Tag Archives: Louisville basketball

College Basketball Top 25 Trick-or-Trick Season Tip-Off Special

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome to the College Basketball Eye Test Top 25, our definitive look at how the national landscape shapes up ahead of the season. While consensus rankings like the AP Top 25 heavily favor standard blue bloods at the very top, our board shakes things up early with aggressive positioning for surging programs like Louisville and Florida. You will also find some distinct wrinkles in the back half of our rankings: we are firmly buying stock in a reconstructed Cincinnati squad, betting on Missouri to outpace consensus expectations, and sneaking Indiana right into the thick of the Top 20.

Here is our complete Top 25:

  1. Duke
  2. Louisville
  3. Arizona
  4. Florida
  5. UCONN
  6. Illinois
  7. Michigan State
  8. Texas
  9. Houston
  10. Texas Tech
  11. Kansas
  12. Arkansas
  13. St. John’s
  14. Alabama
  15. Gonzaga
  16. Kentucky
  17. Tennessee
  18. Cincinnati
  19. Missouri
  20. Indiana
  21. Miami (FL)
  22. Iowa State
  23. UCLA
  24. USC
  25. BYU

Let’s dive into the storylines, rosters, and sleeper teams defining the early landscape.

College Basketball Top 25 Outlook: The Elite Trinity at the Apex

As we stare into the crystal ball for this upcoming season, a definitive trinity of elite programs sits at the apex of the national rankings: Duke, UConn, and Florida anchor the very top of the polls.

  • Duke Blue Devils: The spotlight in Durham is blinding, but the incoming talent matches the hype. Expect them to push for the top spot instantly.
  • UConn Huskies: Coach Dan Hurley is looking to maintain his ruthless standard of dominance, aiming for yet another historic run.
  • Florida Gators: Keep your eyes glued to Gainesville. Todd Golden has locked, loaded, and built a massive March run contender.

The Rome Game: Notre Dame vs Villanova Historic Tip-Off in Italy

If you think college hoops waits around for Thanksgiving tournaments to give us premium matchups, think again. The season is tipping off with an absolute history-maker. We are heading across the Atlantic to the Holy City of Rome, Italy!

It’s a spectacular, high-stakes neutral site battle featuring Notre Dame and Villanova. Two historic programs with massive fan bases are squaring off on European soil to set the tone for the entire national landscape. You talk about an immaculate backdrop for hoops—Rome won’t know what hit it when the Irish and the Wildcats take the floor.

Transfer Portal Tracker: Cincinnati Gains Utah State Haul While Missouri Retains Star

Sometimes, a massive bounty of Halloween treats trickles deep into the next calendar year. You might remember being a kid, checking your stash, and realizing you managed to make your October candy haul last all the way until Easter. A similar kind of roster holdover exists in the modern college basketball landscape. We are seeing coaches move neighborhoods, but they aren’t leaving their most treasured pieces behind.

Cincinnati Bearcats Add Jerrod Calhoun’s Key Players

Take a look at Cincinnati. Former Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun packed up his loaded bag of tricks and brought it straight to the Bearcats. He didn’t come alone, either. He brought his high-impact transfers, MJ Collins Jr. and Adlan Elamin, to immediately fortify Cincinnati’s rotation. That is a massive haul shifting from one neighborhood to another to shake up the league.

Missouri Tigers Keep Interior Star

Meanwhile, over at Missouri, the Tigers managed to keep their own king-sized chocolate bar perfectly intact. Their star power forward is staying put, anchoring the paint and giving Mizzou the ultimate cornerstone to build around this winter.

Big East Basketball Stress: UConn, Villanova, and Georgetown Outlook

Look, it hasn’t all been sweet treats. Some teams just make you want to rip your hair out. Trust me, the Big East has given hoops fans a literal bald spot in recent years.

First, UConn completely busted brackets across the country when people dared to bet against them. Then you look at Villanova, struggling to consistently live up to those sky-high, gold-standard expectations of the post-Jay Wright era. And don’t even get started on Georgetown—a program that used to strike fear into the hearts of opponents, now operating as a mere shadow of its former self. It’s enough to make any college hoops fan go completely bald from the stress.

Louisville Basketball Sleeper Status: Pat Kelsey Lands Major UNC Transfer

If you were to peek through the bandages and keep a single, hyper-focused Cyclops mummy eye on just one sleeper team poised to explode this season, it has to be Louisville.

Coach Pat Kelsey has turned the Cardinals into a certified track meet. They are playing at a blistering, breathless pace, and a massive reason for the hype is their absolute coup in the transfer portal, landing a dynamic, game-changing transfer directly out of UNC. Louisville is going to surprise a lot of people, so keep that single eye wide open.

College Basketball Eye Test Cameos and Media Collaborations

Why do we hear angels singing in the background? Probably because the college basketball season seemingly starts sooner and sooner every single year, and honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Enjoy this angelic, hoops-filled weekend. Make sure to head over to collegebasketballeyetest.com for film breakdowns, deep-dive metrics, and everything you need to get ahead of the curve.

