2025-26 Season

[MikeUMA]

Sports Illustrated, which is hanging on as a digital pub, has a college hoop ranking. We come in at 168.
https://www.si.com/college-basketball/s ... ital-cover

Others in the MAC:
100 - Miami OH - "came painfully close to the Big Dance a year ago, losing by two to Akron in the MAC title game. With five of its top six scorers back, this could be the year for Travis Steele’s team."
105 - Akron
115 - Kent State
123 - Ohio
157 - Toledo
211 - W Michigan
217 - Ball State
234 - Bowling Green - "assistant Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. is still in playing shape, suiting up for the Bahamian national team as recently as last year before being named the country’s head coach. The former Michigan State PG has a bright coaching future."
272 - E Michigan
286 - C Michigan
288 - Buffalo - "It’s hard to believe we’re just six years removed from Buffalo finishing as a Top 25 team per KenPom under Nate Oats. The Bulls are coming off back-to-back bottom-30 finishes nationally under George Halcovage, though they could bounce back this season after keeping guard Ryan Sabol and adding a pair of impact non-Division I transfers Ezra McKenna and Mikhail Pocknett."
332 - N Illinois - "Talent has flowed through the Northern Illinois program in recent years, but wins haven’t followed. Swiss guard Dylan Ducommun has a chance to be its next star after one former Swiss Husky Yanic Konan Niederhauser eventually blossomed into a first-round pick. "

From where we left:
47 - SLU
66 - Lo-Chi
67 - VCU
70 - Dayton
77 - GW
91 - Mason
98 - Bona
113 - Saint Joe
121 - Davidson
132 - Duq
138 - Rhody
144 - Fordham
149 - Richmond
196 - La Salle

Our non-conf opponents:
254 Marshall - "struck gold with a Canadian college transfer in Dezayne Mingo. It hopes for similar luck this season with Western University guard Noah Otshudi."
275 Albany
336 Le Moyne
283 Central CT - "was head and shoulders above the league analytically last season thanks to its elite defense but loses a lot"
81 Charleston - "has one of the strongest one-bid league rosters, with four guys who’ve averaged double figures in D-I plus a pair of strong D-II transfers and a guy who started his career at Duke."
304 Green Bay (maybe in Paradise Jam) - "We saw last season the pitfalls of these celebrity hires at mid-majors with Green Bay (No. 304) and Doug Gottlieb, though Gottlieb has a much-improved roster in Year 2 that should take steps forward."
86 Yale (maybe in Paradise Jam)
223 Evansville (maybe in Paradise Jam)
219 Iona (maybe in Paradise Jam) - "which had a quick hook on Tobin Anderson after two years and is starting fresh with former NBA assistant Dan Geriot. Talent-wise, this is a group capable of winning the league despite being picked fifth here."
108 Oregon State (maybe in Paradise Jam)
162 Harvard - "has lost transfers to Arizona, Georgetown, Stanford and St. John’s in the last three years. That’s why keeping star freshman Robert Hinton this spring was particularly notable. He could challenge for Ivy POY honors."
279 UMass Lowell
146 Boston College - "The last high-major team in the rankings is BC, which would still represent a 35-spot improvement on its KenPom finish from a season ago. Star guard Donald Hand is back, but the Eagles’ talent after him is limited and the resources to acquire said talent are lacking compared to their power conference peers."

[Juice Stand]

Two notables from your post, Mike:
1. It does indeed look like the A10 could be a 1-bid conference again this year, with SLU coming in at a league-best #47. If that plays out to be true in March, then it makes stomaching the MAC move a little easier.
2. If we were still in the A10, #168 would be the second worst team between Richmond and LaSalle, which is not terribly confidence inspiring.

It's written by Kevin Sweeney, who follows mid-major hoops and knows his stuff. He has us slotted in as the #5 team in the MAC, which is where we were picked in the official preseason poll and mirrors a lot of the other preseason rankings out there. Bulletin board material. Let's prove 'em all wrong.

[inthescoop]

I don't follow college basketball social media world much these days.. what's going on with offseason visits from guys like Jeff Goodman or Jon Rothstein? Are they still as relevant?

[JoleonLescottsHair]

1. It does indeed look like the A10 could be a 1-bid conference again this year, with SLU coming in at a league-best #47.

Sure, 1 bid. Another way to look at it is, 7 A10 teams sub-100, zero for MAC. Brutal.

[Juice Stand]

1. It does indeed look like the A10 could be a 1-bid conference again this year, with SLU coming in at a league-best #47.

Sure, 1 bid. Another way to look at it is, 7 A10 teams sub-100, zero for MAC. Brutal.

Agreed. I'm not saying the MAC is on par with the A10, which relates to my second point. We're 5th in the MAC but would be 2nd to last in the A10. It's a shame how the power conferences have pushed the mids out.

[NilesGold]

1. It does indeed look like the A10 could be a 1-bid conference again this year, with SLU coming in at a league-best #47.

Sure, 1 bid. Another way to look at it is, 7 A10 teams sub-100, zero for MAC. Brutal.

If you're looking to maximize our chances to make the NCAAT, the MAC is almost surely the better option in the short-term. That does not make it a better or stronger league. What's unclear is what that impact is on the long-term prospects for the program. For a while now I've been leaning towards the idea that it's easier to "build up" a program at a lower level.

[MikeUMA]

It's a shame how the power conferences have pushed the mids out.

