On this closing day of 2025, with faculty basketball’s convention season already upon us, the time is actually now to squeeze in an enormous story of reflection and appreciation for this ridiculous sport and what it is given us up to now yr. Faculty hoops simply endured a dizzying 2025, with main headlines reliably hitting our feeds by the week. This record wasn’t laborious to construct out in any respect: a lot transpired over the previous one year!
There is no want for an extended intro from me right here. We have got an unimaginable second half of the 2025-26 marketing campaign to gear up for, beginning this weekend, so I am getting proper to it. Right here had been the 25 greatest tales of 2025 in males’s faculty basketball.
25. Rutgers‘ record-setting flameout (January-March): One of many first issues I wrote in 2025 was a Courtroom Report that led on then-8-7 Rutgers staring down a dismal season, which sadly for the Scarlet Knights wound up taking part in out. Steve Pikiell’s program set the sort of report you by no means wish to be related to. Regardless of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey being top-five highschool prospects and top-five 2025 NBA picks, RU turned the primary crew to ever have two gamers taken within the high 5 of the identical draft and miss the NCAA Event in the identical yr. The ’24-25 season was alleged to be among the best in Rutgers historical past. As a substitute, it was a cautionary reminder that recruiting for expertise, and flipping your whole program’s blueprint within the course of, ensures nothing.
24. Indiana undergoes its sixth teaching change since 2000 (March 18): The Hoosiers have fallen out of blue blood standing up to now quarter century attributable to simply 10 NCAA Event appearances and solely three Candy 16s (and nothing higher) since their 2002 nationwide championship loss to Maryland. Aside from simply two or possibly three seasons, IU has routinely underachieved or been a median program for greater than 20 years. Motive being: Indiana hasn’t been capable of finding a snug long-term match to run its males’s basketball program since firing Bob Knight in 2000 (which was a clear-eyed determination, and on the identical time, feels prefer it’s turn out to be one thing of a curse).
Mike Woodson’s four-year tenure ended slightly predictably, with a February announcement that the edges would sever at season’s finish. Regardless of getting a head begin on its teaching search, IU nonetheless took longer than anticipated to land Woodson’s successor. It lastly scooped up West Virginia’s Darian DeVries within the cowl of evening, doing so solely after WVU surprisingly missed the NCAAs.
23. Louisville instantly bounces again after its worst two-year run in historical past (most of 2025): Talking of traditionally proud applications in a rut, it is good to see that is not the case with Louisville. If something, I do not suppose we have given sufficient dialog to Louisville being good once more and doing so in a relative snap. The 2022-24 Kenny Payne Period of Catastrophe noticed the Playing cards go 12-52, a nosedive into this system’s nadir. Pat Kelsey instantly flipped the Birds, although. The Playing cards completed tied for second within the ACC final season and earned a No. 8 seed within the NCAAs. Within the offseason, Kelsey landed one of many 5 greatest portal lessons and bought Louisville to No. 11 within the preseason AP Ballot, its first look within the preseason rankings in six years. Louisville’s 30-5 report since Jan. 1 was among the best in all of faculty basketball. This system’s darkest days at the moment are lengthy gone.
22. Michigan’s mighty emergence beneath Dusty Might (most of 2025): I’ve unintentionally put Louisville and Michigan back-to-back, an attention-grabbing coincidence contemplating how Might turned down Louisville for Michigan in March of 2024. It is labored out splendidly for each side since, with Michigan morphing right into a monster on the hardwood. Nearly all of this story ties to the primary eight weeks of the 2025-26 season, however consider the Wolverines completed tied for second within the Large Ten again in March and completed 27-10 with a Candy 16 run in Yr 1 beneath Might. That was a wonderful begin, adopted by the Wolverines signing the No. 1 participant within the portal, Yaxel Lendeborg, who’s one of many three greatest gamers within the nation up to now this season. Despite the fact that Arizona is No. 1 within the AP Prime 25, the 12-0 Wolverines comfortably price as one of the best crew in predictive metrics going into 2026. Michigan’s received six video games by 40-plus factors this season, a report for any Large Ten faculty … and we’re not even to January. That is your 2026 nationwide title favourite.
