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New year, new showdowns
Two Big Ten matchups should make for fun Friday viewing, while a handful of Top 25 are on upset watch this weekend. Plus: Kansas is at full strength, what to watch in SEC play and a TON of notable Thursday game results, including Big West upsets, dramatic ASUN finishes and a wild shot in the Big Sky.
Tristan Freeman
January 02, 2026
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Good morning! Indiana is a hoops school and Nebraska is a basketball school. Nothing like getting used to new ideas in a new year.
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1. Big Ten unbeatens face top-25 tests
There are just six unbeaten college hoops teams, and two of the six play today.
The headliner? No. 13 Nebraska (13-0, 2-0 Big Ten) hosts No. 9 Michigan State (12-1, 2-0). The Cornhuskers have a 30-point win over Wisconsin, a big road win over Illinois, and the nation’s longest win streak (17) dating back to last season. The Spartans have won four straight games, including a recent 114-97 win over Cornell.
The last time Nebraska hosted a top-15 game was in 1991, when it defeated Kansas in a Big 12 matchup. Can they pull off another massive win?
Coach Fred Hoiberg said Michigan State is “one of the most difficult teams to prepare for” but one area where Nebraska should have an edge is up front. Rienk Mast (16.5 ppg and 6.8 rpg) is a contender for Big Ten Player of the Year and capable of carrying the offense. A win here would cement them as a national story. (9 pm ET on Peacock)
The other key Big Ten game involves Michigan (12-0, 2-0 Big Ten), which is on an historic offensive run.
The Wolverines have scored 100+ points in six of the last seven games, and are coming off a 41-point win over a top-100 caliber opponent, McNeese State. But this will be their toughest opponent since November as USC (12-1, 1-1) has won four straight games.
But it’s not a fully healthy Trojans squad. Guard Rodney Rice (20.3 ppg and 6.0 apg) is done for the season with a shoulder injury. Kam Woods, a midseason transfer pickup from Robert Morris, produced six rebounds and six assists in 22 minutes in his debut last week against non-D1 opponent, UC Santa Cruz. We’ll see if he can keep up with the Michigan guards. (7 pm ET on Peacock)
2. Road woes in Big West + a ton of great Thursday games
Thursday’s focus was the Horizon League, ASUN, and the Missouri Valley, among others. Yet the conference with the most intriguing results was the Big West, which featured five matchups between the preseason top-5 and the bottom half.
