We had it all the past week with wild games, an NBA Draft pick arriving, dominating performances, comebacks, season-saving wins, record-breaking games and yet another reason why this could be the greatest freshmen class ever.
Here are a dozen thoughts on the week that was.
1. Time to start comparing Michigan with the 1990-91 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. The Wolverines essentially have nine starters and are relentless in their intimidating offensive onslaught and their suffocating D. The Wolverines have already scored 100 or more points seven times, and they beat USC by 30. If you’re looking for games to circle for a possible Wolverine loss there are only a few — at Michigan State on Jan. 30, at Purdue on Feb. 17, vs. Duke in DC on Feb. 21 and at Illinois on Feb. 27.
2. Dusty May of Michigan may be the National Coach of the Year, but he won’t be alone in what should be a highly competitive award. Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Iowa State’s TJ Otzelberger and UConn’s Dan Hurley are all going to be in the running.
3. Braden Smith’s 893 assists with Purdue is a remarkable achievement. He broke Michigan State’s Cassius Winston’s Division-I record of 890 in Saturday’s win at Wisconsin. Smith has done all of this with the Boilermakers. He’s a throwback player who didn’t get another high-major offer, stayed in the same program, developed and became the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2025 and a likely first-round NBA Draft pick in June after his senior season. He led the Boilers to the national title game in 2024. Zach Edey won back-to-back National Player of the Year awards. Who got the 7-foot-4 center the ball? Mostly Smith. He is a model of hard work, determination and loyalty. He should be applauded by all.
4. James Nnaji came off the bench in his Baylor debut to play 16 minutes, scored 5 points, was 2 of 3 from the field, had 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and committed 4 fouls. The Bears lost 69-63 at TCU. The 2023 No. 31 draft pick of Detroit (traded to Charlotte and then to New York) is essentially a rim runner, post defender and ultimately a rotation player. And that’s fine. But that’s who he is. He’s not going to be a game changer for Baylor. He’s simply another needed post player with the Bears down two post players due to season-ending injuries.
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5. Cal, Stanford and SMU all have been searching for ACC-relevant wins. They each got one over the weekend. SMU beat North Carolina behind Boopie Miller’s 27. Cal had a wild win over Notre Dame on a controversial four-point play by Dai Dai Ames. Stanford beat Louisville 80-76 on the Farm. Mark Madsen (Cal), Kyle Smith (Stanford) and Andy Enfield (SMU) have all won at their previous stops. But establishing each program as worthy ACC teams is not going to be easy. These wins helped.
6. I know it’s only the first week of January and the restart or beginning of conference play, but Mississippi State and Providence had season-turning road wins. The Bulldogs, who likely don’t have a win against the field so far, beat Texas 101-98 in overtime in Austin to go to 9-5 (1-0 in the SEC). Josh Hubbard poured in 38 points. The Bulldogs have won five in a row and have a shot to mount a bid campaign. Providence, lacking any kind of resume win so far, won at St. John’s 77-71 to go to 1-2 in the Big East (8-6 overall). Providence hosts UConn and Villanova in two of the next three contests, with a road game at Xavier. Win those and a bid chase is doable.
7. Johnny Dawkins has done it again. For the second time in three years, the Knights have taken down Kansas in Orlando. UCF beat Kansas 81-75 to move to 12-1 on the season. The Big 12 is absolutely loaded and the Knights weren’t one of the teams projected to be in the top five. I still wouldn’t put them ahead of Arizona, Iowa State, BYU, Houston or Texas Tech, but don’t dismiss them. The Knights’ one loss was to undefeated Vanderbilt in game two of the season. Former Mississippi State and Florida guard Riley Kugel has been their best player, averaging 14 and finishing with 19 in the win over Kansas.
8. The MAC hasn’t had two bids since 1999. Miami (OH) is now 15-0 and 3-0 in the league. Travis Steele has a squad to win the league and win games in March. Could this be the year the league gets two bids if they have a one- or two-loss regular-season champ that falls in the conference title game? We shall see.
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9. George Mason might be the least discussed 14-1 team in the country. The second-least may be Saint Louis, which is 13-1. Unfortunately, that may say more about the A-10’s current level of respect. Now, to be fair, neither Mason nor SLU have power-five wins. And that’s why the A-10 may not snap its one-bid status. Mason lost its one power-five game to Virginia Tech while SLU lost its one power-five game to Stanford.
10. Add New Mexico freshman Tomislav Buljan to the long list of impactful first-year players. Buljan scored 25 points in the Lobos win over Wyoming, and the Croatian forward is averaging 12.5 points and 9.4 rebounds.
11. This may be blasphemy, but St. John’s and Florida — two teams that were discussed as Final Four contenders in the preseason — have a lot of work to do to make sure they make the field. The Red Storm and the Gators are each 9-5.
12. Wish I had stayed up Saturday night to finish watching Boise State-San Diego State. This was another reason why the Mountain West is one of the most under-appreciated conferences in the country. San Diego State beat Boise State 110-107 in triple overtime. Boise State had multiple chances to close out the game. The shot of the game came with 0.4 seconds remaining in the first overtime when SDSU guard BJ Davis picked off an errant inbounds and came down to bury a game-tying three-pointer. The junior scored 22 points with 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Boise State and San Diego State both have lots of work to do to be possible at-large teams, but like Utah State and New Mexico, they are more than capable of winning games in the NCAA Tournament if they can get a bid.
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