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21. Kentucky spends $20 million-plus on roster however is a large disappointment to start out season (November-December): If not for wins over Indiana and St. John’s (neither of which is a fortified squad at this stage) in mid-December, this story would rank even increased. As a result of for the primary six weeks of this season the Kentucky Wildcats and their uber-expensive roster had been large underachievers. Once you’ve bought a reported $22 million payroll and a crew that goes from preseason top-10 to not even ranked, it is an enormous faculty basketball story. When that crew is KENTUCKY, it is even larger.
The Wildcats had been dealt with by rival Louisville, then overwhelmed down by Michigan State, misplaced at house to North Carolina after which walloped in Nashville by Gonzaga. By the tip of the primary week of December UK was 5-4 and the sky was falling. However now it is 9-4, Jayden Quaintance (key large man) and Jaland Lowe (pivotal level guard) are within the lineup, and issues could be steadying for Mark Pope’s program going into January. Kentucky will stay one of many greatest tales in faculty hoops in January, no matter which route it goes.
20. Bruce Pearl retires, replaces Jay Wright as CBS/TNT analyst (Sept. 22): An ill-timed retirement from a outstanding coach that pops as one of many greatest tales of the offseason: I assume that is the place faculty basketball goes to be yearly transferring ahead. Pearl gave up teaching six weeks from the beginning of the season, handing off the job to his son, Steven. He walked away after a Closing 4 run, which is how Wright did it when he retired in April of 2022. Wright’s summertime determination to go away TV after three years was catalyzed by a devotion to Villanova. Pearl’s one of the best coach in Auburn basketball historical past. Two Closing Fours, a number of SEC titles.
Large TV jobs just like the one Wright had do not come up typically, and Pearl had beforehand labored in TV, so he noticed a window and made the transfer. It wasn’t a stunner (and there have been rumors Pearl would possibly go into politics), nevertheless it was an enormous story nonetheless. Pearl’s a pure on TV, and I count on he’ll turn out to be one of many sport’s most outstanding commentators by the tip of the 2020s.
19. Will Wade parlays McNeese NCAA Event run into NC State job/Amir “Aura” Kahn goes viral (March 23): From NCAA renegade who was fired at LSU to a bounce-back into the ACC, Wade’s charted some of the attention-grabbing head-coach arcs of the previous 30-or-so years. In 12 years as a head coach, he is been at 5 faculties. He hopes NC State will be the long-lasting endeavor. Wade was despatched to the outpost of McNeese, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, after the early 2020s fallout from the FBI investigation and subsequent NCAA probe that led to him dropping the LSU job. He went 58-11 at McNeese, the spotlight coming this yr when his Cowboys beat Clemson 69-67 within the first spherical of the NCAA tourney.
Wade was open and trustworthy about his job prospects even earlier than the season was over, a refreshing little bit of honesty. And let’s not neglect that this story’s presence was elevated all of the extra by Amir Khan, the crew supervisor nicknamed “Aura,” who made nationwide information and burned rapidly along with his quarter-hour of fame. Khan’s attachment to Wade amounted to one of many greatest headlines in faculty basketball this yr, little doubt.
18. Kansas hits its roughest stretch because the Nineteen Eighties with turbulent 2025 (January-March and November-December): Kansas has misplaced 13 video games in a calendar yr in back-to-back years, marking the worst run for the college because the early Nineteen Eighties. Now, it is Kansas, so the bar is method, method increased than simply about another program in faculty hoops. Nonetheless: Invoice Self’s program discovered itself in a number of undesirable spots over the previous 12 months, and this being Kansas, that is large information.
On Feb. 1, it blew its greatest lead at school historical past in a loss to Baylor. It completed final season 21-13, and as a No. 7 seed, the worst season ever beneath Invoice Self. KU additionally had its worst two-season report in additional than 35 years. It completed outdoors the highest 20 in KenPom in back-to-back seasons as effectively. Excellent news was coming within the fall with the arrival of Darryn Peterson, the top-ranked prospect in 2025. However Peterson’s performed simply 4 of KU’s 13 video games this season due to an harm. Hopefully his return is imminent and he will not miss any extra time, however his hamstring troubles have lingered as an issue for the Jayhawks whereas doubling as one of many larger tales of the primary eight weeks of this season.
