Filter by:
Oct 27, 2023 Big 12 basketball preview: New-look league, same old preseason favorite (Kansas) CJ Moore 26 Four teams join, including the ultra-consistent Houston. But everyone is once again chasing the Jayhawks.
Oct 25, 2023 College basketball coaching tiers 2023: Dan Hurley moves into Tier 1, John Calipari falls Dana O'Neil, Brendan Quinn and more 308 Based on expert input and our own criteria, here's how we rank the top coaches in Division I.
Sep 26, 2023 Big 12 announces 2023-24 basketball schedule: How it shapes up after conference realignment Justin Williams and CJ Moore 19 The Big 12 announced its 2023-24 basketball schedule Tuesday featuring the conference’s four new schools: Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and UCF. Here’s what you need to know:This marks the Big 12’s first time as a 14-team league.Teams will play five Big 12 opponents twice and the...
Jun 16, 2023 UCF requests $176 million in public funding for athletics facilities upgrades, per report: Why it stands out Justin Williams and Chris Vannini 97 UCF officials pitched the local Orange County Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Task Force on Friday as part of the university’s request for $176.6 million in public funding for facility upgrades to its athletics village, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The pitch is part of UCF’s...
Jun 8, 2023 Big 12 to play basketball, soccer, baseball games in Mexico; exploring bowl game in Monterrey Sam Khan Jr. and The Athletic Staff 62 The Big 12 will play basketball, women’s soccer and baseball games in Mexico beginning in December 2024 and plans to explore creating a bowl game in Monterrey, it said Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:The games, which will begin with Kansas and Houston playing men’s and...
Mar 23, 2023 Big 12 to partner with Rucker Park, hopes to host exhibition games on court Max Olson 53 The Big 12 announced Thursday it is partnering with Rucker Park to launch a series of youth clinics featuring its head basketball coaches in Harlem this summer and hopes to host exhibition games on the famed playground court in 2024.The conference is aiming to host men’s and women’s exhibition...
Mar 10, 2023 AAC commissioner Mike Aresco again wants to abolish the Power 5/Group of 5 divide Justin Williams 93 FORT WORTH, Texas — American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco marked the start of the AAC men’s basketball tournament Thursday by releasing a statement that once again took issue with what Aresco believes is an unhealthy division between Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences at the FBS...
Mar 1, 2023 Bracket Breakers 2023: Why VCU might break some brackets plus 6 other teams to watch Peter Keating and Jordan Brenner 39 Bracket Breakers examines why VCU could upset some teams in March and examines other teams to root for to make the NCAA Tournament.
Jan 27, 2023 College basketball All-Freshman team: Brandon Miller, Gradey Dick top midseason list Kyle Tucker 51 The top freshmen this season weren't necessarily the top recruits in the Class of 2022.
Jan 20, 2023 NCAA Tournament Bracket Watch: Purdue claims summit, while the Mountain West peaks Brian Bennett 87 Elsewhere, Purdue claims the No. 1 overall seed, and there's an intriguing First Four matchup.
Jan 13, 2023 NCAA Tournament Bracket Watch: Alabama is a No. 1 seed. Northwestern and Clemson are in Brian Bennett 113 Kansas, Houston and Purdue remain No. 1 seeds in our latest field of 68, while Kansas State continues to rise.
Jan 9, 2023 College basketball rankings: Kansas a deserving No. 1, but then what? Seth Davis 192 A chaotic week in college basketball with lots of upsets forced a shakeup at the top of Seth Davis' ballot.
Jan 6, 2023 NCAA Tournament Bracket Watch: Kansas State, TCU and Providence make big moves Brian Bennett 77 A wild week leads to a shakeup on the No. 1 line and plenty of movement elsewhere.
Jan 2, 2023 College basketball stock report: Buy, sell or hold on Duke, Kentucky, Arizona and more Seth Davis 51 Seth Davis breaks down 25 top teams, forecasting their future heading into the new year.
