By Aidan Joly
As of Thursday, there are nine undefeated teams remaining in college basketball. They range from some of the top teams in the nation, such as Tennessee, Oregon and Florida, some mid-major surprises, such as Rhode Island, and one of the top small teams on the west coast in UC Irvine.
What has been going right for each of these teams? But, when is the next time each will lose? After all, the sport hasn’t seen an undefeated regular season team since Gonzaga in 2020-21, and the most recent in a non-COVID season was Kentucky nearly a decade ago in 2014-15.
Let’s get into it.
Tennessee
The Volunteers are 8-0 on Thursday and are currently ranked No. 3 in the country behind Kansas and Auburn.
However, with both of those teams taking losses on Wednesday night, the Vols are in prime position to be the No. 1 team in the country for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier has quickly blossomed to be one of the most important players in the nation, leading the team with 18.8 points per game and has showed no signs of being intimidated by the jump from the Atlantic Sun to the SEC. Igor Milicic Jr. has been great as well, while point guard Zakai Ziegler is one of the most sure-handed ball-handlers in the country.
The most impressive win was a 15-point win over Baylor on Nov. 22, and it also has wins over Louisville, Virginia and Syracuse. Its next game is against Miami on Dec. 10.
Predicting its first loss, let’s go with Dec. 14, when the Vols will travel to Champagne to face Illinois. But if they are able to win that one, you are realistically looking into SEC play before the Vols take a loss.
Oregon
Oregon was not ranked last week, but has jumped all the way up to the No. 12 spot in the country after winning the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, capping it off with a last-second win against Alabama on Saturday night.
The Ducks are 9-0 on the season. They have the aforementioned Alabama win, but also have wins over Texas A&M, San Diego State and opened Big Ten play with a win against USC on Wednesday night.
Oregon has five players: Nate Bittle, TJ Bamba, Jackson Shelstad, Keeshawn Barthelemy and Brandon Angel, averaging at least 9.9 points per game. However, nobody averages more than 13.6 per game. Bittle has been a fantastic big man, while Bamba has been one of the more underrated portal additions after coming to Oregon from Villanova.
Oregon will go on the road to face UCLA on Sunday. However, I am going to go with a game against Illinois again, who the Ducks will host on Jan. 2. It has a chance to get a ton of wins. It does not play at Purdue nor Indiana.
Florida
Coming into the season, many saw the Gators as a sleeper Final Four team.
So far, the Gators look the part. This squad is off to a 9-0 start and ranks No. 13 in the country this week. It has a win against in-state rival Florida State, as well as wins over Wake Forest, Wichita State and Virginia.
Todd Golden’s team has one of the best offenses in the country. It ranks fourth in the country in KenPom offensive efficiency and is 16th in the nation with 86.6 points per game as a team.
Walter Clayton has had a very good season for the Gators, averaging 18.4 points per game, while Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin has 15.2 points per game. It makes for a terrific one-two punch that will be one of the best in the SEC moving forward.
Looking at the schedule, a neutral site game against North Carolina in Charlotte on Dec. 17 stands out as a first potential loss. If the Gators are able to get past that, you are looking at a road game against Kentucky on Jan. 4 as the potential first loss of the year.
Oklahoma
Porter Moser’s team has gotten off to an 8-0 start. It has done it on a consistent offense that ranks No. 43 in the country in KenPom, and a solid defense that ranks No. 41 in the country.
The Sooners won the Battle 4 Atlantis the week of Thanksgiving, beating Providence, Arizona and Louisville to get there. The win against Arizona is the most impressive of that trio. It also has a home win against Georgia Tech. Other than that, it has played four buy games against teams outside of the KenPom top 250 (three of them outside the top 330).
Jalon Moore has led this team with 18.0 PPG, while Jeremiah Fears has 17.0 PPG. Kobe Elvis and Duke Miles have also been solid scoring options.
The Sooners play a neutral site game against in-state rival Oklahoma State on Saturday, but the next game, a neutral site game against Michigan on Dec. 18, feels like it will be the first loss of the year.