17. Baylor provides former NBA choose to its roster in the course of the season, units faculty sports activities world aflame (Dec. 24): Similar to final yr, when Miami coach Jim Larrañaga retired the day after Christmas, now we have a narrative that sneaks in earlier than the buzzer. I do not understand how impactful James Nnaji can be for Scott Drew’s Bears, however I do know {that a} faculty crew bringing on somebody who was drafted No. 31 general greater than two years prior has changed into a narrative spreading like wildfire up to now 72 hours, a lot in order that it prompted a holiday-week assertion from the president of the NCAA.
I am attempting to strike the stability between big-picture influence and never being a prisoner of the second right here, as a result of the story prompted among the sport’s greatest coaches to react with some highly effective statements, together with Dan Hurley telling me Monday evening that it is previous time for school basketball to discover a commissioner. Then there’s this epic rant/plea from John Calipari, additionally prompted by the Nnaji information. Faculty basketball is at an inflection level, and this story’s influence will little doubt carry closely into 2026 and sure be represented on this record once more a yr from now.
16. Todd Golden’s sexual harassment Title IX investigation closes (Jan. 27): An explosive story that first surfaced in November 2024 and made this record a yr in the past. Some in faculty basketball circles anticipated actual hearth after the smoke that was publicized by the Unbiased Alligator, a student-run newspaper on the College of Florida. Usually, Title IX investigations aren’t disclosed to the general public in an effort to not have an effect on the probe and smear the folks connected to it earlier than all of the info are discovered. That wasn’t the case with Golden, whose status took a significant hit because of the story being launched.
However after greater than 4 months of interviews and case overview, Florida’s Title IX workplace didn’t discover that Golden violated the phrases of his contract. What, explicitly, was or wasn’t true was by no means made clear, and the story nonetheless carries a haze over it nearly a yr later. To have the ready sport play out whereas Golden was teaching — by no means being suspended, even privately, by Florida — was awkward and atypical. He has hardly ever spoken about it since, as nothing tied to the story has resurfaced because the case closed in January. Golden and the Gators clearly made even larger headlines later within the yr, and all of that’s detailed a lot additional down on this story.
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15. Rick Pitino coaches St. John’s to its greatest season in a technology (January-March): Rick Pitino was employed to lastly flip the vibes at St. John’s and in two years he did simply that. Whereas the second-round exit to Arkansas within the NCAA Event was a significant bummer, the larger image was the Crimson Storm’s resurgence within the Large East and on the nationwide stage. SJU spent nearly all of January by means of the tip of March as a top-10 crew. It swept the Large East’s regular-season and event titles for the primary time since 1986. It earned a No. 2 seed with a 31-5 report, these 31 wins tying the college’s single-season greatest. The Johnnies had been an elite defensive unit and some of the ferocious groups in faculty basketball. The Pitino Impact made them compelling and, lastly, nationally related for the primary time because the flip of the century. It was one of many three or 4 most satisfying story arcs of final season.
Reminiscence Lane: Norlander’s best-of-year lists from earlier years
14. Risk of NCAA Event growth refuses to die (peppered all through 2025): Of us, I completely hate this story, and in traditional NCAA vogue, its drawn-out nature will be certain that it makes a spot on my record FIVE YEARS IN A ROW. A yr in the past, I believed we might have a closing determination on the long-term format of the event in some unspecified time in the future in 2025, possible in the summertime. As a substitute, the can was kicked once more and we merely bought another yr of a 68-team subject for 2026.
Now, allegedly, the final-final name is coming within the first half of 2026. I am bracing for the annoyingly pointless: a 76-team event beginning in 2027 and staying that method for a decade-plus thereafter. However there’s nonetheless time to NOT do that, choice committee. In July, I wrote an intensive, data-driven piece about why there is no such thing as a justification for increasing March Insanity. Many high-profile coaches instructed me over the summer season they’re greater than OK with 68. In February, NCAA VP of Basketball Dan Gavitt instructed me growth was “not a performed deal.” We’ll lastly — allegedly! — see if that is true within the upcoming months.