Oct 28, 2022 College basketball expert predictions: First coaching change? The Athletic College Basketball Staff 22 Seats are warm at places like Nebraska, Georgetown and Pittsburgh this fall. Which school is the first to make a change?
Oct 27, 2022 Dayton, San Diego State, Saint Mary’s headline Mid-Major Top 10 Seth Davis 46 Wyoming, Saint Louis and UAB are other non-power conference schools who could be headed for a big year.
Apr 28, 2022 Top players in the women’s basketball transfer portal Chantel Jennings 59 Three Kentucky players are among the best transfers in women's college basketball.
Mar 21, 2022 2022 Women’s NCAA Tournament odds and picks: Lyndsey D’Arcangelo selects Monday’s Sweet 16-bound teams Lyndsey D'Arcangelo 4 Will No. 1 seed NC State keep rolling? Does No. 2 seed Connecticut dominate again? Our expert says yes.
Mar 19, 2022 2022 Women’s NCAA Tournament odds and picks: Lyndsey D’Arcangelo selects Saturday’s first-round winners Lyndsey D'Arcangelo 5 Well, we’re off and running. The second day of the round of 64 is about to begin.
Mar 14, 2022 2022 NCAA Tournament: Chantel Jennings picks her entire March Madness bracket Chantel Jennings 32 Chantel Jennings argues Baylor deserved a No. 1 seed and says to look for the Bears in the Final Four.
Jan 14, 2022 Bracket Watch: Auburn and Arizona ascend to the No. 1 line, Miami is the new bubble buzzword Brian Bennett 101 LSU and Texas Tech make big jumps, and Memphis is the first team out in our latest 68-team projected field.
Jan 7, 2022 Bracket Watch: Kansas cops a No. 1 seed, while the ACC can barely get arrested in our 68-team field Brian Bennett 115 Michigan State moves up to the 2 seed line in the latest bracketology projection.
Jan 3, 2022 Buy, Sell or Hold on Kentucky, Kansas, Gonzaga and more? The Hoop Thoughts Stock Report, Part 1 Seth Davis 50 An annual tradition, Seth Davis opens the new year with a look at 60 top teams, plus 10 sleeper stocks.
Nov 15, 2021 Men’s college basketball rankings: Duke is up, Texas is down after Week 1 Seth Davis 70 Seth Davis explains why some teams have risen and others have fallen after the first week of action in college hoops.
Sep 10, 2021 Big 12 expands to add BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF by no later than 2024-25 Max Olson and more Less than two months after losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, the Big 12 voted to add four new members to return to a 12-team league.
Sep 10, 2021 The additions of Houston, Cincinnati, BYU and UCF could keep Big 12 basketball elite CJ Moore 63 Big 12 coaches are optimistic that the league won't drop off much with the four new members replacing Oklahoma and Texas.
Sep 9, 2021 Dear Andy: Big 12 is fortunate even without silver spoon, plus Texas-Arkansas erotica and Kevin Kelley buzz Andy Staples 154 Power tiers come and go, but this middle-class conference will be fun and competitive in football and basketball.
Sep 8, 2021 Cincinnati, UCF submit official applications to join Big 12: Sources Justin Williams and Andy Staples Cincinnati and UCF, along with BYU and Houston, have been discussed as potential additions to the league.
Sep 3, 2021 Big 12 expansion: BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston close to being invited: Sources Sam Khan Jr., Max Olson, Justin Williams and Bruce Feldman Sources told The Athletic that the targeted schools have the necessary votes for admission and the process is considered a formality.
Jul 19, 2021 ‘That kid is only 14?’: Class of 2025 standout Darryn Peterson impresses LeBron James and high majors Matthew Gutierrez 48 Peterson, one of the top rising ninth graders in the country, expects his recruitment to take off this fall.
Jul 16, 2021 Brennan: Welcome back to summer hoops. Remember that? Eamonn Brennan 14 After a long hiatus, summer hoops are back. Eamonn Brennan checks in from the Under Armour Association summer calendar in Georgia.
