Inside College Hoops

PREVIEW: McNeese's Next Test, Purdue

The Bayou Bandits of McNeese are a win away from becoming this year's Cinderella squad in the NCAA tournament, but winning is just the way of life since Will Wade came to town. The Cowboys have lost just one time since December 14th, as they ran through an extremely physical Southland Conference with just one loss, and on Saturday against Purdue, they will look to continue their winning ways. 

It was all Cowboys in Thursday’s Round of 64 victory over Clemson, as McNeese never trailed after the 15-minute mark in the first half, exuding confidence in a statement win over a power conference opponent. Purdue faced another dominant Mid-Major in High Point who was on a 14-game win streak heading into their Round of 64 win on Thursday, and they found a way to extinguish the Panthers’ winning ways, so McNeese will have their work cut out for them on Saturday afternoon. 

Although McNeese dominated for the entire first half against Clemson and led nearly the entire way, the reason the Cowboys were able to perform at such a high level according to Head Coach Will Wade was because he and his staff worked to keep the team level-headed. 

“I try to turn some of our wins into losses just to keep our guys on edge. So we try to turn some of those into losses and make our guys feel like we lost even though we won, because you can't accept in winning what you wouldn't accept in losing. So the same mistakes you get furious at and when you lose you have to get furious at when you win too, or you're not going to have the team that you need. And so I think winning is a byproduct of what you do and your preparation. I think that's the sort of stuff we lean on, is the structure of how to win, not really the winning part of it. Because reality is, you know, some of the games we've won are not going to have any bearing on the Purdue game. Purdue's a different breed of cattle from what we've been, you know, from what we've been winning for the most part. So, you know, it's not going to have the same bearing, but you do get some confidence from it,” Wade said. 

Admittedly, the wins have resulted in a boatload of confidence for this McNeese squad and although they are underdogs heading into this matchup with Purdue, they aren’t going to view it that way. The Cowboys head into this matchup even-keeled, as if they view it differently than any other matchup, it would take them out of their normal routine. 

The routine that McNeese has developed so far this season has led to a lot of wins, however, it has also led to the success of players like Christian Shumate, Brandon Murray, and Sincere Parker, as Murray and Parker transferred in without issue and Shumate remained after Wade came on board and has improved in both years being coached by him. 

Murray has been a part of NCAA tournament teams before, having made the big dance as a freshman with LSU in ‘21-‘22, however, he’s also been a part of teams who didn’t make the big dance, and the difference in this McNeese squad according to him is the Cowboys grit.

“I can just say about this team and this program, honestly, it's just grit, playing in the Southland, doing this every week for the past couple months, it's been gritty if you know how that league is,

it’s physical. So playing games like that has got us prepared, honestly that’s what's been going on for the past 2 years,” Murray said. 

Despite handling Clemson without issue for the most part, there is no sense of ease around this McNeese program, as Purdue is looking to dominate them the same way they did High Point. Purdue has experienced the epitome of brutality quite recently, having been a one seed in 2023 and getting knocked out in the first round by FDU, so losing to another mid-major in the early rounds is not something Painter and co want to have happen again. 

Will Wade is aware of what Purdue has gone through, however, he’s also aware of the strides they have made since that loss, including a run to the NCAA tournament just a season ago. That run from Purdue showed resilience, as after a loss like they suffered a season earlier, it would be easy to continue a downward trend a year later, but they didn’t and that is why according to Will Wade, his team will have to throw some curveballs at the Boilermakers in hopes to knock them off their game. 

“If you throw Matt Painter and Purdue fastballs the entire game, they're gonna hit some grand slams. They're too good, too good of a staff, too good of players, too good of a team. So you've got to throw some change-ups, some curves. So we have got a few things, but we watched a bunch of film. It's a lot of stuff they've seen this year, we just got to kind of have the greatest hits of some of the stuff that maybe worked against them this year, but they'll be prepared, they're very, very well coached,” Wade said. 

McNeese will look to keep the ball rolling and fire some curveballs at Purdue. Tip-off is coming soon!

Two Coaching Icons Meet in Providence

By Robert Lastella

The matchup many have been waiting for since the NCAA tournament bracket was released will happen today in Providence. Rick Pitino and Saint John's will face off against John Calipari and Arkansas at 2:40 PM. On Saturday, 1740 career wins will stand on the sidelines of Amica Mutual Pavilion, with the side that gets that to 1741 punching their ticket to the Sweet 16. 

Calipari and Pitino have accomplished a lot in their own right, however, a Round of 32 loss for either would be failing to meet expectations so it is safe to say there is a lot at stake in this matchup. Arkansas has battled back from an 0-5 start in SEC play and Saint John’s win over Omaha in the round of 64 was their first tournament win since 2000 and neither side wants to see their efforts to get here go by the wayside. 

As for the two coaches, they have crossed paths many times, with their most heated crossover being when Calipari was the head coach of Kentucky and Pitino was at Louisville, two schools where it is practically required for the two coaches not to like each other. According to Pitino, despite the two coaching against each other at the two biggest basketball schools in Kentucky, there really isn’t much of a rivalry and he notes the game on Saturday is between players, not coaches. 

“I don’t go against coaches, we go against teams, he doesn’t have to worry about me, my jump shot’s long gone. He's got to prepare for our team. We've got to prepare for his players. He's preparing for our players. John and I don't play one-on-one,” Pitino said. 

As for the matchup itself, Arkansas will have to find a way to exploit Saint John’s staunch defense, with veteran guard Johnell Davis figuring to play a big role coming off an 18-point performance against Kansas in round one. As for SJU, coming off a barrage of 14 threes against Omaha they will look to find their shot early in this one, while also establishing their tough defense to slow down Davis and the Razorbacks. 

Arkansas has battled back from being out of the NCAA tournament conversation at points this season, enacting multiple player-only meetings which helped break them out of their slump and now with veteran players and a hall-of-fame coach, they have a serious chance to make a run in the tournament, but they will have a tall task in Saint John’s. The good news for the Razorbacks is between Jonas Aidoo and Johnell Davis, they have 2 leaders who have been in battles like this before and they will need to rely on their leadership to get past Saint John’s in this one. 

These two coaches have battled many times before and although the teams may be different, there are traits that a coach can carry from team to team and Calipari sees that with Pitino and his Saint John’s team. When speaking with the media prior to the Round of 32 matchups, Calipari described many things about Pitino-led teams, but the one thing that stands out is that all his squads play hard and SJU is no different. 

“They’re a team that’s going to be prepared. They're going to play hard, they're going to play rough, it's going to be bump and grind. You're not getting a free layup without getting bumped. I mean, that's his team. He's not pressing as much where he'd go, 2-2-1,1-2-2-1-2-1-1, he's doing mostly, man, sometimes he'll trap. But what you find out the second-half numbers are ridiculous. So they're wearing you down like you're in combat, and eventually, if you're not used to it, hopefully we understand that. We talk to the kids about it, but they're good. He's done a great job with his team. That's why they're a two-seed. That's why we were a 10 seed. Their guard plays and people say, they don't shoot it. Are you ready? In the last five games, their percentage is better than ours from the three. So then you gotta say, you really don't shoot it. Those are numbers that are real. So they offensive rebound like crazy. If they get 18 offensive rebounds and make 10 threes, they beat anybody in the country,” Calipari said. 

The Razorbacks have dealt with injuries all season long, with Boogie Fland and Johnell Davis battling back from hand & wrist injuries and currently Adou Thiero is dealing with a knee injury that could potentially keep him out of the round of 32 games. Although Saint John’s hasn’t dealt with injuries to many of their top scorers, they have lost Brady Dunlap and Jaiden Glover, 2 key role players to injury. 

Fatigue and injury happen to everyone at this time of the year and according to Pitino, the injuries haven’t slowed down Arkansas, in fact, they’re playing some of the best basketball of the season right now. 

“We don't have Brady Dunlap, we don't have Jaden Glover, three players out for the season. So we're pretty banged up as well, but they're playing great basketball out of the last seven games right now, and they played a great game last night, a great game in a lot of different areas,” Pitino said. 

The battle of two of the most storied coaches in the sport will take place Saturday at 2:40 PM from Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island and the winner will punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 next weekend and join Rocco in San Francisco.

The Purdue Bench Embodies "Boiler Up"

By Robert Lastella

After rolling through High Point in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday afternoon, Purdue is looking to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 on Saturday with a win over another pesky Mid Major, McNeese. The Boilermakers asserted their physicality in their win over the Panthers, however, McNeese did the same to Clemson and this game has the potential to be a dogfight in the trenches. 

On the season, Purdue has been led by their big three of Trey Kaufman-Renn, Braden Smith, and Fletcher Loyer, as they’re the only 3 averaging double figures and when the Boilermakers need a bucket, odds are it’s going to come from one of those three. In the round of 64 however, although Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith both had big games and Loyer finished with 8, it was Camden Heide and Gicarri Harris who Purdue Coach Matt Painter credits with providing a boost that got Purdue the win. 

Bench players serve a critical role for each team, however, the best squads are the ones who get production outside of scoring from their role players, and according to Painter, his squad was able to do that against High Point. 

“Having depth is going to help you and it's what I really talk about with guys that come off the bench. Like, you know, there's times where you're not going to be able to get the same volume of shots every game, like those guys will be able to Braden and Trey Kaufman, especially, to where they're going to get a lot of usage sometimes the game, what it brings, you know, Cam is going to get more opportunities, or miles is going to get more opportunities. But you know, you always can defend, you always can rebound, you always can change the game, Gicarri Harris didn't play a whole lot in last night's game until the end, but he had eight rebounds. He was just around the basketball. It just made sense for him to stay in there, and it gave us an extra ball handler in the game. Miles Colvin was very active, I thought he did some good things, Cam might have been the difference from an individual standpoint, getting a double-double,” Painter said. 

In terms of bench production for Purdue against High Point Camden Heide finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Gicarri Harris grabbed 8 rebounds and Myles Colvin threw down a ferocious dunk as Painter said, without their efforts, they may have come up short against the Panthers. In the same way that Purdue was able to replace the lost production of Lance Jones and Zach Edey with the emergence of Kaufman-Renn and the development of Loyer and Smith; Harris, Colvin, and Heide are the future of Purdue and have the opportunity to show that in their roles off of the bench. 

The physicality that Harris and Heide will provide down low is exactly what they will need against a McNeese squad that is physically tested after running through a grueling conference schedule in the Southland Conference. Where some players get lost in scoring and wanting to be in the spotlight, Purdue has found guys who excel in their roles and if they do that once again in their round of 32 matchup, they will be in a good position.

Both Heide and Colvin are sophomores, while Harris is a freshman, and while developing in their own games, all three have found a way to play an important role on this squad. According to Colvin, accepting their roles is what has allowed them to excel and this season has provided an opportunity for him and Heide to make a significant jump in their game. 

“Just preparation, that's a really big part of all of it, not just, the physical, you know, getting extra shots up and running through plays and sets and stuff like that. I think it's also more than mental, you know. Like you said, you know, we're not gonna know how many minutes we're going to play that night. So just go out there and just try to produce as much as we can with the minutes that we have. And I think this year we've done really well with that. It's just becoming more comfortable within the offense and the defense of the schemes that we have. So I think that's huge, that we've started to learn and grow and made a big leap from last year to this year,” Colvin said. 

Purdue will prepare for McNeese over the coming 24 hours, with Coach Painter having to find a way to rally his guys to perform at the level they did against High Point, as McNeese will come into this game as a mid-major with nothing to lose, something that is always dangerous in March. 

Although there is pressure coming into this game, as is any game in March, Painter says that he will prepare his team to treat McNeese like any other opponent in hopes they don’t overlook or overcompensate against the Cowboys. 

“It really doesn't matter, like you know what your seed is, they're a great team. Look at them like you're playing Auburn. Look at them like you're playing Michigan State. They have great players. They have a great coach. Like, they've gained some steam here, that's the narrative. But when the game starts, the game is still the game, and they play hard. So look at them for what they do, and make sure you're selling that to your players, about how quick they are, athletic they are, how tough they are, how they get into gaps. And it's just like making a cliptape. Okay, here's what works against them. Here's what does not work against them. Do as much of this as you can, and stay the hell away from this, because they've proven that they prey on that,” Painter said. 

Purdue will be the first game up in Providence on Saturday afternoon, taking on McNeese at 12:10 pm EST with the game streaming on CBS.

The Magic of McNeese

By Robert Lastella

The madness of march never fails to captivate audiences across the nation and that was the case once again on Thursday afternoon in Providence, as 12 seed McNeese State upset 5 seed Clemson in a thrilling matchup 69-67. Although the Cowboys were major underdogs in this one, they never showed it, controlling the tempo from the opening tip and even when Clemson closed in down the stretch, their confidence never wavered and it helped them close out the narrow victory.

McNeese was the lower seed in this matchup, however they dominated the headlines heading into this one as multiple sources reported that Head Coach Will Wade would be accepting the NC State job at the conclusion of the season. After those rumours came out, Wade mentioned 

how there was an open dialogue between him and his team and there was no concern that it would be an issue heading into this matchup and it wasn’t a problem in the slightest. 

After the Cowboys fell behind 6-4 with 15:59 to play, they took the lead a few possessions later and never gave it back, dominating Clemson in nearly every facet from points and rebounds, to assists and turnovers and McNeese played like a team who expected to win. According to Wade, he and his team have been focused on this game despite what the rumors say and the win today will not only empower his team, but the McNeese community as a whole.

“I've been focused on the game, I’ve been on one about the game. So whatever else is happening that's of no distraction to us. I know everybody else thinks that there's distractions as we operate the same way all the time, and so we hadn't operated any differently, nothing's been any different. There hadn't been a lot of motion. It's been narrow focus, bigger the game the narrow your focus. And it's been an absolute, narrow focus on winning our first NCAA Tournament game at McNeese State and continuing to change. This is just huge for our school, our enrollments up 3%, our applications are up 10% and we've gotten freaking $25 million worth of free advertising the last couple weeks. I mean, I mean, our stuff's going to go through the roof. It's going to change our area. This changes our five parish areas, changes everything. So, you know, that's what our focus has been. And we've broken every record in the book. This was the last one to get. We want to keep this going,” Wade said. 

McNeese was led tonight by Brandon Murray, who finished with 21 points 4 rebounds and 3 assists and he was joined in double figures by Quadir Copeland who finished with 16, Christian Shumate who added 13 and Sincere Parker who finished with 12. The Cowboys got it done in a variety of ways, outsourcing Clemson 44-24 and in 35-30 hustle points, overcoming a 4 of 19 shooting day from 3 to knock off the Tigers. 

It could have been easy for the Cowboy players to check out in this one, as the rumor mill was swirling with news about Wade that would change the McNeese program immensely. In the biggest game of their lives, McNeese put the drama aside and left it all on the court, picking up the University’s first NCAA win ever in the process.

The Cowboys’ celebration in Providence created memories that will last a lifetime.