13. Sister Jean dies at 106 (Oct. 10): From my obituary in October: “Faculty sports activities groups are usually represented by the younger women and men who compete and the coaches who lead them, however Sister Jean got here to signify one thing that transcended the standard faculty success story. The Ramblers’ 2018 Closing 4 run was some of the stunning within the historical past of faculty basketball, and due to Sister Jean’s presence, the story had a contact of divinity to it that had no match earlier than or since.” To see this lady dwell to 106 was a present. She was a worldwide information story in 2018 and once more upon the information of her passing. Her presence, a blessing. Her reminiscence and spirit will dwell endlessly in Chicago.
12. Faculty basketball has its greatest begin to a season in ages (November-December): As we prepared our flip to January, let’s give another spherical of applause to what faculty basketball has given us by means of the primary two months of this season, particularly extra ranked-on-ranked non-con video games than ever earlier than (the rely: 48). And never simply nice matchups, however nice groups too. I detailed this proper earlier than Christmas, however if you happen to missed it, try the info dive that proves how this season is shaping as much as give us the deepest pool of nationwide title contenders in additional than a decade. We appear to be within the midst of faculty basketball’s greatest season in a very long time. There’s a number of issues tousled about this sport in pointless methods, however the on-court product hasn’t been this good in lots of a yr, and I have never felt as revved up a couple of faculty hoops November—>December like what we simply expertise in a very long time. Do not you agree?
11. NCAA confronted with level shaving and sport manipulation scandals (sporadic all through 2025): Each and any sports activities league’s nightmare. The NBA and MLB have handled it, and now so has the NCAA. This may be a top-10 story with a high-profile participant or actually good crew, however fortuitously for school basketball, that is but to occur. Nonetheless, 2025 noticed a wide range of gamers banned from ever taking part in faculty basketball once more after investigations turned up proof that these gamers (at Arizona State, New Orleans, Mississippi Valley State, Fresno State and San Jose State) had been manipulating video games to various levels. In some instances, it was to throw them for a loss. In others, to tamper with their very own stat traces for prop-bet functions. I might argue that these instances did not get fairly as a lot consideration as they need to have because the headlines hit in 2025. I am putting the story this excessive on the record due to the seriousness of the problem and my expectation that we are going to have extra on this matter in 2026.
Should-read 2025 options
Some Norlander longform if you happen to missed it the primary time round:
10. February Insanity: Historical past-making run of upsets provides us the wildest basketball day of 2025 (Feb. 1): In case you’ve forgotten about how nuts Saturday, Feb. 1 was, I am right here to remind you of the whole lot that occurred over the course of 12 hours on that batty, madcap day.
- A report: 11 ranked groups misplaced in someday, with 10 dropping to lower-ranked or unranked opponents
- One other report: 5 top-15 groups misplaced at house in someday
- Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky all misplaced by double digits, becoming a member of March 3, 2018 as the one different day that ever occurred with these three faculties
Here is the whole lot of notice from Feb. 1:
1. John Calipari returns to Rupp Area and wins with an unranked Arkansas crew, beating No. 12 Kentucky 89-79. Arkansas was 1-6 within the SEC going into the sport. The outcome adjustments the route of Arkansas’ season.
2. No. 8 Tennessee wallops No. 5 Florida 64-44. It will wind up being Florida’s penultimate lack of the season. Tennessee and Florida each beat one another by 20-plus factors in the identical season whereas each groups had been ranked, marking solely the second time ever that occurred between any two groups in faculty basketball. (Oklahoma and Villanova in 2015-16 the opposite.)
3. No. 22 Texas Tech wins 82-81 at No. 6 Houston, giving Houston its penultimate lack of the season and seeing the longest house successful streak (33 video games) come to an finish. Satirically, TTU received regardless of dropping its coach and greatest participant (JT Toppin) to ejections within the opening minutes.
4. Middling Ok-State (10-11) wins at No. 3 Iowa State 80-61. ISU’s 29-game win streak is over, giving faculty basketball probably the most stunning results of the common season. The Wildcats’ 19-point win is the most important by a sub-.500 street crew over a top-five opponent ever.
