Author: Aidan Joly

By Aidan Joly

We are officially in the back half of Feast Week. The Maui Invitational wraps up early Thursday morning and the Battle 4 Atlantis began on Wednesday. The Fort Myers Tip-Off came to a close on Wednesday night.

Here are some thoughts on things that have happened throughout the week so far.

Auburn arrives as national title contender

Auburn won the Maui Invitational for the first time in program history, winning games against Iowa State, North Carolina and Memphis en route to doing so.

By winning Maui, the Tigers have solidified themselves as a true national title contender. The opening game against Iowa State was a two-point win, but neither of the other two games were ever truly in doubt. The 90-76 win against Memphis in the title game wasn’t even that close.

Johni Broome officially arrived as possibly the best player in the country. He averaged 21.6 points and 15 rebounds across the three games, the best performance we have seen in Maui in a long time. In Auburn’s 7-0 start, he is averaging 20.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per contest.

On top of that, Chad Baker-Mazara and Dylan Cardwell have proven themselves as great sidekicks, while other role guys such as Miles Kelly, Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford have proven themselves.

This is a team that can win a national title. Period.

Memphis’ very solid week

Despite losing in the Maui title game, Memphis raised a lot of eyebrows this week. It out-lasted UConn in an overtime game on Monday, beating the two-time defending national champions 99-97 before beating Michigan State 71-63 on Tuesday.

This feels like a team that a lot of us underestimated coming into the season, especially so after coach Penny Hardaway replaced his entire staff in September.

On the court, the backcourt of PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter has quickly become one of the best guard combinations in the country. Colby Rogers has been better than expected, and Dain Dainja has been very productive as a forward for Memphis.

Memphis, who is now 6-1, should enter the AP rankings on Monday. It will certainly deserve it.

UConn’s tough stretch

Staying in Maui, UConn has yet to play its third game there as of writing, but figures to win the seventh-place game considering it plays the weakest team in the tournament in Dayton.

However, it’s a stunner that the Huskies are there in the first place. It lost to Memphis and Colorado by a combined three points on Monday and Tuesday. It is the first time UConn has lost back-to-back non-conference games since late 2017, when Kevin Ollie was still the head coach and the program was in the American Athletic.

Dan Hurley has gotten some negative attention in the past few days due to his sideline antics, something that earned him a technical foul during the overtime period in the Memphis game.

Foul troubles haunted the Huskies in both games and they have paid the price for it. Solo Ball, Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed fouled out against Memphis, while Liam McNeeley and Aidan Mahaney had four. Johnson and Reed fouled out again against Colorado.

The Huskies need to clean it up against Dayton. It’s a get-right game for sure.

Kansas wins while losing Dickinson

Elsewhere, Kansas picked up a gritty win, beating Duke 75-72 in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

It played the final 10:26 of the game without its best player in Hunter Dickinson, who was ejected from the game on a Flagrant 2 for kicking Maliq Brown in the face while the two were tied up on the floor.

The Jayhawks had several different players combine to replace his production. Dajuan Harris, Zeke Mayo, Rylen Griffen and Flory Bidunga all came up with big baskets in the final moments of the game. Griffen stole the ball from Duke’s Kon Knueppel in the final seconds to secure the victory. Knueppel missed a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.

Duke threw Cooper Flagg into the fire late again, and Kansas flustered him all game. He turned the ball over four times but did finish with 13 points on 5-9 from the field.

The Jayhawks should remain No. 1 in the nation on Monday.

Signature win for West Virginia

West Virginia and first year coach Darian DeVries picked up an early signature win on Wednesday, beating Gonzaga 86-78 in overtime in its first game in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Wednesday’s win was the biggest win for the program in a long time and definitely the biggest in the post-Bob Huggins era.

Javon Small was the best player on the floor in the game, scoring 31 points on 9-18 from the field while making a trio of three-pointers. Amani Hansberry and Tucker DeVries both played great for the Mountaineers as well.

West Virginia will have plenty of chances to grab great wins in Big 12 play, but getting one as big as this in non-conference play certainly does not hurt.

Arizona bounces back after a few losses

Arizona went into its first game in the Battle 4 Atlantis coming off back-to-back losses to Wisconsin and Duke, and especially did not look great in the loss to Duke in Tucson.

The Wildcats did it in a big way on Wednesday night with a 104-71 beatdown of Davidson. Granted, Davidson is easily the weakest team in the tournament, but Arizona took care of business the exact way it needed to and looked great doing it.

After not scoring in just four minutes against Duke, Anthony Dell’Orso was great for Arizona, scoring a game-high 21 points in 18 minutes on 8-11 shooting, and did it all while coming off the bench. Caleb Love had 20 points on 7-13 from the field after only scoring 14 combined points in the two losses and going a combined 5-26 from the field. He bounced back well.

Arizona will play Oklahoma on Thursday in the semifinals, another great chance for it to pick up a win against a quality team. The Sooners are undefeated and beat Providence in the first round.

Indiana gets blown out, Mike Woodson’s seat gets warmer

Staying in the Bahamas, Indiana got the doors blown off by Louisville in the first game of the day 89-61.

I personally missed this game while doing Thanksgiving travel but by all accounts it was as bad as the stats show. The Hoosiers shot just 33.3% for the game and from what social media says, looked wildly uninterested throughout the day.

I had praised Indiana after its 3-0 start and a win over South Carolina on Nov. 16, but the Hoosiers came crashing down on Wednesday. It will lead to more speculation about the job status of coach Mike Woodson, who was already on somewhat thin ice coming into the season.

We will see how it does the rest of the week, with less than two weeks until the first game of Big Ten play.

By Aidan Joly

The second day of the Charleston Classic is in the books. It featured 10 hours of action, with lots to think about at the end of the day.

Here are my eight takeaways from the eight teams from Friday’s games.

Drake as a case study

Drake won for the second straight day on Friday with a 75-63 win against Florida Atlantic in the first game of the day that doubled as a semifinal game.

The Bulldogs are an interesting case study when it comes to Division II talent moving up to the Division I level. Four of the Bulldogs’ five starters – Isaiah Jackson, Bennett Stirtz, Mitch Mascari and Daniel Abreu – followed first-year coach Ben McCollum from Division II Northwest Missouri State in the off-season.

It is those guys who are the main contributors to the team. Stirtz (19.3 PPG), Abreu (17.8 PPG) and Mascari (11.8 PPG) are the top three scorers on this team as Drake gets off to a 5-0 start. In the win on Friday Abreu was limited to only five points, but Mascari led the game with 22 and Stirtz had 17. Jackson had nine points and 10 rebounds.

The aforementioned 5-0 start now includes wins against FAU and Miami. It’s a small sample size so far, but it goes to show that talent is talent and can translate to all levels.

Florida Atlantic is too fast for their own good

On the losing end of the first game of the day was FAU. There are definitely some things to like about this team. I was impressed with Matas Vokietaitis, who finished with 10 points on 5-7 from the field. It’s a guy who knows his role and does it well. The seven-footer was the largest player on the floor by far and the Owls played well when he was on the floor.

However, the guard play leaves something to be desired. The team almost plays too fast for its own good. Many plays looked discombobulated and the Owls turned the ball over 15 times. It’s surprising result due to the Owls ranking 20th in the nation in tempo and 14th in average possession length in KenPom.

It shot 5-16 from three, which is not bad, but not great.

FAU is now 4-3 on the season, but has some things to work on.

Oklahoma State has talent, needs to complete games

Oklahoma State beat Miami in the second game of the day 80-74. This was a game that Oklahoma State led by 16 at the half and looked like it could run away, but let Miami get back into the game in the second half and make it semi-interesting down the stretch.

It’s safe to say the Cowboys didn’t play a full 40 minutes in the game. Miami scored 31 points in the last 10 minutes of the game. If it did, this probably would have been a double digit win.

Steve Lutz’s team has some interesting pieces who have talent on paper. Bryce Thompson had 17 points in the win and Marchelus Avery had 15 off the bench. It also has pieces with plenty of experience, including Devo Davis, Abou Ousmane and Khalil Brantley.

It remains to be seen how it will compete in a stacked Big 12, but it has pieces to be competitive.

Concerns with Miami

Sure, Miami turned it around in the second half, but spent most of its game on Thursday against Drake and the first half of Friday’s game looking tired and uninterested.

It recovered nicely in the second half, but it dug itself too big of a hole. Miami is now staring down the barrel of 0-3 in this tournament, which would drop the Hurricanes to 3-3 overall. It plays VCU on Sunday.

The offensive statistics look good due to its first three games against Fairleigh Dickinson, Binghamton and Coppin State, but has only played one good half in four halves of basketball against more talented teams. It is certainly concerning.

Tyler Nickel may have found a home at Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt’s Tyler Nickel may have had the best performance of the entire day, finishing with 24 points on 8-16 from the field that included 6-13 from three as the Commodores blew out Seton Hall 76-6o in the other semifinal game.

Nickel began his career at North Carolina and played sparingly as a freshman and was not much more of a role player at Virginia Tech last year. Now, he has scored in the double digits four times in Vanderbilt’s six games and Friday’s 24 matched a career high.

Has he found a home where he can be a guy? Seems like it so far.

By the way, how about Mark Byington, who has Vanderbilt to 6-0 and will play in the title game on Sunday. The Commodores have wins against Seton Hall, Nevada and California in the 6-0 start. It is the first time Vandy has had that record since the 2007-08 season. Byington has a real chance to get this program back on track.

Seton Hall can’t win on physicality alone

It has been a tough start to the season for Seton Hall, who is now 3-3 after Friday’s loss. Before the tournament, it took losses to Hofstra and Fordham.

Much has been made about the physicality of this team, but it can’t win on its physicality alone.

The offense is not good. It has only scored 60+ points twice in six games this season, its season high being 69 in Thursday’s overtime win against VCU. It was gifted five points in the first half on Friday on an early technical foul committed by Vanderbilt’s Jaylen Carry, and three more on a mind-boggling foul committed by Vandy’s AJ Hoggard 65 feet away from the basket as the first half buzzer sounded. The offense ranks 278th in the country per KenPom.

Vanderbilt did a good job of matching the physicality and scored 76 points on a very good Pirate defense.

Seton Hall needs to find something on offense. Is it going to Isaiah Coleman? He had 20 points on 8-15 from the field. Nonetheless, the offense needs to get going.

Nevada has clutch shooters

The best game of the day ended up being saved for last, with Kobe Sanders banging in a three with five seconds left to give Nevada a 64-61 win against VCU in the nightcap.

It was a game of resolve for the Wolf Pack. VCU took the lead with 10:34 remaining in the first half and Nevada did not lead again until seven minutes left in the game, trailing by as many as 15 in the early parts of the second half.

Multiple guys on Nevada came up with big shots, including Sanders, Tre Coleman, who hit a three to tie the game with 54 seconds left, and Xavier DuSell, who ended up becoming a key cog in the win after early foul trouble. Nick Davidson had 11 points in the second half after just two in the first.

