Dec. 25-31, 2023
24 games on the schedule this week, and no feature games, so we'll get through this quick. On to the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 9-6, 1-1 America East.
12/27/23 vs. Vermont (W 73-68).
12/29/23 vs. Rutgers (W 76-68).
12/31/23 vs. Albany (L 72-53).
2 out of 3 for the Hawks this week, including a nice home win over a power 5 conference team. Tough loss to Albany in the conference schedule though.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 4-8, 1-2 American.
12/27/23 at Temple (L 71-47).
12/30/23 at ECU (L 72-70).
The Huskies lose 2 more this week, and that rope is getting tighter and tighter for Coach Childress.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 5-8, 1-0 American.
12/25/23 vs. Missouri (L 66-64).
12/27/23 vs. UCF (W 78-65).
A promising week for the Golden Hurricane, as they take a very strong Missouri team to the wire before taking care of business in their conference opener.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 7-6, 0-1 ACC.
12/27/23 at Boston College (L 62-59).
The mighty ACC is already proving to be a test for Coach Mighty and the Fighting Irish, as they drop their ACC opener, and have 2 more tough ones coming up next week.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 8-4, 1-0 Big 12.
12/28/23 vs. LSU (L 82-74).
12/30/23 at Kansas (W 84-63).
A split for the Horned Frogs, who missed a golden opportunity by losing to LSU. That could have been a marquee win early on.
#15 St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 12-1, 2-0 Big East.
12/27/23 vs. Marquette (W 91-76).
12/30/23 vs. #20 DePaul (W 82-73).
2 more wins for the Red Storm, their winning streak is at 7 now. Next week though, stuff gets real. They are on the road for 2 teams with a combined 23-3 record, both top 10 teams.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 7-5, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/28/23 at South Dakota State (W 81-60).
A much needed win for the Wildcats in their only game of the week, as they start conference play next week, and won't face a team with a current .500 or worse record until Jan. 31st. Oh boy. The win at South Dakota State was career win #100 for Coach Vee.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 3-7, 0-0 Big West.
12/25/23 vs. Dayton (L 67-49).
12/28/23 vs. #19 Yale (W 96-93, OT).
A split for the Warriors this week, as they take some momentum into the start of conference play as they steal an OT win against a ranked Yale team. Hopefully that momentum carries over, because now is when the board will start to wake up and pay attention.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 5-7, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/25/23 vs. Florida Gulf Coast (W 77-76, OT).
An OT buzzer beater for the Golden Panthers in their only game of the week against a solid non-conference foe. They've won 4 of their last 5 and need to carry that to conference play.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 8-3, 0-0 Conference USA.
No games this week for Coach Shocker and the Owls, who were able to enjoy the holidays before going to the Conference USA grind.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 6-6, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/25/23 at Kentucky (W 84-55).
12/28/23 vs. Utah Valley (W 80-57).
2 big wins for the Buffaloes this week to get back to .500. Take nothing away from the 29 point win at Kentucky. Anytime you can go into Lexington and beat Kentucky by 29 points, it's a good thing. This clearly isn't the same Kentucky team that started this dynasty though. Still, the Buffaloes have some strong play to take into Pac 12 play.
#17 Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 10-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/26/23 vs. UMass (L 71-61).
12/29/23 at Montana State (W 88-56).
A split for the Cardinal. They needed that win over UMass. Alas, they have a brutal 3 game stretch to start conference play. 2 of the 3 teams are ranked in the top 10, the other should be ranked, and the combined record of the 3 teams: 32-4.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 10-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/25/23 at Portland (W 63-56).
A game that was much tougher than it probably should have been for the Bruins, but Portland is scrappy this season, as their 8-4 record indicates.
#12 Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 11-0, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/26/23 vs. Portland State (W 62-54).
12/28/23 vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley (W 96-85).
2 more wins for the Cougars, who finish conference play perfect. Granted, the competition was far from terrifying, but for a team that has never made the postseason since the start of this dynasty, 11-0 is phenomenal no matter who it was against. However, the real tests are about to come. It's conference play time.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 6-5, 0-0 SEC.
12/27/23 vs. Marshall (W 90-63).
