Dec. 15-21, 2025
30 games on the schedule this week, and 1 feature game involving a couple teams from Florida. Let's start there:
12/20/25-
North Florida (Felix Abel) @
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- A pretty spirited game that saw North Florida lose a halftime lead. FIU took control in the 2nd half and would have won by more if they wouldn't have missed 15 free throws.
Final Score: FIU- 85, North Florida- 75
Now for the rest of the weekly recap:
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 4-6, 0-0 American.
12/18/25 vs. St. Bonaventure (W 74-62).
12/20/25 at #7 Providence (L 67-53).
A split for the Huskies, who continue to struggle getting over the hump. With conference play starting next week, they better figure it out, or Coach Childress will be packing his bags.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 4-3, 0-0 ACC.
12/18/25 vs. Kansas (L 70-61).
1 game for the Fighting Irish this week, a loss. They have their season tournament next week.
North Florida (Felix Abel) -- 4-6, 0-0 Atlantic Sun.
12/16/25 at South Carolina (L 71-50).
12/18/25 at UCF (L 88-57).
12/20/25 at FIU- feature game, highlighted above.
Terrible week for the Ospreys, who really weren't competitive in 3 loss this week. A winnable game next week before they go into a feature game with another surprising team.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 7-2, 0-0 Big 12.
12/15/25 at Texas-Rio Grande Valley (W 87-79).
12/20/25 vs. Southeastern Louisiana (W 59-48).
2 pretty easy wins for the Horned Frogs this week. They'll also have a feature game next week, and should get a couple good tests before conference play.
#11 St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 8-2, 0-0 Big East.
12/19/25 at Hofstra (L 72-69).
Just 1 game for the Red Storm this week, a surprising loss to a decent, but not great Hofstra team. This one is sure to hurt them in the rankings. 2 more tough non-conference games next week.
#14 Sacramento State (David Ginsberg) -- 7-1, 0-0 Big Sky.
12/18/25 vs. Utah (W 84-76).
12/20/25 at Hawaii (L 66-62).
A split for the Hornets who continue to stay on the west coast. That Hawaii result sure won't please former Hawaii coach B.B. Gunn. 1 more west coast game for the Hornets, then they travel to the opposite coast for a game.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 6-1, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/18/25 at Green Bay (W 81-76, OT).
The Wildcats needed extra time to earn a big road victory, as they continue to try to get as many wins as possible before conference play starts.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 4-2, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/20/25 vs. North Florida- feature game, highlighted above.
A nice win for the Golden Panthers in their only game of the week. 3 games next week, 2 of which should be guaranteed wins, but you never know.
Fairfield (Ariel Pryde) -- 7-2, 2-2 MAAC.
12/17/25 at Temple (W 63-62).
12/19/25 at Siena (L 69-59).
12/21/25 vs. Siena (W 78-47).
More inconsistency from the Stags in back to back games against the same team, but a nice road win at Temple. They better figure out the conference situation though, because 6 of their next 7 are on the road.
Thomas Shepard (San Jose State) -- 3-6, 0-0 Mountain West.
12/18/25 at California (L 69-67).
12/20/25 at St. Mary's (L 71-63).
A pair of tough road losses for the Spartans, who aren't quite playing as well as last season, but not too far off. 2 home games next week before they start a 3 game road stretch to begin conference play.
Wagner (Will Brown) -- 6-3, 0-0 Northeast.
12/16/25 at Lafayette (W 80-65).
12/20/25 at Bowling Green (L 74-53).
A road split for the Seahawks, losing a game they probably had no business losing. Fortunately, their next few games are all winnable, as long as the right team shows up to play.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 2-7, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/17/25 at #18 Wichita State (L 95-85).
Yet another loss for the Buffaloes, as it seems this team has already given up. They might be lucky to win 10 games this season. Time for Coach Nielsen to start thinking about where he wants to coach next season.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 7-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/17/25- Las Vegas Classic First Round vs. (16) Norfolk State (W 73-54).
12/19/25- Las Vegas Classic Quarterfinal vs. (8) Georgia State (W 76-74).
The Cardinal win 2 in their season tournament, but have a really tough test coming up in the semifinals. We'll see if they are up to the task.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 8-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/20/25 vs. Florida (W 82-48).
An easy win this week for the Bruins against a Florida team that has really gone downhill recently.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 6-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/17/25 vs. Seattle (W 59-41).
Another win for the Cougars, and next week they have a creampuff coming to town, which should lead to a very easy win.
#12 Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 7-2, 0-0 SEC.
12/18/25 at Syracuse (L 89-66).
Perhaps playing 4 games last week wore the Crimson Tide out, as they failed to show up at Syracuse. Hopefully they'll regroup for next week.
Arkansas Pine Bluff (B.B. Gunn) -- 2-6, 0-0 SWAC.
12/20/25 at #2 Baylor (L 106-81).
Another bad loss for the Golden Lions. One thing you can say about Coach Gunn, he's not afraid to get his teams ready for conference play by scheduling tough. We can only hope it works to their advantage this year, especially with the season his former team is having.
Troy (Benton Gale) -- 3-4, 0-1 Sun Belt.
12/18/25 at Appalachian State (L 97-77).