As for how the players kept a level head and performed at their best despite Wade to NC State rumors, you’ll have to ask Copeland, who says since both sides have been transparent this whole season, off-the-court issues aren’t going to affect what they do on the court. 

“I think when you are in the loop and both sides are transparent about things, there's not really too much room for conflict. Everybody's aware of everything that's going on, and when there's a clear understanding, everybody keeps the same main goals in the front of their mind. You know, we worry about all of that stuff later, and everybody's transparent on both ends, and that's something we worry about later. And, you know, we are just focusing on winning these games,” Copeland said. 

Next up for McNeese will be 4 seed Purdue who knocked off High Point earlier today and asserted their physicality against the undersized mid-major and the Cowboys will look to put a stop to that this weekend. McNeese has the size to compete downlow against Purdue and if they find a way to contain Kaufman-Renn and Smith, another upset could be brewing in Providence this weekend. 

The fans who made the trip and those back at home have to be ecstatic for the Cowboys win over Clemson, however according to Wade, it’s a good feeling, but the goal isn’t to win one game, it’s to win multiple and that is what they will look to do. 

“We have to get back to see but we are locked in right now. I think it'd be better if we go to the Sweet 16, and I think it'll be better on the campus then, our goal is not to win one game. That's not the goal. That's just one game. You know, we will worry about these games when we get back,” Wade said.

The Razorbacks' Edge

By Robert Lastella

If you thought that John Calipari’s team wouldn’t come to play in March, you thought wrong, as the 10-seeded Razorbacks marched into Providence and handed 7-seed Kansas their earliest NCAA tournament loss since 2006. As has been the story all year for Arkansas, it wasn’t perfect, but in the same way, they battled through their struggles earlier in the year, the Razorbacks fought in this game and came out on top with a 79-72 victory. 

Arkansas found themselves trailing 67-64 with 3:55 to play and Kansas looked to be rolling with momentum, holding the Razorbacks without a bucket for over four minutes, however with 2:56 to play, Boogie Fland stole it away from Hunter Dickinson and went coast to coast, to bring UA within 1, 67-66. That bucket ignited a 7-0 run for Arkansas that flipped the game completely in their favor, as by the end of it a Johnell Davis triple had them leading 71-67 with 1:43 to play and forcing Bill Self into a timeout which was to no avail as Kansas was never able to tie or bring it within one over the final minute and change. 

After their up-and-down season, doubts began to creep into Arkansas’ head, according to Calipari. For them to win this game, it required belief, something Cal had to instill in his players through his own actions.

“Every one of us, including me, had doubts and we all had to convince ourselves we’re going to do this. I had a card I read every morning and every night before I went to bed, and it said I've been blessed throughout my life. Forget basketball. I have been blessed. I'm gonna have a great attitude. I'm going to enjoy this journey and grow as a coach from it, I am going to make sure I keep an eye on my players, and let's write our own story. And then the end it said, Have faith. And I read it in the morning, and I read it when I walk my dog, which I do twice a day. I think he walks me, but I think I walk him, but I think it's the other way. And before I go to bed, I have it with me here, and to keep me in that frame of mind, if I want them in that frame of mind, I gotta be in that frame of mind,” Calipari said. 

Arkansas got a diverse scoring effort against Kansas, getting 4 players in double figures and they were led by their big man Jonas Aidoo, who finished with 22 points and 5 rebounds, giving Hunter Dickinson everything he could handle in the paint. Outside of Aidoo, Johnell Davis finished with 18, including a big triple to give the Razorbacks a 4 point led with less than 2 minutes to play, as well as 4 free throws to put the game on ice, and DJ Wagner (14) and Trevon Brazile (11) both finished in double figures as well. 

As mentioned, it wasn’t a perfect effort for the Razorbacks tonight, as they finished just 25% from beyond the arc, assisted on less than 50% of their field goals, and lost the rebound battle, but in March you need to find a way to win no matter the circumstances are and that is exactly what they did. 

Aidoo played with a chip on his shoulder tonight for Arkansas and if you ask Aidoo, he’ll tell you the whole team has something to prove and they’re ready to do exactly that in the tournament.

“We all know we have something to prove. We went through a lot of adversity with injuries and missing players, we let a couple of games go. Starting 0-5 in the conference, so, you know, just all those things that helped us, you know, build our confidence, build our strength, and get us ready mentally for the rest of the season,” Aidoo said. 

Next up for Arkansas will be a battle with Rick Pitino and Saint John’s, a game between two storied schools and coaches alike. The road to advancing as a 10 seed is never easy and Calipari’s Razorbacks will have to take down back-to-back hall-of-fame coaches and their teams if they want to keep their bounce-back season alive. 

If you’re Arkansas you have to keep finding ways to improve even if that’s little by little, as the injuries have left the Razorbacks undermanned which makes practice reps less physical. That is why situations like Boogie Fland succeeding in a late-game scenario, going coast to coast with a steal and score is crucial, as if he can ramp up with in-game reps, it will only help the Razorbacks continue their run. 

Calipari’s takeaway following this one and heading into the Round of 32 is that his squad learned something and although he didn’t elaborate on what that was, he noted that it will be good for his squad moving forward. 

“We learned some stuff today, didn't we, boys? We learned some stuff today, and I told them after there's stuff going forward that’s good for us. This was a good win. That was an NCAA Tournament game, two teams battling out, making shots, making plays, and we kind of got away from them in the very end,” Calipari said.

Memorable High Point Season Comes to an End

By Robert Lastella

The unfortunate side of March Madness is that in each game there is a loser whose season comes to an end and in the first game of round one in Providence, it was 13 seed High Point who succumbed to defeat, falling to 4th seed Purdue 75-63. The Panthers gave it their best effort, briefly leading in the first half and after they fell behind by double figures in the second half, they cut their deficit to 3, 59-56 with 7:47 to go, however, they were unable to complete the comeback as Purdue closed the game on a 16-7 run.

For High Point, their magical season came to a close with a final record of 29-6 and in only his second season, Coach Alan Huss led the school to their first March Madness birth and although it ended in defeat, the process to get there was truly something special. The Panthers finished their season ranked 85th in Ken Pom and top 100 in every major offensive statistic and sometimes it’s just not your night and in the first round of the NCAAT, that was the case.

Hindsight is 20-20, however, Coach Huss mentioned after the game his team would have flowed more if they had played a P5 team during the regular season, and heading into next year, scheduling a power opponent will be a goal of his.

“I’ll be on the record to every high major coach out there, we would love to play you next season. I’m guessing that won’t help, but we’d like to play a couple of Power Five for conference teams. You know, we’re open to any and all. I think the ironic thing is, you know, they were one of the only ones that had a little bit of interest, but by the time we talked to them, they already had their schedule full, except for one day. It didn’t work for us. You know, everyone else, except a couple of schools, said, No, you know, it’s probably a combination of a number of things. We had the last five before the regular season or before the conference tournament. So we were off for the better part of a week. Played three games, not to the best of our ability. We lost our rhythm a little bit. Then we got another whatever it was, eight or nine days off, you know, and not to make excuses, I just don’t think we’ve ever really found the rhythm we had late in the season, whether kind of, even when you look past the step up in class, I’m not certain, you know, especially our just, we just didn’t have great offensive flow today. And I’m not certain it was really anything they did so much as it was just us just kind of being out of sync a bit.

It is a big stage. With all due respect to the Big South, because we’ve got a great conference. It was unbelievably competitive. It had us prepared, I think, to play at a high level.

You know, this is a big stage for a lot of our guys, and we’ve got some high major transfer downs that, for whatever reason, didn’t necessarily have the best experience at the highest level. And for those guys that have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder and want to prove that they can play at this level. You know, they came out here, and maybe they pressed a little bit too. But like I said, I think our plan was good enough defensively, and we just, we just kind of
lacked flow. And if we can’t run, the best thing we do is play in transition. We couldn’t offensive rebound today, or defensive rebound today, and that really kept us out of transition. And when we get the ball off the backboard and play fast break basketball and play unselfishly, we’re difficult to defend,” Huss said.

High Point was led tonight by D’Maurion Williams, who finished with 12 points in the final game of his collegiate career and he was joined in double figures by Trae Brenham who scored 11, another senior who opted to return to HPU for his final season. Things got away from the Panthers early in the second half, but not once did High Point quit and the grit they displayed with it all on the line is an example of the culture that has been built over the past two seasons under Coach Huss.

Outcome aside, the work that Huss and his staff put into building this team led to the best team in school history and it started with his ability to retain multiple players from the previous season, something that is difficult to do at the mid-major level. Out of players who played at least 10 games, 7 out of 11 were on the team last season and this team’s connectivity led them to be able to keep up with Purdue’s elite offense in this one.

According to Trae Benham, the decision to come back this year was based on a conversation he had with Coach Huss where they discussed the chance to do something special this season and it came to fruition through belief in the Lord.

“We met in the summer, he told me that we had an opportunity to make history. And, you know, we had a lot of guys that came out of the transfer portal and were super deep. You know, it was hard at first just to see, you know, my moment, my own minutes, my own ego, my own desires, get in the way. But you know, as time went on, I realized, and coach has helped me realize, that there’s something so much deeper than your own selfish desires, and that’s to get a part of something bigger than yourself. You know, we talk about it all the time, but that’s called sacrifice, and sacrificial love runs deep, and that’s why this brotherhood is unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. But I want to give glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because he’s the one that sacrificed for us, and he’s a leader, and it’s him that’s the reason why we were able to do that, and it’s him that’s the reason why we’re able to sacrifice and get a part of something bigger than ourselves and to crucify our own egos and our own desires every single day,” Benham said.

The 2025 season has come to a close for High Point and the next step will be to build on the success they had this season and find a way to win their first tournament game in school history in 2026. The good news for Panther fans is that Coach Huss has found the formula to success at High Point and if he is able to replicate that and build on it, the best is yet to come for this program.

Huss hopes to be able to replicate the success he had this season, but that will start with retaining talent like he did last season and if you ask Huss, one of his biggest assets in doing that is the school itself.

“We certainly hope so (to retain talent). We’ve got a number of guys that have got additional eligibility. We hope they use it with us. I would tell you that for the rest of the country, this is probably a little bit unique to hear, but unless you can come to experience High Point, you probably don’t understand how good these kids have it. And there’s been some things on social media that show the things at High Point, but the things are just that. They’re just things. We actually every time we have a student-athlete make an official visit or unofficial visit, we show them our campus. We’re careful. We take them directly to our account, to our conference room and our basketball office, and say, All right, you know, I know you have sensory overload right now. You’ve seen the nicest campus you’ll ever be on. What we need you to know right now is that if you choose High Point for those reasons, prepare to be disappointed. Right? Those aren’t good reasons to choose a college. You need to choose them based on the people in this building right here, the people you’ll meet in the athletic department, the people you’ll meet in just the university as a whole. You need to be prepared to be something or be a part of something that’s bigger than just High Point basketball if you come to High Point, you know?

And so we were, we’re really careful to make sure we get guys that appreciate how good they have it there. And, you know, it’s, I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve been successful with high major transfers. You come to High Point. A lot of people think if you go to the mid-major level, it’s maybe not quite as nice, and it’s quite the opposite. Doesn’t matter where you come from. If you come to High Point, you’re going to have an experience that’s better than where you came from,” Huss said.

NCAA Preview - The Providence Pods

By Robert Lastella

The NCAA tournament is officially here and we are headed to Providence!

Complete coverage of the opening rounds will be provided by Bracketeer journalist, Robert Lastella.

SCHEDULE

AFTERNOON SESSION

  • 4-seed Purdue and 13-seed High Point will open things up at 12:40 PM,

  • 5-seed Clemson vs 12-seed McNeese close out the afternoon round at Approx. 3:15 PM

EVENING SESSION

  • 7-seed Kansas will take on 10-seed Arkansas at 7:10 PM

  • 2-seed Saint John’s will take on 15-seed Omaha at Approx. 9:45 PM.

These pods feature eight coaches with different stories, as two legends John Calipari and Bill Self battle it out against one another, while two high major coaches Matt Painter and Brad Brownell look to assert themselves among the best coaches in the sport against tough mid-major opponents. Rick Pitino looks to keep the redemption tour rolling into the first round against Omaha. As for mid-major coaches, High Point Coach Alan Huss looks to make himself and his Panthers squad known on the national landscape with a win over Purdue, Will Wade looks to get McNeese past the first round and keep his name trending up in coaching searches across the power ranks with an upset over Clemson. Lastly, Chris Crutchfield, a career assistant who has built up Omaha over the past few years will look to pull off the upset of the year against Saint John’s.

The coaching is elite in these pods, but the talent on the court is even better, High Point and McNeese being two of the most dangerous mid-majors for a high major to face in the entire tournament and both will have a chance to knock off successful power opponents on Thursday.

Kansas and Arkansas are both looking to put their rocky regular seasons behind them and the winner of that matchup could very well make a run in this tournament, as all it takes is one win to get rolling and it could happen in Providence on Thursday night.

Notes on each team playing in the Providence this weekend:

(4) PURDUE VS. (13) HIGH POINT CAPSULES

PURDUE

This is Braden Smith’s team now in 2025. How far can the Boilermakers go?

Leading Scorer: 6’9 F Trey Kaufman-Renn, 20.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.2 APG

Notable stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 18th

Positive offensive stats- effective field goal percentage (56.3%, 16th), turnover percentage

(15.6%, 68th), 3-point percentage (38.5%, 10th), 2-point percentage (55.5%, 37th), Assist rate

(57.7%, 53rd)

Negative offensive stats- No Major offensive stat outside of the top 150

NCAA tournament round one: Providence quadrant preview

Positive defensive stats- 3-point percentage allowed (30.7%, 27th),

Negative defensive stats- effective field goal percentage allowed (52%, 242nd), 2-point

percentage allowed (56.4%, 350th), offensive rebounds allowed (29.9%, 186th)


HIGH POINT

High Point is not your typical non-power program. Financial commitments secured a Power-5 worthy starting lineup with depth, and make this team incredibly dangerous in Providence

Leading Scorer: 6’2 G Kezza Giffa, 14.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.5 APG

Notable stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 85th

Positive offensive stats- effective FG percentage (56.4%, 12th), turnover percentage (15.3%,

51st), offensive rebound percentage (34%, 60th), FT Rate (37.6%, 53rd), 3-point percentage

(36.6%, 51st), 2-point percentage (57.4%, 15th)

Negative offensive stats- No Major offensive stat outside the top 100

Positive defensive stats- effective FG percentage allowed (49.1%, 93rd), 2-point percentage

allowed (48.9%, 98th), 3-point percentage allowed (32.9%, 121st)

Negative defensive stats- turnover percentage forced (16.5%, 225th), FT Rate allowed

(36.3%, 270th)

Matchup thoughts

Purdue may come into this matchup as the 4 seed and dominate, however, there is a path to success for High Point, as the Panthers are a high-performing team on both ends of the court and if the Boilers don’t assert themselves early and this game becomes a battle, watch out. There isn’t much of a size advantage in this matchup for Purdue and with the Boilermakers struggling with 2-point defense, if High Point can capitalize on their paint touches while finding a way to slow the game down, this is a game that an upset could occur, but expect a close battle with either side being capable of advancing.

