Men's college basketball nonconference superlatives: Best, surprising and most disappointing
SOURCE:The Athletic|BY:Brendan Marks
Let’s dish out some nonconference superlatives, to give proper credit (and criticism) where it's due.
There are still a few final nonconference games before the calendar flips to 2026, but by and large, the first two months of the college basketball season are done.
So, which teams and players have been most impressive so far? Most surprising? Most disappointing, even?
Let’s dish out some nonconference superlatives, to give proper credit (and criticism) where it’s due:
Best of nonconference play
Team: Michigan
No argument with anyone who puts Arizona here; the Wildcats (12-0) were the first team ever to beat five ranked opponents in their first nine games of the season. But even if this is a 1A and 1B situation, Michigan’s consistent dominance — eight consecutive wins by 18-plus points, including four over top-60 teams — tips the scale. Its 40-point demolition of No. 7 Gonzaga in the Players Era championship game remains one of the most dominant performances by any team all season, and the Wolverines (11-0) remain No. 1 at most analytics sites. As of this writing, Dusty May’s team has the third-best net rating in KenPom history (dating back to 1996-97), behind only 1998-99 Duke and last season’s Blue Devils.
Honorable mention: Arizona, Iowa State (12-0)
Mid-major: Saint Louis
It’s so improbable, you have to see how Saint Louis lost its only game so far this season:
If not for that, Josh Schertz’s team would be undefeated entering Atlantic 10 play. As it is, Saint Louis (11-1) — which already owns top-100 wins over Santa Clara, Grand Canyon and San Francisco — has been the most dangerous two-way mid-major. The Billikens are top-11 nationally in effective field-goal percentage on offense and defense, per KenPom, and are an aesthetic treat as one of the country’s fastest teams. Robbie Avila, who earned national recognition with Schertz two seasons ago at Indiana State, is still doing his thing as a college Nikola Jokic, but he has plenty of help, as six different players average at least 9 points. At this rate, Saint Louis will have a convincing at-large NCAA Tournament case even if it doesn’t win the A-10 tournament.
Who else? Boozer — the son of two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer — hasn’t just been the best freshman in America; he’s the front-runner for the Wooden Award, leading 11-1 Duke in points (23.3), rebounds (10), assists (4) and steals (1.7) per game. Moreover, he leads the nation in scoring, player efficiency rating and win shares. He’s the first Duke freshman to have two 35-point games in a season … and he did it by Thanksgiving. He’s a walking record-setter, and likely Duke’s second consecutive freshman to win national player of the year.
Honorable mention: Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan), Joshua Jefferson (Iowa State)
Caleb Wilson has UNC off to its best start in 17 years. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
Freshman not named Boozer: Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Arizona’s Koa Peat, Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and Tennessee’s Nate Ament have had their moments, but Wilson has been as impactful and productive as anyone, playing himself into a likely top-five NBA Draft slot in the process. The 6-foot-10 phenom leads the nation in dunks, and his eight double-doubles are second among all high-major players. Outside of Boozer, Wilson has been as consequential to his team’s success — UNC is off to its best start since 2008-09, when it won the national title — as any freshman in America.
Honorable mention: Dybantsa, Acuff
Transfer: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
The best player on the best team in America. As The Athletic’s C.J. Moore detailed at Players Era, Lendeborg’s versatility is the key to Michigan’s supersized lineups, allowing Dusty May to start three players 6-foot-9 or taller. Only six high-major players average at least 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game — including Boozer — but none are as efficient as Lendeborg, who’s making 40 percent of his 3s and 80.4 percent of his 2s. Lendeborg, who played the last two seasons at UAB, is narrowly second to Boozer in win shares per 40 minutes and leads the country in defensive box plus/minus.
If anyone is going to challenge Boozer for the Wooden Award, it’s almost certainly Lendeborg. And Duke and Michigan face off in February in Washington, D.C., in arguably the most-anticipated game of the season. Delicious.
Honorable mention: Duke Miles (Vanderbilt), Keyshawn Hall (Auburn)
What was supposed to be an appetizer game in the Jimmy V Classic — before the nightcap in Madison Square Garden between the last two national champions, UConn and Florida — turned into a classic. Clemson’s 21-0 run going into halftime sank the Cougars and Dybantsa into what seemed like an insurmountable hole … only for Dybantsa to channel his favorite player, Kevin Durant, for most of the second half, looking every bit like the future No. 1 pick in the process. Dybantsa proceeded to score or assist on 35 of BYU’s 46 second-half points — posting career highs in points (28), rebounds (nine) and assists (six) — before teammate Robert Wright III made a 30-footer at the buzzer to complete the largest second-half comeback in program history. There are ample other games that deserve to be mentioned here, but none were more can’t-miss.
