Top 25 Mid-Majors: Utah State Marches to the Top
Utah State's big win over SDSU headlines a week of action in mid-major basketball. Catch the latest updates and standout performances!
Christmas week minimalized the activity this week, but there were still plenty of fun action packed games! Utah State took down No. 20 San Diego State on the road for the Aggies first AP Top 25 road win in 33 years. Loyola Chicago was swept in the Diamond Head Classic. Nevada has started off 0-2 in the Mountain West, while Drake and Bradley both remain undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference. Let’s check out what else happened across Mid-Major college basketball this week.
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Utah State has now taken down Saint Mary’s and No. 20 San Diego State in back-to-back games to move to 12-1 on the season. I imagine the Aggies will be ranked in the AP Poll this week, otherwise it’ll be time to start a discussion about the AP voters. Tucker Anderson was the star of the show hitting two clutch three point shots late, including this game winning shot shown below. The Aggies are up to 43rd in KenPom and 28th in the NET. They are now 3-0 in Quad 1 wins and a perfect 6-0 in Quad 3 & 4.
The Aggies will take on Nevada on New Year’s Eve and Fresno State on January 4th this coming week. Nevada is on a bit of a slump, starting off 0-2 in the Mountain West. If Utah State can capitalize, there is a reasonable chance the Aggies are 14-1 halfway through the season. It doesn’t matter who becomes the head coach at Utah State, it seems that the Aggies will win. Say hello to our new No. 1 team this week.
Drake battled it out at home against a tough Belmont Bruins team, in what was going to be a true test for the Bulldogs. They did not disappoint, holding the Bruins to just 46 points and forcing 12 turnovers in the first half. Bennett Stirtz finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. The Bulldogs just continue to win and are one of just four remaining undefeated teams in the country. The Missouri Valley is a tough conference, so there’s a minimal chance they go undefeated the whole year, but losing just two or three games in the MVC is a realistic possibility. The Bulldogs are up to 77th in KenPom and 48th in the NET with an important Quad 1 win.
Loyola Chicago had the largest movement of the week after being swept in the Diamond Head Classic. The Ramblers started off with a heart breaking buzzer beater loss to Oakland in the opening round 72-71. They then dropped a 77-68 game to Charleston after Deywilk Taravez scored 30 points. They wrapped up the week losing to Murray State 71-68 in a physical battle. The Ramblers are now 9-4 on the season, but open up the A-10 with a tough game against VCU this coming weekend. They desperately need to pick up this win to gain back momentum as they’ve fallen to 117th in KenPom and 138th in the NET. Unfortunately, we had to bump the Ramblers out of the Top 25 this week.
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs have finally entered the Top 25 with Loyola Chicago dropping out. The Bulldogs didn’t play this week, but they just narrowly missed the cut last week. Louisiana Tech is 11-2 on the season and rank 101st in KenPom and 96th in the NET. They’ll pick off conference play against UTEP and New Mexico State this week.
Outside of the Top 25, Charleston picked up a couple nice wins over Loyola Chicago and Charlotte in the Diamond Head Classic. The Cougars are 10-3 on the season with wins over FAU, Saint Joseph’s Loyola Chicago, Wofford, and Charlotte. Their only losses come from Liberty, Rhode Island, and Oregon State. Chris Mack is doing a fantastic job in his first year, in which the Cougars are now on our bubble.
It might have been a slow week, but with New Year’s upon us, we have some incredible slates this coming week. March Madness is just three months away and resumes are on the line. Make sure to lock in this week!
Notable Movement
Loyola Chicago - #13 → NR
Liberty - #16 → #11
Dropped Out
Loyola Chicago
On the Bubble
Charleston
Columbia
North Dakota State
Samford
Milwaukee