tournament and ended its streak of going to the second weekend.

Which makes Michigan’s 40-point win over the Zags during Players Era that much more impressive. Gonzaga does have wins over Alabama and Kentucky, both on neutrals.

Gonzaga has the horses to make a deep run in March with the likes of Braden Huff, Graham Ike and Tyon-Grant Foster.

It doesn’t feel like the team that lost to Michigan is the real Gonzaga, but rather the team that beat Kentucky by 35. But, it will have to get rid of those stinker performances. Hopefully this was the only one.

Michigan State

Michigan State is 8-1 on the season, its only loss coming to Duke.

It feels like a similar story with the Spartans as it is with Houston, a very good defense and that overall this team would be even better if it improves its offense. National championship good.

Jaxon Kohler, Jeremiah Fears, Coen Carr and Carson Cooper all provide plenty of offense for Tom Izzo’s squad. It will come down to role guys such as Cam Ward and Kur Teng being more consistent. Teng is certainly capable as he had 15 against Kentucky in the Champions Classic.

BYU

The Cougars are down 21 at the half to Clemson at the half at Madison Square Garden as I type this, but perhaps this game is just a blip in the radar for the Cougars.

AJ Dybantsa came into this year as the top freshman recruit in the country for second-year coach Kevin Young. Richie Saunders and Robert Wright III are also pro-style players.

Young runs a pro-style offense at BYU. Sometimes teams are not familiar with it coming into games. If BYU can continue to lean into Young’s system and confuse teams with a pro-style offense, it can win a lot of games and make a deep run in March.

Louisville

How about this turnaround for the Cardinals? After being a laughingstock under Kenny Payne, second-year coach Pat Kelsey has turned the Cardinals into one of the top programs in the country again.

The Cardinals have one of the best offenses in the country led by the likes of Ryan Conwell, Mikel Brown Jr. and Isaac McKneely. The offense is good enough to win a national title.

The problem here is the defense. It let up 88 points to Kentucky, 81 to Ohio and 78 to Indiana. However, it won all of those games. Its one loss was 89-80 to Arkansas.

If you can shoot the lights out, fine. But a defense that lets up a lot of points, if you have a bad shooting night, it is the end of your season.

Alabama

The Tide are 7-2 on the season, with notable wins against St. John’s, Illinois and Clemson with losses to Purdue and Gonzaga.

It is another pro-style offense that Nate Oats runs at Alabama. That means speed and a lot of threes. Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway and Jalil Bethea have all been up to the task and have been great.

The defense has left a bit to be desired. It has to clean it up in that regard. Another key here will be simply finishing the job. Under Oats the Tide make deep tournament runs every year but have yet to win a title. They have the chance to do it this year.

By Aidan Joly

Michigan probably was not the team that many thought would win, much less dominate in the way it did, during the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas throughout the past week.

Dominate the Wolverines did.

Michigan won each of its three games by 30 or more points, two of them it won by 40, including in the championship game against a Gonzaga team that is a top-10 team in the country. On the way to that they beat San Diego State by 40 and Auburn by 30. That type of winning puts the Wolverines right at the of the conversation for who is the best team in the country.

Why is this?

The Wolverines have the No. 1 ranked KenPom defense in the country. They have the No. 3 defense in the nation when it comes to effective field goal percentage and they are the top team in defensive field goal percentage when it comes to shots inside the three-point arc. Quite simply, they don’t give up many two-point buckets.

When you look at the roster of this team, a strong argument was being made over the summer that the Wolverines landing Yaxel Lendeborg was the most important transfer addition of the off-season. That argument looks to be the right one as he has averaged 16 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as Michigan has gotten off to a 7-0 start. He is a guy who will be in the national player of the year conversation if he and the team keeps this up.

North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau has been better than expected. He dished out 13 assists in the win against Gonzaga. Morez Johnson has become an incredibly effective shooter to the tune of a field goal percentage of over 66%, he shot over 70% in Las Vegas.

Roddy Gayle has taken a major step in his second season with the Wolverines after transferring in from Ohio State in 2024. Trey McKenney has been very, very good right out of the gate as a freshman. Aday Mara has taken a step up to become a better player after transferring in from UCLA. Nimari Burnett was in double figures in all three games of the event. All in all, it creates an offense that is ranked No. 11 in KenPom as of Sunday night.

It is incredible what Dusty May has been able to do in just a short time with this program. Things were looking good in the first few years under former head coach Juwan Howard, but the program was something of a laughingstock two seasons ago when it went 8-24, resulting in Howard getting his pink slip.

Enter May, a Big Ten guy who everyone thought would be the heir apparent at Indiana, landing the job. Last year was an incredible year one, resulting in 27 wins, a Big Ten tournament title and a trip to the Sweet 16. This year, it looks like a contender to not just repeat as Big Ten champions, but win a national championship.

Certainly, there are arguments that can be made for a few other teams. Duke looks absolutely incredible and has the best player in the country in Cameron Boozer. Purdue is the No. 1 team in the country in the AP poll and has the top offense in the country. Arizona has wins in either neutral or road environments against Florida, UCLA and UConn.

