The conference schedules are starting nationwide and college basketball teams have a better idea of how much work their tournament resumes need. Here are some highlights going into the games for the Saturday before Christmas.
BY MATTY D.
Kentucky Wildcats vs St. John’s Red Storm — Volatility Meets a Potential Energy Shift
The Kentucky Wildcats have been one of the hardest teams in the country to pin down so far, and that unpredictability is exactly what makes this spot fascinating. Getting overwhelmed by Gonzaga followed by a confidence-boosting win over Indiana illustrates a team still searching for its identity, but also one capable of sharp course correction. The biggest storyline hovering over this matchup is the possible debut of Jayden Quaintance, the Arizona State transfer whose arrival alone signals a shift in Kentucky’s ceiling. Video circulating of him exiting the team bus ahead of the St. John’s game hints that his first appearance this season could be imminent. If Quaintance is active, his athleticism, rebounding range, and defensive activity give Kentucky a game-changing element down low—exactly the kind of jolt that stabilizes a team still oscillating between extremes. This is less about one result and more about whether Kentucky starts to look structurally tougher and more connected.
North Carolina Tar Heels vs Ohio State Buckeyes — The Market Undersells the Home Edge
The North Carolina Tar Heels feel undervalued laying only a short number at home against Ohio State Buckeyes. This is a classic situation where perception hasn’t quite caught up to reality. North Carolina has shown a steadiness and physical maturity that doesn’t always pop in headline results but consistently shows up over forty minutes, especially in Chapel Hill. Freshman phenom Caleb Wilson has been the model of consistency, scoring 20 points exactly for the past three consecutive games.
Ohio State has talent and can score in stretches, but the Tar Heels’ ability to control tempo, defend in space, and leverage their home environment creates separation that isn’t always reflected in a tight spread. This feels like a game where North Carolina’s cumulative advantages—experience, structure, and crowd energy—matter more than individual shot-making runs.
Memphis Tigers vs Mississippi State Bulldogs — Two Programs Crossing Paths at a Fork in the Road
Timing is everything in college basketball, and the matchup between the Memphis Tigers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs comes at a revealing moment for both programs. Mississippi State appears to be riding momentum after a meaningful win over Utah, a result that could serve as a confidence anchor as the season sharpens. It could also be an important resume bullet to score a tournament berth.
Memphis, on the other hand, is recalibrating after a loss to Vanderbilt Commodores, a team whose national ranking has validated that result as more than a stumble. Memphis looked like a super athletic scoring machine at times, but also an undisciplined train-wreck at others. In the middle of the first half, they looked dead. Memphis went on a scoring run around the mid-point of the game for a scoring comeback, but ultimately lost in overtime at home. This game reads like a directional check: Mississippi State trending upward with defensive buy-in and toughness, while Memphis searches for consistency after a setback that exposed some fault lines. When teams meet at these crossroads, the side with clarity and momentum often dictates the terms—and right now, Mississippi State looks closer to knowing exactly who it is.
Jayden Quaintance always has a basketball in his hands. 😂
Although conference championship crowns are being captured this weekend, these are some pivotal college basketball matchups to watch closely as the non-conference schedule winds down.
Michigan State hosts Duke as Sparty Sees Itself as Surprise +1.5 Underdog
I feel like I’ve seen this movie before. You have a darling blue blood who has all of the nation’s highest rated recruits sprinkled with some long tenured program guards who just know how to play basketball. Duke comes straight out of central casting for that one. Enter Tom Izzo’s bunch. They look more like a defensive line group, with perhaps a few black and blue eyes to match. This Motley Cru normally mucks up the action with physical play.
Michigan State finds itself as a surprising 30-1 underdog to win the National Championship at this point, after its already excelled in the non-conference session throughout November.
Give me the Spartans to win outright, but I’ll take the 1 1/2 points if they’re giving it.
Overlooked Mid-major pick of the college basketball weekend
Not many people nationally are talking about the big upset win that Bowling Green scored at K-State this week. It was an impressive performance from the three point line and specifically for senior Sam Towns who dropped 17 points in the first half.
This, despite K-State having one of the nation’s highest paid players in Memphis transfer PJ Haggerty.
I don’t see a let down from Bowling Green here in this spot as they are spotting Utah Valley a casual 1 1/2 points, according to DraftKings line as of one hour before tip nationwide.
The messy optics for an Ole Miss coach this week wasn’t reserved only for the football coach, but for the head basketball coach whose viral moment is also making headlines days later. Coach Chris Beard was none-to-happy with his senior point guard, AJ Storr, after a loss to the Miami Hurricanes Tuesday night. It showed. For anyone with eyes on this press-conference, you could see the tension with the bad body language in plain sight. But is Chris Beard really the coach who the college basketball universe wants to grant carte-blanch holier than thou status to?
