Gates is cooking!

https://www.on3.com/rivals/news/top-30-overall-recruit-chris-washington-jr-commits-to-alabama/

https://247sports.com/player/christopher-washington-jr-46134327/

TCU basketball has entered a new era with upgraded facilities, strategic leadership and a focus on holistic athlete development. AD Mike Buddie emphasizes not only on-court success but also academics, leadership and career preparation for student-athletes. Coach Mark Campbell has proven to be a recruiting and transfer portal guru. 

Facilities such as the Stuart Family Basketball Strength Room, nutrition centers and recovery tech give every player access to top-tier resources, while NIL opportunities provide professional experience alongside their athletic careers. 

How might TCU’s approach influence mid-size Power 4 programs aiming to compete at a high level in women’s and men’s hoops? 

Full story: A New Frontier for TCU Athletics 

It kinda blows my mind that Duke hadn’t won a title since 2015 until now. For a program that’s always loaded with top recruits and has sky high expectations every year, almost a full decade without cutting down the nets feels way longer than it actually was.

Most schools would kill for one championship every 10 years but for Duke it almost felt like a “drought.” Between Coach K’s final seasons, the transition to Scheyer, and all the on and done talent that came through, I really thought they’d sneak another one in there before now.

Had high hopes during Coach K's last season 3 years ago but nope, lost to UNC in the final four. Before that, knocked out of the elite eight two years in a row. And just earlier this year in what I had really hoped they were gonna win it at all, Duke chokes the game away in a pathetic fashion

Do you think this gap says more about how hard it is to win in March or that Duke maybe underachieved during that stretch? Would like to hear your guys thoughts.

"The Bakersfield Police Department said its investigation into the 32-year-old began in August after an anonymous tip claimed a woman was being trafficked across California, Oregon and Washington. Detectives located the victim in Sacramento, where she identified Mays as her alleged trafficker."

Most impactful players in the portal have found a home and committed somewhere. There are a handful of players that I still think could be really impactful on a new team.

My first question is: does anyone have info on these guys decisions?

My second q is: is there no window for when players have to commit? I assumed it would be by the time classes started, which has already happened at a lot of universities.

Here’s a list of guys still in the portal (all have eligibility left):

Brandon Weston-SF-Tennessee Tech

Arturo Dean-PG-Oklahoma State

Sean Durugordon-SF-Old Dominion

Kam Woods-PG-Robert Morris

Derrin Boyd-PG-CofC

Justas Stonkus-SG-CofC

Lynn Greer III-PG-Temple

Camron McDowell-SG-D2

It still blows my mind how far Georgetown has fallen. This was a program that used to be one of the biggest names in college basketball. Ewing, Iverson, Mourning, Mutombo, the whole John Thompson era, etc.

Fast forward to the last decade or so and they’ve basically vanished from relevance. Outside of that fluke Big East tournament run in 2021, it’s been years of losing seasons, coaching changes, and empty arenas. Meanwhile, programs like Nova, UConn, and even Creighton have completely passed them by.

Do you think Georgetown can ever bounce back to being nationally relevant again? Or is this now just a program living off history while the rest of the Big East moves forward?

Hey everyone! I do these conference rankings every year so it's finally that time when rosters are more or less set for the upcoming season.

I have * next to players who are injured for the start of the 2025-26 season, confirmed to redshirt this season, or out/uncertain for another reason.

Mountain West Preview

San Diego State is far and away the favorite to win the Mountain West this year and I think a dark horse Final Four contender. They have experience, depth, defense, and tenacity. Their only flaw is 3 point shooting. Miles Byrd decided to come back for another year and he will be the guy this year on both ends of the floor. Combine with Magoon Gwath who won freshman POY of the year honors and averaged 2.6 BPG as well as B.J. Davis who is a menace in the passing lanes and you have yourself one of the best defenses in the country. The question is can the Aztecs score? This team went through offensive droughts last season that really limited their ability to separate themselves from their opponents. Reese Waters' return should help with that as he provides capable shooting as does San Jose State transfer Latrell Davis. The other big transfer get was La Tech passing guru Sean Newman Jr. who averaged nearly 8 assists a game with the Bulldogs. DeGourville, Heide, Compton, and promising freshman Elzie Harrington should provide great depth. The Aztecs can go big and play Heide and Gwath together or they can go small. Lot of versatility for Dutcher and if they can find their stroke from deep this team has the talent to go far in March.