All have great metrics, but when you look at it top to bottom, it makes sense to put Michigan at the top of the list.

A few other thoughts from the Players Era event…

Iowa State has upped its resume in a big way by going 3-0 in Vegas with wins against St. John’s, Creighton and Syracuse. At least two of those teams will have high seeds in the NCAA tournament and those wins could make or break if the Cyclones are seeded ahead of them or not.

Speaking of St. John’s, it might not be time to panic about the Red Storm quite yet but Rick Pitino’s squad going 1-2 in Vegas to drop t0 4-3 overall is a little bit concerning. The roster construction did leave a bit to be desired coming into the season and those flaws are showing.

Auburn’s only loss at Players Era came to Michigan but it grabbed wins against Oregon and St. John’s to go 2-1 in the event. The Tigers don’t seem to be missing much of a beat after a coaching change from Bruce to Steven Pearl just weeks before the season began.

By Aidan Joly

The Champions Classic doubleheader on Tuesday night followed by a Final Four-caliber twofer on Wednesday night highlighted the best back-to-back nights of hoops we have had so far this season.

When it comes to Tuesday night, Michigan State may have had the most impressive night. The Spartans kicked off the evening with a commanding 83-66 win over Kentucky in a game that didn’t even feel that close.

Michigan State outclassed Kentucky in every sense of the word. It shot better, rebounded better, played better defense and had better nights from its stars.

Jaxon Kohler was most impressive for MSU. He went for a game-high 20 points on 8-12 from the field and made both of his three-point attempts. Point guard Jeremy Fears dished out an incredible 13 assists in a clinic on passing.

On defense, it limited preseason SEC player of the year Otega Oweh to just 12 points on 4-12 from the field, giving him fits all night. It limited Denzel Aberdeen to 1-12 from the field. As a whole the Wildcats shot just 35% from the field and 23% from three, compared to the Spartans shooting an even 50% from the field as well as 50% from behind the arc. The Spartans won the rebounding battle 37-24.

The Spartans now have wins over two ranked SEC teams, Kentucky and Arkansas. It’s crazy to think of a Michigan State team as underrated, but that is certainly how it feels with this Spartans squad.

In the second game of the night, it was the Cameron Boozer show in a 78-66 Duke win against Kansas.

The freshman played like a player who was not in just his fifth game of college basketball, racking up 18 points and 10 rebounds, and dished out five assists.

The event is the type of event that can bring out the best and the worst in a player, especially so a freshman. If you remember one year ago, Cooper Flagg had 26 points in the Champions Classic against Kentucky, but had two critical turnovers in the final 12 seconds of the game as Duke lost. That’s not to say Flagg was not an incredible player for the Blue Devils last year – he was – but guys with little collegiate experience tend to struggle in those big moments. Boozer did not.

Moving on to Wednesday: Does Arizona deserve to be the No. 1 team in the country?

The Wildcats certainly looked the part in a 71-67 win in a true road game against UConn. It got key buckets when it needed to down the stretch and absolutely dominated on the glass, 39-19

Man oh man, does Koa Peat look like the real deal. The freshman scored 18 points on 7-14 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds. While he did struggle in Arizona’s game against UCLA on Nov. 14, he has been awesome when it has mattered most. In Arizona’s other notable game, the season opener against Florida, he had 30 points as the Wildcats knocked off the defending national champions.

He might be having the most impressive start of the season for a freshman anywhere in the country. He has looked the part and stood tall for all of Arizona’s games, practically willing them to a 5-0 start that has included wins over three ranked teams. Arizona will continue to play against ranked teams, playing Auburn on Dec. 6 and then on the road against Alabama on Dec. 13.

Can it be the No. 1 team in the country at some point this year? It surely has that chance.

As for the last game of the something of a quadruple-header: Alabama went to a quasi-road game in Chicago and wore down Illinois, ending with a 90-86 win.

It was an Alabama performance that we have come to expect from these Nate Oats coached teams. It used its pace and a barrage of threes to absolutely wear down and exhaust a team. The Illini did better than most in terms of keeping up but at the end of the day came up a couple buckets short. The Tide shot 45.5% from the field and made just over 36% of its threes, hitting 13 of them for the night.

Those threes were evenly distributed – Labaron Philon hit three of them as part of a 24-point night to lead the Tide. Taylor Bol Bowen, Aden Holloway and Amari Allen had two each as Allen had nine points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench. Bol Bowen had 12 points and Holloway had 11.

So far this season Alabama has the fourth-quickest offense in the country, second among high-major teams and has a top-10 offensive efficiency margin in the nation per KenPom. That comes after it had the fastest-paced offense in the entire country last season.

It was also a good bounce-back performance after dropping a game to Purdue six days before. The Tide do have a win against St. John’s.

Oats is another guy who is seriously challenging his team in the non-conference. Alabama will start on Monday in the Players Era Invitational, kicking it off against Gonzaga, then seeing UNLV on Tuesday before a third TBD opponent to finish off the event. As previously mentioned, Alabama vs. Arizona is on Dec. 13.

It will certainly be a team that is battle-tested heading into SEC play.

By Aidan Joly

The 2025-26 college basketball season will see more than 60 first-year head coaches across the country as the numbers of head coach vacancies seem to rise every year.