CLEMSON VS. McNEESE CAPSULES

CLEMSON

Ian Schieffelin is a throw back post weapon with several post moves to create angles and a variety of hook shots to keep defenses guessing. His frame is larger than what TV visuals lens too, we’ve seen him up close.

5 seed- Clemson:

Leading Scorer: 6’4 G Chase Hunter, 16.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.5 APG

Notable stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 19th

Positive offensive stats- effective FG percentage (53.6, 64th), turnover percentage (17.8%,

78th), offensive rebound percentage (33.7%, 67th), 3-point percentage (37.2%, 31st)

Negative offensive stats- FT Rate (28.2%, 316th)

Positive defensive stats- effective FG percentage allowed (48.9%, 88th), turnover percentage

allowed (20.1%, 42nd), 3-point percentage allowed (32.1%, 80th)

Negative defensive stats- offensive rebound percentage allowed (29.9%, 191st), no other

stats outside the top 150.


McNEESE

12 seed- McNeese:

Leading Scorer: 6’3 G Javohn Garcia, 12.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.9 APG

Notable stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 60th

Positive offensive stats- effective FG percentage (53.3, 75th), turnover percentage (16.2%,

115th), offensive rebound percentage (34.7%, 42nd), 3-point percentage (35.6%, 77th), 2-point

percentage (53.2%, 99th)

Negative offensive stats- FT Percentage (70.7%, 235th)

Positive defensive stats- effective FG percentage allowed (47.5%, 39th), turnover percentage

allowed (21.6%, 18th), 3-point percentage allowed (32.2%, 84th), 2-point percentage allowed

(46.9%, 35th)

Negative Defensive stats- Offensive rebound percentage allowed (31.3%, 259th)

Matchup thoughts:
For the second year in a row, McNeese is a mid-major to watch, as Will Wade has this squad humming and they have the talent and cohesion to potentially knock off Clemson in this matchup. Clemson however isn’t a slouch of a power opponent, as the Tigers have been a scrappy team offensively, also with a solid 3-point shot collectively, while on the defensive side of things, they are a top 150 team across the board and will frustrate McNeese both down low and on the perimeter defensively.

This game is going to be a true March battle, however, if McNeese can run their normal offense and break Clemson’s staunch defense, they can pull off the upset, but it’s going to require one of their better offensive performances of the season.

KANSAS VS. ARKANSAS CAPSULES

KANSAS

Hunter Dickinson’s last ride begins in Providence.

7 seed- Kansas:

Leading Scorer: Hunter Dickinson, 17.6 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 2.0 APG

Notable Stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 21

Positive offensive stats: effective FG percentage (53.1, 78th), 3-point percentage (35.2%,

102nd), 2-point percentage (53.4%, 91st)

Negative offensive stats: Offensive rebound percentage (30.4%, 165th), FT Rate (71.1%,

223rd), FT % (71.1%, 223rd)

Positive defensive stats: effective FG percentage allowed (46.2%, 15th), offensive rebound

percentage allowed (27.5%, 68th), 3-point percentage allowed (30.9%, 36th), 2-point

percentage allowed (46.1%, 18th)

Negative defensive stats: turnover percentage forced (15.6%, 285th)


ARKANSAS

John Calipari survuved a rollercoaster beginning to SEC Play at 1-6. Running the offense through Johnell Davis has earned Arkansas some key wins over the past two months

10 seed- Arkansas:

Leading Scorer: 6’8 F Adou Thiero, 15.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.0 APG

Notable Stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 40

Positive offensive stats: effective FG percentage (52.7, 88th), 2-point percentage (54.4%,

62nd)

Negative offensive stats: offensive rebound percentage (27.6%, 249th), 3-point percentage

(33.3%, 201st)

Positive defensive stats: effective FG percentage allowed (48.3%, 61st), offensive rebound

percentage allowed (28.3% 100th), 3-point percentage allowed (31.9%, 72nd), 2-point

percentage allowed (48.5%, 86th)

Negative defensive stats: No Major defensive stat outside the top 150.

Matchup thoughts:

It is a battle of two teams who vastly underperformed this season and one side will get to build momentum with a win, while the other will see their efforts to save a downseason go by the wayside. Kansas has been down pretty much all of the conference play, going 5-5 over their last 10 games, while Arkansas saved their season down the stretch, winning 4 out of their last 5 to close the season.

This game leans toward Kansas as they have the size and a bit more experience in this matchup, however, if Arkansas can find a way to slow down Hunter Dickinson while getting solid games out of Adou Thiero, Johnell Davis, and Boogie Fland, this is a game they can win as well, but they will need to come out with energy from the jump and control the pace throughout.

ST. JOHN’S VS. OMAHA CAPSULES

ST. JOHN’S

Historic season in Jamaica Queens, NY. Rick Pitino and the SJU community have had their sights and goals on opening the NCAA’s in Providence for weeks. The time has finally come.

2 seed- Saint Johns:

Leading Scorer: RJ Luis Jr, 18.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.1 APG

Notable stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 11th

Positive offense stats- Turnover percentage (15.6%, 67th), offensive rebound percentage

(37.3%, 9th)

Negative offense stats- Effective FG percentage (49.7%, 244th), FT Rate (30.2%, 269th), 3-

point percentage (30.4%, 338th), FT percentage (68.9%, 295th)

Positive defensive stats- Effective FG percentage allowed (46.6%, 19th), turnover percentage

forced (21.9%, 13th), 3-point percentage allowed (31.8%, 67th), 2-point percentage allowed

(45.8%, 11th).


OMAHA

The Mavs have been the most electrifying team in postgame celebrations, destroying trash cans, and hiring Pro Wrestlers to help them. It has been a spectacle. Can they keep the magic alive vs. St. John’s?

15 seed- Omaha:

Leading Scorer: 6’8 Senior F Marquel Sutton, 19.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.2 APG

Notable stats:

Ken Pom Rank- 156th

Positive offensive stats- Effective FG percentage (53.5%, 69th), turnover percentage (15.7%,

82nd), FT Rate (36.4%, 78th), 3-point percentage (36.7%, 44th)

Negative offensive stats- offensive rebound percentage (29.2%, 205th), assist rate (49.5%,

243rd)

Positive defensive stats- offensive rebound percentage allowed (25.4%, 19th)

Negative defensive stats- effective FG % allowed (53.1%, 284th), turnover percentage allowed

(14.9%, 321st), 3-point percentage allowed (35.1%, 259th), 2-point percentage allowed (53.5%,

283rd)

Matchup Thoughts:

This is a tough draw for Omaha, as for a mid-major they have a high-level offense, checking in at the top 100 in multiple areas and they also have a 6’8 F in Sutton who can cause problems against the right matchup, however, Saint John’s is not that squad. The Johnnies’ defense is spectacular and although Omaha’s offense is good, it’s not at a level to perform highly against Saint John’s, and if the Johnnies can get scoring from Luis, Kadary Richmond, and Zuby Ejiofor, Omaha will not be able to keep up.

Look for Saint John’s to win handily, although if their offense struggles, this one may be closer than expected.

Super Saturday, National November 14th Preview

BRACKET WATCH - DECEMBER 14TH

As we approach the final stretch of non-conference play, the picture of at-large bid allocation is starting to take shape. Teams are settling into their identities, and the holiday tournament results have given me plenty to analyze. With conference play looming for many programs, these next few games will be crucial in building non-conference resumes. and momentum into league play. The pressure is mounting and we have several rivalry matchups. Let's dive into the most compelling matchups of the day. These heavyweight games take on added significance for teams hoping to secure protected seeds come March

In each Bracket Watch column, the games previewed are divided into two important categories:

  • Heavyweight games: Games that will potentially impact the top 16 teams on the seed list. Better known as protected seeds.

  • Bubble games: Games that will most influence teams inside or outside of the bubble.

HEAVYWEIGHT GAMES

Tennessee at Illinois, Saturday, 5:30 PM ET, FOX Rick Barnes has the Vols clicking on all cylinders and it isn’t just defense this year. As a team the Vols are leading the country in 2-point FG%, third in overall FG%, and 10th overall offensive efficiency, per POM. The Volunteers are getting splendid production behind Igor Milicic's emergence as an all-around contributor and the steadiness of role guys like Cade Phillips and Felix Okpara. The real story is the dynamic backcourt. Chaz Lanier has been a godsend, transferring in from North Florida. Lanier is scorching at a 49% clip from deep and his backcourt mate is Zakai Ziegler, who does an incredible job facilitating this balanced attack. The best news of all? The defense remains elite. Vols are making opponents’ lives miserable. The second-best overall defense covers the perimeter with precision and great organization. Jahmai Mashack is seemingly everywhere defensively, swarming to deny cutters and shooters. That overall Vols package is going to test Illinois' dynamic influx of talent. The Fighting Illini will be backed by what figures to be a raucous crowd in Champaign. Phenom Will Riley is looking to build on some good early outings and feed off this home energy, but the real story is Kasparas Jakucionis. Jakucionis has come over from Lithuania and to this point has not hit the typical wall a first-year star from the European ranks would hit in College Basketball here. He’s got a four-game streak of 20+ points and is prolific. Coach Brad Underwood would prefer a few fewer turnovers, otherwise, this has been impressive to see from Jakucionis early on. Tomi Ivisic at 7-1 can pose some problems potentially for the Vols. He’s been on a nice rebounding streak and getting 30+ minutes in these past few important games. The Illini took a frustrating OT loss to Northwestern on the road, then bounced back to beat Wisconsin at home earlier this week. Illinois has stepped up on defense in their last five performances, ranking as the fourth-best defense in the country since November 21st. That gives us an incredible chess match with Tennessee’s toughest road test and its unbeaten record on the line against the Illini’s perfect home record so far. The Vols project as a possible 1-seed early, so a major chance for Illinois to score a top-of-the-resume win. For the Vols, a road win at Illinois will provide a potentially elite road win and help further distance the SEC from the B1G. 

Gonzaga vs. UConn at Madison Square Garden, Saturday, 8 PM ET, FOX
The defending two-time national champions face Mark Few's experienced Bulldogs in a marquee MSG matchup. More importantly, these two teams aren’t exactly sitting in the penthouse. Gonzaga had a disappointing loss in the Bahamas to West Virginia, and just recently was on the cusp of a key win over Kentucky in Seattle before falling late to a surge from the Wildcats. UConn's story is well documented nationally. Taking the three losses in Maui, yet bounced back on the mainland to beat Baylor and a road win at Texas. Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard has justified his decision to return, making everyone around him better, particularly Graham Ike who's having a stellar senior campaign, and Ben Gregg has been really efficient off the bench. UConn will have the home crowd in MSG, which has been notorious for having strong Connecticut contingents. A marquee game against a West Coast power will be incredibly intriguing. On the floor, Dan Hurley’s Huskies need to continue to grow and improve. A healthy Alex Karaban is the appropriate place to build. Harris Reed, Hassan Diarra, and Freshman Liam McNeeley have all been really key for this group as well. The stakes are critical for the Big East to pick up a much-needed non-conference win and continue to aid UConn back toward the protected seed area. They’ll need to figure out a systematic Gonzaga offense to hang with the Bulldogs. GU has the second-best adjusted offense nationally. For Gonzaga themselves, this is a team with 1-seed in the West aspirations and two key non-conference chances left with this and UCLA. GU certainly wants to seize this opportunity, especially off the loss to Kentucky. Bulldogs will need to be organized defensively. The Huskies bring effective paint play and are prolific inside the arc. GU’s ability to whether the MSG crowd will be a mental test to overcome.

Arizona State vs. Florida in Atlanta, Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, SECN Bobby Hurley's Sun Devils have been the surprise of the Big 12 you can argue. The Sun Devils are 8-1 with wins over St. Mary’s, New Mexico, Grand Canyon, and Santa Clara all away from home. ASU also put up a strong showing against the aforementioned Gonzaga squad in the Kennel, losing by just eight in a very tight game. Sun Devils have blended highly talented freshmen with experienced mid-major transfers in BJ Freeman and Basheer Jihad. Jihad gets to the foul line early and often for this team. The Freshman star has been Jason Sanon who has not only shot the ball well but also demonstrated grand shot selection and decision-making. Fellow Freshman Jayden Quaintance has been one of the better shot blockers nationally already and the Sun Devils have been difficult to navigate the paint against. That leads us to the Florida Gators. UF has really been steamrolling anyone and everyone in its path. They arrive in Atlanta with lofty metrics. Currently eighth overall in POM, and performing like a top-five team in the country for most of the year per Torvik. The Gators did a nice job scheduling manageable yet not bottomfeeding opponents. They’ve blown out Wichita State, Virginia, Wake Forest, and others. The closest game they’ve been a part of is a 13-point true road win at rival Florida State. They enter this two-game stretch with North Carolina next on Tuesday in Charlotte. So it does feel like the Gators’ toughest test yet, and this will be the last of the non-conference hurdles. Florida’s defense is causing opponents to go deep into shot clocks and take less-than-ideal shots. ASU will have to be careful not to fall into that trap often in the half-court game. With this game happening in Atlanta perhaps, we will see the two sides feel each other out for a bit before a run occurs. ASU continues swinging for the non-conference fences before they go to Springfield next week to face UMass. Another chance here to really feel great about its chances to be an NCAA team if they can get a major win over Florida. For the Gators, they are simply looking to win this game and stay healthy and balanced ahead of the UNC game on Tuesday.

Ohio State vs. Auburn in Atlanta, Saturday, 1 PM ET, ESPN2 Bruce Pearl's Tigers look every bit of a top-5 team behind Johni Broome's dominant interior presence. The Buckeyes' Bruce Thornton has made the leap to stardom, leading Ohio State's unexpected rise back into the national conversation. Auburn's suffocating perimeter defense meets Auburn's unstoppable and efficient all-around offense in this Holiday Hoopsgiving showcase. Ohio State’s Devin Royal has really increased his leadership and production lately. Royal owns a streak of six consecutive games in double-figures with averages of 17.5 points and 8.2 rebounds. He has hit 68 percent of his shots (41 of 60) during that span and was the recent MVP in the 80-66 win over Rutgers. This Ohio State team has mostly impressed and I liked them a lot in preseason. The faith/knowledge/trust that the administration had in Jake Diebler sent a message to this team entering the portal season where he then brought back the key winner, Meechie Johnson. Aaron Bradshaw was part of that transfer haul and he has been cleared to return. Micah Parrish from San Diego State has provided key glue early. A puncher’s chance against very elite Auburn is all you can ask for if you are the Buckeyes and they have one. Auburn has been a freight train in this event though. They love playing in nearby Atlanta and have pounded multiple Big Ten teams here in the past. A drubbing by 28 over Indiana last year, and a 31-point demolition of Nebraska three years ago. So, Ohio State has their work cut out for them. But what an opportunity!

