We've officially reached the close of the college basketball season, and what a wild journey the first 27 days of the season has been, and there is sure to be many more twists and turns to come in the next three months of hoops.
The end of the month has finally provided an opportunity for me, as well as I am sure many others to finally get a good gauge on who are the primary contenders for the league regular-season and tournament titles.
One of the things we must address right away after one month of basketball is that the league, which finished ranked 13th in KenPom just last season, currently has slipped a little bit, and it's been noticeable to both fans and coaches in the league this season. Some of the early non-conference results have proven that.
All that being said, there is a pretty well-defined top three or four in the SoCon, and the league certainly ended the month much better than it started it, as teams and new players begin to figure out role identity, gain some continuity, but most importantly, get games alongside one another against good competition.
Feast Week for the most part saw the league finish the month much better than it started. Wins over Richmond, at Elon, Queens, Youngstown State, and Appalachian State were all solid wins and much better victories than the league was getting in the preceding weeks during the opening month of college basketball season.
With the SoCon-ASUN challenge now officially in the books, the league has claimed the challenge two years in a row, as the SoCon claimed an 11-9 edge in 2025-26. That makes two years in a row in which the SoCon has claimed the challenge by the exact same ledger and now leads the series 20-18 over the past two seasons. The scores of each game are below.
One of the things we must address right away after one month of basketball is that the league, which finished ranked 13th in KenPom just last season, currently has slipped a little bit, and it's been noticeable to both fans and coaches in the league this season. Some of the early non-conference results have proven that.
All that being said, there is a pretty well-defined top three or four in the SoCon, and the league certainly ended the month much better than it started it, as teams and new players begin to figure out role identity, gain some continuity, but most importantly, get games alongside one another against good competition.
Feast Week for the most part saw the league finish the month much better than it started. Wins over Richmond, at Elon, Queens, Youngstown State, and Appalachian State were all solid wins and much better victories than the league was getting in the preceding weeks during the opening month of college basketball season.
With the SoCon-ASUN challenge now officially in the books, the league has claimed the challenge two years in a row, as the SoCon claimed an 11-9 edge in 2025-26. That makes two years in a row in which the SoCon has claimed the challenge by the exact same ledger and now leads the series 20-18 over the past two seasons. The scores of each game are below.
SoCon-ASUN Alliance (SoCon Wins 11-9)
Nov. 9 - Mercer 92, Lipscomb 77 (Macon, GA/Hawkins Arena)
Nov. 14 - West Georgia 100, The Citadel 92 (Carrollton, GA/The Carrollton Coliseum)
Nov. 15--Florida Gulf Coast 91, Chattanooga 73 (Fort Myers, FL/Alico Arena)
Nov. 15 -Jacksonville 69, VMI 67 (Lexington, VA/Cameron Hall)
Nov. 15-Austin Peay 69, UNCG 63 (Greensboro, N.C./Fleming Gym)
Nov. 15 -Wofford 94, Bellarmine 86 (Louisville, KY/Freedom Hall)
Nov. 15--ETSU 78, North Alabama 74 (Florence, AL/CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall)
Nov. 16 -Western Carolina 76, Stetson 85 (Cullowhee, N.C./Liston B. Ramsey Center)
Nov. 16 - Samford 84, Central Arkansas 77(OT) (Conway, AR/Farris Center)
Nov. 19– Florida Gulf Coast 77, Samford 62 (Homewood, AL/Pete Hanna Center)
Nov. 19- Wofford 86, North Florida 78 (Spartanburg, S.C./Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium)
Nov. 20- Queens 101, UNCG 94 (Charlotte, N.C./Curry Arena)
Nov. 22- Mercer 95, Eastern Kentucky 83 (Richmond, KY/Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum)
Nov. 22-Chattanooga 71, North Alabama 57 (Chattanooga, TN/McKenzie Arena)
Nov. 22-Lipscomb 83, Western Carolina 62 (Nashville, TN/Allen Arena)
Nov. 22- Stetson 99, VMI 80 (DeLand, FL/Edmunds Center)
Nov. 23-Furman 90, Queens 79 (Greenville, S.C./Timmons Arena)
Nov. 24-Bellarmine 70, The Citadel 58 (Charleston, S.C./McAlister Field House)
Nov. 29-ETSU 80, Central Arkansas 57 (Johnson City, TN/Freedom Hall)
Nov. 29-Wofford 83, Eastern Kentucky 77 (Richmond, KY/Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum
Round 2:
Dec. 1 – Wofford 74, North Alabama 54
Dec. 3 – Lipscomb 80, Chattanooga 62
Dec. 4 – Western Carolina 86, Bellarmine 74
Dec. 4 – Furman 76, FGCU 73
Dec. 7 – Queens 81, VMI 78
Dec. 8 – Samford 72, Austin Peay 47
Dec. 8 - Mercer 93, Stetson 89 (OT)
Dec. 14 – Jacksonville 60, ETSU 52
Dec. 14 – North Florida 89, UNCG 77
Dec. 16 – Central Arkansas 73, The Citadel 71)
A Comparative Analysis
The league as a whole, however, is down. Way down. Much like football, it's going to be a season much like the 2022-23 season, when the SoCon ranked 20th in the final KenPom rankings, despite Furman's high ranking that season. The Paladins at least helped the league save face with that 68-67 win over Virginia in the NCAA Tournament.
I don't foresee the league champion this season duplicating that feat, especially as a No. 14 or No. 15 seed, which is likely the seed the league will garner come time for the NCAA Tournament. The SoCon ended the opening month of the season with just a 37-43 record against other major and mid-major leagues. By comparison, league teams at the end of the first month a year ago were 44-33, including a 33-3 mark at home.