A big key was taking care of the ball. Nevada turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and then only once in the second half, a massive improvement.

This is a team that could have given up. It did not and it got a win for its efforts.

VCU’s defense was stifling, but faltered at the end

It is undeniable that VCU has one of the best defenses in the country. It ranked eighth in the country coming into the game and despite the loss only dropped to 12th.

It’s been two gut-wrenching losses for VCU in this tournament so far. It led most of the way against Seton Hall on Thursday before losing in overtime, and now it blew a 15-point lead and lost in the final seconds.

The defense stifled Nevada in the first half. The Wolf Pack scored just 23 points in the first half and really struggled, but things definitely changed in the second half.

VCU, who now probably needs to win the Atlantic 10 to make the NCAA tournament, will try to salvage a seventh-place finish in Charleston against Miami on Sunday.

By Aidan Joly

We are just over two weeks into the college basketball season and teams have played a few games and we are learning about who some of these teams are.

On Monday, I went through each of the power leagues (plus a couple more notables) to find who was the biggest riser in KenPom in each league.

Eight teams have jumped significantly since the start of the season. What has gone right for each of these teams that has contributed to their rise?

SEC: Kentucky

Start of season: 43

Now: 22

We didn’t really know what to make of the Wildcats heading into the season. It was a new head coach in Mark Pope who brought in an entirely new roster. Talent was there on paper, but we weren’t sure how it would translate on the court.

So far, it has gone swimmingly. The Wildcats are 3-0 (and beating Lipscomb as this is written). Kentucky scored 100+ points in each of its buy games, and passed its first notable game with a comeback 77-72 win against Duke in the Champions Classic.

It has been a quick, efficient offense, which has been the recipe for success so far this year. San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler has been a fantastic facilitator for the Wildcats, even when he is not the main scoring guard.

That is going to Otega Oweh and Koby Brea, who are both averaging 15.3 points per game right now.

Depth has also been key, with 10 guys playing consistent minutes every night.

Big 12: Utah

Start of season: 82

Now: 54

The Utes have had a fast rise. It is 3-1 on the season, albeit it has lost its only game against a power conference opponent at a neutral site against Mississippi State.

Utah has been one of the smartest shooting teams in the country, ranking 13th in the nation in KenPom effective field goal percentage. As a result, it is currently averaging 91.8 points per game, making it a top-20 team in the nation in that category.

Gabe Madsen leads this squad, averaging 21.3 points per game and shoots 48.3% from the field, a mark that includes 40% from three. Mason Madsen is shooting an absurd 55.2% from three as well. San Francisco transfer Mike Sharavjamts is shooting 44.4% from three.

A Craig Smith team will always play smart, and this Utah team does. The Utes should continue to take a step up as the year goes on.

Big Ten: Penn State

Start of season: 61

Now: 32

The Nittany Lions seem to be ready to take a step up in year two under Mike Rhoades.

Penn State is 4-0 on the young season and played very well in its first game against a power conference opponent, beating Virginia Tech 86-64 on a neutral floor last Friday.

It’s a similar recipe for success as Utah. Penn State takes smart shots, plays quick, and makes those shots. It is the third-fastest team in the country with an average possession length of 14.6 seconds, and is a top-25 team in the country in effective field goal percentage. On defense, it is one of the best teams in the nation at forcing turnovers.

Zach Hicks is great and leads the team with 15.5 points per game, but Ace Baldwin remains one of the best pass-first guards in the country and is one of 17 players in the country who averaging seven or more assists per game.

The Big Ten is a very deep league, one of the deepest in the country, but Penn State should be very competitive.

Big East: DePaul

Start of season: 163

Now: 112

How about the Blue Demons? DePaul was the worst power conference team in the nation last year, finishing 3-29 and failing to win a Big East game.

Under new head coach Chris Holtmann, DePaul has already surpassed its win total from last season. It got a little interesting in its first game of the season when Southern Indiana took them to overtime, but the Blue Demons have played better since then. Its best win so far is an 84-58 win against Duquesne, a program that was in the NCAA tournament last season.

A common theme developing, DePaul takes effective shots. It ranks 17th in the nation in effective field goal percentage. It has also defended the three-point line with the best in the nation. It only lets up 23.7% of three-point attempts, good for 12th in the country.

On an entirely new team of transfers, UIC transfer Isaiah Rivera and Coastal Carolina transfer Jacob Meyer have been the best of the group.

It will still be tough sledding for DePaul in the Big East. It still lags far behind many teams in the league. But it won’t be remotely close to the struggles of last season.

ACC: Stanford

Start of season: 99

Now: 66

Pitt is a team that has moved up 21 spots from the beginning of the season and is making themselves the third good team in the ACC, but Stanford has moved up more.

In the program’s first season in the ACC the Cardinal have yet to play a high-major opponent, but have played well in a 4-0 start. It has only played one opponent (UC Davis) that is ranked in the top 250 in KenPom.

Kyle Smith’s team does a very good job at slowing teams down and it has been effective so far. It has not allowed more than 65 points in any of their four games so far.

Maxime Raynaud is the best player on this team, averaging 21.3 points per game on 49.2% shooting, while Jaylen Blakes averages 15.0 PPG.

In what is a down ACC that doesn’t have a ton of true contending teams, if the Cardinal continue to play this way they will end up doing better than many expected.

Mountain West: Nevada

Start of season: 73

Now: 39

The Wolf Pack are 4-0 and have a high-major win against Washington, plus a win against a WCC team in Santa Clara.

Nevada has scored 85+ points in three of its four games so far this season, including in the Santa Clara win.

Nevada is also a great shooting team. It is second in the nation in three-point percentage, making 48.6% of its attempts from beyond the arc. Nick Davidson has been absurd so far this season and has made nine of his 11 attempts from three. If you’re keeping track at home, that is an 81.5% clip. He leads the team with 18.0 PPG.

Meanwhile, Kobe Sanders is averaging 16.8 PPG and has made six of his 10 attempts so far. Xavier DuSell takes the most on this team and still makes them at a 45.5% clip.

Nevada ranks 16th in the nation in effective field goal percentage.

Overall, this is a team that has showed some serious chops so far. It can certainly compete in a very good Mountain West.

Atlantic 10: La Salle

Start of season: 169

Now: 119

The Explorers have enjoyed not only the largest jump in the Atlantic 10, but its 50 spots represents one of the largest jumps in the country since the beginning of the season.

La Salle is 4-0 on the season, including nice wins against Ivy League power Cornell and crosstown rival Drexel.

Overall, Fran Dunphy’s team hasn’t really done anything truly special and there’s nothing eye-popping on its KenPom report card. It has just been able to take care of business when some other Atlantic 10 teams have struggled to do so.

Rider transfer Corey McKeithan has been a revelation, leading the team with 18.0 PPG. Jahlil White, who came over from another Philadelphia team in Temple, has 14.0 PPG.

It still ranks in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic 10, but for a team that hasn’t played .500 ball in the league since 2016-17 and has not gone above .500 since 2012-13, that’s a welcome improvement.

American: Tulane

Start of season: 191

Now: 159

Tulane is 3-1 and does not have a win against a top-325 KenPom team, and lost to Furman, but the Green Wave have not done anything poorly.

It is a top-40 three-point shooting team in the nation behind the likes of junior Kaleb Banks, freshman Mari Jordan and sophomore Rowan Brumbaugh, who are making them at clips of 57.9%, 53.8% and 43.5% respectively. All are averaging more than 10.5 points per game, led by Banks’ 16.0 PPG.

It also defends from inside the arc well, allowing only 37.8% of attempts from inside the arc going in. That is good for eighth in the nation. It is also 24th in the country in opponent effective field goal percentage.

Ron Hunter has a reputation as a good “bad job” coach. Tulane fits that bill, having not made the tournament since 1995. He has had two seasons of at least 10 league wins in the last three years. Tulane will certainly hope he can get back to success.

By Aidan Joly

What felt like the first big wire-to-wire weekend of college basketball is in the books as we wrap up the second week of the season.

The weekend was highlighted by some great wins from a pair of Big Ten teams and other squads maybe beginning to separate themselves from some others.

Let’s get into what happened over the weekend.

Trey Kaufman-Renn’s arrival highlights Purdue’s win against Alabama

We had wondered a little bit about who would be the go-to guy at Purdue following Zach Edey’s depature.

Wonder no longer.

It was sophomore Trey Kaufman-Renn, who averaged 6.5 points per game last season for the Boilermakers, filling up the stat sheet. He scored 26 points on 12-23 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds as Purdue took down No. 2 Alabama at Mackey Arena 87-78.

Kaufman-Renn was the best player on the floor for all 40 minutes, making himself seen on every play he was on the court. The other guys who needed to step up this year did just that, with Fletcher Loyer scoring 17 points on 5-9 from the field (3-5 from three) and Braden Smith scoring 17 points and dishing out 10 assists. C.J. Cox had 11 off the bench.

Kaufman-Renn has scored at least 14 points in each of Purdue’s first four games of the season. If he is the go-to guy and he continues to put up performances like that, the Boilermakers will be just fine. The Boilermakers moved up seven spots into No. 6 in the nation on Monday.

Wisconsin’s signature win

Wisconsin picked up an absolutely massive early-season win, beating No. 9 Arizona 103-88 in Madison Friday night.

The Badgers had a points output that it has not had in decades. It was just the third time in the KenPom era (since 1996-97) that Wisconsin scored 100 or more points and the first time it was against a power conference opponent (it scored 105 in the season opener last year against Arkansas State and 101 against Savannah State on Dec. 13, 2018).

John Tonje put up maybe the best performance of the night anywhere in the country, scoring 41 points in the win. John Blackwell had 14 and Max Klesmit had 13.

It’s rare that what we consider a signature win happens this early in the year, but that is certainly what it seems like it will be for Wisconsin. The Badgers moved into the top 25 for the first time this year on Monday, debuting at No. 19.

Pittsburgh has case for ACC’s third team

Pittsburgh put on a dominant performance on Friday night, clobbering West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl 86-62.

Damian Dunn was the best player on the floor for the Panthers, finishing the night with 23 points on 7-12 from the field. Ishmael Leggett had 15 points, Cameron Corhen had 14 and Guillermo Diaz Graham had 10.

Pitt is off to a 4-0 start to the season and all of those wins have come by at least 15 points. West Virginia was the first real opponent it faced (Radford, Murray State, Gardner-Webb), but the performances have been impressive nonetheless.

In the ACC we have been kind of looking for that third team to separate themselves from the rest of the league outside of Duke and North Carolina. Clemson and Miami remain the other two top candidates, but it certainly looks like Pitt could be the pick here.

Concerns about Wake Forest

Things were looking up for Wake Forest at the start of the year. It just missed the NCAA tournament last year, but had lots of talent on the roster this year.

The Demon Deacons have not looked great so far this season. It struggled mightily in a 75-60 loss to Xavier on Saturday.