Well, not a good debut in conference play for the Trojans, as they were completely outclassed and not ready for Sun Belt play. They have to get it together quick.
San Diego (Charlie Shocker) -- 7-2, 0-0 WCC.
12/16/25 vs. Grand Canyon (W 84-64).
12/18/25 vs. Long Beach State (W 78-53).
12/20/25 vs. San Diego State (W 63-61).
Great week for the Toreros, as they win all 3, including a big in-state win against their in-state rivals. They go into WCC play with a really good feeling, but still have a couple more non-con games mixed in.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Dec. 22-28:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Virginia (72) 11-0 1800 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Louisville 10-0 1727 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Oklahoma 8-1 1655 4 Big 12 Conference
4. Wisconsin 7-1 1562 6 Big Ten Conference
5. Delaware 11-0 1420 8 Colonial Athletic Association
6. Baylor 7-1 1409 2 Big 12 Conference
7. Arizona 7-2 1336 5 Pacific-12 Conference
8. Towson 8-0 1268 10 Colonial Athletic Association
9. Villanova 8-2 1251 16 Big East Conference
10. Missouri 9-1 1094 NR Southeastern Conference
11. Indiana 7-1 1062 NR Big Ten Conference
12. Gonzaga 7-2 1029 22 Pacific-12 Conference
13. Texas 9-1 906 25 Big 12 Conference
14. Providence 7-2 807 7 Big East Conference
15. Michigan State 7-1 711 NR Big Ten Conference
16. Northwestern 6-1 689 NR Big Ten Conference
17. Georgia 8-1 640 NR Southeastern Conference
18. Vanderbilt 7-2 530 23 Southeastern Conference
19. Penn State 7-1 475 NR Big Ten Conference
20. Kentucky 6-1 425 NR Southeastern Conference
21. Southern Miss 8-1 387 NR Conference USA
22. VCU 7-2 252 9 Southeastern Conference
23. Sacramento State 7-1 226 14 Big Sky Conference
24. St. John's 8-2 169 11 Big East Conference
25. UCF 7-1 162 NR American Athletic Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
UCLA 8-2 84 Pacific-12 Conference
Syracuse 7-2 66 Atlantic Coast Conference
Iowa 8-2 62 Big Ten Conference
Alabama 7-2 40 Southeastern Conference
Wichita State 8-2 40 Missouri Valley Conference
George Washington 4-1 37 Atlantic 10 Conference
Kent State 8-2 28 Mid-American Conference
Georgetown 9-2 22 Big East Conference
North Carolina 8-2 13 Atlantic Coast Conference
Utah State 7-2 3 Mountain West Conference
Western Michigan 7-2 3 Mid-American Conference
Davidson 6-2 2 Atlantic 10 Conference
Eastern Illinois 8-2 2 Ohio Valley Conference
Hawaii 8-2 2 Big West Conference
Stanford 7-2 2 Pacific-12 Conference
Washington 6-2 2 Pacific-12 Conference
Alabama, St. John's, and Sacramento State all suffer huge drops in the polls, and Alabama actually falls out. On the flip side, Northwestern is in for the first time in a while, and UCLA and Stanford receive votes.
Now for a look at the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Dec. 22-28:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Delaware (72) 11-0 1800 1 Colonial Athletic Association
2. Towson 8-0 1728 2 Colonial Athletic Association
3. Southern Miss 8-1 1576 10 Conference USA
4. Sacramento State 7-1 1571 4 Big Sky Conference
5. Wichita State 8-2 1420 5 Missouri Valley Conference
6. UCF 7-1 1407 15 American Athletic Conference
7. Kent State 8-2 1346 6 Mid-American Conference
8. George Washington 4-1 1282 19 Atlantic 10 Conference
9. Davidson 6-2 1265 7 Atlantic 10 Conference
10. Hawaii 8-2 1016 9 Big West Conference
11. Richmond 8-2 1001 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
12. Utah State 7-2 982 20 Mountain West Conference
13. Western Michigan 7-2 914 21 Mid-American Conference
14. San Diego 7-2 746 NR West Coast Conference
15. Harvard 7-2 740 NR Ivy League
16. USC Upstate 9-2 640 NR Atlantic Sun Conference
17. Kennesaw State 8-2 617 NR Atlantic Sun Conference
18. Illinois State 6-2 518 11 Missouri Valley Conference
19. Eastern Illinois 8-2 476 NR Ohio Valley Conference
20. South Alabama 7-2 456 NR Sun Belt Conference
21. East Carolina 5-2 438 NR American Athletic Conference
22. Loyola MD 7-2 293 12 Patriot League
23. Milwaukee 6-2 229 3 Horizon League
24. Florida Atlantic 6-2 178 NR Conference USA
25. Princeton 5-2 157 NR Ivy League
Others Receiving Votes:
Marist 7-2 143 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Holy Cross 6-2 113 Patriot League
Tulane 6-2 105 American Athletic Conference
FIU 4-2 95 Conference USA
Fairfield 7-2 94 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
UT Arlington 5-2 51 Sun Belt Conference
Fresno State 7-3 3 Mountain West Conference
Sacramento State stays put at #4 but loses their first place votes, and Fairfield falls out even with a 2-1 week. But good job San Diego who jumps all the way in at #14, and FIU is also still receiving votes.