Utah State
It has been a great start to Jerrod Calhoun’s first season with Utah State. The Aggies are 8-0 on the year, a mark that includes wins against Iowa, St. Bonaventure and North Texas, albeit all on a neutral floor.
The program has produced great head coaches. Craig Smith, Ryan Odom and Danny Sprinkle have all gotten new jobs following three seasons or less of coaching in Logan.
For Calhoun, who came from Youngstown State, it has been a solid offense that ranks 47th in the country, as well as being one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. Karson Templin leads that charge with 6.4 rebounds per game.
On offense, it is led by Ian Martinez, who averages 19.1 points per game, while Mason Falslev averages 17.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
It plays three games over the next two weeks, but a true road game against Saint Mary’s on Dec. 22 looms. I’m predicting that as the first loss for the Aggies.
UC Irvine
How about Russell Turner’s Anteaters squad, which is off to an 8-0 start and is a top-60 team in KenPom on Thursday.
It has yet to play a top-100 team in KenPom, but its most impressive wins are a road win against Northern Iowa and a neutral site win against Kent State. It also has a win against Kennesaw State.
UC Irvine does it with defense. The Anteaters rank seventh in the country in that category, while limiting opponents to just a 42.1% effective field goal percentage, which ranks 11th in the nation. It also limits offensive rebounds to second in the nation.
Bent Leuchten and Devin Tillis are two of the best defenders in the country and both are the keys on offense. Leuchten leads the team with 15.4 points per game, while Tillis has 15.0 PPG.
A tough game against Oregon State on Saturday looms. This is a team that will win a ton of games in the Big West, and don’t be surprised to see UC Irvine making real noise in March.
Loyola Chicago
Loyola Chicago is 7-0 this season, but it really has not played anyone. The Ramblers have only played one game away from home, but that was a nice true road game win against Princeton on Nov. 15. The Tigers are one of the best mid-majors in the country and that went down as a Quad 2 win.
Drew Valentine’s team is better on defense (61st) than it is on offense (100th). Miles Rubin is a good defender, and Francis Nwaokorie is a good player in the frontcourt in limited minutes.
On offense, Jayden Dawson has been solid with 13.7 points per game, while Des Watson has 11.9 PPG.
It plays one more tough non-conference game, facing San Francisco on a neutral floor on Sunday. If it does win that, you are looking at its conference opener on Jan. 4 against VCU.
Drake
Things have gone very well in Ben McCollum’s first season at the helm. The Bulldogs are off to a 7-0 start.
It impressed by winning the Charleston Classic before Thanksgiving, beating Miami, Florida Atlantic (a game that I attended) and Vanderbilt on the way there.
It is a very good rebounding team, and a team that has several pieces that can do damage. Bennett Stirtz (17.7 PPG), Daniel Abreu (15.1 PPG), Mitch Mascari (14.1 PPG) and Cam Manyawu (9.3 PPG) are all good players. This is a team chalk-full of veteran players that know their roles and it shows. It is very well-coached.
It has a couple easy games coming up, but then plays Kansas State in what is technically a neutral site game – the game is in Kansas City – on Dec. 17. Drake will certainly have a shot to win that game, but I’m predicting that for the first loss.
Drake and Bradley will be the top dogs in the Missouri Valley this year. It will be fun to watch.
Rhode Island
A second team from the Atlantic 10, Rhode Island is in a similar position that Loyola Chicago is in in that it has not really played anyone. Its best win is a home win against Yale, a good team, but not a team ranked in the KenPom top 100.
Archie Miller, in his second season with the Rams, has a team that plays quick and does a good job of pushing the pace. On offense it is led by David Green, who is averaging 17.1 points per game. Sebastian Thomas has 16.4 points per game and also dishes out 7.7 assists per night.
It has a really interesting chance coming up as it hosts Providence on Saturday in the annual rivalry matchup. I’ll predict that as the first loss. Providence got Bryce Hopkins back this week and looked much better in a win against BYU on Tuesday.
If not, the Rams can go on a little run. A tough game comes on the road against Loyola Chicago on Jan. 15. Before that, it sees Temple on a neutral floor on Dec. 21.
AJ Hoops 