Jul 16, 2021 French big man Yohan Traore making quick impression on recruiting scene CJ Moore 16 Yohan Traore has made a quick impression on the recruiting scene, earning attention from schools such as Gonzaga, Kansas and Ohio State.
Jun 14, 2021 Early AAC men’s basketball rankings: Houston leads the way post-Final Four, with question marks surrounding it Justin Williams 24 The pressure is on Memphis, Wichita State and Cincinnati to improve enough to give the conference multiple bids into the NCAA Tournament.
Mar 19, 2021 2021 NCAA Women’s Tournament Bracket: A guide to all 64 teams, from Stanford to Drexel Chantel Jennings 16 As you begin to pick your Cinderella, get to know every team in the 64-team NCAA Tournament pool with this region-by-region guide.
Dec 21, 2020 21 assistant coaches ready to lead their own programs in 2021 and beyond Chantel Jennings 9 From UNC's Carrie Moore to Stanford's Kate Paye, these women's college basketball assistants are getting head coaching interest.
Dec 21, 2020 NCAA rule changes mean roster madness is coming: Hoop Thoughts Seth Davis 25 Could seniors return en masse next season? Or transfer every which way, leaving high school recruits in the lurch?
Dec 6, 2020 College basketball picks: Villanova-Texas, Xavier-Cincinnati, Kentucky-GT, more Seth Davis 9 Seth Davis picks his ATS winners for Sunday's best games.
Nov 30, 2020 College basketball picks: Four games from the Maui* Invitational and more CJ Moore 10 CJ Moore makes his selections on Monday's biggest games.
Oct 24, 2020 Ideal coaching candidates at Penn State, Wichita State? College hoops mailbag Brian Hamilton 42 Brian Hamilton answers your questions on the Nittany Lions, Shockers, Vanderbilt, Iowa and more.
Aug 10, 2020 The Athletic’s plan to save the nonconference hoops season: 44 pods, 357 schools The Athletic College Basketball Staff 142 With COVID-19 creating massive scheduling and logistical issues for college sports, we present our plan for men's and women's hoops.
Apr 30, 2020 The way-too-early preseason AAC rankings Brian Bennett 13 Houston looks to be the class of the American, with a glut of teams right behind the Cougars.
Mar 5, 2020 Tacko Fall’s challenge: Life as the Celtics’ human victory cigar Jared Weiss 16 He's the biggest man in the building and when he comes into the game, it usually means the Celtics are winning. For now, he's OK with that.
Nov 1, 2019 AAC roundtable: On Memphis, John Brannen, breakout players, NCAA hopes and more The Athletic Staff 27 With the college basketball season beginning next week, we’re taking an in-depth look at each power conference with the benefit of some of our expert voices. We continue on with the American Athletic Conference, and Brian Bennett (staff writer), Seth Davis (The Athletic managing editor), John...
Jul 31, 2019 Seth Davis’ College Hoops Mailbag: Questioning Izzo, assessing Calipari and the hot mid-major coaches Seth Davis 38 Seth Davis answers questions from our subscribers on the latest in college basketball.
Jun 17, 2019 Finch is back! NBA scouts give their candid takes on 2019 draft prospects Seth Davis 85 On Thursday night, a conga line of young basketball players will step onto a stage in Brooklyn, don a hat, brandish a smile and march into the future. The spectacle will unleash a cacophony of chatter analyzing who will thrive, who will sputter, and how each team fared with its picks.Before the...
Jun 3, 2019 Towering UCF draft prospect Tacko Fall savors his Orlando Magic workout Josh Robbins 3 Fall, a 7-foot-6 center, would love to be drafted by and play pro basketball for the franchise he considers his hometown team.
Apr 5, 2019 How can the AAC take the next step as a basketball conference? Justin Williams 33 It starts on the sideline, and hopefully carries into March.
Mar 25, 2019 Duke leans on Krzyzewski's experience and two friendly rolls to survive UCF CL Brown 56 COLUMBIA, S.C. – For nearly four minutes of real time, Duke’s starters huddled, awaiting the decision of a potential UCF shot-clock violation, surrounding coach Mike Krzyzewski on the court. This is where the game was won for the No. 1 Blue Devils, so much as you can say the ball...
