Originally Posted Dec 8, 2025. Updated Dec 11, 2025 @ 11:15 ET

Welcome to all of you who were solely focused on college football! The hoops season is in full swing with several conferences starting conference play last week, a ton of great non-con matchups and surprise results everywhere! Let’s dive into this week’s key games!

Last Week’s Updates:

Arizona and Michigan continued to impress, as did Duke. However, another team takes the team of the week:

The Iowa State Cyclones are this week’s team of the week!

My player of the week is staying local: Tre Carrol put up 30 and 7 on Friday night in the Crosstown Shootout vs. Cincinnati!

The Big 12 really damaged themselves this week, but just the bottom half. The top 6 of the conference are the best 6 in the country, however, teams like Kansas State, Baylor and Cincinnati hurt themselves considerably.

The Two Bid Big East is absolutely a possibility at this point. Outside of UConn and St. John’s, no teams have impressed to this point to the level of a tournament team. That needs to change quickly but I don’t believe it is going to.

Outside of those two, the other power conferences (SEC, ACC, Big Ten) continue to impress overall. The ACC looked good this week in the SEC/ACC Challenge, especially with a team like Syracuse getting a massive win over Tennessee. North Carolina is also impressing to start the year, especially with the wins @ UK and vs. Georgetown this week!

From a mid-major stance, the MWC had a solid week, especially New Mexico who got a solid win over Santa Clara.

Now, let’s dive into this week’s slate:

📊 METHODOLOGY

Since we have NET rankings now updated daily, this means we can start to have actual quadrant breakdowns for each matchup!

Each game is assigned a Power Rating (1–5):

5️⃣ Must-Watch
National-impact game; typically Q1 vs. Q1.

4️⃣ High-Level Matchup
Strong game with postseason or résumé relevance.

3️⃣ Notable/Competitive
High quality mid-major matchup and/or solid high-major game

2️⃣ Worth Monitoring
Intrigue, rivalry angle, or stylistic fun; Typically the solid mid-major matchups will go here.

1️⃣ Minimal Impact
Not a major bracket game, but includes a fun storyline or a mid/low major game of interest

Understanding the 4 Quadrants:

Q1:

Home: 1-30 | Neutral 1-50 | Away 1-75

Q2:

Home: 31-75 | Neutral 51-100 | Away 76-135

Q3:

Home 76-160 | Neutral 101-200 | Away: 136-240

Q4:

Home: 161+ | Neutral: 201+ | Away: 241+

🗓 Monday, December 8, 2025

Per usual, Mondays are a bit slower. I’m going to spend this time making a new bracket, which will come out Tuesday AM! Neither of these games will have impacts on at-large games, but they will be fun to watch!

1️⃣ Lafayette @ Penn, 6:00, ESPN+

Q4 for Penn | Q3 for Lafayette

1️⃣ Incarnate Word @ New Orleans, 8:00, ESPN+ 

Incarnate Word Q3 |New Orleans Q4

🗓 Tuesday December 9, 2025

This week, tuesday is a bit lighter than normal, but there are multiple high stakes games to watch! Four games have Q1 wins for either team, and Indiana is desperate for a bounce back!

5️⃣ Villanova @ Michigan, 6:30, FS1

Villnova Q1 | Michigan Q2

5️⃣  Clemson vs. BYU (MSG), 6:30, ESPN

Clemson Q1 | BYU Q1

5️⃣ Illinois @ Ohio State, 7:30, Peacock

Illinois Q1 | Ohio State Q1

3️⃣ Penn State @ Indiana, 8:30, FS1

Penn State Q1 | Indiana Q3

5️⃣ Florida vs. UConn (MSG), 9:00, ESPN

Florida Q1 | UConn Q1

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🗓 Wednesday  December 10, 2025

Wednesday is going to be VERY fun! Most of the games are going to have a clear favorite, but they should be very impactful! Minnesota isn’t a pushover at all, and that could be a good one. The Liberty/NC State matchup should also be close. Nebraska is one of the final undefeated teams in the country and will face a tough Badger squad! Plus, the mid-major matchup between New Mexico and VCU is must see!

2️⃣ Miami (OH) @ UNC Asheville, 6:00, ESPN+

Miami Q3 | UNC Asheville Q3

4️⃣ Minnesota @ Purdue, 7:00, BTN

Minnesota Q1 | Purdue Q3

3️⃣ Charleston @ South Florida, 7:00, ESPN+

Charleston Q1 | USF Q4

2️⃣ Western Kentucky @ Marshall, 7:00, ESPN+

Western Kentucky Q3 | Marshall Q3

3️⃣ New Mexico @ VCU, 7:00, ESPN+

New Mexico Q1 | VCU Q3

3️⃣ Liberty @ NC State, 7:00, ACCN

Liberty Q1 | NC State Q3

3️⃣ Wisconsin @ Nebraska, 9:00, BTN

Wisconsin Q3 | Nebraska Q2

🗓 Thursday, December 11th, 2025

Thursday is, yet again a bit slower overall, however, there is going to be an amazing matchup between Iowa and Iowa State! The Cyclones will be pretty heavily favored, however, rivalry matchups never disapoint!
1️⃣ Green Bay @ IU Indy, 6:30, ESPN+

Green Bay Q4 | IU Indy Q4

5️⃣ Iowa @ Iowa State, 8:00, FS1

Iowa Q 1 | Iowa State Q1

1️⃣  App State @ ECU, 7:00, ESPN+

App State Q4 | ECU Q4

🗓Friday, December 12th, 2025

4️⃣ Texas @ UConn, 8:00, FOX

Texas has a chance to help the entire conference, however, UConn is playing so well right now, so it’s going to be tough.