Memphis at Clemson, Saturday, 11 AM ET, ESPN2 Penny Hardaway's Tigers are proving they belong in the national discussion, with the dynamic duo of PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter. Clemson's recent run of six straight wins includes a win over Kentucky and much-improved Penn State. Littlejohn Coliseum has become one of the nation's toughest venues as the Wildcats learned, it is Kentucky’s only loss to date. Ian Schieffelin is a joy to watch operate in the paint. He is a near-contortionist with a variety of angles to create different shots. He has also used that body to be one of the top offensive and defensive rebounders in the ACC. Clemson brought in Viktor Lakhin from Cincinnati to help pose the two-big threat and it has worked. The Chase Hunter and Chauncey Wiggins backcourt has been delivered with flying colors. The intrigue now comes as Memphis took a somewhat surprising home loss to Arkansas State last Sunday. How will these Tigers respond? For the home Clemson Tigers, another key non-league win helps a lot with the ACC down as a collective whole and Clemson has to be ready for a trip to rival South Carolina on Tuesday night as well. Unfortunately for Memphis, the AAC is down - so these next few non-league games (at Clemson, at Virginia, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss) are paramount for the bigger picture.

Texas A&M vs. Purdue in Indianapolis, Saturday, 12 PM ET, CBS The Boilermakers' Braden Smith continues his quest as a made star in the Big Ten. The big story is the planted flag on the ground by big man Trey Kaufman-Renn, who is not only the vocal point offensively but an all-around beast. His passing skills must be addressed too. Kaufman-Redd woke up this morning as the 7th best player in the KenPom POTY measure. Buzz Williams's team is notoriously tough as nails. The Aggies still have Wade Taylor IV navigating the offense, who presents the experience to go into Indy and lead the Aggies to a win here. The addition of Zhuric Phelps not only adds scoring threats but substantially increases ball pressure. Matt Painter's squad owns two losses thus far but does own wins over Ole Miss and Alabama. Now he has Texas A&M and Auburn on consecutive weekends. A chance here for the B1G as a whole to close the gap. For the Aggies, the squad with the nation’s top offensive rebounding rates, this serves as a chance for its best win away from home and follows last week’s impressive neutral-court win over Texas Tech. Henry Coleman and Pharrel Payne each weigh 250 pounds and its no secret why they are two of the top offensive rebounders in the SEC. This is the last substantial non-conference test for Texas A&M.

This is Non-Conference? Welcome to 2024-25.

UCLA vs. Arizona in Phoenix, Saturday, 3 PM ET, ESPN2 It is challenging for anyone to digest this as a non-conference game, but it is for now. Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats have stumbled out of the gate more often than what we are used to. Four Wildcat losses have sent the coach soul-searching a bit. Perhaps the Cats needed another shooter? Hard to say, but Arizona continues to demolish anyone inferior to their level as proven by its 36-point drubbing over Southern Utah a week ago. UCLA's not a great candidate to fall into any kind of track meet and poses a threat to the way Arizona prefers to go rim-to-rim. The Bruins go at a slower pace and defend at pretty much an elite level. Kobe Johnson had a reputation in the Pac-12 as the best overall defender, and he remains the standard. To date, Eric Dailey has matched his energy defensively and created a bundle of defensive love per Evan Miya’s player ratings. The Bruins are big at most positions and can go bigger if needed with four different rotation players weighing 230+ pounds and reserve Aday Mara standing at 7-3. They’ve been a freight train since losing to New Mexico early in the year, winning seven straight. Arizona has the upper hand with this game being played in Phoenix. How Caleb Love responds to different UCLA looks, of course, will be under the microscope. Arizona does not want to take a fifth non-league loss prior to entering an unfamiliar league for conference play. Bruins are looking to add another piece of silver to its solid resume and keep the wins stacking. 

Marquette at Dayton, Saturday, 7 PM ET, CBS Sports Network A storied rivalry will be renewed Today with substantial stakes. Let’s start with the low-hanging fruit, the Dayton Flyers. Dayton is 11-6 all-time vs. Marquette in UD Arena. With Marquette being a clear contender and the top current contender to win the Big East, this opportunity offers a significant reward with a Dayton win. The Flyers played very competitively in Maui and had many chances to beat both UNC and vaunted Iowa State. They did leave the islands with an 18-point win over UConn and now a chance to inflict even more pain against the Big East. Any other A-10 program likely would not have this opportunity to host a premier Big East team, but Dayton’s budget and reputation for incredible fan support provide them a privilege today. You look at the lineup and you see a power conference roster as well with Zed Key, Malachi Smith, Nate Santos, Enoch Cheeks, Posh Alexander, etc. The only similar home game was against Northwestern early, a five-point Flyers win. Marquette enters this road game on a high after burying their arch-rival last weekend, Wisconsin. Kam Jones is not only playing like an All-American, but a possible Naismith Award winner. He had 32 points and six assists in that win over the Badgers and will be the calming presence in a hostile environment today. Marquette also has wins over Purdue, Georgia, and road Maryland at the top of its early resume. A win at Dayton would continue to keep them near the top of the forecasted seed list. Golden Eagles have not been getting to the foul line much in recent games, that could be a separator if it continues in this one today. Dayton has struggled to stop dribble penetration, so we could see a lot of back-and-forth high-octane action in this one.

Xavier at Cincinnati, Saturday, 2 PM ET, ESPN+ The Crosstown Shootout reaches a new height of urgency for Cincinnati. It has been a while since they were in a position like this, with the seemingly stronger roster and home court. But Xavier has continued to excel in this heated rivalry over recent years. Cincinnati's competition level was unmatched for most of the early season. That changed when the Bearcats visited Villanova and didn’t play well. So despite being 7-1, there is arguably no real meat on the bone for Cincy’s resume yet. That is reflected in a 49 Strength Of Resume (SOR) ranking to date. Making this game a little extra important. The Bearcats will have Dayton next, so one of two remaining chances to beef up their non-conference profile. The frontcourt of Aziz Bandaogo, Simas Lukosius, and Dillon Mitchell have posed countless problems for opponents. That’s where Xavier will need to come prepared with answers to have a puncher's chance to keep its Crosstown Shootout winning streak going. The Musketeers rely heavily on the backcourt duo of Dayvion McKnight and Ryan Conwell. The frontcourt production from Zach Freemantle also makes opposing defenses worried. Xavier has simply made too many mistakes lately, with a recent turnover rate of 18.6% on its possessions. Cincinnati hasn’t been a pest either at turning its opponents over, so it could be a chance to clean this up for Xavier.  But Cincy has been stellar at guarding shooters and getting rebounds. Xavier’s shot selection will be paramount to keep this game close, and then be in a position to steal the road win late. Xavier’s wins over Wake Forest and South Carolina have not aged as well as they’d prefer, so the resume need is here for them, and it’s the last hurrah in non-conference for the Muskies.

Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City, Saturday, 8 PM ET, ESPNU Bedlam was saved! This game had many twists and turns in the offseason, but alas we’ve made it to an Oklahoma City truce between the schools. The surprise winners of the Battle 4 Atlantis has generated extra intrigue. That’s right the Sooners, who are new to the SEC and did not have the biggest expectations, are thriving early on at 9-0 this season. Jeremiah Fears has been one of several freshmen nationally playing well. Fears had 26 and went perfect from the line in the big win over Arizona. He’s been a double-figure scorer in each OU game and the Sooners are running a ton of offense through him as their most talented playmaker. The Cowboys are intriguing under first-year head coach Steve Lutz. Not a lot of expectations nationally, but Lutz has brought his non-power programs to the last three March Madness tournaments. OSU plays fast and lately, it has clicked well on offense, as they’ve been the 15th most efficient offense over the past handful of weeks. I believe under Lutz they will continue to improve all season. They demonstrated amazing shot selection in the last game, scoring 85 against a typically brutal Seton Hall defense. Time is not on their side however, this will be the last major non-conference test for the Cowboys who do have wins over Miami and Seton Hall, but nothing against an NCAA-level team. That can change with a win today.

ENJOY IT ALL!
~Rocco Miller

Multi-Bid League Preview for 2024-25

In Alphabetical order.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

A little less than three weeks ago, the 14 members of the American Conference all converged on Irving, Texas for the AAC’s Annual Media Day. Among them were a cluster of legitimately hopeful players and coaches seeking a massive leap in this conference. Florida Atlantic has lost a lot, yet the Owls are once again ready to compete in entirely new way. Memphis is filled to the brim with dazzling talent, yet has been tasked with addressing major personnel changes to its coaching staff and potentially the overarching philosophy under Penny Hardaway. That leaves defending AAC Tournament Champions, UAB, left to carry the proven weight of the league entering the burgeoning 2024-25 season.

HC Andy Kennedy, Tony Toney, and Yaxel Lendenborg are ready to tackle high expectations in 2024-25.

Defending regular-season champion South Florida will have more to play for than ever imaginable following the tragic loss to rising Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. I feel beyond fortunate to be around AAR and his programs at Kennesaw and South Florida the past couple of years. A unique closeness with his players and coaching staff made him a special leader. Everyone I witnessed in his programs and around them, adored him and players loved playing for him. Ben Fletcher was by his side since the Kennesaw State early days with big ideas to build one of D1’s worst programs into a winner and champion. Well, it worked. That led the two to head to Tampa a season ago. The bond for this team will remain strong and honorable under Ben Fletcher.

Ross Hodge, Paul Mills, and Adam Fisher all enter year two as head coaches in the AAC with upgraded talent. An open opportunity to ascend is here for North Texas, Wichita State, and Temple respectively. Can one or more of them capitalize?

Regular Season Champion:
UAB

Conference Tournament Location:
Frisco, TX

Auto-Bid Winner:
UAB

Player of the Year:
PJ Haggerty - Memphis

Newcomer of the Year:
Jamal Mashburn, Jr., Temple

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Memphis, Wichita State, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, South Florida

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
1

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

Combining academics and coastal empires has led to the 18-team monster, better known as the Atlantic Coast (-to-coast) Conference. Yes, the influx of SMU, Stanford, and California will hit the basketball court on Monday night giving that final feeling of - we are here now.

The ACC has had an illustrious history on the hardwood. Even recently, with disappointing quantities for teams selected in mind, the ability for programs like Miami (2023), Duke/UNC (2022), and Clemson/Duke (2024) to advance deep into the NCAAs, has to restore confidence. A program like Wake Forest continues to pound on the door for inclusion, yet needs to conquer road winning.to be included in the elusive field of 68.

A new window has opened with the sudden retirement of Tony Bennett at Virginia just weeks before the season was to commence. Ron Sanchez is tasked with carrying the Cavaliers forward, but will the loss of a Hall-of-Famer prove to be too much?

The anticipation at Louisville can be felt from Coast-to-Coast.. Pat Kelsey has delivered a roster and nonstop energy to a proud place that was lifeless for a couple of brutal years. Is it too much to ask for the Cardinals to vault all the way back into the top five in this league?

SMU and Stanford are not only new to the league but they bring in former proven Pac-12 (R.I.P.) coaching stalwarts. The Cardinal welcome Kyle Smith back to the Bay Area after a successful run at both San Francisco and Washington State. The Mustangs landed Andy Enfield. A man who constantly had dominant big men at USC, most notably Evan Mobley who led the Trojans to the Elite Eight in 2021.

Leading the charge as the most dangerous team to go deep, perhaps all the way in the NCAA Tournament is of course, Duke. With Cooper Flagg, the nations top recruit, and rare older transfers (Mason Gillis, Sion James, and Maliq Brown) in the fold - this Blue Devil roster has a balanced feel to it. Flagg is part of a heralded six-player freshman class that is just purely loaded with talent. Plus Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster are there to steady the ship from last year’s Elite Eight run.

North Carolina and Clemson are back to contend. RJ Davis is poised to go on another tear for the Heels, and I expect Chase Hunter to make a significant step forward in leadership at Clemson. RJ and Chase will have terrific teammates around them, which make these two the clear two and three for the ACC entering the season from my vantage point.

From there, the door opens for new faces. We may see Wake Forest finally realize the potential, and goodness they are strong on paper this season - returning Hunter Sallis, Efton Reid III, and Cam Hildreth for potent offense and glass cleaning. Four top Sophomores enter the program from the portal, where development leaps may be waiting in the wings. The Deacs have to be elated to have Omaha Billew (via Iowa State) and Davin Cosby (via Alabama). Ultra talented guys coming from highly successful teams.

Sophomore leap themes are fun and provide substantial upside, so let’s address the Irish of Notre Dame. The sensational sophomore duo of Braeden Shrewsbwerry and Markus Burton will take this team places in 2025. That is because of the staff, namely Braeden’s father - Micah. The second-year head coach quickly turned around Penn State in a two-year stint. He know has the ability to repeat history with this year’s Irish. Everything I have heard is positive. For an entire offseason. Buy stock immediately.

Veteran athletes Julian Roper II and J.R. Konieczny are another reason to appreciate the depth and passion this program will bring in 2024-25 under Micah Shrewsberry. J.R. is a South Bend native as well.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse appear to be bubble-bound. The Panthers and Orange have great pieces and fairly high upside potential, just difficult to know until we see these two get tested a few times. Pitt is a bit more proven between the two tournament hopefuls. Returning Ishmael Leggett, Zack Austin, and Jaland Lowe, along with the portal addition of Damian Dunn (via Houston) and you have a very reliable backcourt. The frontcourt has a bunch to prove, likely to be led by Florida State transfer, Cameron Corhen. Red Autry’s Orange will feature JJ Starling and Chris Bell’s on-court leadership. Transfers will be key to the success, with two former CAA stallions coming in - Jyare Davis (Delaware) and Jaquan Carlos (Hofstra).

Pay close attention to the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech. These Yellow Jackets are coming off a wild first year under Damon Stoudamire that showcased four wins against high level NCAA Tournament teams. The consistent winning needs to come next. Baye Ndongo and
Naithan George had moments of brilliance as freshmen, now become more mature this season. The Javian McCollum addition via Oklahoma appears to be a perfect backcourt puzzle piece with Mr. George.

Miami will once again own one of the most talented rosters in the country, but how will they handle the first sign of trouble? Remains to be seen. At Boston College, Florida State, and Virginia Tech, the rosters are lacking a bit (largely due to NIL deficiencies', reportedly), and despite well-respected head coaches in Earl Grant, Leonard Hamilton, and Mike Young, this looks like a down year for all three. Over at N.C. State, the magic carpet ride to the Final Four eventually ended. A team back with good pieces, but no D.J. Burns, and I think the Wolfpack slip back to the middle of the pack. In Berkeley, the Bears should continue to improve. Excited to see the sharpshooting of
Andrej Stojakovic on display, but it will take time. Mark Madsen’s group not only has a new league to deal with, but also a brand new roster. Eleven guys are gone from last season.

Regular Season Champion:
Duke

Conference Tournament Location:
Charlotte, NC

Auto-Bid Winner:
Duke

Player of the Year:
RJ Davis - North Carolina

Newcomer of the Year:
Terrence Edwards, Jr. - Louisville

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
North Carolina, Clemson, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh (First Four)

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
6

ATLANTIC-10 CONFERENCE

The splendor that comes with two different A-10 teams earning wins in the coveted opening round of March Madness reassured the world, that what this league is doing has merit. The Duquesne Dukes stymied a lethal BYU team and Dayton took down a hot Nevada squad. The bar for 2024-25 has gone up, and now may introduce some new faces.