That is the second straight game in which Wake did not play well. It had to sweat out a five-point win against USC Upstate on Wednesday, but that did come after a nice win against Michigan last weekend.

Its offense has not been anything special. Thankfully, it still can reside in the middle of the pack in the ACC, although that may not be good enough to feel safe about being in the NCAA tournament.

Indiana looks to be better than expected

Many were concerned about Indiana heading into the season, with a bad campaign possibly marking the end of Mike Woodson’s run in Bloomington.

So far the Hoosiers have probably performed better than expected, most recently in a convincing 87-71 win against South Carolina on Saturday to get off to a 3-0 start.

Myles Rice was great in the win, scoring 23 points on 7-10 from the field, while Mackenzie Mgbako had 17 points, Malik Reneau had 13 points and Kanaan Carlyle had 12.

There is a lot of talent on the roster on Indiana, on paper. So far it has gelled well and the Hoosiers have improved their position on KenPom 10 spots since the beginning of the season. It stayed at No. 16 in the country in this week’s rankings.

Rick wins the Pitino vs. Pitino battle

Dad won the family affair on Sunday, with Rick Pitino’s St. John’s beating Richard Pitino’s New Mexico 85-71 at Madison Square Garden.

The Johnnies survived their first real test of the season, with all five starters finishing in double figures, led by 21 points on 8-18 shooting and 11 rebounds from RJ Luis Jr. Deivon Smith had 15 points on 7-13 from the field.

And it came with a nice laugh at the end, with some St. John’s fans serenating the younger Pitino with chants of “who’s your daddy?”

Rick Pitino has now won three of the four matchups against his son.

A new star at Saint Mary’s

Saint Mary’s is off to a 4-0 start to the season following a 77-74 neutral site win against Nebraska on Sunday.

A big part of the hot start? Paulius Murauskus, who scored 16 points in the win. He has scored at least 14 points in all of the Gaels’ four wins this season, with a high of 23 in an 86-74 win against Chattanooga.

Saint Mary’s now has four players – Murauskus, Mikey Lewis, Augustus Marciulionis and Luke Barrett – averaging at least 12 points per game through the first four. Murauskus is the leader of that group with 17.5 per game.

It will be interesting to see how he does the rest of the year, but he looks to be owning the part so far.

By Aidan Joly

It is not every year that the first weekend of the college basketball season gives us three games that were of the quality of the second weekend of the tournament, but that’s what happened.

Games between Kansas and North Carolina, Baylor and Arkansas, and Auburn and Houston all were thrillers that featured some of the best the sport has to offer.

On Friday night, Kansas led by as many as 20 points early in the first half but was able to hold on after squandering it, beating North Carolina 92-89 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Much was made going into the game about how the Tar Heels would defend Jayhawk big man Hunter Dickinson. In turn, a similar conversation was had about how the Jayhawks would defend the Tar Heel backcourt of Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis, which is possibly the best in the country.

In the end it was Dickinson who won out. He finished with 20 points on 7-15 from the field, including a key layup with 1:15 to go that gave Kansas the lead for good.

Cadeau ended up getting the final shot for the Tar Heels, with the Jayhawk defense keeping the ball out of Davis’ hands, and Cadeau missed a shot to potentially send the game into overtime.

The two went a combined 6-26 from the field, which included 1-10 from three. Kansas defended the pair well.

Kansas did a lot to alleviate concerns from last season about its depth, something that plagued the team down the stretch when injuries happened. Kansas had seven players score and five of them in double figures, and neither of those numbers include David Coit, who did not score in 19 minutes. That likely won’t happen to Coit many times during the year. Zeke Mayo actually led Kansas with 21, while AJ Storr had 13 and Flory Bidunga had eight points and eight rebounds.

The Jayhawks looked the part of the number one team in the country, and that is where it stays for the week. It sees Michigan State in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night. UNC will play its next notable games in Maui during Thanksgiving week. A strong performance is to be expected.

Switching to the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, it was all about Baylor bouncing back nicely from a blowout loss against Gonzaga on Monday night, beating Arkansas 72-67 in Dallas.

It certainly felt like the Gonzaga game was more about the Zags winning and not Baylor losing and the Bears were still very capable. They were, with Jayden Nunn’s 16 points and Norchad Omier’s 15 and 12 on 7-10 from the field, Jeremy Roach had a solid 13 and VJ Edgecombe had a solid game after struggling in his debut, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists. This is a team that will need multiple great players to be one of the best teams in the Big 12, and showed it. It looks like it has four.

Arkansas’ Adou Thiero was the best player on the floor though, finishing with 24 points on 10-15 from the field. He picked up the slack from Johnell Davis and Zvonimir Ivisic, who shot a combined 2-12 from the field and both looked lost during the game. That is a tad concerning for a team that needs Davis’ scoring and Ivisic’s interior presence in order to do the things it wants to do. Ivisic in particular seemed far away from being able to compete night in and night out.

Baylor will consider it a good bounce-back win after the brutal loss in the season opener. They will play two notable games at the Baha Mar, starting with St. John’s on Nov. 21 and then either Tennessee or Virginia the next day. Arkansas has four buy games to get right before playing Illinois on Thanksgiving Day.

Saturday’s nightcap was arguably the best of the three. Houston and Auburn gave a game maybe worthy of Final Four quality, with Auburn beating Houston 74-69 in what was a semi-home game for Houston.

The story of the game was the coming out party for freshman Tahaad Pettiford, who had 21 points on 7-12 from the field, including five three-pointers, willing his way to a Tiger victory. He played like a senior in his second collegiate game, and did it after not even scoring in 19 minutes in the team’s first game against Vermont (a game Auburn scored 94 points in). Johni Broome had 20 points and nine rebounds.

Houston has had a top-10 KenPom defensive rating in each of the past four seasons and currently ranks No. 1 in defense, even after this game. A freshman being able to do that kind of damage against Kelvin Sampson’s defense is wildly impressive. It would be tough for Pettiford to have that type of impact every night, but Auburn could be even more of an SEC threat if he is great.

The win also came after the team had to ground its flight on the way to the game on Friday night after it was reported that two players got into a fight shortly after takeoff.

Houston will be a good team as long as the defense holds up, which even with the loss there’s no indication to say it won’t. It will play meaningful games next in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas the week of Thanksgiving.

The takeaway here with Auburn is that the size and perimeter shooting will make it tough for anybody to beat this team. And if it has repeat performances from Pettiford, that’s a weapon that many didn’t expect them to have.

Auburn, like North Carolina, is also headed to Maui. It will play its first game against Iowa State on Nov. 25.

To me, calling games, especially early in the season, NCAA tournament or second weekend level games is a little bit of a cliché, but these three games it was true. All six of these teams should be making deep runs in March, and could be seeing each other again.

By Aidan Joly

The preseason talk is over, the season is underway.

The 2024-25 season for college basketball officially got underway on Monday night, with lots to talk about the next day.

Here are nine of my takeaways from the first night of the season.

Gonzaga’s beatdown of Baylor

No. 6 Gonzaga fired on all cylinders on opening night, beating No. 8 Baylor in a 101-63 drubbing in Spokane.

The Zags led the game by 19 at halftime thanks to great three-point shooting. Gonzaga had five players in double figures, led by 17 from Nolan Hickman and 15 from Graham Ike.

Off the bench Gonzaga got huge lifts from two sophomores in Braden Huff, who had 14 points in 16 minutes on 7-11 from the field, and Dusty Stromer, who scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting, including 3-5 from three. If the Zags can get sophomore leaps from even one of those players, they will be even more dangerous that originally thought.

On the other side of the ball, it limited Jeremy Roach to nine points on 2-9 from the field, and highly touted freshman VJ Edgecombe had just four points on 2-11 from the field in his collegiate debut.

According to ESPN stats and info, the 38-point win was the largest margin of victory in a season-opening game between top-10 opponents.

Ohio State may be better than we thought

Ohio State picked off No. 19 Texas with an 80-72 win in Las Vegas.

It was a wire-to-wire win, and an impressive one at that. Bruce Thornton was great for the Buckeyes, finishing with 20 points on 7-10 from the field and made three from behind the arc, while Micah Parrish had 17 points. OSU also got lifts off the bench from Devin Royal, who had 16 points in 24 minutes, and John Mobley Jr., who had 14 points in 13 minutes.

You would have liked to see more from South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson, who had just six points on 2-11 from the field, but he is far too talented to have many more games like that.

There was some skepticism around Ohio State heading into the year and how well they would do after taking the interim tag off of Jake Diebler before last season even ended. But if they keep playing like this, it can compete in the Big Ten.

On the other side, shoutout to Tre Johnson, who had 29 points in a terrific college debut.

Memphis gets important win

It’s rare that you say that a season-opening win is an important one, but that’s how it felt for Memphis, who beat Missouri 83-75.

With all of the noise surrounding the program heading into the season and Penny Hardaway’s job status, it must have felt like a big weight off the shoulders for now to play well and win a game. It’ll probably end up being a Quad 2 win.

Tulsa transfer PJ Haggerty had 25 points in the win and played very well. Tyrese Hunter had to shake off the cobwebs a bit, but still finished with 14.

Now, Memphis needs to keep the momentum from this going and avoid a stretch of a bunch of losses in a short period of time. Monday was a good start.

Will Riley is the real deal

Illinois freshman Will Riley was amazing in his college debut, scoring a team-high 31 points on 10-13 shooting, made five three-pointers and grabbed seven rebounds in a 112-67 win against Eastern Illinois.

Oh yeah, and he did it in just 25 minutes off the bench.

The freshman totally stuffed the stat sheet and seemed like a guy who can be a star for the Illini all season. Out of all the top prospects making their debuts last night, he had the best one.

Cooper Flagg strong in debut, Kon Knueppel even better

Speaking of debuts, how about the one for the number one prospect in the sport? Cooper Flagg was strong in his debut for Duke, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds in a 96-62 win against Maine. He went just 6-15 from the field, so there were some growing pains during the night, but that is acceptable for a debut.

However, it was fellow freshman Kon Knueppel who really stole the show, finishing with 22 points on 8-14 from the field and became the Blue Devils’ number one option on offense.

This is a loaded Duke team with lots of scoring options. Monday night showed that Flagg doesn’t always have to be the top option if he isn’t having this great shooting night. Jon Scheyer’s team has a ton of options.

Other strong debuts

Some other freshmen had strong nights in wins.

Maryland freshman Derik Queen, the No. 8 prospect in the ESPN top 100, had 22 points and an astounding 20 rebounds in the Terrapins’ 79-49 win against Manhattan. The seven-footer could be Maryland’s best freshman in a very long time.

Georgia’s Asa Newell, the No. 13 prospect, had 26 points and 11 rebounds in the Bulldogs’ 83-78 win against Tennessee Tech. Georgia doesn’t have a ton of talent around him, so he may have to be the main guy from the get-go.

Finally, Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman, the No. 6 prospect, had a solid night with 10 points in 11 rebounds as the Orange struggled but snuck away with an 86-82 win against Le Moyne.