This is the takeaway. The NCAA is favoring more and more the simple presence of being in a power conference. The A10 and any other high mid-major just have a harder time breaking through. It's hard to get the powers to play you in the non-conf slate, and then you just fight your peers in a longer conference season.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

^

Yep, and exactly why UMass should have made a conference move years ago.

[MikeUMA]

Previewing UMass men’s basketball’s first MAC slate
https://dailycollegian.com/2025/10/brow ... mac-slate/

I didn't read this closely and already spotted an error, as it has Tony Barbee still as coach at CMU.

[Steve81]

Sports Illustrated, which is hanging on as a digital pub, has a college hoop ranking. We come in at 168.
https://www.si.com/college-basketball/s ... ital-cover

Others in the MAC:
100 - Miami OH - "came painfully close to the Big Dance a year ago, losing by two to Akron in the MAC title game. With five of its top six scorers back, this could be the year for Travis Steele’s team."
105 - Akron
115 - Kent State
123 - Ohio
157 - Toledo
168 - UMass
211 - W Michigan
217 - Ball State
234 - Bowling Green - "assistant Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. is still in playing shape, suiting up for the Bahamian national team as recently as last year before being named the country’s head coach. The former Michigan State PG has a bright coaching future."
272 - E Michigan
286 - C Michigan
288 - Buffalo - "It’s hard to believe we’re just six years removed from Buffalo finishing as a Top 25 team per KenPom under Nate Oats. The Bulls are coming off back-to-back bottom-30 finishes nationally under George Halcovage, though they could bounce back this season after keeping guard Ryan Sabol and adding a pair of impact non-Division I transfers Ezra McKenna and Mikhail Pocknett."
332 - N Illinois - "Talent has flowed through the Northern Illinois program in recent years, but wins haven’t followed. Swiss guard Dylan Ducommun has a chance to be its next star after one former Swiss Husky Yanic Konan Niederhauser eventually blossomed into a first-round pick. "

From where we left:
47 - SLU
66 - Lo-Chi
67 - VCU
70 - Dayton
77 - GW
91 - Mason
98 - Bona
113 - Saint Joe
121 - Davidson
132 - Duq
138 - Rhody
144 - Fordham
149 - Richmond
168 - UMass
196 - La Salle

Our non-conf opponents:
254 Marshall - "struck gold with a Canadian college transfer in Dezayne Mingo. It hopes for similar luck this season with Western University guard Noah Otshudi."
275 Albany
336 Le Moyne
283 Central CT - "was head and shoulders above the league analytically last season thanks to its elite defense but loses a lot"
81 Charleston - "has one of the strongest one-bid league rosters, with four guys who’ve averaged double figures in D-I plus a pair of strong D-II transfers and a guy who started his career at Duke."
304 Green Bay (maybe in Paradise Jam) - "We saw last season the pitfalls of these celebrity hires at mid-majors with Green Bay (No. 304) and Doug Gottlieb, though Gottlieb has a much-improved roster in Year 2 that should take steps forward."
86 Yale (maybe in Paradise Jam)
223 Evansville (maybe in Paradise Jam)
219 Iona (maybe in Paradise Jam) - "which had a quick hook on Tobin Anderson after two years and is starting fresh with former NBA assistant Dan Geriot. Talent-wise, this is a group capable of winning the league despite being picked fifth here."
108 Oregon State (maybe in Paradise Jam)
162 Harvard - "has lost transfers to Arizona, Georgetown, Stanford and St. John’s in the last three years. That’s why keeping star freshman Robert Hinton this spring was particularly notable. He could challenge for Ivy POY honors."
279 UMass Lowell
146 Boston College - "The last high-major team in the rankings is BC, which would still represent a 35-spot improvement on its KenPom finish from a season ago. Star guard Donald Hand is back, but the Eagles’ talent after him is limited and the resources to acquire said talent are lacking compared to their power conference peers."

Added UMass in both conference for perspective. If UMass was top 100, I'd expect a much stronger non conference schedule. That said the MAC conference seems to mirror the out-of-conference strength. It's time for us to get it going with a goal of Top 100. Given how weak our OOC and Conference schedules are, we have to finish strong and then start scheduling stronger teams in next years OOC. I'd be surprised not to see Rhody on next years OOC schedule and think many NY and metro region fans would like to see Fordham.

[Juice Stand]

New episode of Just Being Frank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVej74gB-eI

There is some solid hoops talk and season preview stuff in their discussion. Of course there's also some "church of Frank" in there too, but it's a good listen to get primed for opening night.

[MikeUMA]

The Collegian delivered a good deep dive on the reassembled roster and what we might expect.
https://dailycollegian.com/2025/10/2025 ... r-preview/

[Juice Stand]

The Collegian delivered a good deep dive on the reassembled roster and what we might expect.
https://dailycollegian.com/2025/10/2025 ... r-preview/

and an x-factor article highlighting Hankins-Sanford, Ndjigue, Banks, and Bettiol: https://dailycollegian.com/2025/10/pell ... r-2025-26/

[69MG]

I'm optimistic, but I'll withhold judgement until I see the Marshall game. I doubt we learned much from the RIC exhibition. Marshall is a good team, but more or less in our class. They'll be a good test as they have a 7'4 center.

Hoping for the best on Monday so that I can put on the maroon-colored glasses for this season.

[69MG]

These have to be the ugliest warm-up outfits I have ever seen. I didn't care to read the article after seeing this picture. When do we play BGSU?

https://bgfalconmedia.com/173660/sports ... p-drought/