5. Unranked Baylor roars again from 21 all the way down to beat No. 11 Kansas 81-70 by scoring 60 second half factors. It is Kansas’ largest blown lead at school historical past and a transparent signal that the Jayhawks aren’t a Closing 4 contender.
6. St. John’s wins a two-point thriller on CBS over middling Windfall after Kadary Richmond hits a winner from 15 toes with three seconds to go.
7. Sub-par USC beats No. 7 Michigan State 70-64, ending the second-longest successful streak in faculty hoops on that day.
8. Unranked Oklahoma eviscerates No. 24 Vanderbilt by 30 factors, 97-67.
9. No. 20 Missouri wins at No. 14 Mississippi State by 17 factors, 88-61.
10. One other upset: No. 25 UConn wins at No. 9 Marquette 77-69, stabilizing its season for good.
11. No. 13 Texas A&M loses 76-72 in opposition to the one unhealthy SEC crew, South Carolina.
12. A foul Georgia Tech crew wins 77-70 over No. 21 Louisville, because the Cardinals gave up 50 second-half factors.
13. The second-most hyped matchup of the day is a dud: Duke rolls North Carolina at North Carolina 87-70, heating up Hubert Davis’ sizzling seat for the following 10 months
14. Saint Mary’s beats Gonzaga 62-58, bringing SMC to 20-3 and dropping GU to a stunning 16-7 report
After which, whereas nonetheless on Feb. 1 in Central, Mountain and West Coast time zones … the Luka Dončić/Anthony Davis commerce leaks and detonates, completely overshadowing the whole lot that preceded it in faculty basketball within the earlier 12 hours. What a weekend!
9. Gamers Period pays out greater than $20 million, units a report by internet hosting 18 groups in a single regular-season occasion (November): The occasion was groundbreaking in 2024, however truly emerged as a viable entity with actual advertising energy in 2025. Nothing was talked about extra in November than Gamers Period, that is for certain. Some faculty basketball followers hated it, so many coaches wished in on it, and due to that and much more, Gamers Period made headlines a number of occasions previous to the occasion truly being performed. Now it is bought a Large 12 deal that may have that league assured no less than eight of its groups within the occasion over the subsequent 5 years.
The Gamers Period Championship has altered November multi-game occasions transferring ahead and has affected how the schedule of the game is constructed out (offered the payout system can stay in place given the brand new governance construction with NIL Go and the Home case settlement). It is also had a significant influence on Maui and the Battle 4 Atlantis, with these occasions dealing with critical threats to their sustainability into the again finish of the 2020s. With plans to go to 32 groups and 4 eight-school pods in 2026, Gamers Period might be going to make this record once more subsequent yr. Let’s simply hope the format is fastened from the wonky setup that led to widespread criticism in 2025.
8. Kevin Willard, Sean Miller criticized for teaching exits (March 24 and 30): It was Willard far more than it was Miller, however each took it on the chin and made a number of off-court noise for his or her job switches amid the NCAA Event. Willard’s was particularly high-profile as a result of his Maryland crew made it to the second weekend after Derik Queen cashed the event’s solely buzzer-beater (vs. Colorado State). Willard publicly mentioned his considerations with the Maryland job and its lack of NIL funding for basketball, he misplaced his AD to a different faculty, after which the reporting round his candidacy for the vacant Villanova job turned one of many extra awkward job transitions in faculty basketball up to now 10 years, if not longer.
Then there’s Miller, who was given one other probability at power-conference teaching by Xavier after he was fired at Arizona. Miller took the job, had a strong run with two NCAA Tournaments in three years, then took the Texas job within the cowl of evening and left a number of Xavier followers pissed off at how he dealt with it. Each at the moment are persona non grata at their former faculties.