Mar 24, 2019 Johnny and Aubrey Dawkins enjoy new beginnings at UCF, and a chance to beat Duke CL Brown 5 COLUMBIA, S.C. – Central Florida coach Johnny Dawkins stands, arms folded, intensely following the ball as the starting unit weaves in and out of its offensive options at a practice earlier this season. The sound of sneakers squeaking and the thump from passes as leather meets flesh is dominant...
Mar 23, 2019 Davis: My ATS picks for Sunday's second-round games Seth Davis 42 By the end of the night, we will have our Sweet 16. Most of the games have been highly competitive and entertaining, and though I charged out of the gate during the first round, my Saturday went about as well as it did for Kansas. Hopefully, I will finish the weekend strong. So enjoy the rest of...
Mar 21, 2019 Davis: My ATS picks for Friday's first-round games Seth Davis 52 The first round of the NCAA Tournament is such a big deal that one picks column is not enough to cover it. So even as the first full day of the tourney gets underway, your fearless forecaster already has his eyes on Friday’s slate. We are wall-to-wall with my precious prescience for 48 glorious...
Mar 18, 2019 East: Duke is the overall No. 1 seed, but Michigan State is a heck of a No. 2 Hugh Kellenberger 11 A full breakdown of the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Mar 17, 2019 Bracket Watch: Settling on the other two No. 1 seeds Brian Bennett 185 By beating Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s becomes our first high-profile bid thief, knocking another team off the bubble.
Mar 17, 2019 Bubble Watch: The suspense is over. Now the waiting begins Eamonn Brennan 119 Here we are, Selection Sunday, and the bubble has officially gone quiet.It doesn’t always go this way. Most years, there is at least some leftover drama still to play out in the spare hours before the selection committee reveals the NCAA Tournament bracket, at least one bubble team that...
Mar 11, 2019 Bracket Watch: A handful of greetings and goodbyes as we begin Championship Week Brian Bennett 182 Our bracketologist Brian Bennett breaks down the field of 68 heading into Championship Week.
Mar 8, 2019 Bubble Watch: Is Murray State for real? Eamonn Brennan 61 Here’s a peek behind the curtain: On the morning of Feb. 12, The Athletic’s college basketball executive editor, Hugh Kellenberger, had just finished editing the latest edition of the Watch. As he prepared to hand it off to our other crack edit squad (Mark Godich and Kevin Spain,...
Mar 8, 2019 Bracket Watch: Clemson, N.C. State and just trying to hang on Brian Bennett 94 In last week’s Bracket Watch, we looked at the teams that could possibly still snag a No. 1 seed. About 24 hours later, Michigan State continued its inexplicable inability to beat Indiana, while Houston lost at home to UCF. Um, thanks for clearing things up, I guess?So as we head into the...
Mar 5, 2019 Bubble Watch: Welcome to Lock purgatory. Now please take a seat Eamonn Brennan 76 The final week of the regular season is upon us. Or, well, mostly: A few leagues, including the potentially bubble-relevant Southern Conference, Ohio Valley and Atlantic Sun, have already spun up their conference tournaments. But for most of the bubble, this is the final week of the regular...
Mar 4, 2019 Hoop Thoughts: Coaches behaving badly, the final week of the regular season, my top 25 and more Seth Davis 165 Iowa coach Fran McCaffery looks like a high school math teacher, and in most settings that is how he conducts himself. I’ve had many conversations with McCaffery in person and on the phone, and on one occasion we had dinner in Las Vegas. He is charming, thoughtful, smart, funny and...
Mar 2, 2019 Saturday Specials: My ATS picks for the day's biggest games Seth Davis 23 Seth Davis picks 10 of the biggest college basketball games on Saturday
Mar 1, 2019 Bubble Watch: All hail Xavier, which is at least making things interesting Eamonn Brennan 55 As we come down the home stretch, some teams that have been here for a while could get forced out by the surging Musketeers of the world
Mar 1, 2019 Bracket Watch: We have a new No. 1 seed, but will another be available soon? Brian Bennett 92 It's March. Congratulations, everybody. We made it.
