College Basketball

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter’s ability to keep a nucleus together for four years helped the Boilermakers grow into the nation’s No. 1 team and a national championship favorite. Painter, though, is under no pretense that’s an easy thing to pull off. When asked about Rutgers playing six freshmen against Purdue on Tuesday, he agreed the youth …

“It was the basis of my career,” Michael Jordan said. Michal Jordan’s love of the game was the focus of the latest “MJ: Insights to Excellence” conversation with Mike Tirico, which aired Tuesday as part of NBC’s coverage of the 2025-26 NBA season. Jordan talked about how his passion for the game was the foundation for everything. It was that …

Pharrel Payne is an unstoppable force against low-major teams. The center averaged 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 29 minutes per game against Coppin State and Alcorn State, the two he’d played against entering Tuesday. But the senior saved his best for Wagner, the final low-major opponent of his career. On a night where Maryland men’s basketball was a shell …

Syracuse (5-3) defeated No. 13 Tennessee (7-2), 62-60, Tuesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge at JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York. Tennessee suffered its second consecutive loss after finishing in fourth place in the Players Era Championship. The Vols lost to Kansas in Las Vegas, Nevada. Advertisement The Orange led Tennessee, 32-30, at halftime. Jaylen Carey, a Vanderbilt transfer, scored …

Tennessee’s big win over Houston feels like forever ago. Syracuse shut down No. 13 Tennessee in the second half on Tuesday night and held on in the final seconds to pick up a huge 62-60 upset win. The victory, part of the ACC-SEC Challenge, is easily the Orange’s biggest of the season. It also snapped a three-game losing skid, and …

Colorado basketball is off to arguably its best start in program history, sitting at 8-0 before a pivotal road matchup against Colorado State this upcoming Saturday. The Buffaloes have three solid wins against San Francisco, Washington, and, most recently, Cal Baptist. Other wins have come against lower-ranked competition. Advertisement Colorado’s offense has propelled them to a stellar start, averaging over 90 …

I’m not a “fire them all” type of writer or sports fan. I have family in the college coaching profession, and they’ve been fired…multiple times, it’s never fun. In fact, K-State fired my uncle (along with everyone else on the Stan Parrish staff) in 1988, ending their stay in Manhattan. Hell, the one thing a decade of coaching at the …

Kentucky basketball (5-2) will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels (6-1) Tuesday night in a high-stakes matchup at Rupp Arena, looking to prove themselves after two disappointing losses to Louisville and Michigan State. The Wildcats have shown flashes of brilliance but have struggled in their biggest games, leaving fans and analysts questioning their consistency. Kentucky will likely be …

J.P. Estrella is out for Tennessee basketball at Syracuse with a right ankle injury, UT announced prior to the Dec. 2 game. The sophomore forward sustained the injury in Tennessee’s 81-76 loss to Kansas on Nov. 26 in the Players Era Festival. Advertisement Estrella is averaging 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game. The No. 13 Vols …

J.P. Estrella is out for Tennessee basketball at Syracuse with a right ankle injury, UT announced prior to the Dec. 2 game. The sophomore forward sustained the injury in Tennessee’s 81-76 loss to Kansas on Nov. 26 in the Players Era Festival. Advertisement Estrella is averaging 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game. The No. 13 Vols …

On Monday night at the CU Events Center, two undefeated teams battled it out in what looked like an NCAA tournament game. The Buffaloes fended off a 7-0 Cal Baptist to win 78-70 and move to 8-0 in the young season. It became the first time in 76 years (since 1949-50) to start the season with eight straight wins. Advertisement …

We’re just a few weeks away from conference play in the college basketball season, and a major story thus far has surrounded the health status of Kansas freshman and projected No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson. Peterson has missed all but two games for Kansas this season. And that trend is going to continue for at least one more game. Advertisement …