No team is currently ranked inside any mid-major polls, although the ETSU Bucs are receiving votes in at least two. League teams went 25-9 on their home floors inside the first month of the season, while struggling to go 9-26 on the road. While teams were 33-3 on their home floors at the end of the opening month of the season last season, SoCon teams have three more wins on the road this season as opposed to last season. The league was just 6-25 on the road through the first month last season.
SoCon teams are just 3-8 on neutral floors this season, while the league went .500, at 5-5, in neutral site games through the opening month last season.
In an interesting comparison in three-point shooting, which is always the thing that keeps the SoCon in the conversation when it comes its potential impact and upset potential on a national scale, helping the league punch well above its weight more often than not, the stats are very similar.
Last season through the opening month, SoCon teams connected on a combined 726 threes and shot 33.1% (726-of-2,191) from long-range (33.1%), while this season, league teams have combined to connect on 728 triples, as league teams have combined to shoot 74 more threes (728-of-2,265) from long range for with a slightly lower percentage (32.1%).
The one major difference appears to VMI, which through nine games in the opening month shot 253 threes last season, while through one more game in 2025-26, Andrew Wilson's team has hoisted up a full 90 more three-point attempts this season (343). The Keydets connected on a league-best 108 triples through the opening month of the 2025-26 season, however, could only muster a 31.5% clip on those 108 makes from long-range. Last season, the Keydets shot 32.4% (82-of-253) and made 82 threes in the opening month.
One of the major concerns when it comes to VMI moving forward is the status of Rickey Bradley Jr., who has been out the entire opening month of the season. Bradley, who was the preseason league player of the year and leading returning scorer, hasn't played in a game and no information has been provided about the injury, but more importantly, no timetable has been relayed to any media outlet on his potential return to the lineup or even if he will play at all.
1. EAST TENNESSEE STATE (6-1) --There is little question as to who the best team over has been the first month of the season, as head coach Brook Savage's East Tennessee State squad is off to its best start since its last championship winning season of 2019-20.
It certainly didn't appear it was going to be that way after the 68-64 loss at Presbyterian back during the opening Saturday night road trip of the season, as the Bucs blew a lead in the final four minutes at the Templeton Center against the Blue Hose.
As bad as that loss at PC might seem--a place where coach Savage was once an assistant--other good SoCon teams have also fallen short at the Templeton Center. Furman's 2016-17 team, which tied with ETSU and UNCG, lost its first game of the season, with a 73-71 setback to a Blue Hose team that went on to win just six games. The Paladins would then turn around and end a good UAB team's 26-game homecourt winning streak the next time out.
Just last season, eventual Southern Conference champion Wofford found itself on the wrong end of a 67-63 contest in the Templeton Center. So, while the loss is not a good look for the league, it's also not the end of the world.
Since that loss, the Bucs have rallied to win five-straight games to close the month and now head coach Savage and his Bucs face a big opportunity on Tuesday night to open the month of December to go and play one of the best mid-majors out there, in Atlantic 10 power Dayton, who came close to winning the Magic Bracket of the ESPN Events Invitational this past Friday evening, but fell just short of upsetting No. 9 BYU, with an 84-79 setback to cap the tournament.
The Flyers fell to 6-1 this season, but this feels like more of a power conference team and test for the Bucs, rather than a game between a pair of good mid-major programs. That being said, it's an excellent opportunity for the SoCon to go against arguably the best mid-major conference in the country at the moment and put up a good fight to redeem some lost momentum with some bad losses to start the season.
Defensive Bucs!
How have the Bucs gone about achieving five-straight wins? They've adapted defensively and bought in to Brook Savage's defense-first approach. I remember talking with coach Savage back on Oct. 1 at SoCon media day about his defensive approach, and more how tough it might be to teach when there is little if any continuity. In a word, he said "tough."
He said it's much harder when you have to not necessarily re-teach the concepts, but you never know what a guy's "buy in" is going to be and what the defensive background is from the program they come from or how they were even taught as a defender from the program which they came from. Reading between the lines, that's probably what makes Brooks Savage such a good, young basketball coach.
The Bucs led the league in defensive efficiency and rating last season and were third in Savage's first season as the head coach in 2023-24. So why is a defensive rating so important you might ask? It's usually a good sign usually in a league of who the champion might become March. In fact from 2011-24, a top two rating in KenPom's defensive efficiency/adjusted tempo metric could predict the SoCon champion over a 13-year span. Last year, neither Chattanooga (regular-season champion) nor the first-ever No. 6 seed to win a SoCon title (Wofford) ranked in the top two in the aforementioned defensive metric.
It's so far so good for the Bucs this season, which rank first overall in the league in defense (104.5) as we end the opening month of the season, and he's gotten some well-rounded offensive performances as well.
Offensive Disparity
The Bucs have posted wins over Converse (W, 102-50), Horizon League member Northern Kentucky (W, 75-63), Ohio Valley member Morehead State (W, 77-62), UL Monroe (W, 97-55), and most recently, Central Arkansas (W, 80-57).
In the most-recent matchup, the Bucs were able to get their fourth triple-double in program history, including the second in as many seasons, as SIU-Edwardsville transfer Brian Taylor II posted 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Bucs also got a 28-point effort from Jaylen Smith in the win over Central Arkansas, which was an individual season-high for a Bucs player. ETSU has had three different players lead the team in scoring this season, with Taylor leading the team in scoring average at 14.6 PPG, while UMass-Lowell transfer and 6-8 forward is right behind, Cam Morris III (14.4 PPG). The third player averaging in double digits this season so far for the Bucs is Jaylen Smith (11.6 PPG)
Scoring and shooting as a whole are both up this season, and through the first seven games of the season, the Bucs are unbeaten when scoring 70 or more points, ETSU has not lost. The Bucs rank second in the league in points per game (81.9 PPG) and rank eighth nationally in points surrendered per outing (61.3 PPG).
