Top Mid-Major Basketball Stories 2025: Year in Review
25 biggest college basketball stories of 2025 outside power conferences. Part 1 covers Miami Ohio's perfect start to the season, UT Martin's hot start, and more.
Happy New Years everyone! 2025 left was with so much to look back on, ranging from conference realignment, the ever changing debate about tournament expansion and player eligibility, and so much more. To honor the flip of the calendar, we’ve put together 25 notable stories for programs and players outside of the power conference ranks in 2025!
Over the next three days, we’ll be sending out the full list. Today, you’re receiving numbers 25-16! Without further ado, let’s dive in:
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16. Miami Ohio’s Undefeated Run
The Miami Ohio RedHawks have yet to lose a game in the 2025-2026 season as they are a perfect 14-0 and 2-0 in the MAC. They’ve faced some scrutiny over their scheduling as they rank 356th in terms of strength of schedule. However, this is the life of a good Mid-Major program as the power conference schools and even other strong non-power conference programs refuse to schedule you.
Regardless of the strength, they’ve taken care of business by dominating nearly every team they have played. As they opened up their conference schedule in the MAC, there were a lot of eyes on their road game against Bowling Green. The Falcons came into the game 10-3 with a dominating road win over Kansas State. However, Miami Ohio came out shooting as they led by 29 points at one point.
This team has been incredible to watch and you could not have asked for a better start to the season and finish in 2025.
17. UT Martin’s Hot Start
UT Martin was picked to finish 8th in the Ohio Valley Conference coming into the season, but the Skyhawks quickly proved those predictions wrong. They caught the basketball world off-guard as they took down UNLV on the road in their first game of the year 86-81.
They followed it up with a 78-67 victory over Bradley on the road, then they competed with Florida State as they ultimately fell 87-73. As of the release of this article, they are 9-4 underneath Jeremey Shulman in year two of his campaign in Martin, Tennessee.
18. Fran McCaffrey getting hired by Penn
After a long run at Iowa, Fran McCaffrey had been on the hotseat over the last few seasons with the Hawkeyes. Once he was let go, no one saw what was coming next. On March 26th, McCaffery was named the head coach at Penn. It was a wild day full of fun posts across social media. It hasn’t been a bad first year either as Penn is 6-6 with wins over Saint Joseph’s, Drexel, and a couple of close losses to Rutgers and George Mason in their last two games.
19. Back-to-Back strong non-conference results for Columbia
The Columbia Lions are off to yet another hot start in 2025, but this one seems even better than last year. Last season, they started 11-1 with a win over Villanova on the road. However, it fell apart as they won just one game in 2025 during conference play to finish just 12-15.
This season is far different as they are 11-3 and ranked 137th in KenPom. Their three losses came from UConn, California, and an up-and-coming Stony Brook squad. Their schedule hasn’t been tough, but they did pick up a nice win over Hofstra. This team seems to be more well-rounded where there were clear gaps last year. Even if they don’t continue to dominate like they are right now, they should be competing towards the top of the Ivy League.
20. Bonnies strike gold during the offseason
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies hit the jackpot in the offseason, bringing in Cayden Charles, Darryl Simmons II, Frank Mitchell, and Daniel Egbuniwe. These four currently stand as the Bonnies’ leading scorers and Frank Mitchell has emerged as one of the best big men in the country, while Darryl Simmons has been electric on the offensive end.
Heading into the new year, the Bonnies are 11-3 and just gave VCU a battle on the road on New Year’s Eve. This is a dangerous team and the program as a whole is starting to flourish. They have all the momentum in the world heading into the new year.
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21. San Diego State returns 54.2% of minutes
In this current era of college basketball, returning players is nearly unheard of. San Diego State was one of the outliers as they returned 54.2% of their minutes from last season including Miles Byrd, Magoon Gwath, BJ Davis, etc. While they are just 7-4, their losses are to Michigan, Arizona, Baylor, and a one-point double-overtime defeat to Troy. The Aztecs are 51st in KenPom and about to hit conference play for the remainder of the season. Considering the talent of the players that returned to the Aztecs, it felt appropriate to keep them on the list.
22. Northern Colorado’s Hot Start
The Northern Colorado Bears started off the 2025-2026 season 9-1 with just one loss to St. Thomas by one point on a neutral court. They gave ranked Texas Tech a run for their money, losing 101-90, but they did fall to Denver 86-79. They rebounded with a strong road win over Colorado 86-81 to solidify their resume.
Quinn Denker has been incredible for Northern Colorado and their game against Texas Tech was close despite him missing it due to an injury. The development underneath Steven Smiley has been phenomenal to watch and the Bears are heading into 2026 as not only a team to watch to win the Big Sky, but a team to watch as a potential bracket buster come March.
23. Amarri Monroe Returns to Quinnipiac
We covered San Diego State returning key talent, including a player that entered the NBA Draft to test the waters, however, what’s even more notable is the fact the Quinnipiac Bobcats returned one of the best players outside of the power conference ranks. Amarri Monroe averaged 18.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.3 steals per game last season. Afterwards, he entered the transfer portal, but he elected to forego what was most likely sizeable NIL packages in favor of returning to Quinnipiac. For my own opinion, this is a top-25 story because it shows that there is still hope for smaller programs.
24. Chicago State Beats Loyola Chicago
Loyola Chicago has been one of the largest disappointments in college basketball this season, however, it hit a new low when they fell to Chicago State 84-75 at home. After the loss, they moved to 3-8 on the season. At the time this article was released, the Cougars win over the Ramblers was still their only win over a division I opponent and coming into that game, they were ranked 357th in KenPom. For a team that was projected to finish in the top-five of the Atlantic-10 and hyped up by many including myself, this loss made them hit rock-bottom.
25. IU Indy dropped 102 on Ohio State
Not many people had heard of Ben Howlett when he was first hired by IU Indy, but true basketball sickos knew that his tenure at West Liberty University was unique. He runs an offensive-focused system and many didn’t know what to expect coming into his Division I debut, however, he did not disappoint.
The Jaguars went toe-to-toe with the Ohio State Buckeyes as the final score was 118-102 with no overtime. At halftime, it was 66-50. Non-stop offense, no defense. A glorious 40 minutes of basketball for those of us out there that love high-octane games.