Does this have to do with athletic directors being impatient? Not exactly. It certainly seems like boosters have more say about what happens with programs and they get impatient.

Also, with the rise of the portal, coaches are more likely to head to new destinations quicker.

That all being said, here are eight coaches in the power conferences who could be coaching for their jobs this upcoming season.

Hubert Davis, North Carolina

This is the most obvious one on the list.

In four seasons in Chapel Hill after taking over for Roy Williams, Davis has made a national championship game, went to a Sweet 16 and made the tournament three times. Not to mention a regular season title in 2023-24.

Most programs in the ACC would take that, but this is North Carolina. The expectation is that the Tar Heels are a national contender every season. The Tar Heels have not been that consistently.

What would it take for Davis to go? He’s under contract through 2030, but his buyout isn’t exorbitant. It may take missing the NCAA tournament, or an early March exit for Davis to get his walking papers.

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State

It feels like Hurley is the king of the hot seat.

Arizona State has gone under .500 in four of the last five seasons, but Hurley has managed to stick around through all of that. Things bottomed out for a 4-16 season in the Big 12 this past season.

Hurley is entering the final season of his contract, in a rare move to let a guy coach into the last year of a deal. It signifies that if there is another rough season in Tempe, ASU can part ways with Hurley and be off the hook for a buyout.

Adrian Autry, Syracuse

Another guy who took over for a legend.

Autry’s two seasons at Syracuse have brought mediocrity and zero NCAA tournament appearances. The Orange took a step back and finished 14-19 (7-13 ACC) last season. Jim Boeheim never lost that many games in a season.

The talent has been there for Autry, but the results on the court have not. This is probably Autry’s best roster since he took over in 2023. If he misses the NCAA tournament again, the calls for him to get axed could get much louder.

Jake Diebler, Ohio State

Diebler was a surprise pick to get the full-time job after he took over on an interim basis when OSU fired Chris Holtmann mid-season in February 2024.

The Buckeyes missed the tournament in his first full season in 2024-25 and were mediocre throughout the season. Ohio State has not been to the tournament since 2022.

We’ve seen in the past that interim coaches who get the full-time gig often have a short leash. Texas moved on from Rodney Terry after just two full-time seasons after he took over for Chris Beard. If OSU misses the tournament, Diebler could see the same fate.

Earl Grant, Boston College

It is so, so hard to win at Boston College. The resources are not up to par with the rest of the ACC and its very much the third sport at the school behind football and hockey.

Grant gradually improved BC’s win total through his first three seasons, delivering a 20-win season and a NIT appearance in 2024, but the team fell off a cliff to 4-16 in the ACC last season.

Grant will need to show some improvement in his fifth season in Chestnut Hill. However, the question is always if Boston College and its boosters will care enough to make a move.

Mike Young, Virginia Tech

Young is entering year seven at Virginia Tech and has only made the NCAA tournament twice. The Hokies went 13-19 last season.

This year’s edition of Virginia Tech should be a little better thanks to some money being injected into the program that has allowed the Hokies to get some talented players.

Young is entering the second to last year of his contract. Complicating matters in Blacksburg is that the athletic department must conduct a football coaching search this fall and early winter. They may not want to do two major searches in that short of a timespan.

If Young can improve the Hokies, they probably won’t have to do it.

Wes Miller, Cincinnati

Miller was a hot young name in coaching a handful of years ago with his success at the mid-major level and was even thrown around for North Carolina a few years ago.

However, his time at Cincinnati has been underwhelming. After a promising start he now enters year five without a NCAA tournament appearance. Last season was most disappointing after a 10-1 start, but ended up going 7-13 in the Big 12.

There has been some additional investment into the program last spring, so the talent on paper is there to go to the tournament. If the Bearcats miss, it could be it for Miller.

Matt McMahon, LSU

In three seasons in Baton Rouge, McMahon has gone 14-40 in the SEC. That is simply not good enough.

The program has improved NIL dollars so there is some level of talent on this team. Still, significant improvement will need to be made for McMahon to get a fifth season.

One saving grace, though, is that LSU is on the hook for nearly $30 million on a buyout for recently fired football coach Brian Kelly. In a similar situation to Virginia Tech, LSU may not want to conduct two major coaching searches within months of each other.

Other names to monitor

Johnny Dawkins, UCF: Every season there are rumors that UCF will move on from Dawkins, but he has managed to hold on. UCF has not been to the tournament since 2019 and have gone 14-24 in two seasons in the Big 12.

Jeff Capel, Pitt: The Panthers had a rough season in 2024-25 and have only gone to the tournament once in Capel’s seven years at the helm. The roster probably isn’t good enough to be a tournament team this year. However, Capel has a large buyout and is under contract through 2030.

Steve Forbes, Wake Forest: Forbes dug Wake Forest from the depths of the bottom of the ACC during the Danny Manning era, but now is the time to start winning. It feels like Wake Forest is on the wrong side of the bubble every year. He has yet to make a tournament in five tries.