Honorable mention: Texas Tech 82, Duke 81 in Madison Square Garden; Nebraska 83, Illinois 80 at Illinois
Win: Iowa State 81, Purdue 58 at Mackey Arena
Purdue’s worst home loss ever, and tied for the worst home loss by a No. 1 team in history? Uh, yeah, that’ll do it. Advanced metrics sites place more weight on a few other games — like Arizona beating UConn in Connecticut — but the Huskies were missing leading scorer Tarris Reed and five-star freshman Braylon Mullins in the 4-point loss, which (in my eyes) buffs a little shine off the Wildcats’ win. Iowa State, however, torched Purdue at full strength, in a place where the Boilermakers hadn’t lost a nonconference game since 2019. The Cyclones were already on the national radar after going 3-0 at Players Era, but holding the nation’s best offense to a season-low 58 points — more than 20 points below the Boilermakers’ next-lowest output, 79 vs. Marquette — vaulted TJ Otzelberger’s team straight to title contender status. No win the first two months of the season was more eye-opening or shocking.
Honorable mention: Arizona at UConn; Duke at Michigan State
Offense: Purdue
Despite the Iowa State loss, no offense has been more consistently excellent than Purdue’s, which has carried the Boilermakers to three top-25 wins against Alabama, Texas Tech and Auburn. Led by All-American point guard Braden Smith, the Boilermakers average 128.6 points per 100 possessions, the most in the country — and, for the time being, more than any other team in Matt Painter’s 21-season tenure. Purdue is fifth nationally in offensive rebounding rate, ninth in 3-point percentage, 12th in assist rate and top-50 in 2-point percentage, all while rarely turning the ball over. And while Smith is clearly the bus driver for the Boilermakers, don’t sleep on how improved Trey Kaufman-Renn is; he’s the biggest reason Purdue leads the nation in post-up efficiency, per Synergy.
Honorable mention: Alabama, Illinois
Michigan’s interior defense has been the best in the country so far. (Jaime Crawford / Getty Images)
Defense: Michigan
Only two teams in the last decade have held opponents under 40 percent from 2 for the season: UCF in 2016-17 — when the Knights had 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall manning the paint — and Michigan State the following season, in Jaren Jackson Jr.’s lone college season. Michigan is on pace to be the third, as Dusty May has built one of the most devastating frontcourts in recent memory. Lendeborg at the 3 makes for an unfair size advantage on the wing, while Morez Johnson Jr. and 7-foot-2 center Aday Mara act as barbed wire around the rim. Michigan has the second-best effective field-goal defense in the country (behind only UNC), keyed by blocking 16.3 percent of its opponents’ shots, a top-15 mark nationally. And it’s not like teams are having much better luck from deep, where the Wolverines are holding opponents to just 30.2 percent shooting from 3.
Honorable mentions: Arizona, Iowa State
Surprises
Team: Vanderbilt
After a surprise run to the NCAA Tournament last season, Vanderbilt was picked 11th in the SEC this preseason. But two months in, the Commodores are 12-0, one of the last six undefeated teams in the country — and now, per KenPom, are favored to win the conference that produced last year’s national champion. Vanderbilt hasn’t won the SEC since the early 1990s, but fueled by a top-10 offense that’s as aesthetically pleasing as any, it’s now entirely possible. Led by one of the nation’s most efficient backcourts, in journeyman Duke Miles and homegrown sophomore Tyler Tanner, the Commodores are capable of making a run in March, something few would’ve predicted two months ago.
Honorable mention: Michigan State (11-1), Nebraska (12-0)
Player: Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
Trivia time: How many high-major players are averaging at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists per game?
That would be one: Jefferson, the most out-of-nowhere All-America candidate in college hoops. Jefferson was a good player last season, averaging 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for an ISU team that started the year 15-1 before injuries set in, but he has taken his game to another level as a senior. Jefferson is posting career-highs in points, assists, blocks and 3-pointers per game, while serving as the Cyclones’ critical do-it-all wing, someone as capable of making plays for others as scoring in the paint with deft footwork. Jefferson is sixth in win shares per 40 minutes, and if Otzelberger’s team continues at its current trajectory, there’s no reason Jefferson can’t steal a few national awards.