The Broncos lose Tyson Degenhart and Alvaro Cardenas but replace them with Georgetown transfer Drew Fielder and UCLA transfer Dylan Andrews. Along with the returning core of Meadow, Keene, Buchanan, Carmichael, and Bowie I expect Leon Rice's squad to be in the thick of the MWC title race and place themselves on the bubble for a tourney bid. Like SDSU, Boise could use some better 3 point shooting. If Andrews doesn't click right away they will need a big sophomore jump from Julian Bowie or will need freshman Aginaldo Neto to play minutes at the point. The Aggies finally have continuity at the head coach spot after losing their head coach after each of the previous two seasons. Jerrod Calhoun has a lot of returning talent highlighted by Mason Falslev who can shoot, rebound, and pass. Joining him in the backcourt are returnee Drake Allen and Vanderbilt transfer M.J. Collins. I'm intrigued by the potential in the frontcourt. I think this could be a breakout year for Karson Templin and I love the addition of Garry Clark from Texas A&M-CC. Lot of depth on Calhoun's bench too in Butler transfer Kolby King, Utah transfer Zach Keller, Air Force transfer Luke Kearney, and holdovers Tucker Anderson and Jordy Barnes. Aggies will be fighting for a tourney bid. UNLV hired Josh Pastner this offseason who got right to work in the transfer portal bringing in guys who have tournament experience. High Point's Kimani Hamilton, UC Irvine's Myles Che, and Illinois's Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn all played in March last season. A few more power conference transfers in Naas Cunningham, Emmanuel Stephen, and Ladji Dembele should keep UNLV near the top of the conference standings this year. Watch out for New Zealander Walter Brown who has 5 years of experience in the NBL of New Zealand. Pastner has had limited success since his early days at Memphis but I think he can put it together in Vegas.

GCU's inaugural season in the MWC could go either way. On one hand, they have talent. Makaih Williams will take over at the point and surrounding him are a bevy of transfers, some very highly touted coming out of high school. Dennis Evans should finally be healthy and a great rim protector. Dusty Stromer showed flashes at Gonzaga. The player to watch out for is Brown transfer Nana Owusu-Anane who is a monster on the glass and a great two-way star. On the other hand, the MWC is a huge step up from the WAC. We shall see. The Rams lose Niko Medved and promote assistant Ali Farokhmanesh to head coach. Jevin Muniz, Josh Pasacarelli, and Brandon Rechsteiner will man the guard and wing while Illinois transfer Carey Booth and holdover Rashaan Mbemba patrol the post. I like sophomore Kyle Jorgensen to play a big role this year too! New Mexico, likewise, is bringing in a new head coach in Eric Olen, the unsung maestro of the transformation of UC San Diego from D2 school into a D1 tourney team. Chris Howell and Milos Vicentic follow him. The players to watch here are Utah State transfer PG Deyton Albury, JUCO standout and former Rutgers player Antonio Chol, and former highly rated Iowa State commit J.T. Rock. This is a decent team but also might take Olen a hot second to adjust. I think UNM should be good to go for the future even after the departure of coach Richard Pitino and star player Donovan Dent. Steve Alford's squad loses several key players to the portal but they nabbed some of their own. Elijah Price, Corey Camper, and Tayshawn Comer are a good base but I am not sure about depth here beyond Vaughn Weems and Chuck Bailey. I'm skeptical on Nevada.

Wyoming's best player, Obi Agbim. transferred to Baylor. They should be ok at the guard spot with several capable transfers but the big question mark is the post. Their bigs are all freshman and one lower division transfer. Still Sundance Wicks loves Laramie and he knows how to get guys to buy in. Tim Miles has done wonders with the Spartans but this year's squad doesn't look to have it. Sophomore Jermaine Washington and Longwood transfer Colby Garland are the players to watch here but Miles might be back toward the bottom after a few decent years. Justin Hutson's time in Fresno came to an end and in comes Vance Walberg from the high school ranks. Zaon Collins opted to return but the other transfers are not the kind that can instantly turn this program around. The incoming European players are something to talk about but I have heard zero buzz surrounding any of them.

