January 14, 2026
The Weekly Fast Break: Opportunity knocks
Embracing challenges, mid-major powers & repeat star performances
Basketball games, or games of any sport for that matter, present like their own science experiment of opportunity. Skills and fundamentals are a pivotal piece in giving yourself and your team a chance to be victorious. Energy and effort are the intangibles that each player controls. With every win there is the opportunity to extend a streak, end another and even begin a new one. A set of individuals come together to form a team and then set their sights on lofty goals. They are given the playbook to improve each day and embrace the opportunity to be able to play for championships.
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While our focus is on college basketball here at The Weekly Fast Break, we have also dialed in on the college football season and this year’s College Football Playoff (CFP). We have been encouraged by the changes that have been made to the CFP selection process and applaud the seeding format that was adopted for this year’s playoff. The 12-team bracket has given us a great month of exciting games and on Monday, Jan. 19, a national champion will be crowned in the Sunshine State. There will be no repeat appearance on the championship stage – Ohio State was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Miami (13-2), who has won three games and will be hunting their first national title since 2001. They will face the overall No. 1 seed, Indiana (15-0), a program that has been resurrected with coaches and players who have seized the opportunity to build a team that could win the first national football championship in school history.
The gambling lines will tell you who the favorite is on Jan. 19, but we must remember that on the biggest stages in sports, all the predictions go out the window. Someone will seize the opportunity to go down in history as the one to extend the winning streak and raise the championship hardware.
Tennis legend Billie Jean King said, “pressure is a privilege – it only comes to those that earn it.” Players and teams are positioning themselves week in and week out to be ready for the next opponent and to capture the unlikely victory. Players are dealing with adversity and injury, while others are being called on to step up. While some opportunities may seem small or simple, they should never be discounted because as the games go by, so do the chances for championship hardware.
TIP-OFF
Celebrating opportunity in action: On Monday, Jan. 19, we will not only observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the US, but get to see some of the best in the game in action in the Coretta Scott King Classic. Now in its second year, this event is a first-of-its-kind Division I women’s basketball doubleheader. This event was created under the partnership of Playfly Sports and HBSE (Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment), along with their media partner FOX Sports and is played at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. This was the first licensing agreement done by the King estate to honor the legacy of Dr. and Mrs. King and was with the intention of creating a platform to celebrate female empowerment in sports. Mrs. King lived four decades after the assassination of her husband, committing herself to a lifetime of work that included advocacy and activism in so many areas, including women’s equality and empowerment.
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On the court, four elite programs will push pause from their grueling conference schedules for this special event. The matchups are ones that you will not want to miss – No. 10 TCU will take on No. 14 Ohio State in Game 1 and the second will feature No. 5 Vanderbilt against No. 8 Michigan. The talent on the floor Monday will be elite and competition will be fierce, but the message will be the true spotlight. Through struggle brings opportunity for equality, empowerment and creating a movement – women’s college basketball and Mrs. King’s legacy are most definitely a dynamic duo.
Mid-major movements: We turn so much of our attention each week to the AP Top 25, which is full of teams from the Power 4 conferences. Every so often, a mid-major team is sprinkled in the rankings and/or receiving votes. If you are not paying attention to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, then we invite you to the party. This list is full of teams that are laden with top coaches and talent, many of whom have wins over Power 4 foes this year tucked away in their back pockets. Mid-major coaches tell us all the time that their seasons are broken down into three parts: non-conference, regular season conference action and the postseason conference tournament. They know that they must have their teams peaking at the right time to win their conference tournament and snag the automatic bids to the Big Dance. Multiple bid leagues outside the likes of the Power 4 (and the BIG EAST, some years) are a precious party favor.
Princeton sits atop the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and at 14-1 are also No. 22 in the AP Top 25. The only loss for head coach Carla Berube’s squad was on Nov. 16, and since then, the Tigers have rattled off 12 straight. Columbia, another Ivy League team, is garnering attention, setting up a challenging road for whoever can claim the Ivy title. Multiple Summit League teams dot this list with South Dakota State at No. 2. The Jackrabbits are hunting a fourth-straight undefeated regular season but will face tough upcoming tests from the likes of North Dakota State, who is 15-2 on the year. The two rivals will face off for the first time this season on Jan. 17 at SDSU. Fairfield has become a staple in the conversation about the top mid-major programs, as have Murray State, Green Bay, Troy and Ball State, to name a few.
If you thought parity in women’s basketball was not a thing – we are here to set you straight. Yes, the power conferences have revenue-sharing dollars and NIL opportunities that attract top talent and we know that sometimes the rich just get richer. However, the quality of the coaching and the talent that we find at mid-major programs is just as good, if not better than many power conference schools. Ask those coaches who lost to a mid-major along the way in non-conference action this season. They can only hope that those NET rankings continue to rise to help their cause in March.
Poll watch: The only two places in the first 15 of this week’s AP Top 25 poll to stay the same were No. 1 and No. 15. UConn stays atop the rankings while Michigan State holds on to No. 15, but the rest have been turned upside down. With Texas’ first loss of the season (70-65 to now No. 6 LSU), South Carolina and UCLA each move up one spot, respectively, moving Texas to No. 4. Vanderbilt is up two spots to round out the top five. TCU (No. 10) and Iowa (No. 11) are each up three spots this week. The Horned Frogs extended their home winning streak to 36 games with their decisive win over Arizona State (77-46) – 30 of those wins have been by double figures.