In the basketball-rich city of Richmond, Virginia, two prominent members reside. The defending regular-season champs, Richmond, and the cross-town rivals, VCU. The Spiders are looking to replace some immediate departures, but recent returns suggest that Chris Mooney’s squad (which still has DeLonnie Hunt and added a potpourri of vet transfers) is once agains crawling back for more. At VCU, Ryan Odom has perhaps the strongest returning roster he has had during his career. The Rams were the overwhelming pick at Media Day, and I tend to agree. Shooters, spacing, a renewed defensive energy all appear to be a great balance for sustained winning.

Ultra-dramatic A-10 Tournament bracket navigation usually mandates a commitment to getting stops. Look no further than Loyola-Chicago here. The Ramblers were an amazing 28th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. They became one of the hotter teams in the country to pull into a second-place finish in the A-10. Des Watson, Miles Rubin, and Jayden Dawson committed to staying and finishing these larger goals for coach Drew Valentine. The portal was pleasant with Justin Moore’s great floor general abilities coming over from Drexel and another frontcourt weapon with Francis Nwaokorie via UC San Diego. This team has a little bit of everything to work with, and should be a top contender for best defense in the league.

Head Coach Josh Schertz and Indiana State made waves last year behind overnight celebrity Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope, among others. Now, the Schertz-Avila-Swope trio are all the faces of the St. Louis Billekins program. Quite a shift, but a scary one for the rest of the A-10. Schertz convinced fan-favorite and sniper, Gibson Jimerson to stay this season. Should be a fun year, and I expect them to peak later in the campaign.

Dayton continues to operate at a high-major level. With scheduling, budget, massive fan support, etc. The Flyers have carved out a unique place in the A-10 and the nation. Due to these factors, they should always be in the mix for championships, at least during this era. Posh Alexander and Zed Key are in the fold to see how high these Flyers can fly.

The other crop of squads worth keeping tabs on are George Mason and Saint Joseph's. Both teams have playmakers that dazzle. Questions remain on the defensive side of the ball and with shot selection.

Regular Season Champion:
VCU

Conference Tournament Location:
Washington, DC

Auto-Bid Winner:
Saint Louis

Player of the Year:
Erik Reynolds II - St. Joseph’s

Newcomer of the Year:
Robbie Avila - Saint Louis

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
VCU

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
VCU, Dayton, Loyola-Chicago, Richmond, George Mason

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
2

BIG EAST CONFERENCE

Who can stop Connecticut? This has become an unstoppable force at the program-level nationally. The two-time defending Champion Huskies are right back here at the top of the list with a three-peat in realistic sight. Fortunately for the Big East, some teams in this league have had head-to-head success against UConn. Creighton and Seton Hall have been able to beat the Huskies in each of the two seasons and Sean Miller’s Xavier program swept the Huskies in 2023, so there is a sliver of hope for the other 10 schools.

Despite the avenues for derailment, UConn will start this season at the top of the Big Board and Seed List. Until its proven, I certainly do not want to forecast against this freight train. Alex Karaban takes over the primary big role, which should be no issue. Hassan Diarra, Solo Ball, and Aidan Mahaney make up a really skilled backcourt. Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed, Jr. solidify the frontcourt. Ultra-talented freshman Liam McNeeley gives the Huskies that extra layer to bury teams on a regular basis once again.

The Blue Jays of Creighton are the team that can take this trophy from UConn’s grip. Ryan Kalkbrenner is a dominant college basketball player, who will combine with Mason Miller, Pop Isaacs, and Steven Ashworth to lead this team to another quality season and high-octane offense. January 18th and February 11th are the dates to keep circled, as they will face UConn on each.

Kam Jones is setup to have an even more electric role and impact on the emerging Marquette program under Shaka Smart. The Golden Eagles have advanced a round farther in each of the three years under Smart thus far. First Round in 2022, Second Round in 2023, and the Sweet 16 a season ago. If the pattern continues, you may see this program in the final eight this year. Marquette brought in a few freshman led by Damarius Owens to help uphold the standard, but did not take a transfer in this cycle.

Rough luck, snake-bitten, can’t catch a break. Just a few examples have how one might summarize the Xavier rosters recently. The Musketeers have leveraged some of the misfortune to help accumulate depth. Stars like Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter would be likely gone by now, but the recovery process was long for each and they now have eligibility remaining. The influx of transfer portal prowess this time around includes the secured commitments from Dante Maddox, Jr., Ryan Conwell, Marcus Foster, and John Hugley IV bring in a loaded veteran presence. This squad is old and full of quality guys who can fill the stat sheet.

Rick Pitino has an equally loaded team roster primed to get this SJU program into the dance for the first time since 2019. The foundation was built a season ago. The additions of Kadary Richmond, Aaron Scott, Deivon Smith, and Vince Iwuchukwu provides enough veteran assurance to get St. John’s on the good side of the bubble this coming year.

Regular Season Champion:
UConn

Conference Tournament Location:
New York City, NY

Auto-Bid Winner:
UConn

Player of the Year:
Kam Jones - Marquette

Newcomer of the Year:
Deivon Smith - St. John’s

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Creighton, Marquette, Xavier ,St. John’s

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Creighton, Marquette, Xavier ,St. John’s, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
5

BIG TEN CONFERENCE

The days of Zach Edey eating everyone in this conference alive are mercilessly over. The league is opening up again to all comers, including four new members from the West Coast - UCLA, USC, Washington, and Oregon. The 18-team structure requires a chunky element of unbalance to the scheduling models. Many conference mates will only see each other once prior ot the B1G Tournament and the top 15 of 18 will qualify for the postseason event.

Purdue got the benefit of the doubt at Media Day, to repeat as the 2025 champion. But I’ve had an strong suspicion that this league could in fact have a surprise winner. Perhaps a Michigan, or an Ohio State. A couple of major schools with fresh mindsets at the helm to run their programs.

Out West, Eric Musselman (USC) and Danny Sprinkle (UW) have been brought in to elavate programs that have been terrific before in the past, yet needed a fresh approach for this daunting travel schedule. UCLA scrapped a strategy that was heavy on international and went into the modern D1 transfer portal for some major upgrades. And at Oregon, Dana Altman a deep team is building around Jackson Shelstead.

Brad Underwood and Tom Izzo continue to coach and recruit at the highest levels of the league. Illinois will welcome in Kylan Boswell, a leader at Arizona and a pair of international phenoms in Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic. The Illini think their vets can bring them along. Ben Humrichous may have been the biggest prize however after he scorched the Valley last season with 41.4% three-point shooting. In East Lansing, a cast of characters are prepped to take on larger roles. Jaden Akins is still around to lead the group.

Pressure is mounting at places like Indiana and Maryland where fans take expectations to the next level. Mike Woodson has done a nice job getting Indiana back to the tournament, but after a subpar year last year, folks in Bloomington are now on the edge of their seats. In College Park, Kevin Willard enters the season looking to improve on a 7-13 disappointment during league-play last year. Willard grabbed Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel in the portal to help build some more winning habits.

Penn State is a team still led by Ace Baldwin, and I suspect Mike Rhoades will overperform expectations as he usually does. The true mysteries are Iowa and Wisconsin in my book. The Hawkeyes arguably have more to work with behind Payton Sandfort and Owen Freeman. This same core of guys produced a 10-10 rollercoaster run last year, that ultimately ended in the NIT. Hawkeyes need to tweak a few things to win on the margins in this improved and deeper B1G. The Badgers are taking a slight step back in talent. Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit are still around and are great leaders. Let’s see what Cam Hunter’s comeback from Central Arkansas looks like and what Xavier Amos or John Tonje can deliver before declaring them an NCAA-level team.

The hype is coming in hot from Piscataway. Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper have made waves with their commitment to play this year at Rutgers. It has already been an action-packed build up to the season. Seems like it may be a struggle with maturity for Steve Pikiell at some point, so I remain in wait and see mode, with tempered team expectations.

Regular Season Champion:
Purdue

Conference Tournament Location:
Indianapolis, IN

Auto-Bid Winner:
Michigan

Player of the Year:
Bruce Thornton - Ohio State

Newcomer of the Year:
Oumar Ballo - Indiana

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Purdue, Ohio State, UCLA ,USC, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Oregon (First Four)

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Purdue, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Oregon, Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, Maryland

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
8

BIG 12 CONFERENCE

A cornucopia of basketball powers have now combined to form the top tier of the Big 12. The blue blood of Kansas was always there. Today, the additions of Houston recently and Arizona this coming season along with the past two decades of sustained Baylor success, makes the top of this league unparalleled. Especially when you throw in a recently loaded Iowa State team. That gives the league as many as five anchors for the other 11 schools to go after and build resumes against. Fascinated to see how this computes when the Bracketology forecasting season of mid-January really begins to intensify.

Houston will open the season at the number two overall spot, with Iowa State coming close at fifth overall on the Big Board. Tremendous respect for the way Houston plays with physicality, and let’s not forget they won the regular-season crown a season ago. It is clear the defense, the relentless rebounds, and the toughness are converted into road wins, which is the hardest thing to do in college basketball. Cyclone Nation is buzzing after last season’s Big 12 Tournament Title and run to the Sweet 16. The returning roster features Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, and Keshon Gilbert. Four portal additions, including two quality bigs, make this roster old and ready to go deep in March.

Kansas, Arizona, and Baylor will be poised to make sure they are each in the hunt for a conference championship. The three powerhouses rarely lose at home, if ever, so it will come down to who can stockpile road wins. In Arizona’s case, it will be interesting to see how Tommy Lloyd’s offensive rim-to-rim system translates with Big 12 travel. They will be playing in mostly tougher environments and seeing some of the nations best defenses in this gauntlet of a conference.

Texas Tech is poised to join the top five projected teams, and Cincinniati is setup nicely to challenge. Grant McCasland enters his second season in Lubbock ready to improve upon last year’s run to the Second Round. JT Toppin comes into this program oozing with confidence and is just a Sophomore. The big man played a key role in New Mexico’s rise to the MWC Tournament title a season ago. Red Raiders are building perfect pieces around the trio of key returnees: Darrion Williams, Chance McMillan, and Devan Cambridge. In Cincy, Wes Miller and the Bearcat community are starving for a tournament bid. The depth and the maturity of the roster is deep this coming season and I believe they make it happen. Four seniors starting with Dan Skillings, Jr., Day Day Thomas, Simas Lukosius, and interior enforcer Aziz Bandaogo.

One of the most unique hires of the offseason came as a result of Mark Pope’s departure to Kentucky, That would BYU’s hiring of Kevin Young from the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Young should help further modernize the game and take advantage of BYU’s deep resources to acquire talent. This first roster is an intriguing one. We know Mawot Mag can play well and contribute from his time at Rutgers and really impressed that Young was able to secure the important veteran guard trio of Dallin Hall, Trevin Knell, and Richie Saunders.

Steve Lutz has been to the past three NCAA Tournaments and Darian DeVries has been to two of the past three. Do not sleep on these guys! Oklahoma State and West Virginia were picked near the bottom of the league, but I think these two coaches are primed for overachievement. Especially DeVries, who gets one last ride with his son, Tucker.

Kansas State and TCU were both difficult to forecast. They begin the season on the outside looking in, but I’m teetering on both. TCU’s schedule is not the strongest, but Jamie Dixon will do another great job at his alma mater, curious to see if its enough for another bid. Jerome Tang had a huge first year in the Little Apple, and a step back last year. Now Tang brings in Coleman Hawkins and more to fix it. Will be a fascinating team.

Regular Season Champion:
Houston

Conference Tournament Location:
Kansas City, MO

Auto-Bid Winner:
Houston

Player of the Year:
Hunter Dickinson - Kansas

Newcomer of the Year:
Tucker DeVries - West Virginia

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Iowa State, Kansas, Arizona, Baylor, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, BYU (First Four)

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Iowa State, Kansas, Arizona, Baylor, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, BYU, Kansas State, West Virginia, TCU, Utah

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
8

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

For complete thoughts on the Mountain West, please refer to the MWC Media Day Preview here:

https://bracketeer.org/inside-college-hoops/2024/10/17/mountain-west-hoops-preview-2024-25

Regular Season Champion:
Boise State

Conference Tournament Location:
Las Vegas, NV

Auto-Bid Winner:
San Diego State

Player of the Year:
Tyson Degenhart - Boise State

Newcomer of the Year:
Jared Coleman-Jones - San Diego State

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Boise State, Nevada (First Four)

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah State, Colorado State

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
3

SEC

A consolidation of the best basketball minds have accumulated throughout the SEC footprint. The league is full of brilliant coaches and recent history has impacted meaningful basketball changes. Alabama and Auburn were annual afterthoughts prior to Bruce Pearl turning around the Tiger program. The Crimson Tide hiring of Nate Oats has not only led to a Final Four, but also a top-overall seed a couple of seasons ago. Home games in either venue are nightmares for opponents. The two programs typically build very challenging schedules as well. Sure enough, they are the top two to watch this coming season. Can you believe Johni Broome is back? And what about Mark Sears and Grant Nelson? - both decided to comeback at Bama.

In Knoxville, a mostly silent legend continues to grow. Rick Barnes’ leadership and staff got them to the Elite Eight last year and helped find a player in Dalton Knecht, who became the nation’s most lethal weapon on the court. This season, the Vols become more offensive and will need to establish a defensive identity again. The foundation is so secure however, I believe the Vols will be in the protected seed mix throughout the year.

The Arkansas/Kentucky drama had and continue to have no dull moments. You’ve heard by now that John Calipari parachuted to Arkansas, which free’d up the big job in Lexington for 1996 National Champion and rising head coach Mark Pope. These two programs both went big in the portal. Calipari’s Hogs will still have a hint of Lexington with it. DJ Wagner, “Big Z” Zvonimir Ivisic, and Adou Thiero all followed Cal to Fayetteville. Stars from Tennessee and FAU in Jonas Aidoo and Johnell Davis have helped form a loaded roster. At Kentucky, Mark Pope built a team his way. Elite shooters are littered throughout the roster. BYU managed to have a really high NET ranking last season due to a lot of high margins of victory in this system. Expect more of that to follow with even better players.

Chris Jans, Todd Golden, and Lamont Paris all entered the league with Matt McMahon at LSU and Dennis Gates at Missouri. They all head into year three in the league with mixed feelings. McMahon and Gates are looking to generate momentum and rebuilt/improved their rosters. Jans and Golden are looking to continue on the same track with incremental gains in the league standings and seed list for the NCAAs. Then we have South Carolina’s Lamont Paris, who won the Coach of the Year and came close to leading a stunning run to a league championship last year. With everyone overlooking them again, this Gamecock team will be dangerous. Fascinating group of coaches here with varying expectations.