It’s now roughly 48 hours after the post game press conference, but this moment has obviously struck a nerve with college basketball fans. Beard, a coach who lost his job at Texas after being accused of domestic violence, accused his players of lacking effort. Storr, a senior transfer who is playing for his fourth school (after St. John’s, Kansas, and Wisconsin), was asked in the post-game press conference if anything can be done when the team lacks effort. His response was that, “no, you can’t really do too much (about it).”
That’s when coach Chris Beard interrupted and said, “Yeah we can play different players.”
Chris Beard was displeased with the effort from his starters in the first half tonight. In no uncertain terms.
Ole Miss beat reporter Sam Hutchens had a front row seat for the awkward exchange.
Storr played 16 minutes in the first half and just 8 minutes in the second half. He went 2 for 9 from the field, including two missed layups to start the game.
That video posted by beat writer Hutchens was viewed more than 23,000 times on Twitter in two days.
AJ Storr shows accountability and credits teammates seconds before viral moment
After opening remarks from Chris Beard, Storr takes accountability in saying that the team needs to do better collectively and that the guards (himself included) should have done a better job getting the ball into the post on offense. He also credited the good play of bench players who compensated for a lack of effort. Storr said that the second group came in off the bench, gave a spark, and some energy.
For his part, Chris Beard clearly targeted AJ Storr with his post-game comments. He called out “starters” who had a plus/minus of “minus 21.” That was Storr’s plus/minus stat for the game.
Coaches have long used the media as a megaphone to deliver messages to their locker rooms, but Beard’s approach revives the debate about how effective — or even how wise — that tactic really is. Calling out a player’s brutal plus/minus without using his name, and without addressing him directly at the podium, lands in that murky space between motivational strategy and passive-aggressive PR. Some will argue that it’s a calculated move meant to spark urgency and accountability. Others will question whether it unnecessarily exposes a young player while sidestepping a more straightforward, in-house conversation. Either way, moments like this always force a bigger discussion: where is the line between coaching through the media and simply sending the wrong message altogether?
We have clearly met a new moment for what accountability looks like and feels like in the NIL era of player movement. AJ Storr is making a reported $1.5M this year to play basketball at Ole Miss.
One thing is true, bench player Zach Day‘s stock certainly went up this week.
The college basketball regular season is very irregular, so it behooves fans who hope to pick the (nearly) perfect bracket to pay attention to what happened around the holidays. Feast Week during Thanksgiving is one of the most important weeks. That’s because teams with Final Four aspirations are building up their “non-conference resume.” Later, the conference schedule gets clogged with league opponents in January and February.
BY MATTY D.
My family laughs at me because I am so locked in during Feast Week, paying attention to who is performing well on a neutral floor. That irregular schedule for college hoops starts with a flurry of very important measuring stick games between teams who don’t naturally play each other. January can be more low-key as a bad loss in conference could be excused. However, in February and especially early March, bubble teams need to win every game to solidify their resume for a tournament birth. And, even the teams ranked in the top 10 want wins so that they can lock up 1 and 2 seeds. Here are some of the teams that looked like 1 or 2 seeds this Feast Week.
Looking Like 1 or 2 Seed NCAA Tournament Teams in November
This college basketball season started with an eye-opening performance by Arizona. More specifically, it was a coming out party for freshman Koa Peat, who dominated a game against Florida. However, as the Gators no longer look like a top 10 team and that Wildcats victory fades into our memory, a new red hot team is jumping onto the radar.
Can Wolverines Continue to Dominate College Basketball?
For a brief moment there during the Feast Week festivities, Gonzaga looked like they would be proclaimed the people’s champion and front-runner for the 2026 Championship. The newer “Players Era” Championship feast week tournament has become all the rage. The stock for traditional tournaments such as The Battle for Atlantis and The Mauii Invitational has lost value. In the Players Era semifinals, Gonzaga put a hurting on the always-tough defensive unit that is San Diego State. They looked like a very veteran team that could possibly sail to an unblemished non-conference record and then an even more comfortable conference schedule in the West Coast Conference.
However, then Michigan happened. Gonzaga played Michigan in the championship game and it was never even close. Michigan won by 40 points, Trey McKenney scored 17, and Yexel Lendeborg was named tournament MVP for his blossoming play.
Lendeborg, a native of Puerto Rico, has had an interesting pathway to Division 1 success. He not only played the last two seasons in relative obscurity at UAB, but he also barely knew that he’d be a college athlete during his major life adjustment over high school. Watch a special report by News 11 in Yuma, Arizona, where Lendeborg played junior college basketball.