Kim English, Providence: It’s probably a year early to start talking about English, but he is 33-34 (16-24 Big East) in two seasons at Providence. He’s had some bad luck with injuries. Providence has a good enough roster to finish top five in the Big East. If they do that and make the tournament, English is safe.

Jerome Tang, Kansas State: Another guy where it is probably a year early to discuss. Tang burst onto the scene with a 26-10 year in his first season in 2022-23, but the Wildcats have been underwhelming in the two seasons since despite uber-talented rosters. If K-State has another down year, we might be talking about Tang this time next year.

Thad Matta, Butler: Matta’s return to where he had his first head coaching job has not gotten the program back on track. The Bulldogs have finished in the bottom half of the Big East in each of the past three seasons. Butler has a good recruiting class, but that group could take a couple years. This could be more of a situation where Matta retires.

By Aidan Joly

Experience, experience, experience.

That is the name of the game in this year’s version of the Atlantic 10.

Most of the teams in the league are full of players that have plenty of college basketball under their belt. That will create for a brand of basketball that will be fun and intriguing to watch all season.

Let’s get into each of the 14 teams that will vie for the conference title.

VCU Rams

2024-25: 28-7 (15-3 A10), lost in NCAA first round

Phil Martelli Jr. is the new coach of the Rams after former coach Ryan Odom moved on to Virginia. Martelli Jr. led Bryant to the NCAA tournament last season.

This nearly entirely new roster will have several players on it with high-major experience. That charge is led by Jadrian Tracey, who had 6.9 PPG with Oregon last season, and Tyrell Ward, who did not play last season but averaged 9.1 PPG with LSU two seasons ago. Ahmad Nowell had limited playing time at UConn, as did Jordann Dumont at Villanova.

Barry Evans, who had 13.3 PPG at Bryant last season, follows the new coach to VCU. As does Keyshawn Mitchell, who had 7.9 PPG last year.

Big man Christian Fermin, who had 4.6 PPG last season, is the lone notable holdover from last season.

Martelli’s teams always play fast. It will be about quickly coming to work with that and players adjusting to that. We will see how the Rams do off the bat.

George Mason Patriots

2024-25: 27-9 (15-3 A10), lost in NIT second round

George Mason had a breakout season in 2024-25 under second-year coach Tony Skinn, and appears to be using the same formula of experience in a revamped roster this season.

It’ll be mostly newcomers, but productive ones. Kory Mincy had 15 PPG at Presbyterian and joins the team. Masai Troutman (13.5 PPG at Northeastern), Dola Adebayo (13.2 PPG at Mount St. Mary’s) and Nick Ellington (9.9 PPG at Murray State) all should have large roles. Jermahri Hill had 15.8 PPG at Ball State and should also be a contributor.

Jahari Long (Maryland) and Malik Presley (Vanderbilt) come in with high-major experience. The only big-name returner is Brayden O’Connor, who had 9.1 PPG for the Patriots.

George Mason may not be as good as it was last year, but there is certainly a high floor. Expect the Patriots to be competitive night in and night out.

Dayton Flyers

2024-25: 23-11 (14-6 A10), lost in NIT second round

After a solid 2024-25 season for Dayton, it’s a nice mix of new guys and returners.

It’ll be a tough hill to climb to replace the likes of Nate Santos, Enoch Cheeks, Malachi Smith and Zed Key, but the top guys that come back are Javon Bennett (11.6 PPG) and Amael L’Etang (7.1 PPG). Both should be in the starting lineup.

As for new guys the top options here are De’Shayne Montgomery, who had 6.5 PPG on a Georgia team that went to the NCAA tournament, and Jordan Derkack, who had 5.7 PPG at Rutgers. Keonte Jones takes a step up in competition after he averaged 13.1 PPG at Cal State Northridge. Adam Nije Jr. had 12.4 PPG at Iona.

Malcolm Thomas is a former Villanova recruit who still has not played any college basketball. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of run he gets.

Overall, Dayton always feels like a team that surpasses expectations. This year the Flyers should once again be towards the top of the league.

Loyola Chicago Ramblers

2024-25: 25-12 (12-6 A10), lost in NIT semifinals

Coach Drew Valentine did a nice job of keeping a good core of talent around after the Ramblers got deep into the NIT last spring.

Miles Rubin (9.6 PPG), Justin Moore (7.7 PPG) and Kymany Houinsou (5.8 PPG) are all back for a team that ended up winning 25 games.

As for new guys, Deywilk Tavarez could end up being the best option after he averaged 12.9 PPG at Charleston last season. Dominick Harris, who had limited playing time at UCLA, should also be right in the mix. Joshua Ola-Joseph (Cal), Xavier Amos (Wisconsin) and Kayde Dotson (New Mexico) all had varying levels of productivity and should all see minutes.

Alexander Richardson is a freshmen who has professional experience overseas.

This is a team that will be solid on both ends of the floor and has a strong mix of players who can do different things. Loyola Chicago should find itself towards the top of the league. RIP Sister Jean.

Saint Louis Billkens

2024-25: 19-15 (11-7 A10), lost in NIT first round

After a solid year one at Saint Louis after jumping up from Indiana State, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the Billikens’ chances this season.

