Analysis

At Annapolis, MD; tip-off 3pm ET. So much for that 25-9, Big Dance qualifier last year for South Florida, which was fun while it lasted. As often the case in college hoops these days, everything splintered thereafter, first with HC Bryan Hodgson jumping to Providence, while the bulk of the roster either joined Hodgson in the Big East or went elsewhere. Enter HC Chris Mack, formerly at Xavier and Louisville, who worked quickly in the portal and effectively has a brand-new expansion team in Tampa. A close loss to DePaul last Thursday isn’t the alarm it would have sounded a few years ago, but Mack’s Bulls lineups figure to be a work in progress for a while as the new pieces need a bit of time to coalesce. The new-look offense appears as if it will run thru Gs Sonny Wilson (ex-Toledo; 17 ppg) and Chris Davis, Jr (ex-Col of Charleston; 16 ppg), so there’s experience, though American sources sources suggest they’re still just getting to know each other’s names at USF, and whatever transformation isn’t going to happen overnight. Tough-minded St. Joe’s at least has some familiarity with Steve Donahue’s roster, especially holdover Gs Khafiiq Meyers (20.6 ppg) & Jaiden Glover-Toscano (20 ppg), who likely form one of the most potent perimeters in the A-10, while Baltimore product frosh G BJ Ranson (15 ppg) looks like a viable third scoring option. Donahue’s frontliners are mostly transfers, and their eventual development will likely key how high the Hawks might fly in the A-10 race, but in early November it’s that crackling backcourt that should keep St Joe’s within earshot most nights.
Play St. Joseph’s

Maybe it’s time for the ghost of Oral Roberts to bestow one of his miracles on the hoopsters at the school of his name, as the Golden Eagles are a long way from the national contenders of recent years under HC Paul Mills, or back quite a bit further, the mid 70s ORU that advanced as far as the Elite 8 under HC Ken Trickey when the teams were called the Titans. That’s because the now-called Golden Eagles look like they might be able to use all the help they can get tonight in this local battle vs. crosstown Tulsa, which was one of the more-potent teams in college hoops (85.1 ppg) last season. Last week’s lopsided loss to Central Arkansas almost looks like an S-O-S signal from ORU, which had considerable trouble holding onto the ball (as a whopping 18 turnovers suggests), while we have to wonder about the wisdom of continuing to pump away with 3-balls when they weren’t hitting (just 6 of 35 from deep vs, UCA). Aside from holdover G Luke Gray (22 ppg), we’re not sure who on the Golden Eagles roster would even see court time with the Golden Hurricane, which reminded all of its considerable potency when torching Northern Illinois last week at the Reynolds Center. Picking up where it left off a season ago, Tulsa is hitting 50% from the floor and 45% from beyond the arc in the early going, impressive as it’s mostly a new cast that has been plugged into HC Eric Konkol’s run-and-gun system. One of the holdovers, soph G Jaylen Lawal, is already scoring at a 21.5 ppg clip, while among the transfers, 6-11 Chris Loofe (via Middle Tennessee; 10.5 ppg & 9.5 rpg) and G Kobi Williams (10 ppg; 14.1popg last year at Missouri State) are quickly making an impact. After ORU made this one close almost a year ago to the day (November 12, 2025) at the Mabee Center when losing only 88-87, the Golden Hurricane will surely be paying closer attention on upset alert tonight.
Play Tulsa

The court system isn’t just making rulings lately to help power conference entries. The mid-major ranks can benefit, too, and count UCSB among those as the Gauchos just found out in October that valued PG Aidan Mahaney (Saint Mary’s & UConn prior; 14.9 ppg last season) was eligible after all and was indeed going to return for another go-around at the Thunderdome. Important, there, because HC Joe Pasternak was involved in a near-complete rebuild thru the portal, with only Mahaney’s backcourt mate Miro Little (11.9 ppg last season) back from last year’s starting lineups. The new mix intrigues for the Gauchos, because most of Pasternak’s work in the portal focused on frontliners like 6-10 Eric Dibami (ex-FIU; 10.5 ppg) and 6-9 Antonio Chol (ex-New Mexico; 10 ppg), while ex-Weber State wing Viljami Vartiainen (14 ppg) has shot better than 40% for his career from beyond the arc in his career, and in the early going is doing the same for Gauchos at 45.5% triples. Still, the more explosive components on the floor seem to belong the other way, and the soon-to-retire Steve Alford is reportedly thrilled with how his final Wolf Pack edition is progressing, passing a first major test on Sunday at Lake Tahoe against Saint Mary’s in OT as vet G Vaughn Weems pumped in a career-high 33 points, and Pepperdine transfer G Styles Phipps reminded what all the hoopla was about after his arrival in Reno when scoring 25. Mountain West sources also say this might be Alford’s most-athletic team with the Wolf Pack, too, with 6-9 ex-Fresno F Elijah Price typifying a very quick and active frontline and already scoring at 15 ppg. Though with these entries combining for better than 178 ppg in the early going of the new campaign, “over” might be the preferred way to look.
Play the Over

It’s still early, but we have a suspicion that USC might have a lot of games looking like Sunday’s 93-86 shootout over Wichita State at Lake Tahoe. There are so many scorers at Eric Musselman’s disposal that the Trojans (94 ppg across the first two games) can’t wait to get upcourt and into their offense, though it’s often going to be the “Alijah Arenas and Rodney Rice Show “as the each hit for 30+ in the win over the Wheatshockers. The frosh Ratliff twins (6-11 Adonis & 7-foot Darius) have also scored into double digits already, so now it’s just up to Mus to make sure all fo the scorers at his disposal remember they have only one ball to share. The depth on Musselman’s roster also means that SC can press aggressively when the mood strikes, and Trojan quicks forced 20 Wichita turnovers on Sunday. Cal, however, already faced an enhanced example of pressure when forced to deal with top ten Houston on Sunday at the same Lake Tahoe venue, and suffered thru ts own brand of sloppiness (16 turnovers) vs. the Cougs. Yet we suspect Mark Madsen’s troops will be able to get into their halfcourt offense a bit more quickly and easily tonight in Berkeley, and already the portal class is answering some of Madsen’s earlier questions in the backcourt, with transfers on the perimeter like Michael Cooper (ex-Wright State; 19.7 ppg), Nojus Indrusaitis (ex-Pitt; 18.7 ppg), and Jordan Ross (ex-Georgia; 11.7 ppg) all having hit the ground running. There look to be plenty of shooters in Madsen’s new mix, too, as Cal is hitting 44% of its triples in the early going. With these new weapons all contributing on the Golden Bears side, and the chance to face a former much-disliked Pac-12 foe at Haas Pavilion as a reminder of the good old days in the Pac-12, this slug of points makes the Bears very intriguing tonight.
Play Cal

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