Dec. 28, 2026-Jan. 3, 2027
33 games on the schedule, and 1 feature game, in the Northeast conference, so we'll start there.
12/31/26-
Bryant (Rob Nielsen) @
Wagner (Will Brown) -- A low scoring first half in this one, but things definitely picked up in the 2nd half. Although neither team shot over 40%, Bryant got to the line more thanks to a rebounding edge to get the road victory.
Final Score: Bryant- 61, Wagner - 50
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
#18 Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 11-2, 1-0 ACC.
12/30/26 vs. Georgia Tech (W 78-55).
A good start to ACC play for Notre Dame, but they'll get more of a test next week as they started getting into ranked ACC opponents.
North Florida (Felix Abel) -- 6-7, 0-0 Atlantic Sun.
12/28/26 at South Carolina (L 72-59).
1/1/27 at Florida A&M (W 59-57).
A split for the Ospreys on the road as they survive a tough Florida A&M team, and actually played well at South Carolina.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 7-6, 0-2 Big 12.
12/28/26 at Kansas State (L 73-56).
1/2/27 at Kansas (L 85-83).
The Horned Frogs took a trip through Kansas this week and it didn't go well, as they lost both games. They did almost beat Kansas, but not quite.
St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 10-3, 1-1 Big East.
12/30/26 vs. DePaul (W 96-58).
1/2/27 vs. #3 Providence (L 99-88).
A split for the Red Storm, who certainly wanted a better effort against Providence. The Big East is always a grind though, and the schedule looks to be favorable coming up.
Sacramento State (David Ginsberg) -- 5-5, 0-0 Big Sky.
12/28/26 at Cal Poly (W 67-59).
12/30/26 at UC Davis (L 71-62).
A split for the Hornets, both on the road. UC Davis is a pretty good team, so no shame in that loss.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 9-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/31/26 vs. #10 Texas A&M (W 74-53).
Another big win for the Wildcats this week, as they now have 2 signature wins to boost their NCAA Tournament resume, even though it's still much too early. They'll have a chance for more.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 7-5, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/29/26 at UNC Greensboro (W 73-49).
1/1/27 at Iowa (W 55-44).
2 more road wins for the Golden Panthers, who have won 4 of 5 heading into C-USA play, and seem to be finding their groove.
Fairfield (Ariel Pryde) -- 11-4, 7-0 MAAC.
12/28/26 at Harvard (W 88-65).
12/30/26 at UC Irvine (L 64-57).
1/1/27 at Rider (W 64-52).
1/3/27 at Iona (W 61-53).
A heavy week for the Stags, but they win 3 of 4 on the road, mixing in 2 non-conference games in the middle of MAAC play. They are still undefeated in MAAC play. Knock on wood but if Coach Pryde can continue to dominate the MAAC like he has in his time at Fairfield, bigger schools may start giving him a call.
San Jose State (Thomas Shepard) -- 6-7, 1-1 Mountain West.
12/30/26 at UNLV (L 78-70).
1/2/27 vs. Utah State (W 83-75).
The Spartans finally break their losing streak! It reached 6 games, but it ended with a home conference win over Utah State. Now they look to build on that.
Bryant (Rob Nielsen) -- 5-9, 2-2 Northeast.
12/31/26 at Wagner- feature game, highlighted above.
1/2/27 at Central Connecticut (W 63-59).
2 good road wins for the Bulldogs, as it seems Coach Nielsen might be figuring life out in a small conference. A couple winnable games next week, so we'll see.
Wagner (Will Brown) -- 9-4, 3-1 Northeast.
12/31/26 vs. Bryant- feature game, highlighted above.
1/2/27 vs. Robert Morris (W 66-53).
The Seahawks had a small setback against Bryant, but still look to be one of the classes of the conference which is pretty weak overall.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 9-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
1/2/27 at UT Rio Grande Valley (W 74-48).
Just 1 game for the Cardinal this week, but it was an easy win, a good confidence booster heading into conference play.
#6 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 9-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
1/1/27 vs. #12 La Salle (W 71-70).
A great game here, as the Bruins had to come back in this one, but they get a big win in their only game of the week heading into Pac 12 play now.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 4-6, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/30/26 vs. Eastern Illinois (W 60-52).
1/2/27 vs. Eastern Michigan (L 67-57).
A split for the Cougars, who are really struggling this season. They did have a signature win at Long Beach State, but they'll need a lot more.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 4-8, 0-0 SEC.
No games again this week for the Crimson Tide, who have had 2 hard weeks of practices heading into SEC play. Time to see if it paid off.
Alabama State (Randolph Childress) -- 5-7, 2-0 SWAC.
12/28/26 at Southern (W 93-86).
1/2/27 at Alcorn State (W 59-54).
The Hornets start off SWAC play with a couple road wins as they look to build some momentum. They'll play both a conference and non-conference game next week, both on the road.
Arkansas Pine Bluff (B.B. Gunn) -- 3-10, 0-1 SWAC.
12/29/26 at #1 Baylor (L 78-71).
1/2/27 vs. Mississippi Valley State (L 83-71).
2 more losses for the Golden Lions. That's 4 in a row, but they've competed against 2 top teams in the Big 12, and almost pulled both off. They might have just faced 1 of their 2 toughest challenges in the SWAC, so now is the time for them to make some noise.