Of course, big man Robbie Avila is back for another year. He was the team’s best player last season, averaging 17.3 PPG and nearly seven rebounds per contest. He could wind up being the best player in the league this season. Kalu Anya is another solid returner and will probably be the first guy off the bench.

As for new guys, Quentin Jones is the best one of the crop after he averaged 16.6 PPG at Northern Illinois this past season. Paul Otieno had 13 PPG at Quinnipiac. Trey Green (Xavier) and Paul Dunlap (St. John’s) both come in with solid high-major experience in the Big East. Ishan Sharma (Virginia) and Dion Brown (Boston College) each had small roles on ACC squads.

There is a nice infusion of returning talent and star potential for the new guys on this team. It could end up being the squad to beat in the Atlantic 10.

Saint Joseph’s Hawks

2024-25: 22-13 (11-7 A10), lost in NIT first round

The Hawks underwent a coaching change very late in the cycle as Billy Lange left for an NBA assistant job. The keys are now turned over to Steve Donahue, the former Cornell, Boston College and Penn coach.

It’s a talented roster that features mostly returners, but adds in a nice small group of new guys too.

Derek Simpson (8.7 PPG), Anthony Finkley (7.1 PPG), Dasear Haskins (5.7 PPG) and Justice Ajogbor (4.7 PPG) are all back and will likely make up 80% of the starting lineup. The last spot should likely go to Deuce Jones II, who averaged over 12 PPG at crosstown rival La Salle last season.

In terms of other new guys, Jaiden Glover-Toscano played limited minutes at St. John’s but should see a nice role at a lower level. Jaden Smith should see some minutes after limited playing time at Fordham, and Al Amadou is a former Marquette recruit who is on St. Joe’s roster this year.

If things work out, this is a St. Joe’s team that will have a shot at finishing top five in the league. It had success with a similar group of guys last season. That would be considered a great season following a late coaching change.

George Washington Revolutionaries

2024-25: 21-13 (9-9 A10), lost in Crown first round

George Washington had its winningest season in a decade last year and should take another step this year.

The Revolutionaries return three guys who averaged in double figures and another guy who came pretty close. That group is led by Rafael Castro, who averaged 14 PPG last season while tacking on almost nine rebounds per game. To round it out, Garrett Johnson had 13.4 PPG, Trey Autry had 10.4 PPG, and Christian Jones had 8.7 PPG. Role guy Trey Moss is also back.

Tre Dinkins comes over to GW after being Duquesne’s best player last season and will be one of the go-to guys. It also brought in Jean Aranguren from Hofstra, Bubu Benjamin from Tarleton State and Tyrone Marshall from Western Kentucky, all of whom were in double figures.

There is good reason to be high on Chris Caputo’s team heading into this year. A top-three finish in the league certainly feels possible. The program has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2014. Can that drought end?

St. Bonaventure Bonnies

2024-25: 22-12 (9-9 A10), lost in NIT first round

The St. Bonaventure program has been a model of consistency over the years. A 14-1 start last season raised eyebrows, but the team went 8-11 the rest of the way and was never a real threat to win the league.

Dasonte Bowen is the main returner on this roster but he was limited to just 10 games last season due to injury. However, during that time he was in double figures at 11.1 PPG.

Joe Grahovac, who has never played Division I basketball, is the guy to watch here. He was an absolute star in junior college and his game translates well to the Division I level. He could end up being the team’s best player.

As for other transfers, Darryl Simmons II averaged 17.4 PPG at Gardner-Webb last season and Amar’e Marshall had 14 PPG at Albany. Frank Mitchell had limited minutes at Minnesota last season but was fourth in the nation in rebounds at Canisius two seasons ago. He can be a huge difference maker in the middle. Daniel Egbuniwe was in double figures at Tennessee Tech and joins this squad.

Two international freshmen, Achille Lonati and Ilia Ermakov, should have key roles off the bench for the Bonas.

Overall, it could be another middle of the pack finish for this team. However, it regularly exceeds expectations, and if things fall into place they certainly could do better than that.

Duquesne Dukes

2024-25: 13-19 (8-10 A10), no postseason

It was an interesting first season at the helm for Dru Joyce. He oversaw a team that started 0-6, won four of its first five conference games, endured a five-game losing streak in league play and finished just under .500 overall in A10 play.

The Dukes return five important players from last year’s squad in Jake DiMichele (10.9 PPG), Cam Crawford (8.6 PPG), Maximus Edwards (8.3 PPG), Jakub Necas (6.0 PPG) and David Dixon (5.7 PPG). All will be important.

As for new guys Joyce brings in Tarence Guinyard, who had 16.3 PPG at UT Martin, and Jimmie Williams, who had 7.5 PPG at South Florida. John Hugley IV had a small role at Xavier last season and could see a larger one this year.

Alex Williams from Furman and Stef Van Bussel from Charleston each did not play last season.

Overall, Duquesne probably should have won a few more games last year but the bounces didn’t go their way quite a few times. If the fortunes flip in their favor, the Dukes can certainly win a few more games than last year.

Rhode Island Rams

2024-25: 18-13 (7-11 A10), no postseason

Rhode Island began the season 9-0 and 11-1 heading into league play, but certainly didn’t do as well in the conference portion of the season.