Another Team in Michigan Carries an Undefeated Record into December
Michigan State was another notable program to pass on the tournament format during Feast Week. They and Duke continued rolling in their own paths. The Spartans continue to be fueled by the nation’s best dunker, Coen Carr and the steady hand of point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. A showcase game between Michigan State and UNC saw the experience and athleticism of the Spartans outpace the sometimes sensational play of UNC super freshman Caleb Wilson.
Houston Out-bullied by the Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee’s win over Houston wasn’t just a notch on the Vols’ non-conference belt — it was a toughness test, and they passed it in the final possessions. In a game defined by defensive clamps and half-court grit, it was Tennessee that made the firmer cuts, secured the harder rebounds, and executed the cleaner possessions when it mattered most. Houston rarely gets out-muscled in winning time, but the Vols did just enough of the dirty work to finish the job and earn one of November’s most meaningful victories. Ja’Kobi Gillespie proved that he was one of the best point guards in the nation (exemplified by how he carried himself in a postgame interview that has since gone viral) and Jaylen Carey was just a men amongst boys down low.
With as much college basketball as we watch, we start to admire more than just the pure skill on the basketball court, such as the style and shape that some players sport for their hairdos.
And when I say we, I am referring to the collective college basketball chatter that we engage with on Twitter, blogs, and other social media. Below are some cool hair cuts to keep an eye on towards March Madness for the prom night of all red carpet moments.
Distinguished Gray Hair Makes its way into college hoops
NIL may be keeping more players in the NCAA ranks for longer, but this Eastern Washington transfer has been distinguished in gray for the entirety of his college career. Steele Venters has some Blue Steel looks with his distinguished gray highlights.
Let’s add Steele Venters and his “touch of gray” to the Best Hair in College Hoops watch list. Speaking of which, #Gonzaga out-classed #Alabama tonight. pic.twitter.com/1XdIzISHgA
An impressive roster of freshmen are jumping onto the college basketball scene in 2025-2026 and a few of them have familiar names from NBA greats.
The LeBron, Carmelo Era officially ending as active players as sons take the reins
The 2025-2026 college basketball season is full of exciting storylines, especially from famous basketball families whose sons are now making their own names on the court. One of the biggest examples is Kiyan Anthony, the talented son of Carmelo Anthony. His success reminds fans of the 2003 NBA Draft, when his dad and LeBron James began their legendary careers. Now, over twenty years later, that moment feels like a distant memory as their kids and other second-generation stars bring fresh energy and talent to college basketball today.
The lineage of game-changing forwards continues to flourish across Division 1 ball
Carlos Boozer and Dominique Wilkins may have played in different eras of the NBA, but their sons enter a new generation of outstanding freshman talent across the college basketball landscape.
Georgia forward Jake Wilkins (21) during Georgia’s game against Morehead State at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. Photo courtesy Conor Dillon/UGAAA/On3.com
Dominique Wilkins’ son treating Georgia to familiar highlight films, again
The Human Highlight Film, Dominique Wilkins’ greatness maybe best on display during his heyday and epic battle against Michael Jordan in the 1988 NBA Dunk contest. Like many who battled against Jordan in that era, he never won a title, but his mark on the game will be everlasting.
That unbreakable legacy is being renewed right now by the same fresh legs and sporty number 21 still jumping out of gyms in and around Atlanta. Georgia’s Jake Wilkins looks just like pops.
Watch Wilkins make a mockery of an early season contest in the 2025 campaign as he channeled his father for a nostalgic windmill slam:VIDEO POSTED BY ESPN.
Carlos Boozer’s son looks to repeat a championship legacy at Duke
To watch the 2000-2001 Duke Blue Devils highlights on YouTube is like watching an NBA team from that same time period. We’re talking about a starting five that could have included Jay Williams, Dahntay Jones, Chris Duhon, Shane Battier, and Carlos Boozer. Oh, and Mike Dunleavy may be coming off the bench.
Now, Carlos Boozer’s son Cameron is riling up the Cameron Crazies as he attempts to repeat a family legacy: winning a national basketball championship.
Cayden Boozer Burts onto the Scene in the ACC Tournament
The majority of the season was dominated by the talk about the so-called “top 3” at mock NBA Draft boards, including Cameron Boozer. However, when starting Duke point guard Caleb Foster went out with a foot injury in early March, Cayden Boozer bursted onto the scene. He replaced Foster in the starting lineup at point guard and helped lead the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship.
Peja Stojaković’s DNA to score from anywhere passed down to Illinois Basketball
One of the best shooters of the modern NBA also has a son in college basketball. Peja Stojaković is regarded as one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, having made 1,760 three-point field goals in his career; this total ranked fourth all-time upon his retirement from the NBA. Stojaković won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.