Troy (Benton Gale) -- 8-6, 4-2 Sun Belt.
12/31/26 at Northern Kentucky (W 89-62).
1/2/27 at #21 UT Arlington (W 66-58).
Big week for the Trojans, who go on the road and beat a ranked conference team. They have momentum on their side, let's see if they can keep it up.
San Diego (Charlie Shocker) -- 9-5, 2-2 WCC.
12/31/26 at Portland (W 86-80).
1/2/27 at USC (L 76-71).
A split for the Toreros, who really need to take advantage of the teams with a losing record, as there are some strong teams in the WCC.
Here's a look at the national top 25 as we head into the week of Jan. 4-10:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Baylor (72) 14-0 1800 1 Big 12 Conference
2. Wisconsin 12-0 1724 2 Big Ten Conference
3. Providence 11-1 1658 3 Big East Conference
4. UCLA 9-1 1553 6 Pacific-12 Conference
5. Toledo 12-0 1519 7 Mid-American Conference
6. UTSA 12-0 1355 8 Summit League
7. North Carolina 11-2 1348 4 Atlantic Coast Conference
8. Arizona 10-2 1205 11 Pacific-12 Conference
9. Boston College 11-1 1153 17 Atlantic Coast Conference
10. Colorado State 12-1 1147 13 Mountain West Conference
11. Syracuse 10-2 1141 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
12. Long Beach State 12-1 1030 14 Big West Conference
13. Notre Dame 11-2 982 18 Atlantic Coast Conference
14. Ohio State 10-2 839 16 Big Ten Conference
15. New Mexico 10-1 829 20 Mountain West Conference
16. Michigan State 10-2 764 23 Big Ten Conference
17. Duke 10-2 671 22 Atlantic Coast Conference
18. Indiana 10-2 494 NR Big Ten Conference
19. Texas 11-2 480 NR Big 12 Conference
20. La Salle 10-2 456 12 Atlantic 10 Conference
21. Illinois 10-2 336 NR Big Ten Conference
22. Cal State Northridge 9-2 251 NR Big West Conference
23. Washington 10-2 174 NR Pacific-12 Conference
24. Vanderbilt 9-3 118 NR Southeastern Conference
25. St. Francis NY 12-2 77 NR Northeast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Wichita State 10-3 74 Missouri Valley Conference
Arkansas 10-3 58 Southeastern Conference
UT Arlington 10-2 53 Sun Belt Conference
St. John's 10-3 48 Big East Conference
Virginia Tech 11-3 33 Atlantic Coast Conference
Massachusetts 9-3 8 Atlantic 10 Conference
Texas A&M Corpus Christi 9-2 8 Southland Conference
Stanford 9-3 6 Pacific-12 Conference
Iowa State 10-4 3 Big 12 Conference
Gonzaga 9-3 2 Pacific-12 Conference
Minnesota 10-3 2 Big Ten Conference
Northwestern 9-3 1 Big Ten Conference
And a look at the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Jan. 4-10:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Toledo (68) 12-0 1795 1 Mid-American Conference
2. UTSA 12-0 1708 2 Summit League
3. Colorado State (3) 12-1 1664 5 Mountain West Conference
4. Long Beach State (1) 12-1 1597 3 Big West Conference
5. New Mexico 10-1 1513 7 Mountain West Conference
6. La Salle 10-2 1400 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
7. Cal State Northridge 9-2 1304 11 Big West Conference
8. Massachusetts 9-3 1242 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
9. UT Arlington 10-2 1224 9 Sun Belt Conference
10. Wichita State 10-3 1224 8 Missouri Valley Conference
11. St. Francis NY 12-2 1096 13 Northeast Conference
12. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 9-2 1058 14 Southland Conference
13. Boston University 11-3 901 10 Patriot League
14. George Washington 9-3 787 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
15. Fordham 8-3 705 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
16. UAB 9-3 668 24 Atlantic 10 Conference
17. Tennessee Tech 10-3 575 NR Ohio Valley Conference
18. Buffalo 10-3 542 NR Mid-American Conference
19. Boise State 7-3 518 16 Mountain West Conference
20. Middle Tennessee 7-3 502 NR Conference USA
21. Florida Gulf Coast 9-3 371 15 Sun Belt Conference
22. Rhode Island 8-3 291 17 Atlantic 10 Conference
23. Stetson 10-3 243 NR Atlantic Sun Conference
24. Santa Clara 11-4 202 19 West Coast Conference
25. Pepperdine 10-4 96 NR West Coast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Princeton 7-3 77 Ivy League
Tennessee State 10-4 27 Ohio Valley Conference
UC Irvine 8-4 21 Big West Conference
North Dakota State 10-4 18 Summit League
Oakland 8-4 13 Mid-American Conference
UC Davis 9-4 4 Big West Conference
Fairfield 11-4 3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Morehead State 9-4 3 Ohio Valley Conference
Temple 8-4 3 American Athletic Conference
Houston 11-4 2 American Athletic Conference
St. Bonaventure 6-4 2 Atlantic 10 Conference
Appalachian State 9-4 1 Sun Belt Conference