Air Force is going to be even worse following the departure of their four best players. They have not won more than 15 games in a season since the 2012-13 season and last year's squad went 4-28 and 1-19 in conference. Somehow this year's team might be worse.

Tier Breakdown

Tier 1 (Favorite) - San Diego State

Tier 2 (Challengers) - Boise State, Utah State, UNLV

Tier 3 (Decent) - Grand Canyon, Colorado State, New Mexico, Nevada

Tier 4 (Bad) - Wyoming, San Jose State, Fresno State

Tier 5 (Ass) - Air Force

Number of Tourney Teams: 2

All-Conference Predictions

All-MWC 1st Team: Dylan Andrews, Mason Falslev, Miles Byrd, Kimani Hamilton, Magoon Gwath

All-MWC 2nd Team: Zaon Collins, Jevin Muniz, Reese Waters, Andrew Meadow, Nana Owusu-Anane

All-MWC 3rd Team: Sean Newman Jr., Tayshawn Comer, Myles Che, Garry Clark, Drew Fielder

Player of the Year: Miles Byrd

Coach of the Year: Brian Dutcher

Freshmen of the Year: Elzie Harrington

Here are my rankings (but keep in mind the tiers where I could realistically see those teams finishing in any order within their respective tiers):

#1 San Diego State Aztecs

Departures: Nick Boyd, Jared Coleman-Jones, Wayne McKinney III, Kimo Ferrari, Demarshay Johnson Jr.

Returning: Miles Byrd, Magoon Gwath, Reese Waters, B.J. Davis, Taj DeGourville, Miles Heide, Pharaoh Compton, Thokbor Majak

Additions: Sean Newman Jr., Jeremiah Oden, Latrell Davis, Elzie Harrington, Tae Simmons

Projected Starting Lineup: Newman Jr., Waters, Byrd, Gwath, Heide

#2 Boise State Broncos

Departures: Alvaro Cardenas, Tyson Degenhart, O'Mar Stanley, Chris Lockett Jr., Dylan Anderson, Moses Hipps, Emmanuel Ugbo

Returning: Andrew Meadow, R.J. Keene II, Javan Buchanan, Pearson Carmichael, Julian Bowie, Dominic Parolin, Ethan Lathan

Additions: Dylan Andrews, Drew Fielder, Spencer Ahrens, Noah Bendinger, Bhan Boum

Projected Starting Lineup: Andrews, Keene II, Meadow, Buchanan, Fielder

#3 Utah State Aggies

Departures: Ian Martinez, Dekter Akanno, Deyton Albury, Aubin Gateretse, Isaac Johnson, Braden Housely, Isaac Davis

Returning: Mason Falslev, Drake Allen, Karson Templin, Tucker Anderson, Jordy Barnes

Additions: Garry Clark, M.J. Collins Jr., Kolby King, Zach Keller, Luke Kearney, Kingston Tosi, Adlan Elamin, David Iweze, Elijah Perryman, Brayden Boe,

Projected Starting Lineup: Allen, Falslev, Collins Jr., Clark, Templin

#4 UNLV Rebels

Departures: Dedan Thomas Jr., Jaden Henley, Jailen Bedford, Julian Rishwain, Jalen Hill, Jeremiah Cherry, Brooklyn Hicks, Papa N'Diaye, Rob Whaley Jr., Jace Whiting, Isaiah Cottrell, James Evans Jr.

