The budget needed to field a competitive college basketball roster seems to be the only thing in the world trending up right now, and the beautiful consequence is that most of the best players with eligibility remaining are returning to school. It is in that uncertain world, in the wake of Florida’s national championship win…
A season that was supposed to be defined by parity instead ended with the two most iconic brands in women’s basketball meeting in the national title game and UConn adding a historic record 12th title. Those programs once again top the field in this way-too-early look at 2025-26. As is tradition in these power rankings,…
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Jase Richardson recently told the type of story everyone is familiar with. About being a kid, counting down the clock, imagining the winning shot. Only Richardson’s version was probably unlike yours, or mine, or maybe anyone’s. The specifics involved border on obsessive. When he was around 5 or 6, Richardson imagined…
The Athletic has live coverage of 2025 Men’s March Madness CLEVELAND — Trailing by one with less than eight minutes remaining, Robert Morris guard Amarion Dickerson swatted a shot attempt by Alabama guard Mark Sears, sending the first-team All-American to the floor and the ball caroming out of bounds. Then Dickerson, the suddenly not-so-anonymous Horizon…
The men’s basketball selection committee had an easy job at the top of the bracket this year. The 2025 NCAA Tournament might have the best collection of No. 1 seeds in March Madness history. By the numbers, it is the best, at least in college basketball’s advanced analytics era, which dates to 1997, when Ken…
(Editor’s note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s & women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.) Drake’s in, so we can dispense with the arguments about whether Ben McCollum’s Bulldogs would have made the field of 68 without winning the Missouri Valley…
This article is part of our Rankings & Tiers series, an evaluation across sport about the key players, front offices, teams, franchises and much more. What better way to commemorate the 40-year anniversary of the NCAA Tournament’s expansion to 64 teams than to create a flawless, universally beloved ranking of every men’s basketball champion in that…
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Know what’s old school? Standard, 3-by-5, index cards. Thin blue lines. Sturdy. Stackable. That’s how this men’s basketball season began for Michigan State. Each player was handed an index card and told to write personal goals for the season. Everything from statistical improvements to taking on larger roles in the rotation…
We’re firmly into conference play in the college basketball season, which means it’s time to update the 2025 NBA Mock Draft here at The Athletic. Why does conference play matter so much more than the nonconference slate? First and foremost, it’s later in the season. Freshmen have had a chance to adjust to the speed…
Baylor plays LSU on Tuesday night in the Texas Bowl, Dave Aranda’s team looking for its seventh straight win to finish the season in a matchup that sets the table for the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal. The Bears bumping right up against a College Football Playoff game is fitting because one might argue Baylor could be…