This year’s roster is mostly new for coach Archie Miller, but it’s one to have some level of excitement about. The Rams feature four players who scored in double figures at their last stops, including Myles Corey (South Alabama), Tyler Cochran (Toledo), RJ Johnson (Charleston Southern) and Alex Crawford (Fresno State).

As for guys who weren’t in double figures, Mo Sow had 8.9 PPG at Saint Peter’s, Jonah Hinton had 8.4 PPG at conference rival St. Bonaventure, Jahmere Tripp had 7.9 PPG at Fordham and Keeyan Itejere had 7.3 PPG at Northern Kentucky.

The only semi-important returner is Drissa Traore, who played limited minutes last season and should have a larger role.

Rhode Island fans didn’t need to wait to see the best version of last year’s team, but might need to this year as this group gels. There should need to be some level of progress as the season goes on, and in comparison to years past.

Davidson Wildcats

2024-25: 17-16 (6-12 A10), no postseason

There’s some real buzz around the program right now to Steph Curry’s quasi-GM role with the program, but the results will need to happen on the court.

Josh Scovens (15.2 PPG at Army), Sam Brown (13.9 PPG at Penn) and Parker Freidrichson, who had a limited role at Wake Forest, will probably the guys to carry a large amount of the offense and shooting. JQ Roberts, who had a small role at Vanderbilt, should be asked to have a role too.

As for the returners, Roberts Blums and Sean Logan should have larger roles after being simple role guys as freshmen. Hunter Adam and Manie Jones are also back. Seven-foot Spanish freshman Ian Platteeuw should see some meaningful minutes from the jump.

Entering the fourth year of his tenure, Matt McKillop has yet to go .500 or better in league play. There’s some buy low pieces on the roster, but it could be an uphill climb to get to .500. The pressure is mounting for McKillop to show improvement to get close to what his father consistently did at Davidson.

Richmond Spiders

2024-25: 10-22 (5-13 A10), no postseason

After a down season last year, this year’s edition of Chris Mooney’s team will feature a decent mix of old and new guys.

Two mainstays in guard Mikkel Tyne, who had 9.3 PPG, and big man Mike Walz (7.4 PPG), are back for another season. Both will need to see improvements in order to move the needle. Key reserves Apostolos Roumoglou, Collin Tanner and Jonathan Beagle are all back too.

Three new guys were in double figures last season at their last schools: Will Johnston from Loyola Marymount, AJ Lopez from Maine and Jaden Daughtry from Indiana State. Daughtry is probably the most impressive as he averaged 12.9 PPG in less than 20 minutes with the Sycamores.

After a down season last year, the Spiders should have a better team this year. Just how much better will they be?

La Salle Explorers

2024-25: 14-19 (5-13 A10), no postseason

It is an incredibly deep roster for new coach Darris Nichols, who takes over for Fran Dunphy retired after more than three decades as a head coach in Philadelphia college basketball, the final three years of which were at La Salle.

Nichols brings two of his players from Radford with him, Truth Harris and Josiah Harris. Justin Archer also played for him at Radford before spending last season at Georgia State.

Four additional players, Jaeden Marshall from Niagara, Jerome Brewer Jr. from East Carolina, Noah Collier from William and Mary and Josue Grullon from Tennessee Martin, all were in double figures last season. Jaden Johnson had 8.6 PPG at Old Dominion and is also new.

Eric Acker, who played limited minutes last year, is the only notable returner. Nichols also brought in JUCO import Edwin Daniel, who will probably see a lot of minutes.

This is a very, very deep roster that will probably be 10 or 11 deep each night. It will have to be a gritty roster in order to win consistently in this league.

Fordham Rams

2024-25: 12-21 (3-15 A10), no postseason

Mike Magpayo, an up-and-coming name in coaching circles, is the new coach at Fordham after spending the past five seasons at UC Riverside.

He has a near entirely new team at Fordham and picked up a lot of productive guys. Of those, the ones to like the most are Christian Henry, who had 14.7 PPG at Eastern Michigan, Dejour Reaves, who had 17.3 PPG at Iona, and Zarique Nutter, who had 14.2 PPG at Georgia State. Magpayo also brings in Demetri Gardner, who was top 15 in the nation in scoring at Division II Augusta with 23.2 PPG.

He also brings in Louis Lesmond from Harvard and Hawaii teammates Marcus Green and Akira Jacobs. Jace Howard comes in from Michigan. Two role guys from UC Riverside, Jack Whitbourn and Rikus Schulte, follow Magpayo.

This roster is both deep and experienced. Magpayo and his staff need to figure out how everyone fits. The wins might not be there as much as Fordham fans would like, but the Rams should be difficult to play night in and night out.

By Aidan Joly

After its strongest season ever in the 2023-24 season the Mountain West followed it up with another strong performance in 2024-25, sending four seasons to the NCAA tournament.

The league is becoming consistently the best non-Power 5 league in the country, and now has a new addition in Grand Canyon that has been one of the best mid-major programs in the country in recent years. Let’s get into each of the 12 teams that will make up the league this season.