In Athens, Mike White might have a sneaky great roster. If a recent exhibition game demolition over UCF is any clue, they look primed to put up a lot of points. Asa Newell will be featured prominently. The 5-star freshman stands at 6-11 and if he can quickly mature around an older set of teammates, this team can go deep and potentially earn their first bid since 2015.

Speaking of offense, Ole Miss is loaded with a roster full of scoring. They put on a clinic recently against Illinois during a Charity Exhibition matchup. Odd to say about a Chris Beard coached squad, but finding the defensive identity may be the biggest challenge left to solve. The good news here is this team will expose inferior opponents and have enough ability to make good teams look bad (like Illinois).

Texas and Oklahoma enter the league for football reasons, but it is throwing Rodney Terry and Porter Moser into the fire. This league has a ton of depth, the Horns and Sooners just add to that. Texas is positioned with a terrific roster and now need to learn best practices on navigating the SEC footprint. Moser’s Sooners got left behind as one of the last teams out last season, and now have a few challenges roster-wise. Will be a hard year for both, but difficulty also presents opportunities.

Regular Season Champion:
Auburn

Conference Tournament Location:
Nashville, TN

Auto-Bid Winner:
Tennessee

Player of the Year:
Johni Broome - Auburn

Newcomer of the Year:
Jaxson Robinson - Kentucky

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Missouri

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
10

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

Stu Jackson has had a full plate since becoming the league commissioner in mid 2023. The league is dedicated to putting Basketball first, but continues to be impacted by football funding. The prize of the league’s economic fortunes, Gonzaga, will be gone by 2026. Now, Grand Canyon will also not join after turning its back on the WCC for more money in the Mountain West. Based on the fate of Saint Mary’s eventually, the conference may be down to eight squads. And that includes Seattle U., who isn’t part of the league quite yet.

Here is the good news. A two-year deal with Oregon State and Washington State keeps the league healthy for these next two seasons and adds extra excitement to a league that can sometimes follow the same patterns each year. On the Palouse, more change is coming with the WSU program turning to David Riley to run the program. Riley remains one of the youngest head coaches in D1 hoops and had a ton of regular-season success at Eastern Washington. Oregon State still is under the watchful eye of Wayne Tinkle and he is excited about this opportunity to get his program on track. The Beavers were struggling in the PAC-12, but this WCC move should allow the program to regenerate some buzz that can impact NIL and recruiting in the near future.

The league of course belongs to Gonzaga until they exit. The Bulldogs have nearly everyone back from a team that went on a torrid run late in the year to get off the bubble, up to a five-seed, and blitzed both McNeese and Kansas in the NCAAs. With Graham Ike, Nolan Hickman, and Ryan Nembhard, this team will be unflappable. Plus the extra depth added with Khalif Battle and Michael Ajayi will help a lot with situational scenarios.

Saint Mary’s looks to maintain a string of three consecutive five-seeds in the NCAA’s bracket. The Gaels have completely dominated the NET ranking scheduling and using advanced scouting to bring in quality opponents, who they can run away from in most cases. It is not uncommon to find the Gaels sniffing the top ten of the NET by February. I believe more of the same is coming behind reigning WCC POTY Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen. Jordan Ross is poised to bring dynamic scoring and athleticism that this program can use to offset the losses of Joshua Jefferson and Aidan Mahaney. The Gaels also added Paulius Murauskas from Arizona and Ashton Hardaway from Memphis to help with quality depth.

In Santa Clara, the frustration continues with metrics like the NET. Despite owning a brutal annual schedule, the Broncos seem to get overlooked by the model or suffer an untimely personnel problem. This year, Santa Clara has the most opportunity in the conference to build an at-large profile. The Broncos have nine strategic non-conference games including two true road contests at Nevada and McNeese (both are in the preseason bracket).

On the Hilltop, the Dons program continues to progress. Had the opportunity to see the team practice lately and Marcus Williams is ready to guide this team. He has other terrific guards in Malik Thomas and Ryan Beasley. Chips Newbury will be such a key frontcourt leader and shooter, and the additions of Carlton Linguard, Jr. and Jason Rivera-Torres have the program on great footing. The key is finding a way to beat Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s or both at least once.

Regular Season Champion:
Gonzaga

Conference Tournament Location:
Las Vegas, NV

Auto-Bid Winner:
Gonzaga

Player of the Year:
Ryan Nembhard - Gonzaga

Newcomer of the Year:
Elijah Fisher - Pacific

Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Saint Mary’s

Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, Washington State

Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
2

COMPLETE PROJECTIONS

Bracketeer's All-American Watch List: Non-Power Conferences

Bracketeer.Org is committed to delivering wide-ranging recognition and coverage to all 31 conferences across College Basketball. The Non-Power Conference Watch List has identified 68 players who were considered for the three All-American Teams and includes players poised to be all-conference level players across each of the 22 eligible conferences. Regardless of position, any player on an active roster can be considered a preseason All-American.

The 2025 Bracketeer.Org Non-Power Conference Player of the Year will be announced in the final week of March 2025.

Bracketeer’s All-American Watch List for the Non-Power Conferences recognizes the college basketball season’s most outstanding players regardless of position. We are excited to find more ways to honor the 22 conferences that do not get nearly enough attention in D1 Basketball. The list contains players from all 22 eligible conferences.

Regardless of position, any player on the active roster is eligible to be considered a preseason All-American. As such, the Bracketeer All-American Teams recognize the outstanding team player and leadership, not merely exceptional individual success. The watch list was comprised after seven consecutive months of schedule consulting and mass-scale roster tracking by Rocco Miller and input from various coaches, industry journalists, and industry peers throughout the offseason.

A midseason watch list will be released in early January or before. The Final All-American Awards will be given in late March.

Eligible Conferences

America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, Conference USA, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, MVC, NEC, OVC, Patriot League, SoCon, Southland, SWAC, Summit League, Sun Belt, WAC

Ineligible for Consideration: ACC, American, Atlantic-10, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Mountain West, SEC, WCC

Preseason 1st Team All-Americans

Tyon Grant Foster, Grand Canyon
Daniel Batcho, Louisiana Tech
Caden Pierce, Princeton
Kimani Hamilton, High Point
Xaivian Lee, Princeton

2nd Team

Christian Shumate, McNeese
Duke Deen, Bradley
Kobe Julien, Arkansas State
Kezza Giffa, High Point
Robert McCray V, Jacksonville

3rd Team

Don McHenry, Western Kentucky
Honor Huff, Chattanooga
Dominique Daniels, Jr., California Baptist
Matt Rogers, American
Barrington Hargress, UC Riverside

 

All-American Watch List

**Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2023-24 season.

 

**Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2023-24 season.

Mountain West Hoops Preview 2024-25

By Rocco Miller

The master plan for college athletics may be drifting away from a rock-solid basketball league like the Mountain West, but the bedrock of this league will not go away. Recent realignment announcements will forever leave its mark on what has been a consistently high-producing conference that sent an astronomical six teams dancing a year ago. With two short seasons left to appreciate this group of 11 programs, let’s enjoy what we have before it ends.

The belle of the ball - San Diego State - has been to two straight Sweet Sixteens now and rarely if ever loses a home game. The Aztecs are creating a lifetime’s worth of what-ifs over the past couple of years, in which both runs ended at the hands of a historically superior UConn team. The Aztecs will have a ton of retooling to do (more on that in a bit) in 2025. But the standard is the standard at SDSU - which exudes defensive suffocation to opposing offenses and raucous home crowds.

The MWC in 2024-25 appears to be wide open. My spring started with quality time spent with the staff at Boise State. They were ectactic at first about the way things were shaping up, and some talk of Darkhorse Final Four contenders. They were looking at bringing the big three back of Tyson Degenhart, O’Mar Stanley, and Chibuzo Agbo. The roster looked good to me as well, and the idea began to grow in my mind. Weeks later, Agbo, surprisingly to Boise, hit the portal and quickly landed at USC. Leaving Boise State with a hit on strength and continuity. Out in Albuquerque, a young phenom big in JT Toppin hit the portal, and landed in the Big 12. The league as a whole has a lot to replace and needs to establish continuity quickly to optimize bids. The six-bid perfect storm of 2023-24 is almost assuredly not going to be possible.

Opportunity lies right in front of the six or seven breadwinners in this league to get an MWC trophy. Non-conference opportunities are there for all, and once again these top-tier programs have stacked themselves with enough opportunities to gain some wins. If you are curious, see our Mountain West schedule page. Nevada will have a great opportunity to continue building on success under Steve Alford, who outcoached a lot of terrific coaches last season. Utah State and Wyoming introduced exciting new head coaches in Jerrod Calhoun and Sundance Wicks, respectively. Calhoun was able to keep three core Aggies and went portal hunting to help build a high-octane offense. With Calhoun’s scheme, the rest of the MW will need to prep a bit differently for the high-upside Aggies. With Wicks, Laramie promises to be energetic. Wicks brings serious energetic juice! He also can coach effectively. Earning the Wyoming job after a tremendous turnaround in short order at Green Bay.

Colorado State and UNLV will be looking a little different this year, yet still have an opportunity to compete. The Rams are a squad who figures to play more through Nique Clifford and Bowen Born. Born has had a prolific career at Northern Iowa when healthy. The Rebels got a major win when retaining Dedan Thomas, Jr. following his MWC Freshman of the Year campaign a season ago. The portal vultures were out in full force for his services. Down in New Mexico, a burgeoning superstar in Donovan Dent is back to try and take New Mexico to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in over a decade. Out West, it’s a potentially recharged San Jose State squad looking to leap back into the top five of the conference. The key for Tim Miles’ group is a healthy Robert Vaihola. Vaihola at full strength two years ago, was an absolute joy to watch. He does a ton of little things to help the Spartans win around the rim and plays intelligently. Vaihola was set to set sail before a brutal leg injury occurred just before the season opener a year ago. Coach Miles brought in some very capable transfers and Adrame Diongue is going to continue maturing as a major rim protector.

Fresno State welcomes in local legend Vance Walburg to lead the Bulldogs into the future. Walburg has had a long career in coaching and was hired to bring a strong connection to the Valley. He was ultra-successful locally at Clovis West High School and earlier in life at Fresno City College. His ridiculous 133-11 dominant record coaching Fresno City College led him to the Pepperdine job in 2006-07. It did not last long as Walburg was dealing with personal issues and the death of his mother. This is a redemption project for him. Walburg brings in some JUCO superstars to shake up the MWC this season. The roster appears to be highly offensive-based. When in the NBA, Walburg coached under George Karl for two NBA teams, so you may see some similarities in those great Coach Karl schemes.

Air Force will have a top team in the country in terms of returning minutes and players. Ethan Taylor is sticking with the program and has all-league-level talent. Joe Scott’s Falcons will look to shake up the league standings, per usual, with a terrific home-court advantage at altitude in Colorado Springs. The portal took away key players Rytis Petraitis and Kellan Boylan, which will likely limit the Falcons, however.

ORDER OF FINISH - PREDICTIONS

  1. Boise State (MWC Reg Season Champs) - Degenhart and Stanley have unfinished business. The Broncos swept San Diego State and won tough road games at Nevada and New Mexico. BSU was the only visiting team from the MWC to win at SDSU last season. This group brings in really important pieces with Alvaro Cardenas to run the point guard spot and a talented 7-footer in Arizona transfer, Dylan Anderson. I think the pieces fit very well for BSU to navigate this changing league with confidence, despite the loss of Agbo.

  2. San Diego State (MWC Tournament Champs) - Aztecs have to retool its offensive priorities, but the defense isn’t going anywhere and neither is Viejas Arena. The defense allows SDSU to pull off crucial road wins in tough environments annually, this year won’t be different. You may see some struggles in non-conference play, especially considering the stiff tests the Aztecs will face, but this is a conference standings-only prediction.

  3. Nevada (At-Large Bid) - The Wolfpack are going to have to tweak its offensive strategy without the shifty-smooth Jared Lucas around Reno any longer, but I believe running more offense through the interior and an improving defensive model, will be enough to help the league earn a third bid to the tournament. Nick Davidson had a cluster of breakout games last season and will be a great leader this year, also some strong shooting should still be in store with the returns of Tre Coleman, Daniel Foster, Tyler Robison, and the key sniper addition of MWC-lifer Xavier Dussell.

  4. New Mexico - Easy to make a case for the Lobos to win either trophy this season, as many of my peers have done. I believe this team will be quality. Early chances with UCLA and St. John’s would do wonders for its at-large resume and the MWC getting more than three bids. The shooting of Dent and impact newcomer C.J. Noland is solid, but no major threats after that from deep. The interior is full of length and experience, led by Nelly Junior Joseph. But I do believe the loss of House, Toppin, and Mashburn leaves the Lobos with a bit less weaponry. And that is a team that the NCAA (unfairly) was prepared to not select last year if the Lobos did not win all of the MWC marbles in Vegas.

  5. Utah State - If I had a way to make an arrow going straight up next to the name, I would. USU landed Jerrod Calhoun, who took Youngstown State from the basement to the top of the Horizon League with his wonderfully orchestrated offensive system. The offense delivers consistent open looks and YSU was able to leverage personnel in a way that got them a high-rate of interior easy buckets. Perhaps most impressively, YSU had the top defense in Horizon League play last year, after being 9th in the league defensively two years prior. This staff is blossoming in many ways and it brings a heavy analytical approach to the MWC. Outside of those fun facts, Mason Falslev, Isaac Johnson, and the ageless Ian Martinez all decided to stay! This team will be a lot of fun.

  6. Colorado State - Ram nation has had seven months to contemplate what life without Isaiah Stevens will be like. Perhaps it won’t sink in until the Rams opener for many. The reality is, the show must go on. The wonderful news is Niko Medved is tremendous and is still in Fort Collins. Riding in on last year’s tournament win, another program milestone. Bowen Born and Keshawn Williams are in to fill most of the Stevens void. Born, when healthy, is as steady of a hand as you’ll find, rarely turning the ball over. If it all comes together, CSU will be back near the top competing for the trophy.

  7. UNLV - The Dedan Thomas return is major. Now Kevin Kruger will have to architect the rest of the pieces to maximize Rebel potential. The Rebs also have to work on consistency, the losses to Air Force and Southern at home last season were backbreaking. Jalen Hill’s recovery from an ACL tear should be complete, his progress is key.

  8. San Jose State - Two years ago, SJSU shocked everyone with a fifth-place finish, trip to the MWCT Semifinals, and #97 finish in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. That was the last time we saw Robert Vaihola. Vaihola was the league’s best 2-point finisher (74%), second-best offensive rebounder, and third-highest offensive-rated player (129.3 ORTG). All of these factors are premium for winning games, his health will determine what SJSU can really do this year. The additions of Donovan Yap, Will McClendon, Sadaidriene Hall, and Josh Uduje all appear to bring upgrades as well.

  9. Wyoming - Sundance Wicks and home games in Laramie is enough to put a few wins on the board immediately. More upside is generated from the effective FG% progress Wicks made at Green Bay. A collection of guards will learn quickly how to effectively play teams off the perimeter and take wise shots on offense. The bigs will learn to keep opponents off the offensive glass. His Green Bay teams thrived in these areas, and it will be interesting to see how much of that foundation carries over.