This version of the Bucs is the best shooting team since 2019-20, which of course raced through the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles to the NCAA Tournament, which would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ETSU is shooting 50.4% (213-of-423) and 32.5% (93-of-134) from three-point land.
2. MERCER (5-2)--The surprise package of Southern Conference basketball's opening month of the season has no doubt been the Mercer Bears under the direction of second-year head coach Ryan Ridder.
Like ETSU's Savage, Ridder is a good example of a coach that got the team balance and needs absolutely right when bringing in guys from the transfer portal. The Bears were picked to finish seventh by the league's head coaches, however, for the most part looked like one of the best teams in the Southern Conference for the opening month of the season.
The Bears have wins over LaGrange (W, 101-62), Lipscomb (W, 92-77), at Eastern Kentucky (W, 95-83), Appalachian State (W, 75-67) and at Elon (W, 91-84). Losses for the Bears came at No. 17 Tennessee (L, 61-76) and at Winthrop (L, 69-105).
Part of what has made the Bears so good to start the season is having one of league's most-dominant big men, in Armani Mighty (13.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG). The one-time, big-time prep product played two years at Boston College before transferring to Central Michigan, where he took a medical redshirt and then decided to take his talents to Macon to play for Ridder and the Bears.
For the first time in Mighty's career, Mercer offered a chance to settle, and it aligned with his development, which Boston College didn't have time to wait on. That's a big gain for Ridder and the Bears. So far, so good through the early portion of Mighty's career in Macon, as the 6-10, 240-lb center is averaging 13.3 PPG and 8.3 RPG, while posting a 66.7% (38-of-57) field goal percentage.
While Mighty has been dominant at times, he's had some help, as the Bears have developed what is the league's best inside-outside game through the early portions of the 2025-26 season, with a trio of guards averaging in double figures, led by Baraka Okojie, who is posting 17.7 PPG and 4.4 RPG.
Okojie is another one-time, big-time prep recruit that tried to get his career going at a couple of places--Memphis and George Mason--but fell through the cracks at both and struggled to stay healthy, and it appears, at least through the early portion of the season, has found the exact right fit at Mercer.
Okojie's exactly the anecdote the Bears and Ridder have needed at point guard, averaging 6.0 APG to lead the SoCon, while the Bears rank third in the league behind only Chattanooga and ETSU in assists/turnover ratio (1.41) this season.
The assists totals were high last season for Mercer with Ahmad Robinson running the point, however, so were the frustrating turnovers and some erratic plays that likely kept the Bears from winning a few games they came up short in during Ridder's first season at the helm in Macon. As of Dec. 1, 2025, Okojie ranks as the 40th-best offensive rating in college basketball so far this season in college basketball, according to KenPom.
Quinton Perkins II (13.1 PPG, 2.0 RPG) and Zaire Williams (13.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG) have helped supplement Okojie nicely in the backcourt scoring-wise, as well as being solid perimeter threats. It's made the Bears arguably the top backcourt in the SoCon through the first month of the season in terms of production, which it is why that it is of little surprise that the Bears finished out the month topping the league in overall points per game (83.4 PPG), while the Bears lead the league in three-point field goal percentage (35.8%/67-of-187) and third in overall field goal percentage (45.0%/201-of-447).
Defensively, the Bears are still needing to find a rhythm, and sometimes the style of play that the Bears have lends itself to a higher success rate for the opposition when it comes to offensive efficiency, but if the Bears are serious about winning the league and being on top of the final power rankings of the season, they'll need to be a little more serious about their defense. The Bears are currently seventh in the SoCon in points allowed (79.1 PPG).
Mercer opened the month of December with a 78-67 win over Geogia State at Hawkins Arena with a 78-67 win over the Panthers at Hawkins Arena.
3. FURMAN (4-4)--Furman has seen surprising trends on both ends of the spectrum, but the bad trends are starting to be overtaken by some unexpectedly good ones, however, which is why head coach Bob Richey has not in the least been concerned about the trends that haven't hit their marks.
College basketball can be daunting enough, which is compounded by an analytics craze, which if you over-analyze the numbers, it can be to your detriment. The point being, just because Furman is struggling to shoot the three doesn't mean they can't, and the other perspective is, this Furman team is an outlier to some in Bob Richey's eight previous years as the head coach in a lot of good ways, and if you look at the numbers, you'll find the Paladins do more to contribute to the overall winning formula than they do to take away from it.
With three wins in its last four games to close the month, including the league's best win overall this season to this point, the Paladins are starting to trend towards where many prognosticators had them to begin with, which is to compete for the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles.
Furman's four wins in November have come against Richmond (W, 73-72), Queens (W, 90-79), Ohio Christian (W, 79-44) and Columbia International (89-59). Losses have come to High Point (L, 71-97) Troy (L, 61-64), at Northern Iowa (L, 54-70), and Illinois State (L, 65-72). Every NCAA Division I opponent the Paladins have played so far have
The Paladins are 4-4 at the end of the opening month of the season, playing an extremely tough non-conference slate of mid-majors picked in the preseason at or at the top of their respective leagues. In fact, only Richmond, which was undefeated (5-0) when the Paladins played them at the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Challenge in Kissimmee was picked lower than a top four finish in the always-strong Atlantic 10 conference, as the Spiders were picked 10th in the 14-team league. However, the Spiders, which rank 110 in the latest KenPom rankings in the top rated mid-major league in the nation, should easily exceed those preseason prognostications after winning six of their first seven games to begin the season.