New Mexico Lobos

2024-25: 27-8 (17-3 Mountain West), lost in NCAA second round

After another strong season that resulted in the Lobos winning a game in the NCAA tournament, the program is doing a complete reset.

New coach Eric Olen, who came from UC San Diego, brings in an entirely new roster. The biggest losses are Donovan Dent and Tru Washington.

Olen brought Chris Howell (5.6 PPG) and Milos Vicentic (3 PPG) with him from UC San Diego, and both should have some solid roles. He also added Kevin Patton, who had 3.1 PPG at USC, Deyton Albury, who had 7.6 PPG at Utah State, Tajavis Miller, who had 10.6 PPG at North Dakota State, and JT Rock, who played at Iowa State.

JUCO All-American Antonio Chol also comes in. There are four freshmen, two of them international in Tomislav Buljan and Timeo Pons.

The Lobos could take a step back, which is to be expected after losing that much talent. But it still has a shot at being very competitive in this league.

Grand Canyon Antelopes

2024-25: 26-8 (13-3 WAC), lost in NCAA first round

One of the premier mid-major programs in the country the past few seasons makes it up to the premier mid-major league in the country.

Grand Canyon has made it to the NCAA tournament four of the past five years under coach Bryce Drew.

This year, the Antelopes have a shot at going again. The roster will hinge largely on transfers, most notably Dusty Stromer, who had 4.3 PPG at Gonzaga, Jaden Henley, who had 12.5 PPG at UNLV and Wilhelm Breidenbach, who had 4.5 PPG at Washington. In addition, Nana Owusu-Anane had 14.7 PPG at Brown, Brian Moore Jr. had 18.1 PPG at Norfolk State and Kaleb Smith had 11 PPG at Norfolk State.

As for returners, the most notable are Makaih Williams, who had 8.2 PPG, and Caleb Shaw, who had 6.1 PPG.

Overall, the Antelopes should be able to challenge. There might be some growing pains as it adjusts to the depth of the league, but should be right up at the top soon.

Colorado State Rams

2024-25: 26-10 (16-4 Mountain West), lost in NCAA second round

The Rams were a buzzer-beater away from going to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament last March and will be back for more.

The new coach in Fort Collins is Ali Farokhmanesh, of Northern Iowa vs. Kansas fame, as Niko Medved moves onto Minnesota.

He was the top assistant there. Big man Rashaan Mbemba returns, along with Kyle Jorgenson and Nikola Djapa, but that’s about it.

New in Fort Collins is Josh Pascarelli, who had 15.9 PPG at Marist, Augustinas Kiudulas, who had 15.2 PPG at VMI, and Brandon Rechsteiner, who had 7 PPG at Virginia Tech. Jevin Muniz was in double figures at Florida Gulf Coast, and Jase Butler (Washington) and Carey Booth (Illinois) could have roles as they come in from high-majors.

The talent is here to be able to make a lot of noise in this league. Will they be able to do it?

Utah State Aggies

2024-25: 26-8 (15-5 Mountain West), lost in NCAA first round

The Aggies nearly lost both their head coach in Jerrod Calhoun and star player in Mason Falslev, but the program keeps both around with money being injected into the program.

It’s a nice group of returners for year two under Calhoun. Falslev averaged 15 PPG. Also back is Karson Templin, who averaged 7.4 PPG, Drake Allen, who had 7 PPG, and Tucker Anderson, who had 5.8 PPG.

The best portal add here is MJ Collins, who had 7.4 PPG on a Vanderbilt team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Garry Clark had 14.9 PPG at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and was one of the best rebounders on his team. Kolby King (Butler) and Zach Keller (Utah) should have crucial roles.

Overall, this is a deep team. Behind San Diego State, the Aggies will likely be the second best team in this league.

San Diego State Aztecs

2024-25: 21-10 (14-6 Mountain West), lost in NCAA First Four

After squeaking into the NCAA tournament as one of the last teams in, San Diego State can not only be the best team in this league, but the best non-Power 5 team in the country.

The Aztecs return Miles Byrd, who was an all-conference pick last year after he averaged 12.3 PPG. He has a shot at being the league player of the year. It also brings back Magoon Gwath, the league’s defensive player of the year last season while also chipping in 8.5 PPG on the other side of the floor. Reese Waters is also back after he missed all of last season but had 9.6 PPG in 2023-24. BJ Davis had 9 PPG last year.

The adds here are Sean Newman Jr., who had 9.9 PPG at Louisiana Tech, Latrell Davis (11.1 PPG at San Jose State) and Jeremiah Oden, who had 7.6 PPG at Charlotte. Top-75 prospect Elzie Harrington should have an immediate role.

Shooting will be an issue, but this is a deep, experience-laden team. It should be the one to beat in the Mountain West.

Boise State Broncos

2024-25: 26-11 (14-6 Mountain West), lost in Crown semifinals

Boise State is always a tough out in the Mountain West and this year will be no different.

It’s a nice mix of new guys and returners for coach Leon Rice. Tyson Degenhart does move on, but the Broncos bring back Andrew Meadow, who had 12.6 PPG last season, Javan Buchanan, who had 9.6 PPG, and Pearson Carmichael, who had 6.9 PPG. Role guys Julian Bowie and RJ Keene also return.