  10. Fresno State - We spent time covering Walburg above, and its really hard to know what we are getting right away on the court. The league didn't do the Bulldogs a lot of favors by throwing SDSU at them in early December either. Perhaps Amar Augillard is our guy to watch, the JUCO Player of the Year last season averaged nearly 23 points per night at that lever and had decent rebounding and assist numbers.

  11. Air Force - Despite all of the continuity advantages, it is difficult to project this team to be any better than last year. However, the Falcons have been known to sprinkle in some Freshman late to their roster. And they recently added nine new players! Still have no information on who if any will be on the floor. So keep your eye on that.

Atlantic-10 Media Day 2024-25

Greetings from Washington D.C. A beautiful sunrise and seemingly perfect weather day is happening here. Of course, that will not be an option for folks like us because we have 15 scrappy and sometimes tough Atlantic-10 teams to learn about. Thank you for joining.

We begin the day with Bracketeer’s A-10 Ballot for the upcoming year. I am positive of only one thing, there will be a number of surprises in this league as always. Where will they come from and how? Who knows. The exercise I executed on was done with January thru March in mind, league-play only. Teams are all starting in November at different starting points. I expect the well-coached, defensive minded teams to catch up by January. That made the task difficult.

BRACKETEER’S A-10 PRESEASON POLL

  1. VCU - The Rams finished strong with a run to the A-10 Title Game and two wins in the NIT. They worked hard to retain key cogs in Max Shula, Joe Bamisile, and Zab Jackson. Even more impressive is they added an underrated star in Phillip Russell who led UT Arlington and SEMO to winning seasons in each of the past two years.

  2. Loyola-Chicago - The league’s top defense from a season ago, could have an even better defense now. Miles Rubin projects to grow and develop further and the additions of Jalen DeLoach (via Georgia) and Kymany Houinsou (via Washington State) ensure no depth drop-off in defensive commitment.

  3. Dayton - The Flyers own the highest ceiling from a talent standpoint. The additions of Posh Alexander and Zed Key further make this team older and expected to win at a high clip. Can Posh maintain consistency throughout the season?

  4. Saint Louis - Robbie Avila ankle concerns aside, this team can and likely will compete for the league crown. HC Josh Schertz would like a little more consistent shooting, yet with the offensive system being anchored by Avila and Isaiah Swope, I think it will still produce at a high level. Plus the Billikens added a defensive stopper and rebounding machine, Kalu Anya.

  5. St. Joseph’s - The Hawks boast some weapons with the return of Erik Reynolds,
    Xzayvier Brown, and Rasheer Fleming. All three are capable of being all-A10 talents. The Hawks have the tools to leap but need to prove that they can close out wins in such a narrow-margin conference.

  6. George Mason - Tony Skinn had a terrific debut as Head Coach a year ago and is building towards something bigger. A foreign trip snafu has me somewhat hesitant about the inner dynamics of the program, but I will presume that gets resolved by conference play. GMU has KD Johnson in from Auburn and Darius Maddox back in the fold. Could be formidable for A-10 defenders to keep up here. The Pats need to protect the Basketball better to ascent to the top of the mountain.

  7. Richmond - Chris Mooney is entering year 20 if you can believe it. The Spiders are defending regular-season champions and bring a solid core back led by DeLonnie Hunt. The Spiders will need to break in a big man (there ae options), which is vital to Mooney’s offensive flow.

  8. Duquesne - Dru Joyce III takes over the program that captured America’s hearts during March in a historic run to the Round of 32. The Dukes lose key scoring, but have established a tough-minded culture and have some fascinating new faces. Alex Williams was a joy to watch at Furman, I expect him to have an important role.

  9. St. Bonaventure - A true pick based on Mark Schmidt’s tremendous coaching success. The Bonnies are new and fresh and have JUCO’s from high-level programs. Lajae Jones is an impact example, who won big at Barton (the JC National Champs).

  10. Rhode Island - The Rams had a bonding trip to the Bahamas and boosted the overall talent level by adding players like Jamarques Lawrence (via Nebraska) and Sebastian Thomas (an all-KenPom player in the America East last year via Albany). The obvious question remains. How will URI defend? They were near the bottom last year in Blocks, Steals, and adjusted D as a whole.

  11. George Washington - A program on the rise with a lot to like. Coach Chris Caputo is a bright mind in the sport and did an amazing job to keep sophomore phenoms Darren Buchanan Jr., Jacoi Hutchinson, and Trey Autry together. The one down side recently is the injury to Garrett Johnson, torn ACL. Also, the Revolutionaries have a manageable schedule without many tests and they need to resolve defensive issues, much like URI.

  12. UMass - The Minutemen were likely the hardest team to place. Its another talented roster with seven players back. The two stars from last year were Josh Cohen and Matt Cross. They are both gone. Daniel Rivera was brought in from Bryant to help fix the rim protection and overall paint defense.

  13. Fordham - These Rams play with a ton of energy and are best when the game gets chaotic. The core is mainly in tact, can they start shooting it a little better? Hard to say yes.

  14. La Salle - Fran Dunphy teams will find ways to steal wins. The Explorers open a new building this season. It’s impossible to pick them in last place, so they land at 14.

  15. Davidson - I am shocked that I have the Wildcats this low. I like the McKillop system and they should’ve upgraded their shooting skills with Zach Laput, who ripped off near-40% shooting from deep at D2 Bentley. My biggest concerns remain within in giving up too many opposing free throws and not getting many second chances on offense. This is a rough league to pick, because Davidson could easily be in the top half of the league.

ANNOUNCEMENT: The 2024 Western Slam

From the same group who put on the fantastic Atlantic Slam a season ago, On Ice Entertainment, and in conjunction with the ENMAX Center and the City of Lethbridge, another new Canadian event will be coming your way this upcoming basketball season, the Western Slam. Dates are set for November 28-30 with an identical format. Three games per squad, full round-robin event.

WHY THE WESTERN SLAM?

The Western Slam invites the entire community to rally behind College Basketball, creating a collective spirit that will resonate both on and off the court.

  • The Western Slam Event stands as the only NCAA Division I event of its kind in the Western Canadian region, marking a significant milestone for both the event and the city of Lethbridge, Alberta.

  • The event promises not only an electrifying spectacle but also a substantial economic boost for the community.

  • The Western Slam Event 2024 celebrates the essence and significance of NCAA college basketball, highlighting the talent and dedication of young athletes and the vital role of collegiate sports in shaping athletes' futures.

THE FIELD

KENNESAW STATE - The Owls program soared to new heights in 2023 by winning the ASUN Tournament and Regular Season trophies. That led to several opportunities for the former staff to advance their careers and for the Owls to hire a well-respected rising Head Coach in Antoine Pettway. Now KSU is also on the move. The Owls will compete in Conference USA for the first time. There’s no doubt that the competitive Western Slam will help prepare them for a tougher league. Simeon Cottle is coming off of a splendid Sophomore season and will continue to lead this group into 24-25 as a Junior.

KENT STATE - The Golden Flashes have been consistently successful in the MAC. They followed up a run to the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a run to the 2024 MAC Championship Game a season ago. Head Coach Rob Senderhoff received excellent news when VonCameron Davis decided to remove his name out of the portal and return to Kent State. Davis will help lead a talented group during the 24-25 campaign.

TOWSON - The always competitive Tigers will continue its trend of scheduling challenging games this coming season under Pat Skerry. The Tigers program has finished in the Top 150 of KenPom rankings in three consecutive seasons. They’ve fallen short in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament for three straight years. So Towson will be hungry and on a mission all year long to get over that hump. Towson plans to bring back as many as eight significant contributors for the upcoming year.

UC IRVINE - Off of another Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, Russell Turner and the Anteaters will be ready to come to Canada and learn more about this new team. Losing Derin Saran and Carter Welling certainly isn’t ideal, however, UCI does have a good chunk of production coming back. That list includes the big man, Bent Leuchten, who was in the portal for a while but opted to return.

THE SCHEDULE

At Press Time - all games are tentatively scheduled and subject to a different order.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH

  • UC Irvine vs. Kennesaw State

  • Towson vs. Kent State

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH

  • Kennesaw State vs. Towson

  • Kent State vs. UC Irvine

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH

  • Kent State vs. Kennesaw State

  • UC Irvine vs. Towson

THE VENUE

EnMax Centre

A 5,479-seat multi-purpose arena, in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Renovations to upgrade the facility were completed in spring 2012. Among the improvements are an expansion of 40,809 square feet, the addition of 18 luxury suites, improved concessions and washrooms, a new press box, and a restaurant/lounge.

2024 Field Updates - The Rady Children's Invitational

BYU, NC State, Ole Miss, and Purdue are planning to headline the 2024 Rady Children's Invitational at LionTree Arena in San Diego, multiple sources told Bracketeer.Org. NC State and Ole Miss are finalizing agreements to participate in the 2024 field.

The event's official dates are Thursday, November 28th (Semifinal Round) and Friday, November 29th (3rd Place Game/Championship Game). This is not an official release.

Arkansas will not participate as initially anticipated in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego next season. Ole Miss was slated to play in the Preseason NIT event in Brooklyn, NY - that event will be moved to another location, details are still emerging. Notre Dame was originally in this event and recently left for the Players NIL Festival in Las Vegas.

THE EXPECTED FIELD

  • Purdue is coming off a memorable run to the National Championship game this past season and the Boilermakers return several pieces of their roster despite losing Zach Edey.

  • NC State is coming off a wild ride to the Final Four in 2024. The NC State addition gives the event, two reigning Final Four teams. The Wolfpack will be an old team again with the return of Michael O’Connell and the addition of Brandon Huntley-Hatfield to go along with Senior vets, Jayden Taylor and Ben Middlebrooks.

  • Year two of the Chris Beard era is ahead at Ole Miss. The Rebels feel good about their chances to succeed this season with Jaylen Murray, Matthew Murrell, and Jaemyn Brakefield all back in the fold. Each player in this trio averaged in double-figures a season ago. The Rebels also brought in five additional newcomers who averaged in double-figures at their respective previous stops. Malik Dia headlines this group, a versatile big who had a high usage rate at Belmont last season.

  • BYU enters the Kevin Young era on a high. Mark Pope may have just left for Kentucky, but the Cougars achieved high goals a year ago and earned a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament, despite it being its first season in the Big XII. Coach Young worked hard to retain several players from last year’s roster and convinced big man, Keba Keita, to transfer over from rival, Utah.

By Rocco Miller

NEWS: Matchups set for 2024 Acrisure Invitational

One thing has become clear as we look ahead to the 2024-25 season: The place to be is in Palm Desert, California during Thanksgiving Week.

Over four days (November 26-29), Acrisure Arena will be home to 20 games involving high-major teams in Men’s and Women’s College Basketball. If you need an alternative for Turkey Day, look no further.

Announcing The Field for the 2024 Acrisure Invitational

Washington, Santa Clara, TCU, and Colorado State are the latest teams to confirm they will be part of this loaded feast of basketball in the desert. These will be the semifinal matchups to be played on Thursday, November 28th:

  • TCU vs. Santa Clara

  • Washington vs. Colorado State

All four squads will be in action on Friday, November 29th as part of either the Championship Game or 3rd Place Game

Announcing the on-Campus Matchups

UC Riverside and Alcorn State have been confirmed as the participating travel teams within the Acrisure Invitational for 2024. Here is the full schedule of games they will compete in against the remainder of the field:

  • November 18th - Alcorn State at TCU

  • November 19th - UC Riverside at Santa Clara

  • November 21st - UC Riverside at Washington, Alcorn State at Colorado State

  • November 24th - Alcorn State at UC Riverside

Overview

The tournament will again be held at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert.

This will be the second year of the event.

Between November 26th and 29th - 20 high major games will be played at the venue.

ANNOUNCEMENT: 2024 Acrisure Holiday Invitational

The first annual Acrisure Holiday Invitational will occur at Acrisure Arena on November 26th and 27th. Matchups are now set with SMU taking on California Baptist in one Semifinal and Fresno State facing Washington State in the other Semifinal on November 26th. The two winners and losers respectively will meet on November 27th.

On Campus matchups have also been finalized. Full schedule at the bottom of the article.

WOMEN’S HOLIDAY INVITATIONAL

The Women’s field will boast a terrific group of brands - Michigan State, California, Arizona, and Vanderbilt.

Cal will play Michigan State and Vanderbilt takes on Arizona on November 26th. Winners/Losers will meet on November 27th in what promises to be a premier event in the sport.

All games on November 26th and 27th will be held at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert.

HOLIDAY INVITATIONAL: ON-CAMPUS SCHEDULE

Northern Colorado and Prairie View A&M will be the dedicated travel teams for this Multi-Team Event.

November 17th - Northern Colorado at Washington State
November 18th - Prairie View A&M at SMU
November 20th - Northern Colorado at California Baptist, Prairie View A&M at Fresno State
November 23rd - Prairie View A&M at Northern Colorado

The 2023 NABC Brooklyn Showcase - Preview

There’s a Quadruple-Header in Brooklyn Today. This is what we live for.

Two A-10 teams, two ACC teams, the Pac-12, the Big East, the AAC, and the America East Conference. This is Brooklyn on December 10th. Four games, one venue. The 2023-24 College Hoops calendar is full of opportunities early on in the year to see a cluster of teams in one venue. Whether its one of the many MTE’s around the Thanksgiving Holiday or these ever-popular one-day neutral events, there is more access to seeing teams. Selfishly this is a great thing for people like me who want to maximize team coverage, however, I do also believe we are losing too many games on campus as a whole. Nevertheless, I have arrived in Brooklyn and am ready to embrace the day!

Home to the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, the Barclay’s Center will be today’s epicenter in College Basketball.

North Texas - Fordham

North Texas has been an undersold program for several years now. This season, the Mean Green’s arrival to the American should help gather overdue attention. In case it doesn’t- UNT is scheduling anyone they can, anywhere. We are in the midst of a three-game stretch where the Mean Green went to Boise State, play here in Brooklyn today, and then head to Tupelo, MS to play Mississippi State. Why? UNT needs the tests, and it has proven too difficult to get teams to play in Denton that will move the needle. Also, getting these “neutral” chances will help with resume quality within the Quadrant system leveraged by the NCAA Selection Committee.

Today, the Mean Green meets Fordham University for the first time. Fordham came into this year with high expectations and off of a season in which the Rams climbed to second place in the Atlantic-10. Head Coach Keith Urgo sees an opportunity to stay at the top and sought out tests in non-conference play to make another strong in-conference run possible. The Barclay’s Center will once again host the Atlantic-10 Tournament, so today also allows the team to play in the same building where ultimately the fate of its season will be determined.

Fordham University and its basketball program fell in love with the home court advantage inside the Barclay’s Center this past March.