The other major piece beginning to come together for Richey's Paladins is the old and the new beginning to gel as one unit. By old I mean the seven (now six with Davis Molnar out) that returned from last season's 25-win team beginning to mesh with the new, which is a talented cast of three or four primary freshmen that would rank among the top freshman signing classes in program history.
Freshman Phenom!
The Paladins have one of the best freshmen guards the league has seen in recent memory at least, or perhaps even as far back to Stephen Curry in 2005-06. That remains to be seen, however, what I can tell you, that in my lifetime and in over three decades of watching Furman hoops, I can tell you I've seen maybe one other Furman PG--Stephen Croone--as quick as Alex Wilkins is.
Furman's also never had a 6-5-point guard in my lifetime that I can recall, and he's as tough a guy to guard as there is in this league when he hesitates and goes. He gets from A-to-B astonishingly quick.
Wilkins has four 20-plus efforts in his first eight games as an NCAA Division I starting point guard and has scored in double figures in all eight. He turned the ball over quite a bit in the first four games, but since that, he's learned to slow his actions and thoughts down a little so his passes or his decision to pass or shoot can align with one another.
The turnovers are actually a sign of his thinking is so far ahead of everyone else's that oftentimes he sees things too quickly and throws an ill-advised pass. That is starting to change, and you could really see improvement in that during his two games in Orlando this past weekend. Wilkins is averaging 18.4 PPG and 4.25 APG so far through eight games and is the Paladins' top foul shooter, at 84.6% (22-of-26).
Wilkins is one of four Paladin players averaging in double figures so far this season, with Cooper Bowser looking every bit the all-conference player we all thought he would be, as he's posting 11.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 1.8 APG, while shooting a ridiculous 74.5% (38-of-51) from the field this season. Bowser is joined in double figures by Asa Thomas (11.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG), who also leads the team with 21 made three-pointers. Charles Johnston, who has five double-doubles in eight games to start the season and has double-digit rebounds in six, is averaging a double-double per game, at 10.5 PPG and 10.1 RPG.
The Paladins have looked particularly good of late in wins over Queens and Richmond, employing the 1-3-1 zone defense for the first time this season, for the first time this season--a type of zone the Paladins used with great effectiveness in their six-game winning streak down the stretch last season.
In the Queens win, the Paladins shot the ball the best they have all season, connecting at a 53.3% clip (32-of-60) in that game, including a solid 36.4% (12-of-33) effort from three. The Paladins also connected at a 52% clip (28-of-54) in the narrow, one-point win over Richmond.
The Paladins are averaging 72.8 PPG through the first eight games this season, while surrendering 69.6 PPG to the opposition over the same span. The Paladins have shot it at a 46.3% (217-of-469) through the first eight games, ranking second in the league in team field goal percentage.
The story is a little different when you consider three-point shooting and free throw shooting, however, as the Paladins are tied for last in the league in three-point shooting, shooting the ball at just a 28.9% () clip from long-range so far this season, which ranks the Paladins 317 out of 361 teams in NCAA Division I basketball. Furman is even worse when it comes to shooting free throws this season, as the Paladins rank 356 out of 361 teams ranked in NCAA Division I in foul shooting, connecting at just a 58.9% clip (79-of-133).
The good news is Furman has shot the ball a smidge better from three of late, but the foul shooting has not been good the past three games and that has to come around for the team to be able to achieve what it wants to this season. The Paladins have been especially good from 2pt range, however, ranking 33rd out of 361 in 2pt FG% this season, connecting at a 60% clip.
Furman is also once again starting to see higher assists totals, finishing the Queens game with high 20 assists and are averaging 16.1 APG to rank third in the league behind Chattanooga and ETSU.
The defense has been solid for the Paladins, who rank second in defensive rating () and scoring defense () this season, while the Paladins lead the league in total rebounds (39.3 RPG) and offensive rebounds (12.8).
The two-point field goal percentage, rebounding numbers, and defensive numbers are right now what makes Furman a good basketball team, however, unless the free throw numbers improve, they will have a tough time being a championship team. The three-point field goal percentage is a bit of a misnomer, as while I don't think this is as good of a shooting team as some that Richey has coached, it's still a pretty good perimeter shooting team as a whole.
I see those numbers gradually improving as we get towards league play. This is Furman's best defensive team since the 2018-19 team that got nationally ranked and it's what will continue to make Furman tough on that end, most notably due to their length and how they use that length in their various zone concepts.
The Paladins return to the floor Wednesday, Dec. 3, as the Paladins take on Elon at the Schar Center, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. EST.
4. CHATTANOOGA (4-4)--If you need evidence on just how unpredictable era of college basketball can be in even a mid-major league like the Southern Conference, you need look no further than Dan Earl's Chattanooga team, which like Furman, also had a very tough slate, and also like Furman was considered one of the teams that realistically could win the regular-season and tournament titles.
While nothing has changed about that, what is apparent is the period of adjustment hasn't gone as quickly and smoothly for the preseason favorites and reigning NIT Champions. Just when it looked like the Mocs might have gotten their groove back after having won three-straight, the Mocs suffered a somewhat surprising home loss to Tennessee State in the Coke Zero Classic Championship game against Tennessee State, as the Tigers came to McKenzie Arena and surprised the Mocs, getting a 70-64 win. It ended a string of nine-straight home wins for the Mocs, which dates back to last season.
With that said, the Mocs couldn't overcome a poor shooting half and fell behind by nine at the break (42-33), and despite playing much better basketball in the second half, and outscoring the Tigers, 31-28, couldn't overcome that tough start and ended up on the wrong end of a six-point loss.
