2025–26 opponent tracking

Furman battled all the way back to tie it at 55 with 3:30 to play but then went scoreless for three minutes to come up short. VCU was down as many as 18 to Utah State in the second half and was down double digits with 3:30 to play, then battled back to tie it with 30 seconds left but similarly couldn't get it done.

11/7

Non-conference (3–2)
- VMI 78, Southern Indiana 74
- Clemson 97, Gardner-Webb 59
- Troy 64, Furman 61
- Charlotte 70, Tennessee Tech 65
- Southern Illinois 101, Kansas City 78

A-10 (4–2. 3–2 vs D-I)
- Utah State 80, VCU 77
- Tulsa 82, Rhody 65
- Mason 96, Winthrop 90
- Davidson 85, Wash State 69
- Duquesne 92, Sacred Heart 80
- Fordham 106, Mount St Mary NY (D-III) 37
 
Yep, a perfect night for both the A-10 and our opponents with the exception of Southern Virginia which doesn't count for anything.

11/8

Non-conference (3–1, 3–0 D-I vs D-1)
- USC Upstate 105, Southern Virginia 46
- W&M 81, Norfolk State 78
- Belmont 87, Tennessee State 79
- Elon 92, UNC Greensboro 90 (OT)

A-10 (5–0)
- St Joe's 76. Drexel 65
- GW 99, South Florida 95
- Dayton 77, UMBC 71
- La Salle 73, Monmouth 60
- Bona 89, Canisius 70
 
loyola getting spanked by North Texas 32-20 headed into half .. I will be heading to our game in Chicago in late Feb with a group of friends as we did 2 years ago and decent chance we go to 2-0 in the arena soon to be named Sister Jean Hall .. RIP to a die-hard bball fan.
 
Agree about Loyola. Not really any shame losing to North Texas, which should be pretty solid as usual, but definitely a missed opportunity. The loss to Mercyhurst was really bad, and they barely squeaked by a weak Cleveland State after giving up a double-digit lead in the second half.

11/9

Non-conference (1–1)
- Missouri 106, VMI 68
- Illinois State 76, Cornell 65

A-10 (0–1)
- North Texas 64, Loyola 62

Bonus exhibition opponent
- JMU 84, Coppin State 70
 
Rocco Miller's updated rankings of non-power teams. He counts traditional one-bid leagues, so A-10, MWC, American, and WCC are not included. I've also included their movements compared to his preseason rankings.

Creme de la creme
5. Belmont - steady but moved up from 2nd tier

2nd Tier
17. Illinois State - down from 7

Next Crop
26. Southern Illinois - up from 32
45. W&M - up from 49
(47. JMU) - down from 26
55. Furman - down from 18
60. Elon - new to the rankings

Also note Radford at 35 (down from 25), Iona at 53 (new to the rankings), and Columbia at 59 (new to the rankings).

 
SLU rolls over Lindenwood, Furman blows out an NAIA opponent, and two of our other OOC opponents go head-to-head. And then there's Gardner-Webb losing to a D-II.

11/10

Non-conference (2–2, 1–1 vs D-I)
- North Greenville (D-II) 92, Gardner-Webb 81
- Furman 89, Columbia International (NAIA) 59
- Charleston Southern 96, The Citadel 86

A-10 (1–0)
- SLU 109, Lindenwood 66

 
Semi-busy night for the A-10 with decent results, though Dayton and La Salle lost in the two toughest games of the slate. And one of the wins came at the expense of an OOC opponent as Davidson beat Charlotte.

11/11

Non-conference (1–1)
- Davidson 62, Charlotte 55
- ODU 60, Norfolk State 57

A-10 (5–2, 4–2 vs D-I)
- Mason 86, Catawba (D-II) 62
- Temple 90, La Salle 63
- Fordham 63, Wagner 61
- Davidson 62, Charlotte 55
- Rhody 80, Stonehill 57
- Cincinnati 74, Dayton 62
- Duquesne 87, Queens 81 (OT)
 
Still very early of course, but I was interested in seeing how A-10 teams have moved in KenPom compared to preseason.

- OOC is when teams get in position for at-larges, but being in the 60s and up ain't gonna cut it. Still opportunities to come for some teams though.

- Preseason leader Dayton has slipped to 3rd while VCU basically holds steady to inherit the top spot.

- Five teams including the Spiders clustered in the 112–119 range.

- Biggest movers in the negative direction include Fordham dropping almost 100 spots thanks to the loss to a terrible NJIT team and a close 2-point win over an equally awful Wagner squad last night, and Loyola dropping 39 spots as we've discussed with the disappointing Mercyhurst loss and a couple of other missed opportunities. Dayton also down 15 spots, as maybe the 6-point UMBC win wasn't by as big a margin as expected and the 12-point loss to Cincy last night maybe a bit wider gap than expected.

- Biggest mover in the positive direction is Davidson up 31 with the easy win over Washington State and defeating Charlotte last night, neither win a stellar one but good enough mid-range programs that they moved the needle a bit. Bona also up 15 spots with the decent win over Bradley.

