Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. Read his ballots here.
Some schools have trouble recovering when a head coach departs for another job; that’s obviously not the case at VCU. I won’t call the program a turnkey operation, but making the right hire five times in less than 20 years has kept the Rams a regular force to be reckoned with in March.
Anthony Grant, Shaka Smart, Will Wade, Mike Rhoades and Ryan Odom each posted at least one 25-win season while leading VCU to the NCAA Tournament. And while we’re still knee-deep in “Moving Month,” it appears as if the Rams have made the right move once more with Phil Martelli Jr.
The Rams (21-6, 12-2 Atlantic 10) have won 10 straight to move within one-half game of No. 18 Saint Louis, using a 33-10 finishing kick over the final 12:25 of regulation to beat George Washington 89-75 on Tuesday night.
Currently, the Rams are on the NCAA Tournament bubble: CBS has the Rams among its “First Four Out,” while ESPN has them in the “Next Four Out” group. While I won’t get on my soapbox this week that the A-10 is a two-bid league, teams that haven’t lost in over a month are doing something right and might be more worthy than a Power Four conference team on its way to a 7-13 league finish.
VCU will try to avenge its lone league home loss when the Rams visit No. 18 Saint Louis on Friday. The Rams shot just 29% from the field in their January loss to the Billikens, but did a decent job containing SLU’s leading scorer Robbie Avila (due to his goggles you might know him as “Steph Blurry” or “Larry Nerd”) to eight points on 2-6 shooting.
Saint Louis is obviously more than just the artist formerly known as “Cream Abdul-Jabbar” (from his days at Indiana State), leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring and scoring defense, shooting and 3-point shooting, defending the 3 and rebounding. I’ll be watching.
Starting five
Up top: No. 1 Michigan got my first place vote this week, followed by Houston and UConn. Meanwhile, formerly unbeaten Arizona slipped to No. 6 after two straight losses and the Wildcats play four of their next five games against ranked foes. The biggest discrepancy between my ballot and the rankings: I had No. 16 North Carolina ninth and No. 8 Kansas 14th.
Toughest omissions: Louisville, BYU, Villanova, Saint Mary’s and UNCW. Small school shout-outs: Saint Louis, Miami (Ohio), Utah State and VCU.
Going inside: Howard (17-10, 7-3 MEAC) has taken a slight lead in its conference race with four games remaining in the regular season. The Bison have surged up the standings thanks to dominating defensively: they allow the fewest points per game in the league and are tops at defending the 3.
HU also ranks first in rebounding margin while standing second in turnover margin. And at a time when seniors take the reins, Bryce Harris is averaging 20 points and 70% shooting over Howard’s last five MEAC games, The Bison battle the two teams chasing them in the standings over the next two weekends: they beat Saturday’s foe North Carolina Central by 14 on the road last month, but lost at home by one to Morgan State in the first meeting.
Perimeter pass: Navy (22-6, 14-1 Patriot League) wrapped up its first regular season title since 2000 thanks to a 72-49 rout over Lehigh during which the Mids held the Mountain Hawks to 33% shooting and 3-18 from 3-point range. The one-two punch of Austin Benigni and Aidan Kehoe delivered again, with Benigni netting 25 points and seven assists while Kehoe tallied 14 points with 15 rebounds.
Perhaps the surprise wasn’t as much Navy earning the No. 1 seed under first-year head coach Jon Perry, but the runaway nature of this year’s race (last season saw first place finish three games ahead of sixth). And while the Patriot League Tournament will determine who gets the NCAA Tournament automatic bid, the road to the Field of 68 goes through Annapolis, as the Mids have home court advantage (Patriot League Tournament plays on-campus instead of at neutral sites).
The regular season champ has won six of the last eight non-COVID-altered tournaments.
Who’s open: Arizona’s loss last week meant that No. 22 Miami (Ohio) was the last remaining unbeaten in Men’s Division I college basketball, and with No. 18 Saint Louis’ loss to Rhode Island on Tuesday, the RedHawks are one of just two teams still unbeaten in conference play. Liberty (22-3, 14-0 Conference USA) is the other and the Flames wrap up their regular season in a few weeks with surging Sam Houston State (eight wins in nine games).
Miami faces its toughest remaining test next in 16-11 Bowling Green. At the other extreme, two schools enter the weekend winless in league play: Air Force (0-15 in the Mountain West) and Mississippi Valley State (0-12 in the SWAC).
Last shot: Maryland (10-16, 3-12 Big Ten) hosts Washington (13-13, 5-10) on Saturday, and on a day when No. 14 Virginia plays for the ACC double-bye and Virginia Tech tries to stay in NCAA contention, the Terps find themselves fighting to stay out of the newly created “infamous opening round” of the Big Ten Tournament.
Teams from 15th through 18th place will play for spots in what is still called “the dreaded first round.” The Terps, after losses at Rutgers (the place that used to be called “the RAC” remains a tough place to play) and Northwestern (wasting a 39-point performance by freshman guard Andre Mills), find themselves in 15th place, two games behind the Huskies.
Washington’s coming off a win over Minnesota, during which Hannes Steinbach tallied 26 points with nine rebounds. Can the Terps contain the 6-foot-11-inch freshman from Germany? I’ll see you courtside.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