Things have overall been improved, however, for Dan Earl's squad, who started the season with a lopsided win over NAIA Union Commonwealth University before taking a road trip out west to take on St. Mary's (L, 66-87) and then UNLV (L, 69-101) in less than a 24-hour span. Following those defeats came another sound beating at the hands of a good Florida Gulf Coast (L, 73-91) team before reeling off wins at South Carolina State (W, 78-66), vs. North Alabama (W, 71-57) and vs. Tennessee Wesleyan (W, 109-59) before suffering the setback against Tennessee State in their most recent matchup.
The Mocs, like Furman, lost their two top backcourt players, in Honor Huff (now at West Virginia) and Trey Bonham (out of eligibility), and the veterans that returned off that school-record 29-win team were mostly in the front court, with guys like Collin Mulholland, Makai Richards, and Sean Cusano back for the Mocs. UTC brought in talented guards from other spots to help try and rebuild quickly what was lost with the departures of guy like Huff, Bonham, as well as others like Bash Wieland and Garrison Keeslar.
The rebuilt Mocs backcourt has been solid so far, led by all three transfer guards leading the way in scoring. Pittsburg State transfer Jordan Frison (11.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG) is currently leading the way scoring-wise, while Teddy Washington Jr. (10.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG) and Billy Smith (10.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG) round out the Mocs players averaging in double figures through the first eight games.
The Mocs rank third in the league in points per game through the first eight games of the season, averaging 77.8 PPG, while also ranking third in points allowed, surrendering 71.3 PPG. As a team, UTC is shooting 44.7% (212-of-474), while also placing fourth in the league in three-point shooting, posting a 34.5% (89-of-258) from long-range through the first month of the season. Defensively, the Mocs have been pretty solid, holding teams to just 41.6% (192-of-461) from the field and 32.0% (58-of-181) from long-range through the first month.
While it was supposed to be a strength coming into the season, Chattanooga's post production has left a little to be desired through the early going this season. That should get better as Collin Mulholland (8.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG) and others get healthy, and much like last season, I expect to see Mulholland's numbers to go up as we inch towards conference play.
The Mocs begin the month of December on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, when UTC hosts SEMO at McKenzie Arena. Tip-off for that contest is set for 4:30 p.m. EST.
5. WOFFORD (5-3)--Other than maybe Mercer, it would be hard to argue with Wofford as being the surprise story of the Southern Conference through the first month of the season, and so that would likely make Kevin Giltner the frontrunner for SoCon Coach of the Year honors given the whirlwind of events that transpired prior to him coming in to calm the waters and retaining the roster.
It's obvious that it didn't take Giltner all that long to gain the trust of his players, taking over the program with just a little over a month remaining before the first ball was tipped off at midcourt for the 2025-26 season.
If Giltner has been Coach of the Year through November, then it's quite possible you could also make the argument that sophomore guard Kahmare Holmes (19.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG) has been the league's Player of the Year if the season ended in November.
Holmes, a defensive specialist as a rookie a year ago, has shown his offensive talents in 2025-26, which includes leading the SoCon in scoring at the end of the first month of the season, averaging 19.1 PPG. Holmes is coming off a career-best performance in Wofford's final game of the opening month of the season, as he posted a career-high 30 points in Wofford's 83-77 road win over Eastern Kentucky back on Nov. 29. He has scored 20 or more points in the four-straight games for the Terriers
In that game, Holmes connected on 10-of-13 from the field and is scorching the nets to at 43.8% (14-of-32) from three-point range through the early portion of the season. What makes it more rewarding for the Terrier fans is likely the fact that, along with Cannon Richards and Luke Flynn, was one of the holdovers that stuck around from last season's SoCon Tournament title-winning team.
In many ways, Holmes has a game that reminds me some of former Terrier guard Karl Cochran (2011-15), only Holmes is a couple of inches taller, but has similar athleticism and perimeter shooting ability, as well as being a tenacious defender just like Cochran was.
Holmes has helped fuel a solid string of games down the stretch in November, as the Terriers head into December having won five of their past five games. Wofford has claimed wins over the following teams in the first month of the season: Milwaukee (W, 86-76), at Bellarmine (W, 94-86), vs. North Florida (W, 86-78), vs. Erskine (W, 81-57) and at Eastern Kentucky (W, 83-77). Losses for Wofford have come at George Mason (L, 46-70), at No. 21 Auburn (L, 62-93) and at Northern Kentucky (L, 83-93).
Holmes has been joined in double figures by Central Florida transfer Nils Machowski, who is averaging 12.1 PPG and 4.3 RPG. Machowski has matched Holmes' team-leading 14 made three-pointers through the early portions of the season, shooting 30.4% from downtown through the first month of the season. Brian Sumpter has been one of the top young big men in the league early in the season, as the rookie forward is averaging 8.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG.
Sumpter plays bigger than he is, but the 6-8 forward might have to--even as a rookie--as the Terriers aren't blessed with the kind of the bulk they possessed in the paint a year ago, with the likes of Kyler "Moose" Filewich and big man Jeremy Lorenz, who transferred out to Depaul last spring. As a result, the Terriers have lacked a little bit of post defense and physicality when it has faced more physical teams this year.
Wofford eases its way into December before getting a real test and has a chance to string together some wins to start the month, which will give a young team even more confidence.
The month starts with a midweek test inside the friendly confines of the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, as Wofford will host Presbyterian on Wednesday, Dec. 3, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. EST. That will be followed Saturday by a visit from former SoCon member Elon on Saturday before heading off to face one of the worst teams in NCAA Division I college basketball, in the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs on Dec. 15.
The toughest remaining matchup for Wofford prior to making a trip to Cullowhee to open SoCon play on Dec. 31, is a trip to face off against mid-major power and American Athletic Conference member Wichita State on Dec. 17.