Now, his son is a leading score for the certain tournament team in Illinois. Andrej Stojakovic actually played his first two college basketball seasons at Cal, but will finally see the light of day in the NCAA Tournament as he transferred to the Illini before the start of this season.
Underrated stars get a second opportunity to remind fans of greatness
One of the most underrated stars of the late 1990s and early 2000s was Jermaine O’Neal. In an era where high school kids coming straight into the NBA became commonplace, this ambidextrous post scorer smoothly found his way into the rotation of grown-ass-men who routinely found themselves in the Eastern Conference Finals. He played his first four seasons with the Portland Trailblazers, before being legally able to drink, then found himself in Indiana.
O’Neal “senior” played for 18 seasons and racked up over 13,000 points in his career.
Now, Jermaine O’Neal Jr. is similarly flying under the radar in an SMU Mustangs uniform. With UNC, Duke, and even Louisville capturing headlines in the ACC, this dangerous bubble team could be popping into the tournament with one of the best performing second generation players in the nation.
Andre Iguodala’s Son Playing for the Baylor Bears in College Basketball
Andre Iguodala’s impressive 19 year NBA career came to an end only two short years before his son started playing college hoops. Andre Iguodala II started his Division I career on the injury report with the Baylor Bears as a redshirt freshman. He should take some self-care advice from his pops. If Iguodala junior sips from that fountain of youth that his father discovered, he should be thriving on the court in no time.
Imagine: If Iguodala the Second does follow in his father’s footsteps, the NBA could have an Iguodala playing in the NBA in 84.4% of a 45 year stretch. This might be the eye test dot com, but that’s some fun data to throw around!
It’s also ironic that an Iguodala makes this list opposite of LeBron James’ son. James and Iguodala senior had some epic battles against each other as the Cleveland Cavaliers faced the Golden State Warriors in three consecutive NBA Finals. Iguodala won the series in that matchup, earning a Final MVP Award in the process.
LeBon James raises another son who makes it into Division 1 basketball
While LeBron has played as teammates with his older son Bronny, Bryce James is still enjoying his underclassmen years at basketball power, Arizona.
D.J. Wagner takes NBA pedigree to more of a leadership role at Arkansas The grandson of NBA veteran Milt Wagner and son of former pro Dajuan Wagner, D.J. is continuing his family legacy at Arkansas Razorbacks under coach John Calipari. In the 2024-25 season he started all 36 games, averaged 11.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists, and led the team in assists on 16 occasions. He’s embraced more of a facilitator role while still showing scoring ability, and heading into 2025-26 he’s been recognized by the SEC media (preseason All-SEC third team) as a key piece of Arkansas’s plans. Arkansas Razorbacks While his shooting numbers haven’t yet turned into elite efficiency, Wagner’s role as lead guard and his family pedigree keep the spotlight on him — especially as the Razorbacks look to make noise in March.
Assistant Coaches Oversee Sons Carrying Family Legacies
Perhaps missing from this list could be a few 11th or 12th men on Division 1 benches who are not only the sons of an NBA player, but that player is now coaching them as an assistant. See, for example, Howard Eisley Jr. currently playing for the Michigan Wolverines. As of the first month of the season, Eisley Jr. had not logged a minute yet in the college basketball season. In the 2024-2025 season, he played just 4 minutes total over two games. Yet, he makes this list and enjoys the excitement of college basketball alongside his father. That, in and of itself, is pretty great.
Murray State races towards Mason Miller in the transfer portal Son of NBA champion sharpshooter Mike Miller, Mason Miller began his collegiate career at Creighton Bluejays where he made strong strides, including leading the Big East in 3-point percentage in 2023-24 at 45 percent. For the 2025-26 season, he transferred to Murray State Racers, reuniting with his former assistant-coach-turned-head-coach Ryan Miller.
Standing at 6′9″, Mason blends floor-stretching shooting (76 career 3-pointers) with positional versatility, and his move to Murray State signals a new chapter where he may have expanded opportunity. With his height, shooting and the lineage of his father’s championship experience, Mason could surprise this season if his development continues the upward trend.
Other families ties across college basketball link to former NBA players
Liberty Flames redshirt senior guard JJ Abrams is the stepson of Bo Outlaw. Outlaw was a 15 year veteran of the league who did the dirty work for some of the NBA’s worst teams during that time. He played for the Clippers and Magic, to name a few. Outlaw snagged a few top 10 votes as the leagues defensive player of the year for his commitment on that end of the floor.
Abrams, a redshirt senior, could be seen this season in March Madness. The Liberty Flames are widely regarded as one of the nation’s best true mid-major programs remaining, under the leadership of head coach Ritchie McKay.
College Basketball Eye Test 