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Saturday, April 26, 2025
We’re down to nine unbeaten teams after Saturday, though the 10th undefeated left this season did not go quietly. Northern Iowa made the trip to VCU for the second time in four seasons, and the game between the Panthers and Rams was the best of the day Saturday. Virginia Commonwealth got a cold-blooded three-pointer from Treveon Graham in the second overtime and went on to a 93-87 win for a much-needed bounce back after the Rams’ loss at home to Virginia a week ago.
A look back at a somewhat less busy Saturday, where overtime games seemed a bit more common and one team fell from the ranks of the undefeated in arguably the best game of the day.
On a light night of game action, there was plenty of off-court news, from a season-ending injury to player departures and even additions. Plus an in-state rivalry game wasn’t quite as good as last year’s matchup.
Maine has a long road ahead as they rebuild under new head coach Bob Walsh. Amidst the early struggles, the Black Bears have shown some reason for hope going forward.
Rhode Island has at times looked like a team with the potential to contend in the Atlantic 10, and at other times they have had some difficulty. Both were present in their rivalry game at Providence.
It bears repeating over and over: college basketball teams are not static entities over the entire season. They change and hopefully continue to grow and improve. What a team is in November is not what it will be in March.
Fairleigh Dickinson’s rebuilding continues, and it included another signature win as they knocked off Princeton. This was one they had to sweat out right until the final buzzer.
“Anybody can beat anybody” is a cliché. It’s also being proven on a regular basis early in this college basketball season. The upsets keep coming this year, and if there’s one thing we’re learning early this college basketball season, it is that you cannot take anyone lightly. That seems to go especially for NCAA Division I newcomers and transitional members.
Some weekly thoughts, from watching and reading and generally spending too much time following college basketball:
Doubleheaders at Madison Square Garden are as much a part of the fabric of college basketball as the ball itself or Bill Raftery. There is nothing better, and only a few things that even compare.