6. SAMFORD (4-5) --There will be better days ahead for Samford basketball. At least that's what new head coach Lennie Acuff is hoping for after the Bulldogs played well despite being down two starters in their opening matchup of the Cancun Challenge, which Samford went on to win, 78-63, against Georgia State.
While they didn't miss leading scorer Jadin Booth in the win over, a less than 100% Booth due to illness was not enough to quell Samford's shooting woes in its final game of the challenge against Utah Valley, which saw the Bulldogs drop an 89-45 game to the Wolverines, in which Samford lost the game in the opening half of play.
That's because the Bulldogs had a historic half for all the wrong reason, and it had to be one that even baffled the mind of their offensive savant of a head coach, Acuff, who could only watch as his team scored only 14 points and shot just 20.7% (11-of-38) in the opening half, falling behind by a whopping score of 42-14 at the break.
Things wouldn't get much better in the second half, as the Bulldogs didn't crack 30% and barely eclipsed 25% shooting for the game, knocking down just 22.2% (6-of-27) from three-point range in the setback. However, it is important to put things in perspective here. Not only did the Bulldogs have one starter under-the-weather, in Booth, but also had another two starters that were out with injuries, in guard Keaton Norris and center Dylan Faulkner.
The Bulldogs have already been a little undermanned from the outset of the season when Daijon Humphries went down with a season-ending injury, tearing his Achilles Tendon in the exhibition contest against Alabama A&M.
Other than the 1-1 performance in Cancun, the Bulldogs have picked up win vs South Carolina State (W, 82-72) in Acuff's first win as the head coach of the Bulldogs, and the other two wins have both come on the road at Texas Southern (W, 93-90 OT) and at Central Arkansas (W, 84-77 OT). Losses have come against Tulane (L, 72-85), No. 21 Arkansas (L, 75-79), vs. Florida Gulf Coast (L, 62-77) and at New Mexico State (L, 72-81).
With that said, it's hard to get a real good gauge on Samford as a whole. They've looked like one of the best teams in the SoCon at times this season, and such was the case in the Bulldogs' performance against Arkansas earlier this season, putting up a valiant effort before losing a 79-75 thriller.
There is no word on the length or severity of the injuries to both Keaton Norris and Dylan Faulkner, however, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that those two are vital to Samford's overall chances of lifting a SoCon title trophy in Asheville for a second time in three seasons. The Bulldogs continue to be led by Booth, who along with Wofford's Kahmare Holmes, has been arguably the SoCon Player of the Year through the month of November.
Booth leads the Bulldogs with an 18.8 PPG scoring average through his first nine games with the Bulldogs, while also posting 3.8 RPG, and is also shooting a scorching 40% (32-of-80) from three-point land this season, and he's also been one of the nation's top free throw shooters, connecting at a 90.5% (38-of-42) from the charity stripe so far this season.
Joining Booth in double figures scoring average through the first month of the season is center Dylan Faulkner, who is posting 13.8 PPG and 5.6 RPG through the early part of the season, while also shooting at a 54.3% (44-of-81) clip from the field and has also been a reliable rim protector, with 15 blocks through the first nine games. Keaton Norris rounds out the Bulldogs averaging in double figures so far this season, posting 12.8 PPG and 4.4 RPG.
As a team, the Bulldogs finished out the opening month by ranking sixth overall in the league in scoring offense (73.6 PPG) and were ninth in scoring defense (79.2 PPG). The Bulldogs haven't shot the ball particularly well this season, ranking ninth in the SoCon in field goal percentage (39.7%), while also ranking ninth in free throw percentage (65.9%) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (32.5%).
Samford returns to the hardwood on Friday evening with another tough test, as the Bulldogs will face one of the Atlantic 10 Conference favorites, in the VCU Rams on Friday evening, Dec. 5. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. EST.
7. WESTERN CAROLINA (4-4) --Western Carolina played a strange, mid-afternoon game against VU Lynchburg as I was putting together their small writeup for the first release of the power rankings, as the Catamounts won going away, 124-64. The stats I will be using for this particular write-up were prior to the lopsided win.
The win over VU Lynchburg was the last non-conference home game, and the win also was a milestone one of sorts, as it was Tim Craft's 200th victory as a head basketball coach at both Gardner-Webb and Western Carolina. The Catamounts will close out non-conference play with games on the road at USC Upstate (Dec. 6), at Virginia Tech (Dec. 11), and at Georgia (Dec. 18) before getting almost exactly a two-week break before opening up Southern Conference play on New Year's Eve at the Ramsey Center against Wofford.
Western Carolina played early games against Cincinnati (L, 63-94) and at No. 6 Duke (L, 64-95) before getting on the winning track with three-straight wins over Voorhees (W, 95-44), Stetson (W, 76-65) and vs. UNC Asheville (W, 80-73) in what is also a thrilling rivalry game, and had a bit of drama to it this year as well, with Bulldogs head coach Mike Morrell being ejected in the waning moments of that contest. It was also arguably Western Carolina's best performance of the season, as Cord Stanberry's step-back three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left gave the Catamounts a 76-73 lead, and with the double-technical free throws being tacked on after that, accounted for the final score.
After the win over the Bulldogs, Western Carolina would end up ultimately hitting a bit of a snag with losses on the road to a pair of teams that could very well win their respective leagues, in Atlantic Sun foe Lipscomb (L,62-83) and High Point (L, 73-93).
With that said, like Chattanooga and Samford, the Catamounts have also been trying to get a fully healthy and when I say get healthy, I am more specifically referencing CJ Hyland, who continues to work himself back to 100% from an injury.