UCF stuns Texas A&M

What’s opening night without a big upset? UCF stunned No. 13 Texas A&M in Orlando, beating the Aggies 64-61.

Darius Johnson had 24 points in the win, while UTSA transfer Jordan Ivy-Curry had 16 points and made a key free throw late. JJ Taylor was important in the final few minutes as well.

UCF struggled last season in its first year in the Big 12, going 7-11 and finishing 12th in the league. If the Knights can take a step in year two in the new league, it can be a team that raises some eyebrows as the year goes on.

Florida is loaded offensively

Staying in the state, No. 21 Florida scored 98 points in a win against South Florida in a neutral site game in Jacksonville.

The Gators showed that they are loaded on offense. Walter Clayton Jr. had 29 points on 10-15 from the field, Will Richard had 25 points on 10-17 shooting, Alijah Martin had 13 points in his debut with the Gators, and Alex Condon added 13 of his own.

Florida entered the season ranked and is a real team to take note of in the SEC. It made positive strides last year and showed promise, and now it feels ready to take that next step up and be one of the best teams in the SEC and a team that is nationally relevant.

It was a spirited effort from South Florida, who played with heavy hearts in its first game since the passing of coach Amir Abdur-Rahim on Oct. 24. The college basketball world is surely rooting for the Bulls this season.

Big East struggles

The Big East did go 8-0, but at one point during the night was staring down the barrel of multiple Quad 4 losses.

In the end though, Villanova beat Lafayette 75-63 after trailing at one point in the second half, Seton Hall beat Saint Peter’s 57-53 after being down by four with under eight minutes left, Providence beat Central Connecticut 59-55 after trailing by as many as seven in the second half, and DePaul needed overtime to beat Southern Indiana 80-78 after the Blue Demons tied the game on a Jacob Meyer three with two seconds left in regulation.

Yes, it did win all of the games, but it is surely something to monitor across the league over the next few weeks.

By Aidan Joly

The West Coast Conference has long been known as being dominated by Gonzaga. The Zags had earned at least a share of the regular season championship in 11 straight seasons.

That came to an end in 2024, with Saint Mary’s earning a sweep of both the regular season and conference tournament.

This year the league gets deeper, with the additions of Washington State and Oregon State as affiliate members for the next two seasons. Let’s take a look at each of the 11 teams making up the WCC in 2024-25.

Saint Mary’s Gaels

2023-24: 26-8 (15-1 WCC), lost in NCAA first round

The defending WCC champs, Saint Mary’s and coach Randy Bennett have long had a history of being a four-year program for guys, but that changed this year with the transfer portal losses of Aidan Mahaney and Joshua Jefferson.

It will have to find guys to replace that production. Augustas Marciulionis is a candidate to take an even larger step up and be the guy after he averaged 12.4 points per game this past season. Also returning is Mitchell Saxen, who had 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last season and won WCC defensive player of the year. Role players Luke Barrett, Harry Wessels, Rory Hawke and Jordan Ross all return, with Ross being a strong candidate to break out.

The portal add of Paulius Murauskas (Arizona) is a good one and he should see impact minutes.

Mikey Lewis is a top-100 freshman who should see playing time from the start. Liam Campbell is also a solid top-100 guy.

Gonzaga Bulldogs

2023-24: 27-8 (14-2 WCC), lost in Sweet 16

A lot of people talked about Gonzaga having a “down” year last year, but it still resulted in the program’s ninth straight appearance in the second weekend of the tournament.

The Zags will be a borderline top five team in the country entering this season. Losing Anton Watson is a tough blow, but Gonzaga brings back a ton of talent. That starts with Graham Ike, who averaged 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He may end up being the best player in the conference this year. Nolan Hickman and Ryan Nembhard are both double digit scorers who are back, while Braden Huff, Ben Gregg and Dusty Stromer are all ready to take on larger roles.

Steele Venters will miss a second straight season after suffering an Achilles injury in August.

Coach Mark Few added two impact transfers in Michael Ajayi, who averaged 17.2 PPG at Pepperdine, as well as Khalif Battle, who had 14.8 PPG at Arkansas.

This team has the talent and depth to be the clear favorite to win the league, and will once again be in the conversation to win its first national title.

Washington State Cougars

2023-24: 25-10 (14-6 Pac-12), lost in NCAA second round

Washington State was one of the feel-good stories of the 2023-24 season, getting as high as No. 18 in the country, getting to the tournament for the first time since 2008, and winning a tournament game.

However, gone is coach Kyle Smith, who left for Stanford. Taking his place is David Riley, who has spent the last three seasons as head coach at Eastern Washington.

Riley is given a clean slate for the 2024-25 season. The only returner is Isaiah Watts, who had 3.7 PPG last season.

Riley brought four players from Eastern Washington with him. That includes Cedric Coward, who averaged 15.4 PPG on his way to being named Big Sky freshman of the year. Ethan Price (12.2 PPG), Dane Erikstrup (10.8 PPG) and LeJuan Watts (9.4 PPG) also all come in from EWU. Riley also got two power conference transfers in Nate Calmese (Washington) and ND Okafor (California).

There are five freshmen on the roster. One is them is Tomas Thrastarson, who hails from Iceland.

Washington State may not be a true contender at the top of the league, but they will compete and be a tough out in March.

San Francisco Dons

2024-25: 23-11 (11-5 WCC), lost in NIT first round

Things went well in Chris Gerlufson’s second season at the helm at San Francisco, securing his first postseason bid.

It lost leading scorer Jonathan Mogbo to the NBA, but returns good talent. The leader of that will be Marcus Williams, who had 14.0 PPG for the Dons last season. Malik Thomas, who had 12.4 PPG, is back, as well as Ndewedo Newbury, who had 9.4 PPG. Role player Ryan Beasley (7.8 PPG) is also back and should get promoted to the starting lineup.

Three notable transfers adds were made. That is led by Carlton Linguard Jr., who had 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game at UTSA. Jason Rivera-Torres had 6.4 PPG at Vanderbilt and Isa Silva had 2.4 PPG at Long Beach State.

Tyrone Riley, a four-star talent, is an impact freshman who should see big minutes from the start.

This is a solid team with solid pieces that will win games, but likely won’t be at the top of the league.

Santa Clara Broncos

2023-24: 20-13 (10-6 WCC), no postseason

Santa Clara had a good season, its third straight 20-win second and third straight with double digit league wins.

The Broncos will return five of the top six scorers from last year’s team. The biggest returner is Adama Bal, who is back after testing the NBA waters after he averaged 14.4 PPG last season. Johnny O’Neil, Christoph Tilly, Tyree Bryan and Camaron Tongue all return for Herb Sendek’s squad.

Carlos Stewart (LSU) is a solid transfer add with SEC experience, while Elijah Mahi was a stud in JUCO and the Broncos will hope he does well from the jump.

Stewart is the only players on the roster under six-foot-four, giving the Broncos the size to compete in this league night in and night out. With a strong non-conference schedule that includes Arizona State, Nevada, TCU and McNeese, Santa Clara could very well be in contention for the program’s first NCAA bid since 1996.

San Diego Toreros

2023-24: 18-15 (7-9 WCC), no postseason

Coach Steve Lavin lost a bunch of its top talent in Deuce Turner, Wayne McKinney, PJ Hayes and Kevin Patton, and failed to replace it.

Steven Jamerson is the most notable returner after he averaged 8.3 PPG last season. He will probably have to be the go-to guy. Dragos Lungu, who had 5.1 PPG last year, is also back. From there, not much going on. Lungu is promising and is a candidate for a large role, but other guys will have to step up. Keyon Kensie and Dominic Muncey are probably the best candidates there, as is Santiago Trouet.

JUCO standout KJay Bradley will be a positive scoring player. The only Division I transfer is Colby Brooks, who walked on at Gonzaga.

It’s tough to see the Toreros winning many games with this lack of talent. It may be a long year at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Portland Pilots

2023-24: 12-21 (5-11 WCC), no postseason

Portland and coach Shantay Legens are investing in the future this season as the rebuild continues.

It will be a young Portland team in 2024-25. However, one veteran leader will be Vukasin Masic, who comes back after he averaged 12.5 PPG for the Pilots last season. Chris Austin and his 6.8 PPG are back, as well as Bol Dengit, an intriguing big man who had 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as a freshman last season.

Two sold mid-major transfers arrived in Max Mackinnon, who had 12.1 PPG at Elon last season, as well as Jermaine Ballisager Webb, who had 7.4 PPG at American.

Top-100 prospect, a four-star forward in Todd Jones, should play meaningful minutes from the beginning. Jinup Dobuol is a three-star prospect.

Portland will be at the bottom of the standings, but it invests in the future. It has not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 1996.

Loyola Marymount Lions

2023-24: 12-19 (5-11 WCC), no postseason

Looking at this roster on paper, LMU could be a sneaky sleeper team in the WCC this season.

The Lions return their two leading scorers in Alex Merkviladze, who had 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last season, and Will Johnston, who had 11.1 PPG. However, besides that, nobody who had more than 2 PPG is back.

Coach Stan Johnson did a solid job in the portal. He picked up MJ Amey Jr., who had 15.7 PPG at San Jose State last season and may end up being the team’s leading scorer, as well as Jevon Porter, who had 16.2 PPG at Pepperdine. Caleb Stone-Carrawell, who had 11.7 PPG at Utah Valley, also comes in. Jan Vide (UCLA) and Matar Diop (Nebraska) bring high major experience.

However, these are all mostly offensive-minded players, so defense may be an issue for the Lions. Still, it is a sneaky good roster on paper, so LMU should be expected to win some games and may be a factor in the middle of the league.

Pepperdine Waves

2023-24: 13-20 (5-11 WCC), no postseason

Last season was a disappointing one for Pepperdine and resulted in the firing of coach Lorenzo Romar after six seasons.

Replacing him is Ed Schilling, who had spent the past four seasons as an assistant at Grand Canyon.

It will be an entirely new roster for Schilling and one that has a ton of question marks. No new addition averaged in double figures last season, the most being Moe Odum, who had 8.7 PPG at Pacific. Alonso Faure had 7.8 PPG at Loyola (MD) and Javon Cooley had 7.5 PPG at Marist. Aaron Clark played in seven games at Wake Forest last year.

This is not a team that is set up for success, but will look for silver linings in year one with Schilling.

Oregon State Beavers

2023-24: 13-19 (5-15 Pac-12), no postseason

Oregon State is in its first year in the WCC after being a Pac-12 castoff.

Coach Wayne Tinkle will have plenty of production in need of replacing, losing four of his top five scorers. The only one back from that group is Michael Rataj, who averaged 8.3 PPG.

Tinkle added some mid-major transfers in Damarco Minor, who averaged 15.5 PPG at SIU Edwardsville last year and Parsa Fallah, who had 13.2 PPG at Southern Utah. Matthew Marsh (Wake Forest) played sparingly but has power conference experience.

