NCAA Basketball Notes and Top 25 for 11/18

It’s hard to get a read on teams this early in the season, but the early-season tournament schedule is coming fast. One of the most anticipated events is the Players Era Festival, which features 18 teams, many of which are among the best squads in the country. To keep up with the times, the Festival offers NIL money to all participants.

Nine games will be played on November 24th and 25th, with the two best teams playing in the title game on the 26th. There will be many other games as well

How do they determine the best two teams? If only two teams go 2-0 (unlikely), it’s easy. Beyond that, any tiebreakers are determined by point differential.

By the way, there is talk that next year’s Festival will grow to 32 teams. If your first question is how this impacts other tournaments, it’s a legitimate question. This year’s Battle 4 Atlantis and Maui tournaments do not feature any teams considered to be National Championship contenders. The fields aren’t necessarily bad – they just aren’t elite. The ESPN Events Invitational is headlined by BYU, with Dayton, Georgetown, and Miami filling out a competitive field. The competition has two other brackets with mid-major squads.

The Charleston Classic drew four schools from power leagues (Xavier, Clemson, Georgia, and West Virginia), which could be a helpful at-large resume booster. The same goes for the Hall of Fame Classic (Kansas State, Mississippi State, Nebraska, and New Mexico).

In other words, there are plenty of fun tournaments to watch over the next several weeks. But only one of those competitions drew a field of heavyweights.

There isn’t much conference movement this year. However, that will change next season when several Mountain West schools merge with Oregon State, Washington State, Texas State, and Gonzaga (no football) to form a new Pac-12 (they are not rebranding, despite still not having 12 schools).  The Mountain West responded by adding Grand Canyon (this year) and UC-Davis, Hawaii, and UTEP next season.

Top 25:

1. Houston (4-0) – Auburn made life difficult, but the Cougars passed the test. Emanuel Sharp’s senior leadership is key. He feels like a unicorn nowadays, playing all four years for one school.
2. UConn (4-0) – What looked like a statement blowout for the Huskies against BYU became a nailbiter. To their credit, they held off the hard-charging Cougars.
3. Purdue (4-0) – The Boilermakers may have the most impressive early-season conquest, beating Alabama in a true road contest. If you like experience in your title contenders, Purdue is loaded with it, as Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Oscar Cluff, and Fletcher Loyer are major senior contributors.
4. Arizona (4-0) – The Wildcats may claim that their win over the defending champions (Florida) is more impressive than Purdue’s win over Alabama. Additionally, they knocked off UCLA with a game against UConn next on the road. Winning would give them a strong argument as the #1 team in the country.
5. Duke (4-0) – The competition hasn’t been great (beating Texas is a nice win, and it was technically on a neutral court in Charlotte), but the dominance is obvious. Plus, star freshman Cameron Boozer is averaging a double-double. As for the competition, five of their next eight games are against Top 25 opponents.
6. Gonzaga (4-0) – Gonzaga looks locked and loaded for their WCC swan song. They already have three wins over name schools (Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Creighton). All were double-digit conquests.
7. Louisville (4-0) – The Cardinals are piling up the points early, including a 96-point effort against Kentucky.
8. Illinois (4-0) – The Fighting Illini earned a strong early-season win over Texas Tech at home.
9. Alabama (2-1) – The Crimson Tide can’t be accused of playing early-season cupcakes. They won at St. John’s, though they lost at home to Purdue. Their next two games? Illinois (in Chicago) and Gonzaga in the Player Era Festival.
10. Florida (3-1) – An uneven start to the season? Perhaps, given their loss to Arizona and their 2-point win over not-expected-to-be-good Florida State. However, underestimate the champions at your own risk.
11. Michigan (3-0) – Two close wins (Wake Forest (neutral), TCU (road)) probably weren’t healthy for the Wolverines’ faithful, who had to endure close, heartwrenching losses in the non-conference last season. Their trip to the Player Era Festival includes a Sweet 16 rematch against Auburn.
12. Kentucky (3-1) – They made a furious rally against Louisville, only to come up short. It’s too early to read into it, but the Wildcats are one of three teams in the Top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency (Duke, Gonzaga).
13. Iowa State (3-0) – We don’t know much yet about the Cyclones, as their toughest opponent thus far is Mississippi State (who struggled with Southeast Louisiana). We’ll learn more during the Players Era Festival, where they play St. John’s and Creighton.
14. North Carolina (4-0) – Your opinion of Kansas may determine how you feel about the Tar Heels, who beat the Jayhawks by 13.
15. Michigan State (3-0) – Impressive win over Arkansas. The annual Champions Classic (which always features Michigan State, Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky) is next. This year, the Spartans draw Kentucky.
16. St. John’s (2-1) – The Red Storm didn’t pass their first test (home against Alabama). Their offense let them down last season, leading to an earlier-than-expected NCAA Tournament exit. We’ll see if Rick Pitino has the right mix in 2025-2026.
17. Tennessee (3-0) – The schedule isn’t strong early, though it will pick up in a big way. The KenPom (13th) and Massey (5th) are bullish thus far.
18. Auburn (3-1) – Mad respect to the Tigers for playing Houston within a point. They draw two Big Ten schools (Oregon, Michigan) in the first two nights of the Players Era Festival.
19. BYU (3-1) – Although it goes down as a neutral court loss, their thrilling loss to UConn was played in Boston. Their offense is their calling card, and freshman phenom AJ Dybantsa looks like the real deal.
20. Wisconsin (3-0) – The Badgers are routinely overlooked in the early part of the season, only to prove everyone wrong. Their schedule has been simple thus far, but BYU should offer a test. They play three Big East teams in the non-conference, though all come with question marks (Marquette, Providence, Villanova).
21. Texas Tech (3-1) – Losing by four to Illinois (road) is nothing to be ashamed of. They play in the Baha Mar Championship. A win over Wake Forest could lead to a title game matchup with Purdue (if they defeat Memphis).
22. St. Mary’s (4-0) – The Battle 4 Atlantis is wide open this year. The Gaels and Vanderbilt should be co-favorites, though seven of the eight schools are in the KenPom Top 100 (only Western Kentucky isn’t).
23. Arkansas (3-1) – The Razorbacks lost by three on the road to Michigan State, which will end up helping their resume, not hurting it. Some people watch football on Thanksgiving. Real sports fans will watch Arkansas – Duke in the Thanksgiving Classic.
24. Kansas (3-1) – If the Jayhawks want to earn respect, a win over Duke would go a long way.
25. Vanderbilt (4-0) – Want a criticism? They don’t play a currently ranked team in the non-conference. The Battle 4 Atlantis could offer up a title game against St. Mary’s.

Just Missed:

San Diego State (2-0) – The Aztecs will get their first test against Michigan in the Players Era Festival.
Indiana (4-0) – The Hoosiers crushed Marquette, but there are legitimate questions about how good the Golden Eagles are this season. They may be ranked, but their recent win over Incarnate Word was by only eight.
North Carolina State (3-0) – If the ACC wants to rise again, it needs schools like NC State to become consistently competitive. As of now, the conference looks top-heavy again.
UCLA (3-1) – Positive: Close loss to Arizona. Negative: Close win over Eastern Washington.