For the second-straight season under head coach Tim Craft, the Catamounts have struggled to shoot the ball from the beyond the arc, and that could change with the offense moving better as Hyland gets healthier and is able to return to his full-time status at point guard. The Catamounts ranked ninth out of 10 teams in the league in three-point field goal percentage to close out the month, connecting on just 28.9% (52-of-180) from long-range, and the 52 triples made ranked as the lowest made total in the SoCon.
The Catamounts finished the month ranking eighth of 10 SoCon teams in scoring offense (71.8 PPG), while finishing November shooting at a 42.7% clip from the field this season, ranking sixth in the league. Western Carolina also held foes to 78.1 PPG through the opening month of the season, ranking fifth in the league.
WCU has been led in scoring through the opening month of the season by Cord Stansberry, who averaged 14.8 PPG, while newcomer Julien Soumaoro averaged 14.3 PPG and forward Marcus Kell has picked up right where he left off last season, averaging 13.3 PPG, while also posting 5.1 RPG.
8. UNC Greensboro (1-7)--It goes without saying that UNCG basketball isn't quite used to struggling out of the gates like they have in the early going in the 2025-26 season, and they have already begun the month of December with a loss, falling at the Harrah's Cherokee Center to UNC Asheville, 82-77, inside the confines that will host the Southern Conference Tournament this coming March. For head coach Mike Jones, that building itself has become a house of horrors, as the fifth-year head coach of the Spartans fell to 0-5 all-time inside the facility.
But before he worries about winning there for the first time in March, picking up wins in-general looks like it won't be easy as a whole this season, as the Spartans went through the opening month of the season losing seven of their first eight games out of the gate.
The Spartans lone win of the season in the opening month is an impressive one, however, as UNCG knocked off Youngstown State (W, 68-62), who is a team picked third and is one expected to challenge for the Horizon League regular-season title. The seven losses in the opening month of the season have come at Kansas State (L, 64-93), vs. Elon (L, 90-92), at North Carolina State (L, 64-110), vs. Austin Peay (L, 63-69), at Queens (L, 94-101), vs. Delaware (L, 60-73) and vs. Miami of Ohio (L. 71-82).
Like a majority of teams in the league, the Spartans have had to produce virtually all of their scoring production from a year ago, but while UNCG was able to maintain its defensive edge last season following a season with that similar type of turnover, duplicating that this season hasn't come close, or at least so far. Jones is a coach, who prides himself on making sure his teams play with tenacity at all times on that side of the floor.
The Spartans ranked eighth in the 10-team SoCon at the end of the month of November in field goal percentage defense (46.8%) and dead last in the conference in scoring defense (85.2 PPG). The other problem for Jones is that while the Spartans have decent at times on the offensive end of the floor, they have been a long way from his previous teams have been in terms of overall offensive efficiency, as well as they haven't been a consistently good shooting basketball team. The Spartans ranked ninth at the end of November in scoring offense (71.7 PPG) and eighth in team field goal percentage (39.7%).
The Spartans' best player on the offensive end of the floor through the first of the season was wing Justin Neely (13.5 PPG, 11.5 RPG), and he led the league and ranked fourth nationally following the opening month of the season. Guard Donald Whitehead Jr. (12.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG) and forward KJ Younger (11.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG). Freshman guard Lillian Marville (9.0 PPG, 1.1 APG) is another player that has had a good first month with his new program. Marville hails from Orleans, France.
The Spartans have already lost their first game of the last month of 2025, dropping an 82-77 contest to UNC Asheville Monday night at the Harrah's Cherokee Center. The Spartans will close out their road trip at East Carolina, with Saturday's tip-off time at Minges Coliseum set for 4 p.m. EST.
9. VMI (3-7)--If the first month of the season is any indication of how things are going to go without preseason SoCon Player of the Year Rickey Bradley Jr. in the lineup, it certainly doesn't look good should Bradley Jr. end up being out for an extended period of time.
Bradley missed all 10 games in the opening month of the season with an injury, and from the looks of it, he could be out an extended amount of time or even the entire season. The Keydets looked decent enough at least early on in the campaign.
VMI at least started off the season playing decently without there star guard. The Keydets opened the season with a 122-58 win over Johnson & Wales before going on the road to get a 78-74 win at Southern Indiana before losing on the road at SEC member Missouri (L, 68-106) after putting up a solid fight in the opening half of play. Then came a win over VU Lynchburg (W, 106-54) and the wheels seemingly stopped turning for Andrew Wilson's team. After the win over Lynchburg got the Keydets to 3-1, losses followed against Jacksonville (L, 67-69), at Richmond (L, 54-87), at Stetson (L, 80-99), vs. Buffalo (L, 70-78), vs. Bowling Green (L, 48-81) and at Central Florida (L, 57-82).
Now it's about managing the rest of the non-conference and finding some kind of confidence that the team can hang its hat on moving on into league play at the end of the month. The schedule certainly hasn't been easy for VMI, and without the team's best player and overall production leader, the Keydets have struggled.
Much was made about VMI's retention in the off-season, but the one other guy they did lose from a year ago, big man Augustinas Kiudulas, who transferred to Colorado State, was also the team's second-leading scorer and its leading rebounder. Without Kiudulas and now Bradley this season, the Keydets essentially without its top two scorers from a year ago.
There have been some positives, with others like TJ Johnson, who has two 30-point scoring outings this season to lead the league. He's averaging 18.4 PPG to lead the SoCon, highlighted by his 32-point effort in VMI's road win at Southern Indiana. Johnson also has four games with 20 or more points four times this season, but has struggled to find his normally accurate perimeter shot this season, connecting on just 25.8% (24-of-93) from deep through the first 10 games.