Feb 26, 2019 Bubble Watch: Why Iowa is a lock, and why we're not nervous about it at all Eamonn Brennan 56 God knows how many newly gray hairs the Hawkeyes are responsible for these last few weeks. Kindly perish the thought of the precious days, the glorious golden-hour sunlight glinting through spotless windows, the grandchildren prancing through the well-kept lawns — all of the...
Feb 22, 2019 Bubble Watch: Help us, bid thieves, you're our only hope Eamonn Brennan 30 Traditionally, Feb. 22 is too early to start scanning the horizon for bid thieves. Even the earliest of conference tournaments are at least a week away; there are regular-season games to attend to and seeds to sort out before.Still, have a look at this:Automatic bids from non-Bubble Watch (i.e.
Feb 22, 2019 Bracket Watch: A humble request for the selection committee Brian Bennett 124 Dear selection committee members,First off, thank you for your service. I hope you get some tasty takeout meals while you’re sequestered in Indianapolis next month. I hear Bazbeaux makes a mean pizza pie.Anyway, I wanted to offer a heartfelt plea as you go into your bracketing deliberations.
Feb 19, 2019 Bubble Watch: What does the RPI think of all this? Glad you asked Eamonn Brennan 67 If the Ratings Percentage Index were a human being — and OK, yes, this is a really weird way to start a sentence, but just go with us here — it would totally be a former university professor: renowned, aging, stubborn and only recently retired.Forty years ago, the RPI’s work was...
Feb 15, 2019 Bubble Watch: The 2019 bubble is kind of a hot mess Eamonn Brennan 53 The bubble is always soft. Or, more accurately, people always say the bubble is soft. Almost a decade after the first 68-team bracket, the allegations leveled at the first expanded field have hardened into a late-winter rite of passage. You can’t have an NCAA Tournament without a bubble,...
Feb 12, 2019 Bubble Watch: The eternal joys (and useful lessons) of a tiny fake bracket Eamonn Brennan 73 Still, there are some teams that we'd love to know how they fit in said bracket.
Feb 8, 2019 Bubble Watch: When in doubt, blame the Pac-12 Eamonn Brennan 34 The Pac-12 lost another team from the Watch this week as the league continues to take a dive
Feb 8, 2019 Bracket Watch: Is it Kentucky or Gonzaga for final No. 1 seed? Brian Bennett 91 Reactions to last week’s Bracket Watch debut were dominated by two discussion threads:1. “Michigan deserves a No. 1 seed over Michigan State!”“No, the Spartans are better than the Wolverines!”“You’re stupid, UM rules!”“You’re ugly, Sparty’s the best!”2. “Indiana’s...
Feb 5, 2019 Bubble Watch: February is here, and the bubble is about to get real Eamonn Brennan 70 Teams don't have much time left to get positioned
Jan 29, 2019 Bubble Watch: Shoot your shot Eamonn Brennan 95 Have you ever visited Denver? Or, more specifically: Has a friend ever talked you into, say, taking a casual morning bike ride to a coffee shop in Denver? If so, then you know: Elevation is no joke.At 5,000 feet, your interloping lungs immediately go nuts, burning in protest before you even...
Jan 23, 2019 Bubble Watch: When moral victories matter Eamonn Brennan 61 A little less than a year ago, we spent a Saturday afternoon inside the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh. It was Pitt’s final home game of 2017-18, the first of the Panthers’ last chances to somehow avoid an 0-18 ACC campaign. Spoiler alert: They didn’t. That last home game,...
Jan 21, 2019 Hoop Thoughts: The Five-Minute Guide, Wisconsin's rule-book awareness, my top 25 and more Seth Davis 51 Eight weeks from today, we’ll be talking about the bracket. Time flies when we’re having fun, right? You can feel the college hoops season gathering momentum, ready to ratchet higher with the post-Super Bowl sugar rush, the late February bubble talk, the emotional close of the regular season,...