7. The very best freshman class, possibly ever, showcases itself early and infrequently (November-December): From 2020-2024, faculty basketball underwent a sea change that noticed freshmen matter much less on the entire than that they had at any level within the earlier 20 years. However freshmen matter once more in a significant method. You possibly can embody final season’s group, led by Cooper Flagg, Derik Queen, VJ Edgecombe and Kon Knueppel, nevertheless it’s this class in 2025-26 that’s on an unprecedented degree. The very best of them up to now: Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Caleb Wilson, Kingston Flemings, Koa Peat, Darryn Peterson, Darius Acuff Jr., Mikel Brown Jr., Braylon Mullins and nonetheless a lot extra. This can be a loaded freshman class that has uplifted faculty basketball and can assist construct out among the best seasons the game has seen in a decade-plus. It is a large story for 2025 and can nearly positively be a good larger one in 2026.
6. UConn fails its three-peat quest; Dan Hurley can not help however make noisy headlines (scattered all through 2025): There was the “two rings, baldy!” quote for the ages and the confrontation with a Creighton fan. There have been the high-profile losses to St. John’s and conceding the Large East to Rick Pitino, his greatest rival. There was the loss to lowly Seton Corridor on the street, which dropped UConn to 17-8 and completely put them outdoors of the Closing 4 contender dialog. Hurley referred to the bus experience house afterward as a “coffin on wheels.” And there was the caught-on-camera incident as Hurley walked by means of the tunnel after the tip of UConn’s season. Following a thriller of a sport in opposition to Florida, Baylor was up subsequent, its gamers ready to stroll out for warmups. “I hope they do not f— you want they f—– us,” he instructed Baylor’s gamers. Hurley additionally launched a e-book in September, whereby he revealed that he briefly however semi-seriously contemplated taking a yr away from teaching, with a pivot to broadcasting.
In October, Hurley instructed me: “I had a shit yr. I did not coach my greatest, I did not lead my greatest. I did not put collectively a bunch that might compete for the issues we wished to compete for. … “It was all my doing. I am not a sufferer.” Now UConn is again as a nationwide title contender, and Hurley’s been making headlines for significantly better causes over the previous two months.
5. Cinderella’s MIA: NCAA Event has nearly no mid-major appeal (March): The NCAA Event is in-built no small half on the attractiveness of Cinderella. In 2025, she was nearly totally locked out. Not a single mid-major program made the Candy 16, which marked solely the second time within the 64-/68-team period that was the case, and for the primary time ever, the whole lot of the Candy 16 within the trendy period got here completely from energy conferences (ACC, Large Ten, Large 12, SEC). It was the primary event since 2017 that no 13s, 14s, 15 or 16s received a sport. McNeese’s 12-over-5 first-round win vs. Clemson was the one mid-major upset of the event.
The one double-digit seed to make the second weekend was Tenth-seeded Arkansas. The 2025 NCAAs had the fewest upsets of any event ever. All high 4 seeds received their first-round sport. Fifteen out of the 16 Candy 16 groups had been seeded No. 6 or higher. The Elite Eight had all 4 1-seeds, one of many solely occasions that is ever occurred — with all 4 1s making the Closing 4 for simply the second time in historical past. The Large Ten and SEC alone made up 16 of the 32 groups nonetheless alive within the second spherical.
So gross.
I hope this by no means occurs once more.
4. Cooper Flagg beats Johni Broome for NPOY (late March-early April): It was among the best NPOY races of the previous 30 years, and I am right here to remind you that Flagg did not have it within the bag till mainly mid-March. Even then, verify how shut these two had been.
- Flagg: 19.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.4 bpg, 38.5 3-point share and 53.3 eFG% and a 30.4 PER in 37 video games for a No. 1 seed, 35-4 Duke crew that misplaced within the Closing 4
- Broome: 18.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.1 bpg, .9 spg, 27.8 3-point share and 53.4 eFG% and a 30.9 PER in 36 video games for a No. 1 seed, 32-6 Auburn crew that misplaced within the Closing 4
Broome was the clear chief after his Auburn crew received probably the most loaded Maui Invitational ever. He nonetheless had the lead on Flagg after December. On the finish of January, it was a toss-up, after which by mid-February I knew we had been in particular territory with these two. As a result of Flagg starred for Duke, as a result of he led his crew in all 5 statistical classes, as a result of he was the plain No. 1 choose, as a result of his sport popped extra on TV, he wound up successful nearly all the NPOY awards, however Broome bought one as effectively. Hopefully this yr can provide us one other race simply as compelling.
