When the calendar flipped from 2024 to 2025, none of the teams that ultimately played in the national championship game ranked in the top five in the AP Top 25 poll. Florida started the new year at number 6, and Houston started the new year at number 14.
The fact that they ended up being the bottom two teams in the Alamodome standings on April 7 shows that the adage “New Year, New Me” applies to college basketball teams as well. 2026 arrives, and with it comes the heart of conference play and a line in the sand.
Failed to accomplish what you wanted in November and December? January and February offer a chance for redemption. A year ago, Houston started slow and then upped the intensity as Big 12 play began and finished 19-1. It's as if the Cougars decided to be the nastiest, toughest team in college basketball again.
The 25 best college basketball stories of 2025, ranked: Florida wins title; Duke and Cooper Flagg lost in the Final Four
Matt Norlander
With that backdrop, we're going to make New Year's resolutions on behalf of some of the 2025-26 college basketball hopefuls for this week's dribble handoff.
Hopefully Peterson will play Saturday for the first time in three weeks; I understand this is the plan. Either way, I hope everyone can find a way to stay sane even if the five-star freshman misses his 10th game of the season on UKFbecause as I've said many times in recent episodes Eye On College Basketball Podcastsome of the hysteria surrounding Peterson's absence seemed a little exaggerated, at least from my perspective.
Was this frustrating for KU fans? Certainly. Does this make KU coach Bill Self frustrated? How could this not be true? But here's the truth: Basketball players missing weeks or even months due to injuries and issues like the injuries and issues Peterson reportedly faced are not all that uncommon in basketball. NBANeither the player nor his family/advisers have a say in any return-to-court plan. From this point of view, it was all more normal than some might think. But yeah, it would be great if this was the big college basketball story that will soon become the old college basketball story because we're only going to get one year of Peterson in the Big 12, and it would be a shame if the memories of it were mostly tied to the eventual 2026 No. 1 overall pick. NBA Draft sat on a bench in street clothes and watched the season unfold without him. — Gary Parrish
Tennessee: Give Nate Ament the green light for a full-time job
With the 2025-26 freshman class arguably the strongest in the history of the sport, one top-10 prospect has taken a bit of a backseat. Nate Ament has been productive (15.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg), but he hasn't been in the top-echelon conversations with players like Cam Boozer, AJ Dibanza, Darrin Peterson, Darius Acuff Jr., Mikel Brown Jr. and even Kingston Flemings.
I do think Ament could have had a stronger second half of the season compared to what we saw in November and December. His shooting performance should improve, and while Ja'Coby Gillespie at point will be the biggest factor for UT in its quest for the top of the SEC rankings, Ament showing off his offensive skill set will be almost as necessary if the Vols are going to finish 4th or better for a fifth straight season. I think this is the SEC team with the biggest gap between the ceiling and the floor. The 10-3 Volunteers open league play this weekend at Arkansas, providing a sharp test to start January. Rick Barnes' team has two quality wins (over Houston in Las Vegas in November and at home over Louisville in December), as well as losses to Kansas, Syracuse and Illinois. Ament wasn't the best player against the best teams.
It's time for him to step up and it's time for Barnes to show off his best talent because we'll see the same thing happen at other schools in the league, schools like Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and Auburn. — Matt Norlander
Florida: Stay in the gym until shooting improves
Among the more puzzling early-season developments is the inability of defending national champion Florida to shoot even the Division I average from 3-point range. He is 6.8% below the Division I average on 3-point shots above the break, which was one of his many strengths last season, according to CBB Analytics. And his three-point percentage in a 9-4 start is 28.2%. This is 340th place among 344 teams. This is terrible for a Gators team that just a season ago was ranked third in the preseason and fifth nationally in scoring per game.
Credit via CBB Analytics data
The Gators have a roster worth millions of dollars, and the staff is targeting players who have played well on it before – including. Boogie Fland And Xaivian Li – but the numbers so far have been terrible. Fland makes 22.2% of his 3-pointers, while Lee makes 25.3%. And even returning players who used to be good long-range shooters, e.g. Alex Condon And Thomas Ho below their percentages compared to last season.
It was terrible in every way. Florida as a team must make the decision to keep the gym open and lock its doors until the situation improves. There are good reasons why things may not have gotten better: guard play has been inconsistent, turnovers have been an issue, and depth (or lack thereof) is an issue. But it's almost inexplicable that this team is not only the worst three-point percentage of any SEC team, it's also the worst All major conference teams as a percentage of 3 points. Things have to improve, significantly, before Florida can even begin to dream of a repeat. — Kyle Boone
Kentucky: Shoot fewer three-pointers.
Kentucky is 2-1 against highly ranked opponents when shooting 16 or fewer three-pointers and 0-3 against highly ranked opponents when shooting 30 or more three-pointers. For this British team, less is more when it comes to outdoor shooting. In theory, Cam Williams, Jasper Johnson, Colleen Chandler And Trent Noah were to form a strong core of riflemen along the perimeter. In practice, these are role players who have struggled to find anything resembling rhythm against quality opponents. UK is at its best when playing in transition, attacking the basket and crashing the glass.
Second-year coach Mark Pope is a brilliant tactician and may favor a crafty style built around a group of 40% three-point shooters. But he has to admit that Team Kentucky won't win the offensive beauty pageant this season. The Wildcats must resolve to shoot less from beyond the arc and attack more for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. — David Cobb
Providence: Repeated desire to do difficult things
It's a season of soul-searching for a 7-6 Providence team that spent big in free agency. Providence can't go anywhere in the Big East without finding the courage to settle down and play defense, box out, and stop playing the “after me, you first” offense. This defense requires intervention. The Monks have scored 1.23 points per possession in six games against top-100 teams per hoop explorer. This is the 347th (!) place nationally. Whenever the big man Oswin Erhunmwunse As a rule of thumb, Providence's defense ranks 365th nationally among top 100 teams. This is the last place in America.
As always, everything in basketball is connected, and it's hard to watch Providence and not feel like this group is playing disconnected, selfish basketball. The defensive effort is boring at best and terrible at worst. The lack of ball movement on offense and the amount of rushing rushes also consistently puts this transition defense in bad spots.
This team is undeniably talented, but they have to give something up in a hurry. Jason Edwards'The heaters cannot be stopped. When he gets back on his feet, freshman Stefan Weels This is a networked shredder. Jaylin Sellers it's a freak show in transition. If discs could talk, they would be horrified by Sellers' leftist movement. Jameer Jones looks like a senior linebacker trapped in a freshman's body. There's a good team out there somewhere, but it's too late.
We'll learn a lot over the next six days about the Friars' mental toughness and whether they want to make it big this season. Providence goes to St. John's on Saturday before event No. 4 University of California, Connecticut on Wednesday in a huge tilt. — Isaac Trotter