Ja’Quavis Williford is a three-star forward from Los Angeles who has potential to have a large role in his freshman season. He is one of five freshmen on the roster this year. Liutauras Lelevicius played professionally in Lithuania and has loads of potential.

Pacific Tigers

2023-24: 6-26 (0-16 WCC), no postseason

It was an ugly season for Pacific, the program’s worst season in over three decades. It capped it off by losing by 59 points in the first round of the conference tournament.

The campaign resulted in the dismissal of Leonard Perry after three seasons. Replacing him is Dave Smart, who won a staggering 13 Canadian national championships at Carleton between 2003 and 2019, going 591-48 in that time. He spent last season as an assistant at Texas Tech.

He brought on a good number of high-major transfers. That group is led by Elijah Fisher, who averaged 10.2 PPG at DePaul last season. Petar Krivokavic was productive at FIU last season, averaging 7.2 PPG. He also brings in high-major transfers in Jefferson Koulibali (SMU), Lamar Washington (Texas Tech) and Kris Keinys (Minnesota). Seven-footer Jazz Gardner (Nevada) also arrives. Seth Jones and Donyae May are solid JUCO adds.

The only notable returner is Burke Smith, who had 4.2 PPG last season.

Pacific may not get enough conference wins to seriously compete, but it can’t get worse than it did last season. The Tigers will be improved.

By Aidan Joly

The 2023-24 season was a banner year for the Mountain West, easily the best in the current iteration of the league. It sent six teams to the NCAA tournament and seven finished with 21 or more wins.

This year, the league will have an opportunity to follow up on that big year. That being said, let’s take a look at each of the 11 teams heading into the 2024-25 season.

Utah State Aggies

2023-24: 28-7 (14-4 Mountain West), lost in NCAA second round

28 wins marked the most for the program since the 2018-19 season, and the Aggies won an NCAA tournament game for the first time since 2011 before falling to Purdue in the first round.

This year it will have a new head coach in former Youngstown State coach Jerrod Calhoun after Danny Sprinkle departed for Washington after just one season in Logan. The Utah State job has been a springboard gig in recent years, after Craig Smith lasted three seasons to take the job at Utah, Ryan Odom left after two to go to VCU, and now Sprinkle leaves after one year.

Calhoun will have some pieces to work with from last year’s team, including Ian Martinez, who averaged 13.3 PPG last year, and Mason Falslev, who averaged 11.3 PPG.

From the portal, Calhoun got six players who averaged in double figures last season. Dextar Akanno is the only one that comes from a power league after he averaged 10.9 PPG at Oregon State. The rest include Deyton Albury (17.0 PPG at Queens), Tucker Anderson (14.5 PPG at Central Arkansas), Drake Allen (11.9 PPG at Utah Valley), Aubin Gateretse (11.6 PPG at Stetson) and Braden Housley (10.8 PPG at Southern Utah). An underrated pickeup is Pavle Stosic, who played sparingly at Gonzaga.

Three-star recruit Isaac Davis joins as a freshman.

The Aggies have been in the tournament five of the past six seasons. On paper, they have the talent to do it again.

Nevada Wolf Pack

2023-24: 26-8 (13-5 Mountain West), lost in NCAA first round

The Wolf Pack turned in another good season and was on the way to winning a tournament game before a second half collapse against Dayton that sent them packing.

Nevada returns a healthy dose of talent for coach Steve Alford. That includes Nick Davidson, who averaged 12.2 PPG, Tre Coleman, who averaged 8.5 PPG, along with depth pieces in K.J. Hymes, Daniel Foster and Tyler Rolison.

They also loaded up with a couple good portal additions, including Kobe Sanders, who had 19.6 PPG at Cal Poly, Xavier DuSell, who had 11.5 PPG at Fresno State, and Brandon Love, who had 10.4 PPG at Texas State. Yuto Yamanounchi-Williams (Wyoming) and Chuck Bailey III (Evansville) should provide depth as well.

Nevada has good depth, but seems to have a lack of top guys. Still, they should be able to compete in the top half of the league.

Boise State Broncos

2023-24: 22-11 (13-5 Mountain West), lost in NCAA First Four

Boise State was a team that felt underseeded in the NCAA tournament, but failed to make it out of the play-in round in Dayton.

This year’s addition of the Broncos should be back at the top of the league. Leading scorer Tyson Degenhart is back after he averaged 16.7 points per game last year, as is O’Mar Stanley, who had 12.7 PPG. Those two should create one of the best, if not the best, duo in the league.

Coach Leon Rice got them a third guy in the portal to create what may end up being a great trio. That new add is Alvaro Cardenas, who averaged 13.2 PPG at San Jose State last season. He also added Javan Buchanan, who averaged 20.5 PPG at the NAIA level last year, Dominic Parolin, who had 11.5 PPG at Lehigh, and Dylan Anderson, who last played for Arizona in 2022-23. Anderson, a seven-footer, is a breakout candidate.

The Broncos have the size – every player except Cardenas is six-foot-four or taller – to be one of the better teams in the country. Second weekend may be the goal in Boise.

UNLV Runnin’ Rebels

2023-24: 21-13 (12-6 Mountain West), lost in NIT quarterfinals

UNLV was the odd one out of the top seven in the Mountain West to miss the NCAA tournament, but still made a nice run to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

This year’s edition of the Runnin’ Rebels will be an interesting team. It has to replace the production of the Boone brothers as well as Luis Rodriguez. It does return leading scorer Dedan Thomas Jr., who had 13.6 PPG, as well as Jalen Hill, who had 10.7 PPG. Rob Whaley Jr. also returns and will look to take a step up this season.

Coach Kevin Kruger went out and got Oral Roberts transfer Jailen Bedford, who averaged 14.6 PPG for the Golden Eagles, as well as DePaul transfer Jaden Henley, who averaged 8.6 PPG. JUCO transfer Jeremiah Cherry will have a shot at good minutes as well.

Four-star freshman James Evans joins the fold, as well as a pair of three-stars in Papa N’Diaye and Jacob Bannarbie.

The Runnin’ Rebels likely won’t finish in the top three, but could certainly be in the conversation for the program’s first NCAA tournament bid since 2013.

San Diego State Aztecs

2023-24: 26-11 (11-7 Mountain West), lost in Sweet 16

Out of the six from the league to make the NCAA tournament, SDSU was the only one to make the second weekend, which followed up a trip to the national championship game in 2023.

It’s also a team that lost its entire core, forcing coach Brian Dutcher to bring in a ton of new players.

He brought in three very solid transfers in Wayne McKinney III, who averaged 13.5 PPG at crosstown San Diego, Jared Coleman-Jones, who had 11.0 PPG at Middle Tennessee, and Nicholas Boyd, who had 9.7 PPG at Florida Atlantic. Finally, Kimo Ferrari was a role guy at Brown.

The only notable returners are Reese Waters, who had 9.6 PPG, and role player Miles Byrd. Keep an eye on BJ Davis, who played sparingly last year but is poised to take on a much larger role.

SDSU brings in a pair of four-star recruits in Pharoah Compton and Taj Degourville, as well as three-star Thokbor Majak. Redshirt Magoon Gwath did not play last year, but should have a role as well.

The rebuild was handled quite well. Expect the Aztecs to be right back in the tournament next March.

New Mexico Lobos

2023-24: 26-10 (10-8 Mountain West), lost in NCAA first round

New Mexico was one of the main characters in the bubble conversation last year before ripping off four wins in four days at the conference tournament and getting the auto-bid. It was a sexy upset pick in the first round, but lost to Clemson.

This year, Richard Pitino’s Lobos could be the best team in the league. New Mexico returns Donovan Dent, who averaged 14.1 PPG last year and may end up being the best player in the conference. Also returning is Nelly Junior Joseph, who had 8.9 PPG and Mustapha Amzil and Tru Washington, who had 6.7 and 6.6 PPG respectively.

Pitino brought in CJ Noland, who averaged 10.9 PPG at North Texas last year, and three high-major transfers in Atiki Ally Atiki (BYU), Filip Borovicanin (Arizona) and Ibrahim Sacko (Georgia Tech).

Jovan Milicevic highlights a decent freshman class. Milicevic should have a big role from the start.

With all of this talent, the Lobos should be the clear favorite to win the league. The level of talent is exactly why.

Colorado State Rams

2023-24: 25-11 (10-8 Mountain West), lost in NCAA first round

The Rams lost a good amount of talent from last year, including Isaiah Stevens, who was probably the second best player in the conference. He was one of 10 players to depart.

That forced coach Niko Medved into rebuilding nearly the full roster.

The biggest piece back is Nique Clifford, who averaged 12.2 PPG. Jalen Lake (6.1 PPG) is the only other notable guy back.

It’ll be a young team that includes five freshmen and two of the transfers being sophomores. Two of the new transfers averaged in the double digits at their last stops, those being Keshawn Williams, who had 17.9 PPG at Northern Illinois in 2022-23 but didn’t play last year. Bowen Born had 13.3 PPG at Northern Iowa last year. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson had 9.1 PPG at a freshman at Little Rock.

There is talent here. But with how young it is and how deep the league is, winning consistently may be a challenge.

Wyoming Cowboys

2023-24: 15-17 (8-10 Mountain West), no postseason

This is where the pretty emphatic divide starts between the top seven and the bottom four.

This year’s edition of the Cowboys will have a new head coach in Sundance Wicks, who comes in after one season at Green Bay to replace Jeff Linder, who left to become the top assistant at Texas Tech.

It’ll be a big rebuild. The only notable returners are Oleg Kojenets, who averaged 3.7 PPG, and Kobe Newton, who had 4.5 PPG.

It’s not exactly clear who will be the number one. The leader of the nine transfers is Touko Tainamo, who had 15.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game at Denver last year, while Jordan Nesbitt averaged 10.2 PPG at Hampton. Dontaie Allen once played at Kentucky and averaged 8.2 PPG at Western Kentucky last year.

Jehvion Starwood is a three-star recruit.

It’s an older, experienced roster for sure. However, it’s tough to build a winning team with a first-year coach who is behind the eight ball in resources with the rest of the league.

Fresno State Bulldogs

2023-24: 12-21 (4-14 Mountain West), no postseason

After another lackluster season for the Bulldogs, they parted ways with former coach Justin Hutson after six seasons with the program.

Vance Walberg, a successful area high school coach who was once the coach of Pepperdine and served as an assistant on NBA staffs, takes the reigns to lead the program. 

Walberg has already shown an eye for getting talent, particularly from the JUCO ranks. He picked up Amar Auguillard, the Division I JUCO player of the year from Triton College, where he averaged 22.7 PPG on a team that went 34-3 and went all the way to the JUCO national championship game. Jasir Trimble and Alex Crawford are also both talent JUCO pickups that should have a role. New addition Mor Seck averaged 4.0 PPG at Hawaii, and Elijah Prince redshirted at Drake.

The only notable returner is Jalen Weaver, who averaged 7.4 PPG. 

