Dec. 30, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025
33 games on the schedule. No feature games, but a lot of ranked opponents on the schedule this week. Let's get to it:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 10-6, 2-1 America East.
1/1/25 vs. Binghamton (L 71-59).
1/5/25 vs. Vermont (W 82-71).
A home split for the Hawks, who stay over .500 in conference play as they now head on the road for 4 games.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 6-8, 2-1 American.
1/1/25 at ECU (W 70-45).
1/4/25 at #15 Memphis (L 69-58).
A road split for the Huskies, who lose to a very good Memphis team. Still, these are the type of games UConn needs to be winning the most.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 4-9, 0-3 American.
1/1/25 vs. SMU (L 69-58).
1/4/25 at #25 Temple (L 61-45).
Warm up the bus, warm up the bus. That's the chant going around Tulsa in regard to Coach Brown as the Golden Hurricane lose 2 more this week, and have lost 4 in a row.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 6-7, 0-2 ACC.
1/1/25 vs. #11 Miami (L 82-71).
1/4/25 at #4 Syracuse (L 95-79).
2 more losses for the Fighting Irish, as Coach Mighty continues to sit 2 games short of career win #200. Fortunately, the schedule gets easier, so those 2 wins should come soon. Hopefully.
North Florida (Felix Abel) -- 6-8, 0-0 Atlantic Sun.
1/1/25 at Auburn (L 64-55).
1/3/25 at #13 Tennessee State (L 77-62).
1/4/25 vs. St. Louis (L 62-51).
3 more losses for the Ospreys to finish up non-conference play, and now they jump into Atlantic Sun play where they are predicted to finish pretty high. Aside from 1 other team, the conference is pretty weak.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 5-7, 0-2 Big 12.
12/30/24 at Texas (L 109-101, OT).
1/4/25 at #1 Baylor (L 96-82).
Our teams are on a losing trend, and it needs to stop soon, as the Horned Frogs lose 2 more. They fit in another non-conference game next week before going back to Big 12 play.
St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 8-4, 1-1 Big East.
1/1/25 at Xavier (L 74-64).
1/4/25 at #2 Providence (W 71-70).
A road split for the Red Storm, but they get a huge road win over a top 5 team. They got 2 more games on the road next week against solid competition, with one of those games being a non-conference game.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 6-6, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/30/24 at Idaho State (W 89-66).
Just 1 game this week for the Wildcats, and they get a feel good win at Idaho State. At least they'll be .500 going into Big Ten play. After that, who knows.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 7-5, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/30/24 at Missouri (W 77-72).
1/2/25 at Oregon (W 76-67).
A couple huge road wins against solid non-conference teams should give the Golden Panthers a confidence boost going into C-USA play. We'll see starting next week.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 5-6, 0-0 Conference USA.
No games this week for Coach Shocker and the Owls, who used the off week to prepare for a couple road games to open conference play.
Fairfield (Ariel Pryde) -- 6-9, 5-3 MAAC.
1/3/25 vs. Marist (L 72-68).
1/5/25 at Niagara (W 87-78).
A split of the rare variety for the Stags, who lose at home and win on the road. They are still in good shape though.
San Jose State (Thomas Sheppard) -- 6-6, 2-1 Mountain West.
1/1/25 at UNLV (L 97-83).
1/4/25 at Fresno State (W 92-82).
A road split for the Spartans, who are starting to open a few eyes among Mountain West teams. They were predicted to finish last, and although it's early, they are playing pretty good ball.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 6-6, 0-0 Pac 12.
1/1/25 vs. Yale (L 71-58).
The Buffaloes have lost 4 in a row and 5 of 6 after a strong start. They need to right the ship soon now that Pac 12 play is about to begin.
#12 Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 11-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/30/24 at Portland State (W 95-79).
1/1/25 vs. LaSalle (W 74-62).
2 more wins for the Cardinal, who do what other FOFC coached teams couldn't do this season: beat LaSalle. Now they go into the Pac 12 portion of the schedule.
#10 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 10-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
1/1/25 vs. Louisiana Tech (W 95-63).
Just 1 game this week for the Bruins, who get back to their winning ways with a smasher over LA Tech. They'll also start conference play next week.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 8-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/30/24 vs. Cal State Fullerton (L 85-81).
1/3/25 vs. Portland State (W 101-67).
A split for the Cougars this week, as they'll start conference play next week with the murderers row of Pac 12 teams. We'll learn more about them early.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 10-3, 0-0 SEC.
12/30/24 at #8 Florida State (W 67-65).
1/4/25 vs. Mississippi State (W 69-67).
A pair of 2 point wins this week for the Crimson Tide, including a win over former SEC foe Mississippi State, which was the answer to a trivia question by Coach Gunn earlier this week. Now, the Tide get into SEC play for real.
Arkansas Pine Bluff (B.B. Gunn) -- 5-7, 0-1 SWAC.