Sour patch kids were delivered earlier this week for very different reasons to each of these programs. North Texas (5-3) was sixty seconds or less away from a key road win at Boise State. Leading by five at the time, a myriad of things fell apart. Two of UNT’s best players Rubin Jones and Aaron Scott fouled out in that final stretch, causing some turmoil. BSU capitalized and finished the game on an 11-0 run. Fordham (4-5) was largely expected to steamroll NJIT, saw a 12-point lead evaporate and the visiting Highlanders seized the moment. That was the second straight home loss after Tulane came in and got the win at Rose Hill last weekend. Stunned North Texas left Boise on Tuesday and stunned Fordham has been looking to correct its mistakes since Wednesday Night.

Both teams entered the season with well-respected defensive reputations. North Texas is darn near elite defensively. Boasting three straight Top 50 finishes in adjusted Defense, and the past two in the Top 25. New Head Coach Ross Hodge has always had his hand in this defense during his time as an assistant for Grant McCasland (now at Texas Tech). The early returns analytically on Hodge are promising. The Mean Green are defending the interior extremely well (22nd nationally vs. 2-pt. attempts) and overall are right there again in the Top 50, at 31st in total adjusted defense. The Rams are a heavy ball-pressure group that loves to discombobulate opposing offenses. It was the crown jewel last season in Fordham’s run through the A-10 and A-10 Tournament. This season the formula remains as the Rams are 22nd in the country at rate of turnovers forced to its opposition. For Fordham, the defense is about where you want it to be mostly- boasting the 84th overall nationally in adjusted defense.

One of the brightest minds in College Basketball, Ross Hodge, is finally running his own program now at North Texas.

The problem for Fordham is the offense. Rams are struggling beyond the arc at 30.4% as a team and horrendous from the line at 61.5% (15th from the bottom in D1). The Rams are also turning the ball over far too often with a rate north of 20% of its possessions resulting in a turnover. That defeats a lot of the Fordham edge with its turnover creation. Unlike the Rams, North Texas is a team with quality shooters. As a team, the Mean Green are nearly 38% from distance and the 2nd best free throw shooting team in America at 80.2%. UNT does have a high rate of turnover issue, however, and that will be a primary key in today’s matchup.  

Fordham returns to the Barclay’s Center. Our last memory of the Rams here was the ruckus Semifinal game vs. Dayton. Very memorable as I’ve never seen such strong support for the Rams in recent memory. They want to recreate that magic this year. I have no idea what to expect in turn out because this is an 11:30 am tip-off and I am barely awake myself. In any event, it’s good for them to get the chance to play in the building again before the pressure is on. North Texas played three competitive games in the Charleston Classic, two gut-wrenchers against St. John’s and LSU followed by a demolition of Towson. Besides the visit to Boise, that was their only experience away from Denton to date. Leaders Aaron Scott and Rubin Jones plus several staff members were part of last season’s successful wins in Springfield over UMass (62-44), and in Phoenix over Grand Canyon (60-58) in what some may consider similar experiences.

Colorado - Miami

In a matchup that will certainly steal most headlines today, the Hurricanes and Buffaloes are set to square off in a matchup that has been circled for many months. Miami, of course, coming off a historic run to the Final Four and bringing back the ultra-talented Norchad Omier along with Nijel Pack and breakout phenom, Wooga Poplar. The Canes were picked by many to upend Duke this season as the ACC’s shining squad. On the other bench, we have a Colorado team that brought back Tristan Da Silva, KJ Simpson, Julian Hammond III and nabbed a five-star player in Cody Williams for the first time in program history. Expectations for both of these teams entering the year were not only the NCAA’s but perhaps a protected seed (Regional advantage) and/or a favorite to reach the NCAAT’s second weekend. While March will always be the ultimate judge on a season, today’s winner will benefit with a key resume win in a true neutral court competition, far from Boulder and Coral Gables.

Cody Williams is improving rapidly and the data (119.9 ORtg) absolutely loves his efficiency.

Today, the Hurricanes only have one black eye to dwell on. A road rough-up at the hands of Kentucky in the new ACC-SEC Challenge. Certainly forgivable in general. A look at the film that day raised concerns about the Hurricanes’ ability to defend an athletic team such as Kentucky. Colorado is not that level of athlete, but the next cut below. Some serious Buffalo talent exists, CU has elite outside shooting marks, and it will test Miami. Hurricanes also were forced into becoming a jump-shooting team during the unfortunate 31-10 run Kentucky went on early in the second half to turn that contest into a runaway. On the flipside, Miami has looked the part pretty much every other time out. Canes’ obliterated opposition in all five home games thus far including P6 teams, UCF and Notre Dame. The Bahamas showing left no doubt who the best team was, as Miami handled Kansas State and Georgia. Every goal is in front of Miami to achieve, including a high seed in the NCAA.

Wooga Poplar’s shooting numbers are off the charts and the Hurricanes are off to a 7-1 start.

Colorado is finding its way still and has yet to make a big statement. An opportunity to perhaps change that today. Most nights, the Buffs have handled its business. The big concern in Boulder is the vulnerable defense, especially away from home. Colorado State exposed the Buffaloes most recently, shooting 51% and scoring 88 points. Second-half defense melted down in both the Richmond (five-point win)- shot over 50%, and Florida State (OT loss)- shot 61%, games down in Daytona Beach. Tad Boyle is likely tinkering with the right mix and managing any fatigue issues. Today is likely to be another barn-burner and we shall see how he adjusts from those three experiences.

Recognition is due for two of the top three effective three-point percentage teams in the land. Could be a slobber knocker of elegant and effective outside shooting. Miami comes in at 42.5% e3pt.- good for second best in America. Colorado comes in at 41.8%- good for third-best in the country. We could be in for a real treat today. When Julian Hammond III gets his chances, he is deadly and so is Tristan Da Silva and KJ Simpson. Weapons galore from the perimeter. The Canes’ Wooga Poplar is statistically the best downtown shooter on the court at nearly 54%. Also deadly are Bensley Joseph when he gets his chances, and usually Nijel Pack. A shooting showcase may be here, especially with an overflow of NBA scouts expected.

Colorado feels as if they haven’t played up to their potential in previous big games this year. They come in hungry and hyper-focused on defending the perimeter threats, but what is the answer for Omier? You might as well prebake a double-double in the oven because Omier is more than likely to provide that. The Buffs may take for granted that they prevent offensive rebounds/second chances and produce offensive rebounds for their offense. A nice edge on paper for CU on both ends. We’ll see if the perimeter focus impacts the interior edge.  

Miami played in the Hall of Fame Tip-off event at Mohegan Sun. They beat Providence before losing to Maryland there, really the only relevant recent experience up in this part of the country in the past two seasons on a neutral court. Colorado’s best win of last season was arguably the win over Tennessee in Nashville. The Buffs played lights out that day in a 12-point win, and would be another huge boost if they get that type of result here Today.

The 2023 Myrtle Beach Invitational Thread

OVERVIEW

The 2023-24 Myrtle Beach Invitational is set to tip off in mere hours, and we could not be more thrilled to be a part of it for the first time. Also, for the first time, is the ESPN-sponsored event’s move to make this a complete event without a Power Six representative- opening the field to a wide cast of programs with an opportunity to win this thing come Sunday evening.

View from the Shores this morning before the 25 minute commute to Conway.

College of Charleston vs. Vermont - Game 1 Preview

The early favorite has been the College of Charleston since the field was announced earlier this spring. The Cougars came into the season as a complete team, daring the 2023 NCAA selection committee to dig deep in moments of potentially entering the at-large field. Following an uber-successful 31-4 season, the Cougars bring back leaders Ante Brzovic and Reyne Smith. In true Pat Kelsey fashion, the Cougars brought in some intriguing “up-transfers” including CJ Fulton from Lafayette. C of C passed its first test on opening night against Iona, however lost in the Veteran’s Classic by 18 to Duquesne. The Duquesne game had multiple wild runs for each team. The Dukes had the last laugh, getting a ton of good looks from inside the arc (22-for-33). Kelsey’s Cougs will need to clean that up today against the perennial America East favorite, Vermont.

John Becker’s Catamounts enter the Myrtle Beach Invitational with a rotation full of returners. However, the shining star in the season-opening win over Merrimack was Shamir Bogues. The transfer from Tarleton is quickly proving he is a terrific fit in Becker’s system. Bogues got the start had 19 points and shot the ball very well. Aaron Deloney is the preseason pick by many publications to win America East Player of the Year. Vermont only had one D1 game prior to this event and we will learn quite a bit in this marquee matchup this morning.

Wyoming vs. Saint Louis - Game 2 Preview

The great mystery game of the day! Wyoming brings a full roster of intrigue, and none more intriguing than Freshman Cam Manyawu. Manyawu is the first Cowboy in history to begin his career with back-to-back double-doubles. He’s athletic and surprisingly ready at such a young age for a major role at this level. Granted, Wyoming’s only D1 game was against Cal Poly. It is all we have to go off thus far. The very early returns on the Cowboys tell us that they are once again taking shots early in the shot clock (22nd fastest in the nation), and getting to the free-throw line more frequently than anyone in the country. Defensively, the Pokes have excellent defensive rebounding and forced mistakes metrics. Again, grain of salt stuff given Cal Poly is the only D1 game they’ve played. A matchup with Saint Louis will begin to tell us what Jeff Linder really has cookin’.

Billikens came to Myrtle Beach with a couple of D1 wins under its belt. SLU took care of Southern Indiana and Illinois State prior to arriving. Now the Bills hit the road for the first time in 23-24. Although Gibson Jimmerson is still technically a Junior, he has logged 99 games for the program. He continues to be a leader for this squad. Jimmerson made 15 free throws in a 20-point performance vs. Illinois State. The Billiken roster got a shot in the arm when Mike Meadows eventually fell to them via Portland in the portal. Meadows had big games for the Pilots. Unfortunately, he battled injuries all of last season but appears fully good after logging an average of 24.5 minutes in the first two D1 games. Terrence Hargrove can expose mismatches in a big way. He proved that in the opener with 27 points and 15 rebounds. We will see what Wyoming does to try to keep him off the glass. Pretty big key for both squads. Much like Wyoming, SLU will play fast - so this game should be high-octane and reveal quite a bit about both teams. The toughest test for each thus far on the young season.

San Diego State to Play California in Inaugural SoCal Showcase

The defending National Runner-Up, San Diego State, will make the short trip to San Juan Capistrano to participate in the one-day SoCal Showcase vs. California inside The Pavilion, per sources. The date is set for Saturday, November 25th.

The Golden Bears are already set to compete in the annual SoCal Challenge on November 20th and 22nd against two of Bradley, UTEP, or Tulane (Bracket TBA). So the Bears will be hanging in SoCal throughout Feast Week. Excitement is buzzing over the hiring of Mark Madsen. The Bears have overhauled and upgraded talent to go along with a much improved non-conference schedule.

Tickets and Tip-off information will be announced at a later date.

The same group that has worked hard to build the SoCal Challenge is thrilled to host another premier game around the Thanksgiving holiday. The Pavilion is located in San Juan Capistrano, California. The setting provides a “Maui”- like atmosphere with the fans packed into The Pavilion for College Basketball action and a nearby beach for vacationing.

The Inaugural Atlantic Slam

Inaugural Atlantic Slam Brings College Hoops to new brunswick

By Rocco Miller

The Atlantic Slam is coming to College Basketball in 2023. The event is held in Moncton, New Brunswick. Plans are in place to deliver a unique experience for each of the participating teams and fans. The event will not only host college basketball doubleheaders for three straight days (November 17-19), but will also host a High School Basketball showcase featuring three of the best Canadian teams and a top European team. The idea is to give an opportunity for a burgeoning Basketball hotbed (Canada) better access to Division 1 Basketball. The other part that is so unique is that the Province of New Brunswick is showing a substantial commitment to basketball by approving funding for this Event. There are early plans in place to grow the event and add a Women’s field in 2024.

The Avenir Centre

This building looks spectacular. Designed for Moncton’s Junior Hockey program, the Avenir Centre is an 8,500-seat venue that hosts several concerts and events. This will be an opportunity to showcase New Brunswick’s nicest venue to the American audience.

Meet The Teams

The inaugural field will be Gardner-Webb, Yale, Weber State, and Colgate. Four successful programs are now secured to come and launch this event off the ground. The event could not be more thrilled to have this group of teams, which will play a round-robin style event each day between November 17-19.

GARDNER-WEBB – In the past decade of Big South basketball, only two programs have been .500 or better in every conference season – Winthrop and Tim Craft’s Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. One of the more underappreciated tenures in College Basketball is right here in Boiling Springs. Coach Craft has provided a model of consistent winning, highlighted by a trip to the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The 23-24 version of the Bulldogs will bring back several key players including DQ Nicholas, Lucas Stieber, Caleb Robinson, and Julien Soumaoro.

YALE – These Bulldogs had their third-best season (by KenPom standards) in the 24-year tenure of James Jones a season ago. Only the 2020 version (no tournament) and the 2016 edition (advanced to 2nd Round of NCAA’s) proved to be stronger seasons. The year ended with a tough Ivy League Title Game loss to Princeton (who of course went on to make Sweet 16 noise and shock the world). An NIT appearance and a Top 65 finish is a wildly successful team by Ivy League standards. Coach Jones has to feel good about the fact that his top five returners each played significant minutes in the Ivy Title game including three starters in John Poulakidas, Bez Mbeng, and August Mahoney. Matt Knowling projects to have a strong senior season as well. The Atlantic Slam will offer a great opportunity to see where Yale is heading in 23-24.

WEBER STATE – Second-year head coach Eric Duft is no stranger in Ogden. He spent several years on the bench with retired legend Randy Rahe. Coach Duft made strides in his first year, leading the Wildcats to a 12-6 record in Big Sky play and they picked up an opening round win over Sacramento State before falling in a double OT thriller to an uber-talented, and eventual NCAA rep, Montana State team. That loss represents a few important areas. One, these Wildcats were playing well enough to make the NCAA’s last year in Coach Duft’s first season. Two, that loss has got to be driving this Wildcat program all off-season in preparation for the season. The biggest news came recently when NBA prospect Dillon Jones announced he would withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to Weber State. This has some pundits picking the Wildcats to win the Big Sky this season. They will come to compete at the Atlantic Slam.

COLGATE – Amazing that Matt Langel and the Raiders are still rolling. Langel has been in the mix for several high major job openings in recent years but is clearly comfortable in Hamilton, New York, where is leading one of the more successful runs in Patriot League history. The Colgate program has won the Patriot League Tournament in four of the past five seasons and the Raiders have a dominant 44-4 record in the league the past three seasons. All of that success has not always translated to non-conference success, however. Raiders have lost 16 games in the past two non-conference seasons, so the Atlantic Slam will certainly provide a challenge. Colgate got excellent news earlier this week with the announcement of Ryan Moffat’s return. Moffat joins Keegan Records in what looks like a dynamic duo. Colgate does have to replace some quality older players however, and the Atlantic Slam will be right around the time they start to learn a lot about the younger pieces to the puzzle. Especially in the Atlantic Slam’s round-robin format.   

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