Freshmen Makham Diouf and Brian Amuneke join the fold. 

The talent here is promising. Fresno likely won’t be a true contender, but has a great chance to improve on last year’s campaign.

San Jose State Spartans

2023-24: 9-23 (2-16 Mountain West), no postseason

It’s going to be a tall task to replace much of your top talent after winning just two league games a year ago.

But that’s what San Jose State and coach Tim Miles will attempt to do after barely returning any of the roster. All that is back is Latrell Davis, who averaged 5.7 PPG, Adrame Diongue, who averaged 4.8 PPG, and Robert Vaihola, who averaged 7.6 PPG in 2022-23.

Some decent transfers come in, led by Jose Uduje, who averaged 8.7 PPG at Utah State and won the league’s sixth man of the year award. Sadaidriene Hall had 10.7 PPG at Stephen F. Austin and Donovan Yap had 9.0 PPG at Fresno State. Three players have high-major experience, including Will McClendon (UCLA), Chol Marial (Oregon State) and Sadraque NgaNga (Seton Hall). No notable freshmen come in.

There is experience on this year’s team, but the talent and wins may not be there. It’s a worrying situation for Miles, who is 38-60 in three seasons at San Jose State.

Air Force Falcons

2023-24: 9-22 (2-16 Mountain West), no postseason

It is obviously excruciatingly difficult to bring in talent and win at a service academy. Air Force has only made the NCAA tournament four times in its history and has not made it since 2006.

It’s a challenge task that Joe Scott has dealt with for 15 years now. This time around, he will need to replace the production of Rytis Petraitis, his leading scorer who transferred to California. 

Beau Becker (13.8 PPG), Ethan Taylor (13.5 PPG) and Jeffrey Mills (9.1 PPG) are in the position to be the go-to guys for the Falcons. Other than that, not much there.

It’s unlikely, to say the least, that Air Force will get to double digit wins total this year.

By Aidan Joly

The 2024-25 season begins with a lot of talent in the American Athletic Conference, but it is fair to say that the league is top-heavy with the likes of Memphis, FAU, South Florida and UAB followed by a clear division with the rest.

However, that doesn’t mean a few more teams can’t make noise. Let’s take a look at each of the 13 that make up the league this season.

South Florida Bulls

2023-24: 25-8 (16-2 AAC), lost in NIT second round

It was a historically good season for the program in Amir Abdur-Rahim’s first season at the helm, winning 25 games for the first time in program history and its 16 conference wins also represented the most in program history. The Bulls reached the postseason for the first time since 2019 and the NCAA/NIT for the first time since 2012.

A solid plethora of talent returns. Kobe Knox (8.4 PPG), Jayden Reid (6.8 PPG) and Brandon Stroud (5.2 PPG) all return, as does Kasen Jennings, who averaged 6.2 PPG in 2022-23.

Kennesaw State transfer Quincy Ademokoya, who played for Abdur-Rahim with the Owls and averaged 10.2 PPG last season, joins the Bulls. Jamille Reynolds (Cincinnati) and De’Ante Green (Florida State) were both role players at their last stops. JUCO guard Jimmie Williams is a good talent.

Four-star prospect C.J. Brown and three-star Kameren Wright are the freshman adds here.

It’s fair to say that South Florida will be due for a step back, but rebuilds are something Abdur-Rahim has excelled at.

Florida Atlantic Owls

2023-24: 25-9 (14-4 AAC), lost in NCAA first round

It’s a new era in Boca Raton. After the back-to-back amazing seasons, former head coach Dusty May and the rest of the key pieces from the Final Four team in Johnell Davis and Vladislav Goldin are gone.

The replacement on the sidelines is former Baylor assistant John Jakus. Thankfully for Jakus, the program’s recent success has made FAU a transfer destination. He picked up KyKy Tandy, who averaged 17.8 PPG at Jacksonville State and formerly played at Xavier, Ken Evans Jr., who had 18.8 PPG at Jackson State, and Baba Miller, who had 7.6 PPG at Florida State. He also grabbed Leland Walker, who had 15.4 PPG at Eastern Kentucky.

That’ll be the core of the team. The only returner is Tre Carroll, who had 4.0 PPG last season. Six freshman come in, none of them truly heralded.

The depth may be a question here, but FAU still has the top-end talent to compete towards the top of the league.

Charlotte 49ers

2023-24: 19-12 (13-5 AAC), no postseason

Things went well in Aaron Fearne’s first season in Charlotte, but it did not make the postseason.

Nik Graves (10.3 PPG) and Robert Braswell IV (6.5 PPG) are the key returners and will be expected to take on a larger role. Jackson Threadgill (5.7 PPG) is also back after being solid depth piece last season.

As for the new guys, Nika Metskhvarishvili was the leading scorer at Louisiana Monroe with 12.3 PPG along with 5.8 RPG, Kylan Blackmon averaged 11.4 PPG at Coastal Carolina last season, Jeremiah Oden had 7.6 PPG at DePaul, and Giancarlo Rosado had 5.0 PPG at Florida Atlantic.

Unranked guard Ben Bradford is the only freshman.

There is a decent roster in Charlotte, but probably not enough to compete towards the top of the league.

UAB Blazers

2023-24: 23-12 (12-6 AAC), lost in NCAA first round

The defending league champions who gave San Diego State a scare in the first round of the tournament, the Blazers will again compete for a league title under coach Andy Kennedy.

UAB will return much of its talent. That all revolves around Yaxel Lendeborg, the team’s leading scorer, who had 13.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season. Efrem Johnson also returns after he had 10.7 PPG, Alejandro Vasquez is back after having 10.9 PPG, as is Christian Coleman, who had 7.2 PPG at 4.6 RPG.

As for transfer adds, it beings on Tyren Moore, who had 17.0 PPG at Georgia Southern, Greg Gordon, who had 16.0 PPG at Iona, and Bradley Ezewiro, who had 12.4 PPG at Saint Louis. Jaborri McGhee, a JUCO add, also seems like a great fit.

Three-star forward Makhi Miles headlines the freshmen on the roster.

This is a very good roster. UAB will once again be towards the top of the league in 2024-25.

Memphis Tigers

2023-24: 22-10 (11-7 AAC), no postseason

It’s never an off-season without some kind of Memphis discourse. There’s been plenty of that this summer and fall. It came after a season where Memphis was at one point 15-2 and 4-0 in the AAC, before it went 7-8 the rest of the way and failed to win an AAC tournament game.

However, if Memphis and Penny Hardaway can find a way to put it together, the Tigers have some talent, nearly all new adds.

PJ Haggerty leads the way of that group after he averaged 21.2 PPG at Tulsa last season. Colby Rogers had 15.5 PPG at Wichita State, and Tyrese Hunter had 11.1 PPG at Texas. PJ Carter (UTSA), Tyreek Smith (SMU) and Baraka Okojie (George Mason) were all solid at their last stops. Dain Dainja (Illinois) and Moussa Cisse (Ole Miss) were role guys for power conference teams.

The only returner is Nick Jourdain, who had 6.5 PPG.

The lone freshman is top-100 prospect Jaden Harris, a far cry from the high-level recruits Hardaway is used to pulling in.

Maybe Hardaway and Memphis can stay away from off-the-court drama this season. If it can, it has a real chance to make noise and maybe be the best team in the league.

North Texas Mean Green

2023-24: 19-15 (10-8 AAC), lost in NIT second round

It was a solid season for North Texas in Ross Hodge’s first season at the helm that ended in the postseason, but the Mean Green are in store for a rebuild.

No player who averaged more than 4.1 PPG, that being Rondel Walker, is back. Moulaye Sissoko is a solid rebounder, who had 4.7 RPG in 16.5 minutes per contest.

So, Hodge had to go to the portal. He got a solid group led by Atin Wright, who had 14.1 PPG from Drake and shot over 40% from three, Latrell Jossell had 12.9 PPG at Stephen F. Austin, and Jonathan Massie had 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game at Longwood. Jasper Floyd had a productive 9.9 PPG at Fairfield, and Grant Newell was a solid role guy at California.

North Texas brings in a pair of three-stars, guard Tyran Mason and center Baron Smith.

East Carolina Pirates

2023-24: 15-18 (7-11 AAC), no postseason

It was a tough season for the Pirates in Michael Schwartz’s third season in Greenville, but seven wins represented the most since it joined the league in 2014.

The Pirates do return leading scorer RJ Felton, who had 17.3 PPG, so that is something positive. He’s the only returner who averaged in double digits, though. Cam Hayes had 7.6 PPG.

There were some decent portal adds. Jayshayne Soumaoro averaged 12.7 PPG at Gardner-Webb and Jordan Riley had 12.4 PPG at Temple. Riley has potential for an even larger role at ECU. CJ Walker had 7.5 PPG at UCF and Yann Farell had 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game at St. Bonaventure.

One player to watch is center Cyr Malonga, who only had 2.1 PPG and 2.0 RPG, but started to come into his own in more consistent minutes towards the end of the year. He had 10 and 9 in a game against SMU at the end of the year.

There are good young pieces here, but there will surely be some growing pains.

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

2023-24: 16-15 (7-11 AAC), no postseason

The Golden Hurricane had an 11-win improvement in year two of the Eric Konkol era after a dreadful 5-25 campaign in 2022-23. It also won six more league games after going 1-17 two seasons ago.

Tulsa will bring back a number of key pieces. That group of returners is headlined by Jared Garcia, who averaged 9.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last season, as well as Isaiah Barnes, who had 8.2 PPG. Tyshawn Archie had 7.4 PPG as well. Finally, Keaston Willis only played two games before a season-ending injury. In those two games though, he had 12.5 PPG.

As for new players, they bring on Dwon Odom, who had 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game at Georgia State. He is the headliner. Braeden Carrington was a solid role guy at Minnesota. Justin Amadi had 4.9 PPG at James Madison in 2022-23.

Konkol brings in two very good prospects. Guard Jaye Nash is a four-star hailing from outside Atlanta, as well as three-star center Ian Smikle. Both are top-70 prospects.

Tulsa does lose a lot, but brings back good talent. We will see how they can compete in the AAC.

Tulane Green Wave

2023-24: 14-17 (5-13 AAC), no postseason

Tulane took a dip after a 20-win 2022-23 season, winning just five conference games after going 12-6 in the league a year before.

No player with more than 3.6 PPG last season returns. So, coach Ron Hunter had to rebuild the roster.

Four of his five transfers in Tyler Ringgold (Texas A&M), Kaleb Banks (Indiana), Mari Jordan (Georgia) and Rowan Brumbaugh (Georgetown) were all on high-major rosters last season, but only one – Brumbaugh – played consistently, where he averaged 8.6 PPG. Ringgold and Jordan did not play at all. To supplement some experience, Hunter brought in Michael Eley, who had 13.2 PPG at Siena.

Three great freshmen come in: guard Kyle Greene and forward Kameron Williams are both four-star prospects, while Stefan Cicic is a three-star. All should have roles.