1/4/25 vs. Mississippi Valley State (L 65-61).
Just a single game this week for the Golden Lions, but they can't start SWAC play by ending the losing streak, as they drop a tough one to what might be the worst team in the conference. That can't be a good sign.
Troy (Benton Gale) -- 3-9, 1-4 Sun Belt.
1/2/25 vs. Arkansas State (W 74-61).
1/4/25 at Arkansas Little Rock (L 90-67).
A split for the Trojans this week, who might have celebrated a bit too much after getting that win, as they went on the road and got trounced after that.
Here's a look at the national top 25 as we go into the week of Jan. 6-12:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Baylor (68) 14-0 1796 1 Big 12 Conference
2. Syracuse (3) 13-0 1724 4 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Vanderbilt (1) 12-0 1664 5 Southeastern Conference
4. Villanova 13-1 1580 3 Big East Conference
5. Michigan State 11-1 1497 6 Big Ten Conference
6. Stanford 11-1 1399 12 Pacific-12 Conference
7. Providence 12-2 1393 2 Big East Conference
8. UCLA 10-2 1204 10 Pacific-12 Conference
9. Georgetown 11-2 1196 16 Big East Conference
10. Tennessee State 14-0 1170 13 Ohio Valley Conference
11. Wisconsin 10-2 1156 9 Big Ten Conference
12. Nebraska 11-1 1004 14 Big Ten Conference
13. Florida State 10-2 906 8 Atlantic Coast Conference
14. Miami 10-2 755 11 Atlantic Coast Conference
15. Princeton 12-1 708 19 Ivy League
16. Arizona 9-3 692 22 Pacific-12 Conference
17. Ohio State 10-2 545 NR Big Ten Conference
18. Sacramento State 11-1 532 21 Big Sky Conference
19. South Carolina 10-1 455 20 Southeastern Conference
20. Mercer 11-1 443 23 Southern Conference
21. Memphis 11-2 405 15 American Athletic Conference
22. VCU 9-3 351 17 Southeastern Conference
23. Temple 9-1 230 25 American Athletic Conference
24. Florida 11-2 171 NR Southeastern Conference
25. Indiana 10-2 95 NR Big Ten Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Virginia 10-3 88 Atlantic Coast Conference
Loyola Chicago 11-2 76 Missouri Valley Conference
Pepperdine 11-2 72 West Coast Conference
Oklahoma 10-3 53 Big 12 Conference
George Washington 9-2 29 Atlantic 10 Conference
USC Upstate 11-2 10 Atlantic Sun Conference
Penn State 10-2 1 Big Ten Conference
UCLA moves up 2 spots this week, while Stanford moves up 6 spots. Unfortunately, Alabama, who probably should have gotten a few votes, didn't.
Now a look at the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Jan. 6-12:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Tennessee State (72) 14-0 1800 1 Ohio Valley Conference
2. Princeton 12-1 1696 3 Ivy League
3. Memphis 11-2 1596 2 American Athletic Conference
4. Sacramento State 11-1 1551 5 Big Sky Conference
5. Mercer 11-1 1537 8 Southern Conference
6. Temple 9-1 1441 7 American Athletic Conference
7. George Washington 9-2 1343 9 Atlantic 10 Conference
8. Loyola Chicago 11-2 1343 4 Missouri Valley Conference
9. Pepperdine 11-2 1268 11 West Coast Conference
10. USC Upstate 11-2 1169 12 Atlantic Sun Conference
11. Massachusetts 9-3 1025 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
12. Boise State 9-3 963 21 Mountain West Conference
13. Long Beach State 10-3 951 22 Big West Conference
14. Central Michigan 10-3 832 10 Mid-American Conference
15. Air Force 10-3 745 20 Mountain West Conference
16. New Hampshire 10-3 696 6 America East Conference
17. UC Riverside 10-3 653 24 Big West Conference
18. Hawaii 9-3 557 NR Big West Conference
19. McNeese State 9-3 491 NR Southland Conference
20. Old Dominion 7-3 402 15 Conference USA
21. Northwestern State 9-3 373 NR Southland Conference
22. Richmond 7-3 223 13 Atlantic 10 Conference
23. St. Bonaventure 8-4 199 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
24. Florida Atlantic 9-3 182 NR Conference USA
25. Fresno State 9-4 112 17 Mountain West Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Evansville 10-4 87 Missouri Valley Conference
Davidson 8-4 71 Atlantic 10 Conference
SMU 9-4 26 American Athletic Conference
Harvard 9-4 22 Ivy League
Saint Joseph's 8-4 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
Ohio 9-4 12 Mid-American Conference
Middle Tennessee 8-4 6 Conference USA
Northern Illinois 8-4 5 Mid-American Conference
BYU 11-5 1 West Coast Conference
If only the board had been more patient with Coach Gunn, then we might have an FOFC coached team in the mid-major top 25, as Hawaii is there. Go figure. Ugh!