Mario Tatum Jr. has been another bright spot and one of the best young point guards in the SoCon this season, averaging 11.7 PPG, 1.4 RPG and 1.0 APG this season. Tatum has also been the team's best perimeter threat this season, connecting on 41.0% (16-of-39) from long-range this season. Rounding out the VMI players averaging in double figures is Walker Andrews, as the redshirt sophomore guard is averaging 10.8 PPG
The Keydets have shot a ton of threes this season, hoisting up 343 and ranks fifth nationally in threes hoisted up per game, taking an average of 34 three pointers per game. The 108 threes made this season tops the country by one over Cornell, however, the Keydets are shooting just 31.5% from long-range this season to rank 256th out of 361 in the country.
VMI returns to the hardwood Friday night when it hosts Christendom at Cameron Hall. Tip-off for that contest is set for 7 p.m. EST.
10. THE CITADEL (2-6)--You have to kind of feel for The Citadel head coach Ed Conroy. He's one heck of a basketball coach and one heck of a human being. However, we're only eight games into the season, and the prospects of getting a win over an NCAA Division I foe this season seem slim.
Games against Bellarmine (L, 58-70) and Houston Christian (L, 65-72) offered excellent opportunities to end the streak of losses to NCAA Division I foes, which has now reached 29 games dating back to a 74-52 win over Stetson last season at McAlister Field House.
While losses to both Bellarmine and Houston Christian were bad enough, the Bulldogs might have reached a new low in their most recent outing against Presbyterian at the Harrah's Cherokee Center on Sunday afternoon, as the Bulldogs could muster on 41 points and were blown out, 69-41, by the PC Blue Hose. That 28-point loss to the Blue Hose, which got them to 5-5 this season, should have been a harbinger of the bad news to follow, which was that on Monday, the Bulldogs were ranked 365 out of 365 in the first release of the NET rankings for the 2025-26 season, or aka for the worst team in college basketball at this point in the season.
In addition to the three losses mentioned above, the Bulldogs also have setbacks at Boston College (L, 47-76 ), Charleston Southern (L, 86-96), and at West Georgia (92-100).
Charleston Southern's Brycen Blaine put up one of best performances of the young basketball season so far, as he posted 42 points, 11 rebounds, dished out eight assists, and recorded a pair of steals and turned it over only once in leading the Bucs to the key non-conference road win. It was a stat line, that according to Charleston's Southern's sports information department, has never been recorded in the history of college basketball. The Bulldogs two wins have both come against non-Division I competition, with wins over Erskine (105-61) and North Greenville (W, 70-57).
So what can Conroy and the Bulldogs look to as something to build on? Well, despite surrendering 42 points and 96 points to the Bucs in that home loss in early November, the Bulldogs have played pretty good defense at times this season and currently rank fourth in the league in scoring defense 75.1 PPG, however, that is off-set by the fact that pretty much everyone the Bulldogs have faced so far has lit it up shooting-wise, as the Bulldogs are allowing opponents to shoot 49.3% (222-of-450) from the field this season, which ranks last in the SoCon and 346 out of 361 teams in NCAA Division I nationally.
The Bulldogs also rank last in the league in scoring offense (70.5 PPG) and are seventh in the league in field goal percentage (42.1%). The other real positive is that the Bulldogs are shooting the ball at about 10 percentage points higher than they were a year ago at this point in the season, connecting on 67.4% (97-of-144) so far this season.
As far as scoring leaders go, the Bulldogs have two averaging in double figures through the first eight games of the season, with guards Christian Moore (11.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG) and senior forward and Valdosta State transfer Braxton Williams (10.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG) accounting for the only other Bulldogs player to average in double figures. The Citadel has also been slowed an injury to their leading returning post player, in Sola Adebisi, who started the first five games, has missed the last three with a knee injury he suffered in the win over North Greenville. At the time of his injury, Adebisi was averaging 9.6 PPG and 6.1 RPG. His 6.1 RPG led the team.
The Citadel returns to the floor on Thursday evening, traveling to face former SoCon foe and current Atlantic 10 member Davidson on Thursday night, with tip-off of that game set for 7 p.m. EST at McAlister Field House.
The rest of the non-conference Division I slate is pretty tough as well, as the Bulldogs play at South Carolina (Dec. 13), at College of Charleston (Dec. 17) and at Richmond (Dec. 20). As if that weren't hard enough, Conroy's Bulldogs open the SoCon slate against the team that has been the best in the league so far in the month of November, as The Citadel will host East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 30, in what will be the very first official league game of the 2025-26 season.
Best KenPom Win: Furman 73, Richmond 72 (Terry's Chocolate Imagination Bracket Semifinal presented by ESPN Events)
Best Game: Western Carolina 80, UNC Asheville 73 (Nov. 16, 2025/Liston B. Ramsey Center)
Best Player in the Opening Month: G Kahmare Holmes (Wofford)/G Jadin Booth (Samford)
Best Coaching Job: Kevin Giltner (Wofford)
Best Individual Performance: Brian Taylor II (ETSU) vs. Central Arkansas/ 14 pts, 10 rebs, 10 assists
Most Embarrassing Loss: The Citadel's 72-65 loss to KenPom No. 293 ranked Houston Christian)
Best Freshman: G-Alex Wilkins (Furman)
Toughest Schedule(s): T--Western Carolina, Chattanooga and Furman
KenPom Conference Rank: No. 21 of 31
KenPom Rankings By Team:
ETSU--132
Furman--168
Mercer--172
Chattanooga--204
Wofford--214
Samford--230
UNCG--253
VMI--341
The Citadel--363
NET Rankings By Team (When they were originally released on Dec. 1)
Mercer--95
ETSU--105
Wofford--172
Furman--225
Western Carolina--248
Samford--271
Chattanooga--283
UNCG--313
VMI--332
The Citadel--365
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