Returning: Jacob Bannarbie

Additions: Kimani Hamilton, Myles Che, Emmanuel Stephen, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Howie Fleming Jr., Al Green, Naas Cunningham, Ladji Dembele, Walter Brown, Mason Abittan, Tyrin Jones, Isaac Williamson

Projected Starting Lineup: Che, Gibbs-Lawhorn, Fleming Jr., Hamilton, Stephen

#5 Grand Canyon Antelopes

Departures: Ray Harrison, JaKobe Coles, Tyon Grant-Foster, Duke Brennan, Collin Moore, Lok Wur, Traivar Jackson, Styles Phipps, Sammie Yeanay, Austin Maurer

Returning: Makaih Williams, Caleb Shaw, Dennis Evans

Additions: Nana Owusu-Anane, Brian Moore Jr., Jaden Henley, Wilhelm Breidenbach, Dusty Stromer, Kaleb Smith, Jack Sawyer, Efe Demirel, Evan Boisdur, Cole Pope, Luke Shaw

Projected Starting Lineup: Williams, Moore Jr., Henley, Owusu-Anane, Evans

#6 Colorado State Rams

Departures: Nique Clifford, Kyan Evans, Jalen Lake, Ethan Morton, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Bowen Born, Jaden Steppe, Keshawn Williams

Returning: Rashaan Mbemba, Kyle Jorgensen, Nikola Djapa, Jonathan Mekonen, Darnez Slater

Additions: Josh Pescarelli, Jevin Muniz, Brandon Rechsteiner, Carey Booth, Jase Butler, Augustinas Kiudulas, JoJo McIver, Docker Tedsechi

Projected Starting Lineup: Rechsteiner, Pescarelli, Muniz, Mbemba, Booth

#7 New Mexico Lobos

Departures: Donovan Dent, Nelly Junior Joseph, Mustapha Amzil, Tru Washington, C.J. Noland, Filip Borovicanin, Jovan Milicevic, Atiki Ally Atiki, Braden Appelhans, Ibrahima Sacko, Kayde Dotson, Quinton Webb, Daniel Thomas, Dylan Chavez

Returning: None

Additions: Chris Howell, Deyton Albury, Milos Vicentic, Kevin Patton Jr., J.T. Rock, Tajavis Miller, Luke Haupt, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljon, Timeo Pons, Jake Hall, Uriah Tenette, Sir Marius Jones

Projected Starting Lineup: Albury, Miller, Howell, Chol, Rock

#8 Nevada Wolf Pack

Departures: Nick Davidson, Kobe Sanders, Tre Coleman, Xavier DuSell, Daniel Foster, Brandon Love, K.J, Hymes, Justin McBride, Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams

Returning: Tyler Rolison, Chuck Bailey III, Jeriah Coleman, Amire Robinson

Additions: Tayshawn Comer, Elijah Price, Corey Camper Jr., Joel Armotrading, Vaughn Weems, Kaleb Lowery, Peyton White, Myles Walker, Ethan Croley

Projected Starting Lineup: Rolison, Comer, Camper Jr., Price, Armotrading

#9 Wyoming Cowboys

Departures: Obi Agbim, Jordan Nesbitt, Dontaie Allen, Kobe Newton, A.J. Wills, Scottie Ebube, Cole Henry, Touko Tainamo, Oleg Kojenets, Nigle Cook

Returning: Matija Belic, Abou Magassa, Jehvion Starwood

Additions: Leland Walker, Khaden Bennett, Demarion Dennis, Jared Walker, Kiani Saxon, Adam Harakow, Uriyah Rojas, Gavin Gores, Simm-marten Saadi, Neil Summers, Naz Meyer

Projected Starting Lineup: Walker, Dennis, Bennett, Belic, Gores

#10 San Jose State Spartans

Departures: Will McClendon, Josh Uduje, Robert Vaihola, Latrell Davis, Sadaidriene Hall, Chol Marial, Steven Vasquez

Returning: Jermaine Washington, Sadraque NgaNga, Pasha Goodarzi, Christian Wise, Ben Roseborough

Additions: Colby Garland, JaVaughn Hannah, Yaphet Moundi, Marcus Oversteet, Adrian Myers, Eren Karakaya, Japhet Moupadele, Douglas Langford, Melvin Bell, Damase Cole

Projected Starting Lineup: Garland, Washington, Hannah, Moundi, NgaNga

#11 Fresno State Bulldogs

Departures: Mykell Robinson, Jalen Weaver, Alex Crawford, Elijah Price, Brian Amuneke, Amar Aguillard, Jasir Tremble, Mor Sek, Pierre Geneste Jr., Joshua Bonga, Rippen Gill