Jan 15, 2019 Bubble Watch: What does it mean to be a lock? Eamonn Brennan 65 No, seriously: We’re not sure we know anymore.In the first edition of the 2019 Bubble Watch, we wrote: “It’s new. It’s different. It’s something we don’t totally understand, something we can mess around with and adapt to and figure out on the fly.”We were talking about...
Jan 8, 2019 Bubble Watch: Nobody is a lock! (Except Duke. Duke is a lock.) But nobody else! Eamonn Brennan 131 Lesson learned last season from Oklahoma, the Blue Devils are the only early NCAA Tournament lock. But a handful of teams are close.
Jan 7, 2019 Hoop Thoughts: Howland happy in Starkville, Pitino giddy in Greece, my top 25 and lots more Seth Davis 49 Ben Howland does not want to talk about Steve Alford, which is understandable. It has been nearly six years since Howland was fired by UCLA, which last week dumped Alford midway through the season. “It’s not relevant to me,” Howland told me during a telephone interview last week. “I had a...
Jan 2, 2019 LSU thought the hit was ‘distasteful’ and cause for ejection, but all it did was ignite quarterback Joe Burrow Doug Haller 31 A cheap shot on your quarterback? "If that doesn't make you mad, if that doesn't get your butt in gear — I don't know what will."
Dec 31, 2018 Buy, Sell or Hold? Presenting the annual Hoop Thoughts Stock Report Seth Davis 72 Only one program, with a couple of surprising home losses, earned the coveted Buy Plus rating.
Dec 26, 2018 KenPom: The most likely contenders in all 32 conference races Ken Pomeroy 36 Using his ratings sytem, Ken Pomeroy breaks down each conference race and identifies the favorites and possible contenders.
Nov 6, 2018 The Athletic 2018-19 College Basketball poll: National champ? Player of the year? Most disappointing? The Athletic Staff 37 As another season tips off, a panel of writers weighs in with predictions on teams and players to watch.
Oct 29, 2018 The 68: Kansas is our preseason No. 1 Hugh Kellenberger 90 The Top 68 is a projection of teams The Athletic college basketball staff sees making the NCAA Tournament.
Aug 21, 2018 A night turned deadly leaves those closest to Wake Forest assistant coach Jamill Jones searching CL Brown 13 In New York City to visit his fiancée, Jones was charged after allegedly throwing a punch that killed Sandor Szabo
Jun 5, 2018 Polish at Pangos: Scouts get an eyeful during one of the hidden gems of the recruiting cycle Sam Vecenie 2 Stray scouting and recruiting thoughts from last weekend’s Pangos All-American Camp in Norwalk, Calif.The Pangos All-American Camp is in its 16th year, and it’s annually one of the hidden gems of the recruiting cycle. Every year about 120 of the best recruits in the country descend on...
May 10, 2018 The Fieldhouse's College Basketball Transfer Tracker Aaron Torres, C.J. Moore, and Chris Dortch 11 The transfers have started, with decisions on new schools coming by the day and at times by the hour. Bookmark this tracker to stay up to date with all the latest news on transfers.CONTACT — E-mail [emailprotected] with tips and news. Sources remain confidential.Keep track of...
Mar 8, 2018 AAC Tournament Preview: Another Wichita State-Cincinnati classic looms Ken Davis 4 Wichita State didn’t need to win the American Athletic Conference regular-season title to increase the league’s respectability. All the Shockers required was a stage for their debut season and a worthy opponent for an 18-round heavyweight fight.All the excitement and anticipation of...
Feb 19, 2018 AAC Notebook: Sampson's vision for Houston coming to fruition Ken Davis 3 Kelvin Sampson has more impressive accomplishments tucked away in his coaching portfolio of 29 seasons. And the Houston basketball program has experienced life on a bigger stage, especially during the Guy Lewis Era, when Phi Slama Jama set up its frat house at the Final Four.But since the clock...