A pair of nice transfers come in in the form of Drew Fielder, who had 7.1 PPG at Georgetown, and Dylan Andrews, who had 6.9 PPG at UCLA. Four-star Spencer Ahrens and international prospect Aginaldo Neto have a chance at contributing as freshmen.

Overall, it’s a nice mix of players that is certainly good enough to keep Boise in the NCAA tournament conversation.

UNLV Rebels

2024-25: 18-15 (11-9 Mountain West), no postseason

Former Memphis and Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner is the new head man in Vegas after the program moved on from Kevin Kruger after four mediocre seasons.

It’s a near entirely roster in Pastner’s first season. Some of the top additions here are Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (5.9 PPG at Illinois), Al Green (10.2 PPG at Louisiana Tech) and Kimani Hamilton (13.1 PPG at High Point). In addition, Myles Che (UC San Diego) and Howie Fleming Jr. (UTRGV) each averaged in double figures.

Ladji Dembele (Iowa), Naas Cunningham (Alabama) and Emmanuel Stephen (Alabama) each have high-major experience and could be valuable.

The ceiling is high here if this group is able to gel, especially in conference season. UNLV has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2013.

Nevada Wolf Pack

2024-25: 17-16 (8-12 Mountain West), no postseason

After a disappointing season in 2024-25, the Wolf Pack will have a much different look this season.

The only notable returner is Tyler Rolison, who had 7.4 PPG and should start.

As for new guys, Fresno State transfer Elijah Price (10.5 PPG) is probably the top guy here. They also added Tayshawn Comer, who had 16.2 PPG at Evansville, Corey Camper, Jr., who had 10.5 PPG at UTEP and Joel Armotrading, who had 5.8 PPG at UC Riverside. Vaughn Weems was one of the most productive players in the country at the JUCO level and has a shot at seeing impact minutes.

It’s a decent rotation of players that will likely end up being in the middle of the pack in the Mountain West. The Wolf Pack will be a tough out.

San Jose State Spartans

2024-25: 15-20 (7-13 Mountain West), lost in NIT first round

It’s always tough sledding in the league for this program due to a lack of resources.

Coach Tim Miles doesn’t return much. The most productive player back is Sadraque NgaNga, who had 6.8 PPG. Jermaine Washington had 4.4 PPG and is also back.

It will rely heavily on the new guys. Colby Garland had 12.1 PPG at Longwood and JaVaughn Hannah had 12 PPG at Western Michigan. Yaphet Moundi had 9.8 PPG at Iona, and Marcus Overstreet had 6.2 PPG at Mercer. Adrian Myers played very limited minutes at Mississippi State two seasons ago.

Miles is a good coach and will develop this group. However, the ceiling can only be so high when there’s no go-to guy.

Wyoming Cowboys

2024-25: 12-20 (5-15 Mountain West), no postseason

Things did not go well in year one under coach Sundance Wicks, but granted he did not have much to work with.

The Cowboys lost star player Obi Agbim to Baylor. They do bring back Matija Belic (5.6 PPG) and Abou Magassa (3.2 PPG), but other than that it will be transfers.

Leading that charge will be Leland Walker, who had 9.2 PPG at Florida Atlantic, and Khaden Bennett, who had 10.3 PPG at Quinnipiac. Damarion Dennis had 6.7 PPG at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and Jared Harris had limited time at Memphis.

Wyoming will also rely on non-Division I transfers Adam Harakow (11.8 PPG at D2 Lake Superior State), Uriyah Rojas (25.5 PPG at CCCAA Chaffey College) and Kiani Saxon (7.2 PPG at D2 Missouri Western).

This team shouldn’t be expected to be competing at the top of the league, but should be better than last season.

Fresno State Bulldogs

2024-25: 6-26 (2-18 Mountain West), no postseason

This is a roster that is in rough shape. It had its first single digit win season in more than three decades and lost 12 players to the portal.

It will be nearly all transfers for second-year coach Vance Walberg. Jake Heidbreder is the best addition here. He averaged 4.1 PPG at Clemson this season but averaged over 15 PPG at Air Force two seasons ago. Cameron Faas had 9.7 PPG at Kansas City last season. Jac Mani comes in from UC Davis.

The Bulldogs do return Zaon Collins, who had over 12 PPG last year, but has a controversial past, including serving time in jail for a reckless driving conviction.

There are several international freshmen, including three from France: Bastien Reiber, Wilson Jacques and Nathan Zulemie.

Overall, Walberg has another tough season ahead of him. The talent just isn’t really there.

Air Force Falcons

2024-25: 4-28 (1-19 Mountain West), no postseason

It’s very, very tough to win at a service academy, but the wheels just totally fell off for Air Force in 2024-25. It managed just one win in league play and four overall.

Three of the top five scorers from last year return, that being Wesley Celichowski (8.7 PPG), Kyle Marshall (6.9 PPG) and Caleb Walker (6.5 PPG).

Being a service academy, it cannot add players from the portal. So, the improvement will have to come internally. It has nine freshmen on the roster. There is still a big mountain to climb in order to be competitive in the league.