61. VCU (–1)
68. SLU (–3)
69. Dayton (–15)
79. GW (+2)
89. Mason (+2)
107. Bona (+15)
112. Duquesne (–2)
115. St. Joe's (–6)
116. Richmond (+3)
118. Rhody (–6)
119. Davidson (+31)
138. Loyola (–39)
199. La Salle (+2)
279. Fordham (–97)
 
Still very early of course, but I was interested in seeing how A-10 teams have moved in KenPom compared to preseason.

- OOC is when teams get in position for at-larges, but being in the 60s and up ain't gonna cut it. Still opportunities to come for some teams though.

- Preseason leader Dayton has slipped to 3rd while VCU basically holds steady to inherit the top spot.

- Five teams including the Spiders clustered in the 112–119 range.

- Biggest movers in the negative direction include Fordham dropping almost 100 spots thanks to the loss to a terrible NJIT team and a close 2-point win over an equally awful Wagner squad last night, and Loyola dropping 39 spots as we've discussed with the disappointing Mercyhurst loss and a couple of other missed opportunities. Dayton also down 15 spots, as maybe the 6-point UMBC win wasn't by as big a margin as expected and the 12-point loss to Cincy last night maybe a bit wider gap than expected.

- Biggest mover in the positive direction is Davidson up 31 with the easy win over Washington State and defeating Charlotte last night, neither win a stellar one but good enough mid-range programs that they moved the needle a bit. Bona also up 15 spots with the decent win over Bradley.

61. VCU (–1)
68. SLU (–3)
69. Dayton (–15)
79. GW (+2)
89. Mason (+2)
107. Bona (+15)
112. Duquesne (–2)
115. St. Joe's (–6)
116. Richmond (+3)
118. Rhody (–6)
119. Davidson (+31)
138. Loyola (–39)
199. La Salle (+2)
279. Fordham (–97)
Thanks for the analysis. Very interested in seeing how things look at the end of December, but nice to see an early peek at the conference perception.
 
Still very early of course, but I was interested in seeing how A-10 teams have moved in KenPom compared to preseason.

- OOC is when teams get in position for at-larges, but being in the 60s and up ain't gonna cut it. Still opportunities to come for some teams though.

- Preseason leader Dayton has slipped to 3rd while VCU basically holds steady to inherit the top spot.

- Five teams including the Spiders clustered in the 112–119 range.

- Biggest movers in the negative direction include Fordham dropping almost 100 spots thanks to the loss to a terrible NJIT team and a close 2-point win over an equally awful Wagner squad last night, and Loyola dropping 39 spots as we've discussed with the disappointing Mercyhurst loss and a couple of other missed opportunities. Dayton also down 15 spots, as maybe the 6-point UMBC win wasn't by as big a margin as expected and the 12-point loss to Cincy last night maybe a bit wider gap than expected.

- Biggest mover in the positive direction is Davidson up 31 with the easy win over Washington State and defeating Charlotte last night, neither win a stellar one but good enough mid-range programs that they moved the needle a bit. Bona also up 15 spots with the decent win over Bradley.

61. VCU (–1)
68. SLU (–3)
69. Dayton (–15)
79. GW (+2)
89. Mason (+2)
107. Bona (+15)
112. Duquesne (–2)
115. St. Joe's (–6)
116. Richmond (+3)
118. Rhody (–6)
119. Davidson (+31)
138. Loyola (–39)
199. La Salle (+2)
279. Fordham (–97)
If you really want to see a Davison move, here is Torvik with preseason bias removed 11/2/2025 start)

 
St Joe’s getting crushed by Hokies. Down 20 at half. Hokies scoring at will and mostly just driving right to the hoop for easy scores.

St Bonny in a tight one with Siena. Up 3 at half.
 
The Hawks indeed got blown out by the Hokies, but the other three A-10 squads in action did their part tonight, including GW putting up 107 on American. On the OOC side, Southern Illinois is in a tight one with a decent Nevada program at the half, but Elon lost to Marshall. VMI beat up on a non-NCAA team, while Southern Virginia moves into the D-III portion of its schedule with a loss. JMU also fell to Longwood in Farmville.

Edit: SIU falls to Nevada in OT.

11/12

Non-conference (1–3, 0–2 D-I vs D-I)
- Averett (D-III) 76, Southern Virginia (D-III) 58
- VMI 106, Virginia-Lynchburg (NCCAA) 54
- Marshall 96, Elon 89
- Nevada 86, Southern Illinois 81 (OT)

A-10 (3–1)
- VCU 78, Saint Peter's 61
- Virginia Tech 94, St. Joe's 59
- Bona 75, Siena 66
- GW 107, American 67

Bonus exhibition opponent
- Longwood 82, JMU 72
 
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So, JMU stinks and ECU stinks. We don't know about W&M yet, but most likely their stench isn't quite as bad. Still impossible to tell whether we stink or are just average.
 
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