It’s worth noting that there are no seniors on this team. That bodes well for the future. But for now, it might be another tough year for Tulane.

Temple Owls

2023-24: 16-20 (5-13 AAC), no postseason

It was a difficult first season in Adam Fisher’s first season at the helm at Temple, but he showed off his recruiting prowess in this cycle.

Temple had three huge pickups that should send it towards the top of the American. The biggest is perhaps Jamal Mashburn Jr., a guy who averaged 14.8 PPG on a New Mexico team that won the Mountain West. Lynn Greer III is another big pickup after he averaged 11.2 PPG at crosstown rival St. Joseph’s last season. Elijah Gray had 8.7 PPG in limited minutes at Fordham, while Jameel Brown was a depth piece at Penn State.

The new big transfers will be supported by a nice cast of returners that includes Steve Settle III (8.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG), Shane Dezonie (7.7 PPG), Matteo Picarelli (7.6 PPG) and Zion Stanford (6.6 PPG).

Top-40 prospect Dillon Battie will have a role from the jump, while the Owls also bring in three-star prospects Aiden Tobiasen and Babatunde Durodola.

This is a Temple team that will take a big jump up. Double digit conference wins should be expected.

Wichita State Shockers

2023-24: 15-19 (5-13 AAC), no postseason

The Shockers struggled in Paul Mills’ first season with the program, but a good off-season has Wichita State in a good place heading into the season.

Mills was able to retain two double digit scorers in Xavier Bell (11.6 PPG) and Harlond Beverly (10.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG), as well as Quincy Ballard, who had 7.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season. Ronnie DeGray III is also back and should take a step up this season.

A solid transfer class comes to Wichita. The group is led by AJ McGinnis, who had 13.2 PPG at Lipscomb, as well as Corey Washington, who had 16.1 PPG on a Saint Peter’s team that went to the NCAA tournament. Justin Hill was a role player at Georgia. Jalen Meeks played in five games at Arizona State. Finally, they bring in Matej Bosnjak, who played professionally in Croatia last season.

A pair of three-star prospects, Zion Pimpkin and TJ Williams, join the program.

There’s a lot to like about this Wichita State team. Expect it to make some noise and have a chance at making a run to the NCAA tournament.

Rice Owls

2023-24: 11-21 (5-13 AAC), no postseason

Rice really struggled in 2023-24, resulting in the firing of coach Scott Pera after seven years at the helm.

Replacing him is Rob Lanier, who spent the past two seasons at SMU and was at Georgia State before that.

Simply put, there is not much to like about this roster. Trae Broadnax (USC Upstate) and Kellen Amos (Central Connecticut) both averaged double figures at their previous stops, but it was at the low-major level. Three players followed Lanier to Rice, the most productive of whom was Jalen Smith, who had 6.0 PPG. As for other guys, Caden Powell had 5.5 PPG at Wyoming and Jimmy Oladokun Jr. had 5.7 PPG at San Diego.

The only notable returner is Alem Huseinovic, who had 7.5 PPG last season. The only freshman recruit is top-40 guard Aaron Powell, a good one, but a freshman can only do so much here.

It’s going to be really tough sledding for Lanier in year one. It will just be about making games competitive.

UTSA Roadrunners

2023-24: 11-21 (5-13 AAC), no postseason

A third straight season with five or less league wins resulted in the firing of Steve Henson after eight seasons with UTSA.

In his place is Austin Claunch, a 34-year-old already on his second head coaching job after serving as the head coach of Nicholls from 2018-2023 before he left to be an assistant coach at Alabama last season.

A few players with high-major experience come in. Primo Spears, who has become something of a college basketball nomad, is the leader of that sect after he averaged 10.3 PPG at Florida State. He will be on his fourth school in four years. Damari Monsanto averaged 5.1 PPG across 11 games for Wake Forest last season.

From there, it is mid-major guys with varying levels of success. Tai’Reon Joseph averaged 20.5 PPG at Southern last season and Skylar Wicks, who had 13.7 PPG at Incarnate Word, are the only double digit scorers at their previous stops. South Alabama transfer Marcus Millender (9.7 PPG) and Buffalo transfer Jonnivius Smith (8.0 PPG) came the closest. Finally, Raekwon Horton had 6.9 PPG at James Madison.

David Hermes comes in from JUCO school Indian Hills.

Claunch is one of the better young minds in coaching, but it will be a tough season for him in year one. UTSA doesn’t have a ton of basketball resources, making it a challenge for them to compete on a nightly basis.

By Aidan Joly

The 2024-25 edition of SEC basketball will have plenty of intrigue.

In 2024, the league sent two teams as far as the Elite Eight, and Alabama made the Final Four for the first time in program history.

This season, the league adds two massive brands from the Big 12, two of the most talked-about head coaching changes in the country at Arkansas and Kentucky.

Overall, the league could boast a few top-10 teams in the nation heading into the new season, with the top of the league at the top of the sport nationally. Let’s take a look at each of the 16 teams.

Tennessee Volunteers

2023-24: 27-9 (14-4 SEC), lost in Elite Eight

The Vols had a very good season in 2023-24 and it resulted in a regular season championship and a run to the Elite Eight.

Despite the loss of All-American Dalton Knecht, Tennessee has the chance to have another season similar to last year.

Rick Barnes’ team returns double digit scorer Zakai Ziegler, who should be the go-to guy this year. It will also return a pair of role players in Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mashack, who both should take a step up this season.

Tennessee got one of the best mid-major players in the portal in North Florida’s Chaz Lanier, who averaged 19.7 PPG last season. It also brings in Darlinstone Dubar, who averaged 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game at Hofstra. Igor Milicic Jr. had 12.8 PPG at Charlotte, while Felix Okpara was a solid role guy at Ohio State.

Borderline top-60 prospect Bishop Boswell may have an early role as a freshman in Knoxville.

Overall, Tennessee will be a very good team that will have expectations come March.

South Carolina Gamecocks

2023-24: 26-8 (13-5 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

The Gamecocks were one of the biggest surprises of the season last year, finishing tied for second in the SEC and won 26 total games after being picked last place in the preseason poll. 26 wins was tied for the most in program history, albeit it came to an early close when it lost in the first round of the tournament.

Lamont Paris’ group will bring back two key pieces from the 2023-24 squad, those being Collin Murray-Boyles, who averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2023-24, as well as Myles Stute, who averaged 8.3 PPG. Role players Jacobi Wright and Zachary Davis, who averaged 5.9 PPG each, are both back as well.

New additions to this squad include Jamarii Thomas, who averaged 16.9 PPG at Norfolk State, and Nick Pringle, who averaged 6.8 PPG at conference rival Alabama.

Top-40 prospect Cameron Scott, a six-foot-five forward, is the key freshman here.

The Gamecocks lost a lot, and will have to prove that it can compete at a high level this year.

Auburn Tigers

2023-24: 27-8 (13-5 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

Auburn is the defending SEC champions, but the postseason run came to a screeching halt when it was a NCAA tournament upset victim, falling to Yale.

However, Auburn will bounce back in 2024-25. It returns Johni Broome, who courted with the NBA after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Chad Baker-Mazara, who averaged 10.0 PPG, and Denver Jones, who averaged 9.1 PPG, are both back too. Role guys Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson are both back too.

Coach Bruce Pearl was able to bring in JP Pegues, who averaged 18.4 PPG at Furman, as well as Miles Kelly, who averaged 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game at Georgia Tech. Ja’Heim Hudson had 5.4 PPG at SMU.

Auburn also brings in top-40 guard Tahaad Pettiford as well as top-60 forward Jahki Howard. Pettiford may have an immediate role.

This is an Auburn team that should once again contend for an SEC title. It has the talent to do so.

Kentucky Wildcats

2023-24: 23-10 (13-5 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

Kentucky will begin a new era for the first time in nearly a decade and a half.

After a disappointing NCAA tournament exit, John Calipari – who had been in Lexington since 2009, won a national title in 2012, brought the program to four Final Fours and won more than 400 games – left the program to take the job at Arkansas.

In his place is former BYU coach Mark Pope, an alum of the school.

Pope had a long to-do list. This year’s Kentucky team does not return a single player from last year.

Pope brought in a mix of good high-major talent and stud mid-major players. From the high-majors, he got Jaxon Robinson (14.2 PPG) to follow him from BYU, got Andrew Carr (13.5 PPG) from Wake Forest, Otega Oweh (11.4 PPG) from Oklahoma, Kerr Kriisa (11.0 PPG) from West Virginia and Brandon Garrison (7.5 PPG) from Oklahoma State.

A number of mid-major players will make the step up. Kentucky brought in Ansley Almonor (16.4 PPG) from Fairleigh Dickinson, Amari Williams (12.2 PPG) from Drexel, Koby Brea (11.1 PPG) from Dayton and Lamont Butler (9.4 PPG) from San Diego State.

It also brings in Collin Chandler, who was ranked in the top 40 in the class of 2022 rankings and is coming to college basketball after a two-year Christian mission trip. Guard Travis Perry is a top-75 prospect.

It’s all new faces in Kentucky. How will it do?

Alabama Crimson Tide

2023-24: 25-12 (13-5 SEC), lost in national semifinals

It was a dream season for Alabama in 2023-24, winning 25 games and advancing to the Final Four for the first time in program history.

This year’s team may end up being the best in the SEC. The Tide will return Mark Sears, a second team All-American last year who will have a case as the best point guard in the country this season. The tide will also return a big part of the frontcourt in Grant Nelson, who averaged 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season. Important role player Latrell Whitesell Jr. (8.9 PPG) is also back, as is Jarin Stevenson, who averaged 5.9 PPG as a freshman and showed flashes of brilliance. Expect him to take a step up in 2024-25.

Coach Nate Oats also brought in four good transfers, highlighted by Chris Youngblood, who averaged 15.3 PPG at South Florida. Houston Mallette, who averaged 14.7 PPG at Pepperdine is here, as is Clifford Omoruyi, who averaged 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game at Rutgers while being a terrific defender. Aden Holloway was a solid role player at Auburn.

A good freshman class is also here, headlined by five-star prospect Derrion Reid. Two more top-30 prospects in Aiden Sherrell and Labaron Philon also come to Tuscaloosa, as does top-70 prospect Naasir Cunningham.

This Alabama team should be the best in the SEC. The sentiment around Alabama in recent years is that it’s a when, not an if, the Tide win a national title. Could this be the year?

Florida Gators

2023-24: 24-12 (11-7 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

Florida was a solid surprise in 2023-24 in Todd Golden’s second season at the helm, returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021 and winning 22+ games for the first time since 2016-17.

The Gators may be even better this season. Florida does lose some key guys, but does return Walter Clayton Jr., who averaged 17.6 points per game. Double-digit scorer Will Richard returns as well, as does important role player Alex Conlon. Micah Handlogten, who averaged 5.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, will miss the entire season after breaking his leg in the SEC tournament last March.

