December marches on and conference play gets closer and closer. But first, there’s still some marquee non-conference college hoops to nosh on, as Jon Rothstein would say.
So, in today’s College Basketball Weekly, the top mid-major programs are coming under the microscope as we’ll address which of these smaller-conference contenders are really worth monitoring. Meanwhile, Auburn and the SEC also made one last major statement here in the early going. Let’s get into the notable results before the rest, though:
Notable Results
(7) Florida 90 vs. North Carolina 84
(25) Clemson 88 @ South Carolina 91
(21) Memphis 64 @ Virginia 62
(24) Michigan 86 vs. (14) Oklahoma 87
(19) Cincinnati 66 vs. (22) Dayton 59
(4) Kentucky 65 vs. Ohio State 85
Mississippi St. 79 @ (21) Memphis 66
North Carolina 76 vs. (18) UCLA 74
(16) Purdue 69 @ (2) Auburn 87
One More Time: Let’s hear it for the SEC. Kentucky obviously disappointed the conference with their putrid effort against the Buckeyes Saturday, but otherwise, SEC teams largely cleaned up this week and in big moments. Florida took down North Carolina, South Carolina survived against rival Clemson, Mississippi State slapped Memphis around after the Tigers’ strong start this year, and Auburn beat the snot out of Purdue. That league is just a beast.
Respecting the Mid-Majors
With the calendar slowing down a bit in December, let’s set aside some time to examine some of the top mid-major contenders in the country. As always, the lower ranks provide a lot more terrific hoops teams than folks may typically realize. So let’s address a few of them.
Dayton. The Flyers lost A-10 Player of the Year DaRon Holmes and the nation’s best shooter in Koby Brea, yet Anthony Grant retooled to create the most balanced starting five at the mid-major level aside from maybe Gonzaga. The Flyers have fast, feisty guards in Enoch Cheeks, Malachi Smith, Javon Bennett and even Posh Alexander. Nate Santos and Zed Key are power conference imports and anchors of the team in the front, rounding out a very solid top-end rotation for the Flyers. With wins over UConn and Marquette, they’re certain to be players in March.
Drake defies all logic. The Bulldogs had a nice run under Darian DeVries, who took them to three NCAA Tournaments in four years before bolting to West Virginia. However, new coach Ben McCollum has picked up right where DeVries left off after coming over from Northwest Missouri State. Don’t scoff at that directional D2 school, because McCollum lifted four of his top five players from last season’s roster and has that group leading an 11-0 start at the D1 level. Even crazier… zero of Drake’s top six players are seniors
Brian Dutcher is THE MAN. It’s another balanced San Diego State team with athletes everywhere and a terrific defense. However, this is not your typical Brian Dutcher roster. He emphasized the importance of getting old and staying old at the 2022 Final Four, but has had to pivot to a much younger roster than usual in 2024-25. He plays three seniors major minutes but otherwise has six freshmen or sophomores filling out the rotation. Of course, we wouldn’t highlight SDSU unless it was working, and it is, to the tune of a 9-2 start with wins over Houston and Creighton with a pair of Quad 1 losses.
Other Mid-Major Risers
- Utah State: New coach, same results. Like Drake, new coach, lot of new players, yet the same old success the Aggies have had under Craig Smith… and Ryan Odom… and Danny Sprinkle… and now, Jerod Calhoun, who will be swiped up by the next available power conference job — if that school knows what’s good for ’em. Utah State is 10-1 with wins over Iowa and the team below. Also, check out their game against Saint Mary’s on Sunday evening if you can!
- Bonnies looking sharp. Mark Schmidt isn’t in the business of losing games — see his above-.500 record in 10 of the last 11 seasons. But the ’25 group could be his best since at least 2021 as they’re off to a 12-1 start with a lone loss to Utah State^ but a win over Providence already.
- Wayne Tinkle: Back from the dead? Since Oregon State’s miracle Elite Eight run in 2021, the Beavers have fallen and not-so-gracefully. Oregon State followed up ’21 with a 3-28 record in 2022, then an 11-21 mark in 2023 before improving to 13-19 last season, after which they were abandoned in the Pac-12 and jumped ship to the WCC. But hey, they’re back on the rise at 7-2 with only QUad 1 losses. Gonzaga sure could use some real competition.
Auburn is your non-conference champion
The Tigers have easily cemented themselves as the most impressive college basketball team of the first two months of the season and have to be considered the current national title frontrunner. Tennessee fans can make a worthy argument, but the Vols just haven’t had the opportunity to flex their muscles in the face of the nation quite like Bruce Pearl’s squad.
Just look at what they’ve accomplished already. Auburn beat a top-five Houston squad in Houston to start the year, then ripped through Maui with relative ease after a first-round scare vs. Iowa State. Since, they’ve beaten Big Ten foes Ohio State by 38 points and Purdue by 18.
Analytically, Auburn tops KenPom and has the No. 1 offense by a solid margin and also rank top-five in two-point shooting, lowest turnover percentage, avoiding blocked shots and even effective field goal percentage. They’re a dominant offense with a very sound defense and the Tigers have checked every single box in the early months to signify a future national champion. They look like last year’s UConn team so far, it’s been that impressive.
Games to Watch… Next Saturday
You may be interested in random teams like Oregon State, Vanderbilt or Hawaii playing out in Honolulu in the Diamond Head Classic, but aside from that multi-team event which contains zero ranked teams, there really isn’t a worthwhile college hoops game until the Saturday after Christmas. Frowny face, right? But let’s check the highlights of that slate next Saturday:
(17) Ole Miss @ (21) Memphis
(18) UCLA vs. (13) Gonzaga
Utah State @ (23) San Diego State