A much needed win for the Crimson Tide in their only game of the week with SEC play right around the corner.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Jan. 1-7:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Syracuse (63) 13-0 1791 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Virginia (9) 13-0 1731 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Arizona 11-1 1661 3 Pacific-12 Conference
4. Baylor 12-1 1582 6 Big 12 Conference
5. Providence 12-1 1507 7 Big East Conference
6. Wisconsin 12-1 1392 9 Big Ten Conference
7. Georgetown 11-2 1374 4 Big East Conference
8. Creighton 13-1 1309 11 Big East Conference
9. Washington State 11-0 1206 12 Pacific-12 Conference
10. St. John's 12-1 1160 15 Big East Conference
11. Iowa State 9-3 1005 5 Big 12 Conference
12. UC Irvine 11-1 986 23 Big West Conference
13. UAB 10-1 904 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
14. St. Bonaventure 9-2 888 25 Atlantic 10 Conference
15. Florida Atlantic 11-1 742 24 Conference USA
16. Iowa 9-3 678 18 Big Ten Conference
17. Xavier 10-2 628 8 Big East Conference
18. Vanderbilt 9-3 550 NR Southeastern Conference
19. Stanford 10-2 499 17 Pacific-12 Conference
20. Wake Forest 11-2 364 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
21. Louisville 10-3 357 13 Atlantic Coast Conference
22. Indiana 10-2 286 NR Big Ten Conference
23. Ohio State 7-3 246 10 Big Ten Conference
24. North Texas 11-2 149 NR Conference USA
25. Georgia 10-2 116 NR Southeastern Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Michigan State 8-3 103 Big Ten Conference
Texas A&M 9-3 55 Southeastern Conference
Sam Houston State 10-2 51 Southland Conference
UCLA 10-3 36 Pacific-12 Conference
California 8-4 26 Pacific-12 Conference
Memphis 10-3 13 American Athletic Conference
Villanova 10-3 3 Big East Conference
Illinois State 10-3 1 Missouri Valley Conference
San Francisco 10-3 1 West Coast Conference
A 3 spot rise for Washington State, as they are setting records and feats like crazy this season. St. John's also has a big jump. We'll know a lot more about both these 2 teams after next weeks games. Stanford, despite the loss to UMass, only loses 2 spots in the polls. And I'm flabbergasted that UCLA is still on the outside looking in. They are receiving votes though, so hopefully they'll go 2-0 next week and be in.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Jan. 1-7:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. UC Irvine (59) 11-1 1781 3 Big West Conference
2. UAB (7) 10-1 1717 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
3. St. Bonaventure (6) 9-2 1657 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
4. Florida Atlantic 11-1 1611 5 Conference USA
5. North Texas 11-2 1498 8 Conference USA
6. Sam Houston State 10-2 1367 1 Southland Conference
7. Illinois State 10-3 1358 16 Missouri Valley Conference
8. Memphis 10-3 1301 19 American Athletic Conference
9. Yale 11-3 1141 2 Ivy League
10. BYU 11-4 1129 NR West Coast Conference
11. San Francisco 10-3 1094 7 West Coast Conference
12. Massachusetts 9-3 997 9 Atlantic 10 Conference
13. Drexel 9-3 892 NR Colonial Athletic Association
14. La Salle 9-3 722 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
15. Towson 10-3 717 NR Colonial Athletic Association
16. Louisiana Tech 8-3 629 11 Conference USA
17. Houston 9-3 620 13 American Athletic Conference
18. Arkansas State 10-3 602 NR Sun Belt Conference
19. Florida Gulf Coast 10-3 600 10 Sun Belt Conference
20. American 11-3 422 NR Patriot League
21. Central Michigan 8-3 422 NR Mid-American Conference
22. UC Riverside 9-3 349 NR Big West Conference
23. Rice 8-3 241 NR Conference USA
24. Northwestern State 9-3 229 15 Southland Conference
25. Indiana State 10-4 112 NR Missouri Valley Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Fresno State 9-4 72 Mountain West Conference
Tulane 10-4 54 American Athletic Conference
George Washington 8-4 27 Atlantic 10 Conference
Mercer 11-4 25 Southern Conference
Portland 8-4 13 West Coast Conference
Northern Illinois 8-4 1 Mid-American Conference
Not much to say here. Rice continues to be the model for FOFC mid-major teams this season. They jump back into the mid-major top 25 this week despite having the week off.