After a very successful trip to Vegas and the Players Era “Tournament,” Kansas returns to the old barn to host UConn in a marquee non-conference matchup. Kansas will reportedly be without star freshman Darryn Peterson for a seventh straight game; Peterson is recovering from a hamstring injury. Bill Self noted that Peterson is “very close” and “still not 100 percent. …

USC men’s basketball has started off the 2025-2026 season strong, getting out to a 7-0 record, including winning the Maui Invitational championship last week. It appears as though the national audience has taken notice, as for the first time under head coach Eric Musselman, the Trojans are ranked in the top 25. USC came in at No. 24 in the …

The first NET rankings of the season are our and, as expected, Purdue is among the nation’s elite teams. The hot stretch for Michigan in Las Vegas has the Wolverines at No. 1, but Purdue is currently third with a chance to take over the top spot in the next few weeks. Saturday’s game alone looks big, as it is …

Tonight’s coverage on Peacock features a Big Ten men’s basketball thriller as the Iowa Hawkeyes head to Michigan State to take on the Spartans. Both teams are undefeated after seven games, but only one can keep its streak alive. Live coverage begins at 6:30 PM ET. See below for additional information on how you can follow all of the college …

Thanksgiving is a great time to be a college basketball fan with all the holiday tournaments and marquee matchups. The feast of high-level hoops doesn’t end there. This week features another trove of must-see games, including 10 between AP Top 25 opponents. No. 4 Duke, No. 6 Louisville and No. 18 Kentucky double up on tough games, each playing two …

The No. 15 Florida Gators head to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils tonight. Although the Gators are the defending national champions, their poor guard play has held them back this season, and my Florida vs. Duke predictions expect that to be the difference. Advertisement Here are my best free college basketball picks for this …

Iowa and Michigan State put perfect records on the line in Big Ten opener originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. The Iowa Hawkeyes and Michigan State Spartans kick off their Big Ten schedules on Tuesday night, and it is already one of the most interesting early conference games of …

AMES — It’s been over a week since Tamin Lipsey was tended to on the court during the closing minutes of Iowa State basketball’s 83-82 victory over St. John’s on Nov. 24. Since then, Lipsey has shown positive signs of progress, according to Cyclones’ coach T.J. Otzelberger, but he remains day-to-day. Otzelberger gave the latest on the standout senior guard …

Tennessee returned home from Las Vegas only to head right back out the door to take a trip to Syracuse. The Volunteers are up north today, set to take on the Orange in the JMA Wireless Dome. No. 13 Tennessee sits at 7-1 on the year while Syracuse is 4-3. Both teams are coming off of a tough few days …

Feast Week is officially behind us, and for the Horizon League, that means it’s time for some early-season conference matchups. As it currently stands, just two teams in the conference have winning records, with Northern Kentucky at 6-2 and Robert Morris at 5-3. Through November, however, the League has faced plenty of uphill battles with buy games against high majors …

A large part of the UNC basketball team’s early success is tied to star freshman Caleb Wilson, who is averaging nearly a double-double through the first seven games of his collegiate career. Entering Tuesday’s highly-anticipated, ACC-SEC Challenge clash with Kentucky, Wilson averages 19.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Wilson tallied four consecutive double-doubles entering last Thursday’s loss against Michigan …

When: December 3 – 9:15 PM ET Where: Neville Arena, Auburn Alabama TV: ESPN Opponent: Auburn Tigers (SEC Conference) Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): Auburn 85-81 / Auburn 86-80 Advertisement Wolfpack Snapshot: Rankings: AP (orv), KP #30, BT #36 NET 40 (8th in ACC) – Q1 (0-1), Q2 (2-1), Q3 (1-0), Q4 (2-0) Wolfpack Season So Far: “…we don’t have the …

Syracuse Orange forward Donnie Freeman (lower body) will not play against Tennessee on Tuesday, a SU spokesperson revealed on Monday. Freeman missed all three games during the Players’ Era Festival in Las Vegas, where Syracuse went 0-3. In the Orange’s four games against mid-major foes before the Vegas trip, Freeman was averaging 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. He …