This preview adds some context for when the games are played, since we are a young team (and some of our opponents are young).
*Note: The class is from last year. Add a year to every sophomore or higher. If it’s a freshman with no stats, assume they’re an incoming freshman. If it’s a freshman with stats, assume they’re a sophomore. I would fix it, but I don’t care that much. This is how it’s set up in Torvik.
11/2/2026 La Salle (9-23 #11 in A10 at Home - Season opener)
Quick Preview: First game of the year. La Salle was a bad team that returns 2 of its 3 best players, but the rest are mid-major players who weren’t even starters last year. They are an A10 team and should be competitive-ish, but this is likely a blowout win. Top to bottom, they are more inexperienced than we are.
The one potential threat is Rob Dockery. His season-wide stats aren’t that great, but he had insane stats to finish the year, averaging 26 pts per game over the last 5 games (see below). He got to the line an insane amount of times. I think the trap and JoJo should neutralize him, but he could be a great test for the younger players.
11/8/2026 vs. California (Neutral in Lake Tahoe, NV) -Likely game 2
Quick Preview: NIT team in a full rebuild. Almost no one on the roster has any notable starting minutes. Only the center has notable experience, and he is a “he is who he is” type of player. Think Keita from BYU. The majority of them were bench players on good teams. I don’t think this team will be ready for us in game 2. Blowout win again. I think this game would have been closer in January than in game 2.
11/17/2026 vs. Rutgers (Pro Era MTE)
Quick Preview: First real test of the year. A low-end Big 10 team (but still competitive). Returns its far-and-away best player. First real test to see how much our perimeter defense has improved. They should have a solid perimeter offense. Rutgers is hoping to make a big jump from last year. The big question will be if mid-major points can translate, and they really won’t know until they play us. Their 1st 3 games are vs. bottom 50 teams in all of college basketball. If we are as good as we think we are, we should win this by 10+. We should have a big rebounding and toughness edge.
11/18/2026 vs. Florida/Notre Dame (Pro Era MTE)
Quick Preview: I won’t do a Notre Dame preview. We beat Rutgers, I’m manifesting it!!!
Florida preview - Honestly, they might just wash us. National title favorites. The entire core from their SEC regular-season championship team returns, most of whom were on their national title team. The one player who left, they had the option to bring him back but instead chose to bring back someone from their championship team (Xavien Lee for Aberdeen, #5th year players). Brought in touted older international guys too. They should be a well-oiled team just from the returners, and unlike Rutgers (and us), they will have played 2 tournament-level teams before playing this game to be battle-tested.
Ecstatic if we win. Realistically, I would be happy if we kept it close. We will be better in February than November, especially with how inexperienced this team is. A close loss against a well-oiled title contender in November is a great sign.
11/19/2026 vs. TBD (Pro Era MTE)
Too many teams to preview for the last game, so I won’t, but I tiered who I’d like to play.
| Love to play | Great game | Meh | Avoid | Booo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gonzaga | Tennessee | SDSU | Any Big 12 | Notre Dame |
| Louisville | Auburn | Creighton | UNLV | |
| Michigan | Miami | Maryland | ||
| St Johns | Oregon |
12/8/2026 vs. Alabama (Neutral in New York, NY)
Quick Preview: A ton of touted recruits who aren’t 1-and-done (25-50 range recruits). Not a ton of experience, but a lot of talent. This is game 10/11, which will be an advantage for Bama. Players will have likely broken out by now. Not all of them will work out, but multiple will. Holloway is expected to push for an All-American-type season. Nate Oats is also a good coach. This game will come down to the wire, as all our previous games have.
12/13/2026 vs. LSU (Neutral in Houston, TX)
Quick Preview: Half their roster currently isn’t eligible. Everyone with something in their notes section isn’t guaranteed to play. If everyone is eligible, they’re one of the best teams in college basketball. RJ Luis and Brice Dessert, I just don’t see how those 2 play. Niang, Levy, and Santos, it’s possible but not favorable, and the 5th years are currently 50/50. Hard to preview when we don’t know who is playing. They will have to play tryout walk-ons heavily if no one is cleared (too late to add players), likely leading to us blowing them out. If at least the 5th years are cleared, that is still a capable tournament team.
12/20/2026 vs. Florida State (Neutral in Jacksonville, FL)
Preview: A sleeper team for many people this year. Their depth isn’t amazing, but their starting 5 is sneakily loved by a lot of people. It’s not a consensus opinion yet, but there’s a growing group that thinks Kameron Taylor will be a lottery pick (freakishly athletic 6’7 20-pt scorer, but mid-major) - has some crazy highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2j_8uDYuVo. Shon Abeav was a 5-star McD AA known for scoring in bunches, and many see a potential sophomore breakout. Also, their coach took a team that was supposed to finish near last in the ACC and, even though they missed the postseason, had them finish #7 out of 18 in his 1st-ever year head coaching (from the NBA).
But from a preseason perspective, it’s hard to fear a team in which their entire depth is 3-star freshmen, and their projected 2nd and 3rd best players are from teams we whooped last year (Cincy and Colorado). But this game is basically mid-season. They’ll have already flopped or broken out by the time this game is played. Preseason, I say comfortable win. It might be a different preview in December.