Honorable mention: Jeremy Fears Jr. (Michigan State), Rienk Mast (Nebraska)
Keaton Wagler has scored 15-plus points in seven of 12 Illinois games. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Freshman: Keaton Wagler, Illinois
The highest-scoring freshmen in college basketball are almost all future lottery picks, like Boozer and Wilson, and high-profile international signees, like Washington’s Hannes Steinbach and Virginia’s Thjis de Ridder. But at No. 10 on the list is Wagler, the 150th-ranked recruit in the 2025 class. Wagler’s 15.7 points per game aren’t just impressive in a vacuum; he leads a top-20 Illinois team in scoring. Wagler also leads the Illini in 3-point percentage (43.3 percent) and free-throw percentage (83.1 percent), and has only gotten better as the season has progressed, scoring 45 combined points in recent wins over Missouri and Ohio State. Wagler isn’t only one of the most surprising freshmen this season; he’s one of the best, who may wind up as a one-and-done lottery pick in his own right.
With star Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson having only played four of 13 games so far, Council deserves some love for moonlighting as the Jayhawks’ leading man. In Kansas’ two best wins this season, against Tennessee and NC State, Council averaged 26.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and four assists per game, including his 36-point breakout — with nine made 3s — against the Wolfpack. Council has never been a knockdown 3-point shooter, but he’s slippery as a handler and driver, capable of getting to the rim or collapsing defenses for his teammates’ sake. Council’s also a solid defender, only committing 1.6 fouls per 40 minutes — a top-100 rate nationally, per KenPom — and increasingly showing quick hands to rack up steals. Council’s role is going to change once (or if) Peterson returns on a full-time basis, but the St. Bonaventure transfer has saved the Jayhawks in a few big moments already.
Honorable mentions: Cade Tyson (Minnesota), Miles (Vanderbilt)
Disappointments
Team: Marquette
Shaka Smart’s longtime “no transfers” approach worked out OK the last few seasons — especially with Tyler Kolek, Kam Jones and Oso Ighodaro as a reliable core — but everything has come crashing down for the Golden Eagles this season. Marquette sits at 5-8, without a single top-200 win, and has looked completely out of its depth against most of the high-major competition it has faced. Senior guard Sean Jones, a potential breakout candidate coming off a torn ACL last season, has missed six of the team’s 13 games with a nagging shoulder injury, but a team’s margin for error is slim without portal reinforcements. Marquette made the NCAA Tournament in each of Smart’s first four seasons, but with that streak almost certainly coming to an end, it’s hard to imagine Smart won’t be shopping in the portal next offseason.
Honorable mention: Kentucky (9-4), St. John’s (8-4)
Mid-major: Memphis
Penny Hardaway has won at least 20 games in all seven seasons at his alma mater, making three NCAA Tournaments, but this season’s Tigers (5-7) are a step below that standard. One-time five-star recruit Aaron Bradshaw, who previously played at Kentucky and Ohio State, still isn’t regularly playing to his potential, and journeyman guard Dug McDaniel has emerged as the team’s only consistent offensive threat. The Tigers have been close in a few pivotal games — including a 1-point loss to Wake Forest on a buzzer-beater and in overtime versus Vanderbilt — but haven’t been able to get over the hump. Memphis’ season is far from over — it won the American Conference tournament twice in the last three seasons, and could still make the NCAA Tournament that way — but with this season’s slippage, it’s hard not to at least consider Hardaway’s long-term future in Memphis.
Honorable mention: Loyola Chicago (4-9), UNLV (5-6)
Darryn Peterson has been productive when healthy for Kansas, but has only played in four games. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
Freshman: Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Peterson, a candidate to go No. 1 in next summer’s NBA Draft, has been sensational when he’s played, but that hasn’t been very often. Nagging hamstring tightness has limited the top-three recruit to just four games this season, the last of which, against NC State, he couldn’t finish. Kansas coach Bill Self recently told reporters that he and Peterson’s family mutually agreed Peterson won’t return until he’s 100 percent healthy, but the longer this saga drags on, the harder it is to envision Peterson leading Kansas on any sort of Big 12 or NCAA Tournament run. For the sake of the sport, hopefully Peterson is back — and better than ever — in short order.
Honorable mention: Nik Khamenia (Duke), Jasper Johnson (Kentucky)
Transfer: Donovan Dent, UCLA
Dent was a top-five transfer in the nation this offseason, per The Athletic’s rankings, and by landing him, UCLA became a preseason darling, picked to contend in the Big Ten and possibly make noise in the NCAA Tournament. But even over the summer, there were reasonable concerns about how Dent’s fast-paced, transition-oriented style would mesh with coach Mick Cronin, who prefers to grind out games defensively. So far, those concerns have been well-founded. Despite playing more than 30 minutes per game, Dent is averaging his fewest points (12.6) since his freshman season, while posting career-worst field-goal and 3-point percentages. He’s still been a solid playmaker for others, ranking ninth nationally with 6.6 assists per game, but just not the explosive scorer Cronin and UCLA fans hoped they were getting.
Honorable mention: Boogie Fland (Florida), Owen Freeman (Creighton)