Midseason Eye Test with Picks for Saturday, January 18th NCAAB Game Picks

Posted on by
Reply

What teams could make a late season surge in college basketball?

The question in college basketball is not who are the top teams, but instead we are keeping an eye on which teams could move from unranked to tournament sleeper. With an active transfer portal in the offseason, it’s hard to keep track of rosters from year to year. Who is on what team? The truth is that many teams in the top 10 have continuity from the past year, but then the next top 50 teams or so are fluid. There’s a lot of team chemistry that is still building, with head coaches like Kentucky’s Mark Pope a mad scientist experimenting with different lineups in an AAU-like scramble to achieve cohesion in one season.

College basketball’s favorites and underdogs for a 2024-2025 NCAA Championship

The top of the list has remained mostly the same. Duke and Auburn are taking turns as the nation’s number 1 overall ranked team, and therefore the lowest odds to win a title. As this article is being published, each team sits around 6-1 to win it all. Duke and Auburn started the season in that same 10-1 vicinity. They were joined then, and continue to be joined now, by Kansas, Gonzaga, Houston, UCONN, and Iowa State in the second tier of teams in the 10-1 to 25-1 range. Once you start reading below the 25-1 line, things get really dicey. There is a lot of volatility within college basketball’s rankings of say the 20th overall teams and the 60th overall teams. In late November, teams like UNC, Arkansas and Indiana were in the conversation as a third teir of title contenders. However, now those teams would be happy to even make the tournament.

A screenshot of DraftKings odds in late November shows how much has changed

What college basketball teams are underrated right now?

The team that probably headlines a list of surprising, surging, underdog teams, is the Louisville Cardinals. Led by longtime Wisconsin Badger point guard Chucky Hepburn and head coach Pat Kelsey, this team is really starting to put it together. In mid-January, the Cardinals raced away with a win against Syracuse at the former Carrier Dome. Coach Pat Kelsey is known for his track meet style, but even that 85-61 should make you pay attention. This team could race its way into a dangerous 5 or 6 seed before we know it.

Another team worth watching is UCF. Lefty Keyshawn Hall just dropped 40 on Arizona State in their building (including 29 in the first half) to bolster their record to 12-4.

Click here to read more about Hall’s 40 point game on The Ledger.com

UCF is not the only surprising team in the newly-mixed Big 12. West Virginia is a bubble team and has notched important resumes wins so far including a New Year’s Eve win at Allen Fieldhouse. Former Drake head coach Darian Devries has taken his talents (and his son Tucker) to Morgantown with a balanced athletic team led by top scorer Javon Small. This team features six players averaging at least 4 1/2 rebounds per game. When you watch, you’ll see they play for each other.

Follow this and other tweets from CBBEyeTest on X.

What NCAAB teams to watch for on Saturday, January 18, 2025

UConn’s quest to 3-peat as champions is a testament to their resilience and their ability to adapt in high-pressure situations. After a turbulent holiday season marred by losses to Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton, the Huskies looked far from their championship form. However, with the emergence of their star freshman—Liam McNeeley—and the steady leadership of Coach Dan Hurley, UConn has regained its focus. The freshman phenom has electrified the court, leading the team in scoring and providing the spark they needed during a critical midseason stretch. As the Huskies prepare for March Madness, their ability to rebound from adversity and channel their championship pedigree will be key to securing a historic third consecutive title.

Clemson and Wake Forest find themselves in a prime position to take control of an ACC conference that is facing an identity crisis. After Duke’s dominance at the top of the pack, tournament seeds are up for grabs in the league with traditional powers like Syracuse, UNC, and UVA experiencing user error. Clemson has shown flashes of brilliance this season, with a strong defense and an emerging backcourt duo. Meanwhile, Wake Forest’s Steve Forbes is poised to make his mark. After several years of building his program, Forbes has assembled a team capable of making noise in the ACC. His emphasis on tough, physical basketball and disciplined play could give Wake Forest the edge it needs to capitalize on a wide-open conference race. The opportunity is there for the taking, but both teams will need to show consistency and poise as the season heats up.

In the Missouri Valley Conference, Drake is under pressure to prove it is the cream of the crop. Currently boasting a solid record and led by their prolific scorer Bennett Stirtz, who is averaging almost 18 points per game, the Bulldogs have been the team to beat in their league. However, questions remain about their ability to dominate when it matters most. With key matchups against rival programs on the horizon, Drake has the chance to solidify its status as a powerhouse in the conference. To do so, they’ll need to continue their balanced approach—combining high-octane offense with a stingy defense that can shut down opponents in crunch time. The Bulldogs’ performance over the next few weeks will be critical not just for their NCAA tournament aspirations but also for cementing their legacy within the Missouri Valley Conference.

Last but not least: Picks for Saturday, January 18th:

This is a teaser pick on FanDuel that took advantage of a 13-leg promotional105% boost. Louisville -10.5, UK 6.5, Clemoson +9.5, UCONN -1.5, Auburn +2.5, Wake Forest +4.5, Cincy -3.5, Xavier +15.5, Tennessee +2.5, Mizzou +3.5, Drake +1.5, A&M -5.5, BYU +6.5.