3. Portal participant costs skyrocket, then the Home settlement turns recruiting into a good larger quagmire (spring-into-summer): This can be a combo story of types. The portal costs went nuts in April and Might due to the looming Home settlement. By my estimation, now we have no less than 18, possibly greater than 20 faculties this season paying out $10 million or extra to their rosters. It is gotten larger every year, however this previous spring really was whole portal pandemonium. When the Home case settlement went official on July 1, with a revenue-share cap at $20.5 million for the 2025-26 fiscal yr, it led to uncertainty throughout the game.
Faculties with high-end soccer are clearly dedicating 75-80-85% of their income share to soccer. The place does hoops slot in? That prompted paranoia to this extent from some coaches: Is the Large East engaged on a unique tier? Are collectives banned or not? What’s going to it take to pay gamers? Is under-the-table dishonest coming again, and in that case, to what diploma will you have the ability to break the principles and never face penalties? I might argue this story is definitely The Greatest in faculty basketball this season in some ways as a result of the gears and levers that maneuver the game are working in opposition to one another and it nonetheless does not seem to be calm, pragmatic decision is in sight.
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2. Duke’s epic season, and Flagg’s good freshman yr, ends with Closing 4 collapse vs. Houston (April 6): The 2025 Closing 4 is an all-timer due to having 4 1-seeds but in addition two unimaginable comebacks/collapses. For as large as Florida’s title win was, Houston’s escape job vs. Duke additionally ranks within the annals of all-time Closing 4 battles. With 8:17 remaining, Duke led 59-45. Then the No. 1 offense within the sport — and probably the most environment friendly in KenPom historical past — managed ONE subject purpose within the closing 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
Duke by no means grabbed a rebound after 3:24 remained. Houston outscored Duke 9-0 within the closing 33 seconds, with Jon Scheyer going to Flagg to win it late, solely to have shot fall brief as a result of Houston’s ultra-vet J’Wan Roberts had it learn the entire method. The very best crew does not all the time win the NCAA Event. Flagg was wonderful and Duke was loaded: 5 NBA picks within the beginning lineup. An incredible crew that was undone in an unforgettable method. And to suppose, two nights later, Houston would fall sufferer in related fashion.
1. Florida’s nationwide title cements the SEC having one of the best season in faculty basketball historical past (April 8): The SEC’s sizzling begin was the No. 9 story on my record a yr in the past. Even earlier than we get to the Florida championship piece, contemplate what the league pulled off by the tip of the 2024-25 season.
- The SEC misplaced solely 23 non-con video games final season, and by going 21-7 within the common season vs. non-con ranked competitors, it broke the ACC’s earlier report by eight victories
- We had No. 1 vs. No. 2 Auburn in opposition to Bama in February, bear in mind
- The SEC’s 23 NCAA Event wins broke the ACC’s report of 19 in 2019
- The SEC’s +22.09 KenPom ranking was the best ranking in historical past, breaking the ACC’s +21.37 report in 1997
- Fourteen groups to the NCAA Event, a report smashed by the earlier mark of the Large East’s 11 in 2011
- The SEC despatched a report seven groups to the Candy 16
- It despatched 4 groups to the Elite Eight, simply the third time a league had performed that (2016 ACC, 2009 Large East)
It was becoming for Florida to win the entire thing. It was the least mentioned of the No. 1 seeds and least buzzed about Closing 4 crew. However it beat No. 1 general seed Auburn, then got here again from 12 down within the second half to Houston to win its third championship. Florida by no means led by greater than two within the title sport. Walter Clayton Jr. turned a program legend and cemented himself because the third-best participant within the sport that season along with his MOP efficiency. They completed the season 17-1 of their closing 18 video games.
Golden received a title beneath the age of 40, changing into the primary coach to take action since Jim Valvano in 1983. And the SEC cemented its 2024-25 standing as the best season by any league ever. Having a crew win the entire thing was the final obligatory piece to make it everlasting. I do not suppose we’ll see a league ever have a greater yr than what the SEC did in 2025.
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