🗓Saturday, December 13th, 2025

4️⃣ Arkansas vs. Texas Tech, Noon, ESPN2

This will likely be Q1 for both and is a massive neutral court resume opportunity!

2️⃣ Iona @ SJU, noon, TNT

I love that Pitino scheduled this one!

3️⃣ Depaul @ Wichita State, Noon, ESPNU

Depaul has disappointed all year, can they get a solid win here? I’ll take Wichita, who’s a sleeper in the AAC!

4️⃣ Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma, 1:00, FOX

BEDLAM! This one always delivers. Oklahoma has been up and down, OKST isn’t tested. It’s an amazing measuring stick game!

4️⃣ Marquette @ Purdue, 2:00, Peacock

Can Marquette keep it competitive? I don’t think so.

4️⃣  Providence @ Butler, 2:00, TNT

BIG EAST PLAY IS HERE! This one has instant bubble impacts and is a crucial matchup in the middle of the Big East!

4️⃣ Cincinnati vs. Georgia (ATL), 2:00, ESPNU

Cincinnati has struggled, while UGA looks like a tournament team. Can Cincinnati right the ship?

2️⃣  Southern Miss @ Ole Miss, 3:00, SECN+

Regional rivalries will forever be on my lists. Does Ole Miss get upset here?!

3️⃣ Kansas State @ Creighton, 3:00, FOX

Creighton has been awful this year, and Kansas State, while starting hot has cooled off. This is a crucial matchup for the Wildcats to get back on track.

4️⃣ Memphis @ Louisville, 3:30, ESPN

Preseason, I thought this would be one of the games of the weekend, but now? Memphis has disappointed some. Massive opportunity for them to prove me wrong though!

5️⃣ Nebraska @ Illinois, 4:00, Peacock

These are two of the most surprising teams in the country to start the year! This is a huge matchup for the 2nd tier in the Big Ten this year!

2️⃣  Wright State @ Marshall, 4:00, ESPN+

I love this matchup. Both towards the top of their conferences, and it’s a regional kind of game. I would love to see this keep going year after year!

3️⃣  Pitt @ Villanova, 4:30, TNT

A Pennsylvania battle incoming! This is a huge opportunity for Nova to get a P5 win, however, Pitt isn’t among the solid P5 teams so far, so I would recommend Nova win this one or there will be real issues getting into the tournament.

2️⃣ St. Bonaventure vs. Ohio (Cleveland), 5:00, PTB live

Sneaky solid mid-major matchup, with big implications for SBU especially!

5️⃣ Kansas @ NC State, 5:30, ESPN

This would have been the game of the weekend preseason, but now, this matchup has lost some of its luster. I think KU is better, but in Raleigh, this is anyone’s game! Should be a really intriguing game and a great opportunity for a resume builder!

2️⃣ Oakland @ Northern Iowa, 6:00, ESPN+

Really solid mid-major matchup here. I’ll have my eyes on this one!

3️⃣  Arizona State vs. Santa Clara (Henderson, NV), 7:00, TNT

Both teams have had solid starts to the year! SC has slowed down some recently, this is a massive resume builder for both teams!

5️⃣ Indiana @ Kentucky, 7:30, ESPN

One of the best rivalries in basketball that doesn’t happen nearly enough! Props to both teams for bringing it back! This will be FUN!

3️⃣  Rutgers @ Seton Hall, 8:00, FS1

The battle for NJ! Every rivalry should have a trophy! SHU needs to win this for at-large hopes!

3️⃣  Ohio State vs. WVU (Cleveland), 8:00, ESPNU

The winner of this matchup is in a decent bubble spot. The loser? WAY behind the 8-ball.

4️⃣ San Francisco @ Saint Louis, 8:00, ESPN+

SLU has hopes of making an at-large run. This is the kind of game you need to win to get here as a mid-major!

3️⃣  SMU vs. LSU (New Orleans), 8:30, SECN

If SMU is actually good like I believe, they should win this one easily. LSU isn’t great despite their record.

5️⃣ Arizona @ Alabama (Birmingham), 9:30, ESPN

Game of the weekend! Absolutely amazing matchup. Must-watch!

5️⃣ UCLA vs. Gonzaga (Seattle), 11:30, ESPN

Game 1B of the weekend! Should be locked onto ESPN from 9:30 ET to 2AM ET! Big time opportunity for UCLA!

🗓Sunday, December 14th, 2025

2️⃣Indiana State @ Milwaukee, 2:00, ESPN+

Really solid mid-major matchup if you’re looking for a reason to swtich from football!

2️⃣ Troy @ UAB, 3:00, ESPN2

Another really fun mid-major matchup! Both of these teams have impressed to start the year! Tune in!

2️⃣ Charlotte @ Charleston 4:00, FLOSports

Continuing the mid-major trend, this one should be interesting. Both are coming in 4-6.

4️⃣ Saint Mary’s @ Boise State, 6:00, MWN

Elite mathup here! This is better than anything on from a football viewpoint. Be there.