Golden brought in a great transfer in Alijah Martin, who was a big part of the FAU teams of the past two seasons and averaged 13.1 PPG last season. Sam Alexis had 10.8 PPG at Chattanooga last season, while Rueben Chinyelu played sparingly at Washington State.

Four-star prospect Isaiah Brown may be the best freshman that Florida brings in, but seven-foot-nine(!) Olivier Rioux is the one going viral. If he gets any sort of playing time, he will be must-watch.

Texas Longhorns

2023-24: 21-13 (9-9 Big 12), lost in NCAA second round

The first of two additions to the SEC this season. Texas is coming off a solid season, winning an NCAA tournament game for the third straight season.

It does not return much outside of role players Kadin Shedrick and Chendall Weaver, neither of whom averaged more than 7.7 points per game.

The transfers that coach Rodney Terry brought in are the keys here. Jordan Pope is the leader of the pack after he averaged 17.6 PPG at Oregon State. Tramon Mark, quietly one of the best guards in the nation, comes to Austin after averaging 16.2 PPG at Arkansas. Arthur Kaluma is also a big add after he averaged 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game at Kansas State. Two double digit scorers from mid-major darling Indiana State, Jayson Kent and Julian Larry, also arrive.

Texas successfully recruited five-star guard Tre Johnson, who should have a big role immediately. Top-100 prospect Nic Codie also arrives and may be a little bit of a project.

Overall, the Longhorns have the talent to compete in the SEC. Winning in the Big 12 certainly translates to winning in the SEC.

Texas A&M Aggies

2023-24: 21-15 (9-9 SEC), lost in NCAA second round

It was a good season in College Station, winning an NCAA tournament game for the first time since 2018 and nearly advancing to the Sweet 16 when it took Houston to overtime in the round of 32.

It returns good talent. Wade Taylor IV will be at the forefront after becoming one of the better scorers in the country, averaging 19.1 PPG last season. Henry Coleman III also had a solid season, averaging 8.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Depth pieces Soloman Washington, Manny Obaseki, Jace Carter, Andersson Garcia and Hayden Hefner, all of whom averaged at least 5.0 PPG, are back.

Three solid transfers come in. Zhuric Phelps averaged 14.7 PPG at SMU, Pharrel Payne had 10.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game at Minnesota, and C.J. Wilcher had 7.7 PPG at Nebraska.

A trio of four-star freshmen, Andre Mills, George Turkson and Chris McDermott, are the top recruits. It will be interesting to see if any of them have a big role.

This Texas A&M team returns a lot of necessary talent. It should be able to compete in the league.

LSU Tigers

2023-24: 17-16 (9-9 SEC), lost in NIT first round

Despite missing the NCAA tournament things went much better in Baton Rouge in Matt McMahon’s second season, improving to 9-9 in the SEC after a 2-16 league campaign in 2022-23.

This year’s Tigers do not return any double digit scorers. Tyrell Ward leads the group of returners after averaging 9.1 PPG last season, while Jalen Reed had 7.9 PPG and Mike Williams III had 7.2 PPG. Role guys Derek Fountain and Daimion Collins, a former five-star prospect, also return.

McMahon brought in three Division I transfers. Jordan Sears was great at UT Martin and had 21.6 points per game, while Cam Carter had 14.6 PPG at Kansas State and should be a key factor for LSU. Dji Bailey had 10.2 PPG at Richmond.

Curtis Gives and Vyctorius Miller are both top-50 prospects, while Robert Miller is in the top 100.

The SEC is unforgiving. McMahon’s teams always play hard and are always a tough out, but that may not translate to consistent wins.

Oklahoma Sooners

2023-24: 20-12 (8-10 Big 12), no postseason

Oklahoma was once in the top 10 of the AP poll last season, but was inconsistent in league play and missed the tournament.

Not a ton of talent returns. The main guy is Jalon Moore, who averaged 11.2 points per game. Sam Godwin is a solid depth piece and is also back.

Coach Porter Moser brought in mid-major players to take the step up. Duke Miles is the leader of that group after he averaged 17.5 PPG at High Point. Brycen Goodine, who has played at Providence and Syracuse, had a solid season with 13.9 PPG at Fairfield. Other solid mid-major players in Jadon Jones (Long Beach State) and Kobe Elvis (Dayton) are also here. Glenn Taylor Jr. (St. John’s) and Mohamed Wague (Alabama) had small roles on high-major teams.

The Sooners have some tools in place. It should be able to compete somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

2023-24: 21-14 (8-10 SEC), lost in NCAA first round

Mississippi State earned a second straight NCAA bid in 2024, the first time the program has had back-to-back tournament bids since 2008 and 2009.

Leading scorer Josh Hubbard, who averaged 17.1 points per game as a freshman, will return. Expect him to blossom into one of the best players in the SEC. Cameron Matthews, who averaged 9.4 PPG and earned all-defense honors, also returns.

Coach Chris Jans brought in Kanye Clary, who averaged 16.7 points per game at Penn State, will be in a big role from the jump. Claudell Harris Jr. had 13.7 PPG at Boston College and Riley Kugel had 9.2 PPG at Florida. All of these guys will great a very solid backcourt. In addition, RJ Melendez had 9.6 PPG at Georgia and will be relied on in the frontcourt.

Dellquan Warren is a top-100 prospect, while Eric Paymon is a decent four-star.

This team may take some time to gel, but it can be dangerous team come the end of the season.

Ole Miss Rebels

2023-24: 20-12 (7-11 SEC), no postseason

Ole Miss started the season 18-3 in Chris Beard’s first season the helm, but the schedule caught up with them and the Rebels lost nine of their final 11 games of the season.

The Rebels will return three double digit scorers from last year’s team: Matthew Murell (16.9 PPG), Jaylen Murray (13.8 PPG) and Jaemyn Brakefield (12.9 PPG). Depth piece TJ Caldwell (5.9 PPG) is also back.

Ole Miss brought in a good blend of talent from the portal. Floor general Sean Pedulla likely headlines that group after averaging 16.4 PPG at Virginia Tech. Dre Davis averaged 15.0 PPG at Seton Hall and will be a key member of the frontcourt. Mikeal Brown-Jones, who averaged 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game at UNC Greensboro and Davon Barnes, who had 13.5 PPG at Sam Houston State, are good frontcourt additons.

John Bol is a top-60 prospect coming to Oxford.

It should be an exciting year for Ole Miss. The pieces are there to compete in the top half of the SEC.

Georgia Bulldogs

2023-24: 20-17 (6-12 SEC), lost in NIT semifinals

Georgia found itself in the NCAA tournament conversation in late January as it sat at 14-5, but the wheels fell off and the Bulldogs lost 11 of 14 between the rest of the regular season and the SEC tournament.

However, things ended on a high note as it ended up going all the way to the semifinals of the NIT.

It will look to keep the momentum going heading into this season. Silas Demary Jr. and Blue Cain are the only noteworthy returners, though. From there it is all new players. Coach Mike White re-tooled and went and got Tyrin Lawrence, who had 13.8 PPG at Vanderbilt. He also got Mount St. Mary’s teammates Dakota Leffew (17.6 PPG) and De’Shayne Montgomery (13.2 PPG). Justin Abson should be a solid depth piece after he had 7.9 PPG at Appalachian State. RJ Godfrey is an intriguing piece after he averaged 6.1 PPG at Clemson.

Georgia has a very good recruiting class, headlined by five-star forward/center Asa Newell, top-50 center Somto Cyril and a pair of four-stars in Savo Drezgic and Jordyn Kee.

It feels like a lot will need to go right for Georgia to really compete in as strong a league as the SEC, but the Bulldogs will never go away quietly.

Arkansas Razorbacks

2023-24: 16-17 (6-12 SEC), no postseason

Last year was a disappointing season in Fayetteville, leading to coach Eric Musselman to depart and take the job at USC.

Taking his place is the dean of SEC coaches, John Calipari, who comes to Arkansas after 15 seasons leading Kentucky.

It’s an entirely new roster. Calipari brought three players who played for him at Kentucky last season in D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic, all of whom had a solid role for the Wildcats last season. Ivisic is especially interesting. He averaged 5.5 PPG in 15 games played as a freshman, showing flashes of brilliance in limited minutes.

The jewel of the portal class is guard Johnell Davis, who averaged 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game at Florida Atlantic last season. Jonas Aidoo comes to Fayetteville after averaging 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game at Tennessee. Melo Sanchez averaged 14.6 PPG at Division II Hawaii Pacific. The only returner from the Musselman roster is Trevon Brazile, who averaged 8.6 points per game.

As with any Calipari class, there’s highly touted freshman. The top player is five-star guard Johnuel Fland, along with two more top-40 prospects in Karter Knox and Billy Richmond.

Lack of depth is a concern, but talent-wise, this top eight will be able to compete with just about anyone in the country. The expectations are sky-high in a new era for Arkansas and Calipari.

Vanderbilt Commodores

2023-24: 9-23 (4-14 SEC), no postseason

After five seasons with no NCAA tournament appearances, Vanderbilt opted to move on from coach Jerry Stackhouse.

Replacing him is former James Madison head coach Mark Byington, who went 32-4 last season and reached the second round of the tournament.

There’s plenty to like about the portal additions Byington brought in. He brought in some mid-major studs like Jason Edwards, who averaged 19.1 PPG at North Texas, Grant Huffman, who had 12.8 PPG at Davidson, and Chris Manon, who had 12.5 PPG at Cornell.

He also brought in guys with high-major experience. The best player there will likely be A.J. Hoggard, who had 10.7 PPG at Michigan State and will bring a much-needed veteran presence. Devin McGlockton (Boston College), Tyler Nickel (Virginia Tech), MJ Collins (Virginia Tech), and Jaylen Carry, who followed Byington from JMU, were all productive at their last stops.

The talent is there, but it will take a while to put it all together. A lot will need to go right to get out of the bottom of the SEC.

Missouri Tigers

2023-24: 8-24 (0-18 SEC), no postseason

After a 25-win campaign in 2022-23 that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament, Missouri had a woeful 2023-24 and failed to win a league game for the first time in the NCAA tournament era.

Coach Dennis Gates did a large overhaul of the roster. Two productive players in Tamar Bates (13.5 PPG) and Caleb Grill (8.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG) return, but that is it for the consistent rotation guys.

Missouri was a bit selective when it came to portal additions, but picked up some productive high-major players in Tony Perkins, who averaged 14.0 PPG at Iowa, and Mark Mitchell, who had 11.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game at Duke. Also arriving are mid-major stars in Marques Warrick, who had 19.9 PPG at Western Kentucky, and Jacob Crews, who had 19.1 PPG at UT Martin.

Gates brought in a talented freshman class that includes top-40 forward K. Annor Boateng, top-75 forward Marcus Allen, and three more four-star prospects in Peyton Marshall, T.O. Barrett and Trent Burns.

All in all, things can’t get worse than they did last year. There is plenty of room for improvement. The Tigers can be a real sleeper team in the SEC, so we will see.