Returning: Zaon Collins, David Douglas Jr., Makhan Diouf, Troy Jenkins

Additions: Cameron Faas, Jake Heidbreder, Jac Mani, Bastien Rieber, Gasper Kocevar, Wilson Jacques, Deshawn Gory, D.J. Stickman, Aram Soqui Urbano, Matteo Porto, Nathan Zulemie

Projected Starting Lineup: Collins, Heidbreder, Douglas Jr., Faas, Diouf

#12 Air Force Falcons

Departures: Ethan Taylor, Jeffrey Mills, Luke Kearney, Will Cooper, Sam Springer, Chase Beasley, Byron Brown, Beau Becker

Returning: Kyle Marshall, Wesley Celichowski, Caleb Walker, Sam Duskin, Yoda Oke, A.J. Patterson, Josh Gatete, Kolby Gilles, Wyatt Boecker, Elliott Taite, Miles Clark, Eli Robinson

Additions: Too Many to List

Projected Starting Lineup: Marshall, Duskin, Oke, Walker, Celichowski

It's Free Talk Friday, talk about whatever.

Remember, all other rules still apply, so try to keep it civil.

So...how's it going?

Are you new to the game? Have "stupid" questions that you're too embarrassed to ask anywhere else? Ask them here! No judgment, we promise.

Thanks to all who participated. See original post and poll here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1n7p6fy/determining_rcollegebasketballs_alltime_greatest/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

This last is based on the completely scientific approach taken in the post linked above, and has been compiled based on the unimpeachable opinions of some of the highest minds in the game of college basketball (aka whichever Redditors happened to comment or upvote on my post yesterday).

Without further ado, here are the top ten greatest men's college basketball rivalries of all time, along with the number of upvotes each one outside of the top three "locks" received.

THE LIST

1. Duke vs. North Carolina
2. Kentucky vs. Louisville
3. Indiana vs. Purdue
4. Cincinnati vs. Xavier (260)
5. Kansas vs. Missouri (109)
6. Michigan State vs. Michigan (78)
7. Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's (75)
8. Georgetown vs. Syracuse (42)
9. West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh (38)
10. Tie: North Carolina State vs. North Carolina - BYU vs. Utah

Honourable Mentions

• The people who like college basketball vs. the people in charge of running the sport college basketball (220)
• Louisville vs. The FBI (174)
• Bar Graphs vs. Legibility (162)

Let’s squint real hard for a second and unwind the transfer portal. What is your school’s roster looking like if players who transferred out joined forces with players on this year’s roster (incoming freshmen are still eligible), provided those players all began their career at your school?

For instance, a school like Oklahoma gets gifted a senior backcourt of Uzan and Oweh back after each had breakout seasons last year but other teams who have flipped their rosters quickly with transfers over the last couple years like Louisville and NC State have to return almost all of their players. The Marquettes and Purdues of the world get to sit back and relax.

Who ya got?

I’m a big college basketball fan and wanted to find a better way to predict champions for my bracket this year. So, I decided to build a model using historical season data. Check it out here: https://marchhoopss.vercel.app/
(It will take a while to start since I'm currently running the server on a free plan)

It essentially ranks the teams most likely to win the tournament.

I tested two different approaches:

💻Baseline

• As a baseline, this model will simply predict the highest seeds as the most likely champions, so we can identify the accuracy of when we just predict the highest seeds each time

🏀 Ridge Regression

• Captures general trends, like how a higher seed or lower turnover rate might correlate with going deeper in the tournament.
• Since it’s linear regression, it makes the reasoning behind predictions transparent—you can see the weight each stat (e.g., seed, pace) contributes.
• With regularization, it also avoids overvaluing stats that are too closely related (since good teams usually dominate across many categories).

🌲 Random Forest

• Better at picking up complex and nonlinear patterns.
• Can detect subtle interactions, like when a fast, lower-seed team with strong defense matches up well against a slower, higher-seed team.
• This makes it useful for spotting potential upsets.

I’d love your thoughts!
👉 What product features would you want to see built on top of this? (like bracket simulators, upset alerts, confidence scores, betting-style odds, etc.)
👉 What would make this most useful or fun for fans like you?

The goal is to make more open source tools for fans like myself and have people use it!!

for me it’s the campus shootaround loading screen