We like to say ‘eight is great’ but not if you are Oklahoma and Iowa State – each tumbled eight spots after multiple losses this week. OU was bested by No. 16 Ole Miss and No. 7 Kentucky, and the Cyclones have lost three in a row. The most recent was an 83-70 home setback to West Virginia, who receives votes this week. Three teams are in this week while three are out – No. 21 Alabama, No. 23 Notre Dame and No. 25 Illinois climb into the Top 25 as USC, Washington and UNC fall out. USC has dropped three in a row, including a 63-62 loss at Minnesota (R/V this week), which marks the first Top 25 win for the Golden Gophers since 2019.
STAR POWER
It was a sweep of the weekly awards in the American Conference for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane after a pair of conference wins, powered by two marquee players. This was the third time in program history that Tulsa has swept the weekly conference awards. American Player of the Week honors went to junior Mady Cartwright after she averaged25.5 points and four blocks in the victories. The 5’10 guard helped Tulsa erase a 17-point deficit in the Jan. 6 win over Tulane, scoring 20 points and going 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. The Greenwood, AR native followed that up with a 31-point performance in the 94-82 win over Temple, going 5-for-5 from behind the arc and 10-for-11 from the free throw line. This is the second weekly award this season for Cartwright.
For the fourth time this season, American Rookie of the Week honors went to freshman Dora Toman. The 6’0 guard averaged 10 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and two steals in the wins over Tulane and Temple. Toman, a native of Budapest, Hungary, led the Golden Hurricane in assists in both games and has done so in nine contests this season.
Campbell freshman guard Jasmine Nivar was named CAA Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season after helping pace the Fighting Camels to two conference victories. The 5’10 native of Apex, NC dropped a career-high 24 points in the Jan. 9 victory over Elon (62-52), scoring 12 of the 24 in the fourth quarter. She also went 7-for-9 from the line in the final 10 minutes in the come-from-behind victory. In their 45-43 win over William & Mary on Jan. 11, Nivar had eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Her five rookie of the week awards are a new school record for a single season.
Big 12 Player of the Week honors this week went to No. 17 Texas Tech’s senior Bailey Maupin. The 5’10 guard was instrumental in the Lady Raiders’ two recent road victories, which kept them undefeated at 19-0. In the 71-66 win at West Virginia on Jan. 7, Maupin poured in 27 points, going 4-for-7 from deep. The Gruver, Texas, native then added 17 points in 37 minutes of action in Jan. 10 win over Cincinnati (71-60). This is the first player of the week award for a Texas Tech player since 2023. It is a well-deserved honor for Maupin, who has spent her entire career at Tech and is a vital part of their success this season. Her leadership and production have the Lady Raiders pointing straight towards a trip to the Big Dance in March.
Senior Maddy Skorupski was named Horizon League Player of the Week after posting monster numbers and leading Green Bay to two conference victories. The 5’8 transfer guard, who spent three seasons at Oakland, led the Phoenix in the 78-63 win over her former team on Jan. 8. Skorupski had a season-high 21 points, going 8-for-10 from the field, and had eight assists. In their Jan. 10 win over Detroit Mercy (74-53), the Clarkston, Mich., native dropped 18 points and another eight assists and was perfect from the charity stripe (4-for-4). This is the second straight week that a Green Bay player has been named Player of the Week.
FILM ROOM
With graduation and the transfer portal taking a toll on Utah’s roster, there were questions about what this season would look like for the Utes. The program weathered a mid-season coaching change last year to make it to their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament and head coach Gavin Petersen has laid his foundation for success. He and his staff preach intensity, focus and intentionality in everything their players do, on and off the court. If you want to see attention to detail and fundamental work in action, Petersen begins every practice with rebounding drills. The work is paying off because the Utes are one of the best rebounding teams in the Big 12. They are currently on a three-game winning streak and sit at 13-4 overall, 4-1 in conference play. Utah handed No. 10 TCU their only loss of the season on Jan. 3 with an 87-77 overtime victory. A five-day road trip last week to the Sunflower State saw the Utes win at both Kansas (62-59) and K-State (80-73).
(Photo credit: Jeff Blake | Imagn Images)
Those two victories were a masterclass in what makes Utah such a dangerous team this season. It starts with a balanced roster of veteran playmakers, like senior guard Lani White and dynamic junior forward Reese Ross, who is averaging a double-double in Big 12 action (12.6 points and 10.4 boards per game). Second, it is the movement and pace at which Utah plays on the offensive end, all the while constantly hunting for three-point shots. They will push in transition but will break you down in a half-court set with hard cuts, backdoor layups and constant motion that just waits for the defense to make a mistake and then they attack. In the win against KU on Jan. 7, the Utes had 17 assists on 24 made field goals. Three days later, they had 20 assists on 27 makes at K-State. Utah is capable of big runs – a 17-2 run in the second half against the Wildcats comes to mind – and those are daggers for opponents.
Utah was picked eighth in the Big 12 preseason poll, and after seeing the Utes in person, you will be hard-pressed to convince us that they are a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 team. Give credit to Petersen and his staff for being intentional with their recruiting needs and transfer pickups – this roster has a lot of weapons that complement each other. Utah will put its current winning streak on the line Jan. 14 when No. 18 Baylor comes to town.
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FULL COURT PRESS
Teams are finding their groove now that we are a few weeks into conference play. Coaching staffs are coordinating travel and meals and players are making sure their academics are in order before upcoming road trips. Each game is an opportunity to make a move in the standings and make a statement to the rest of your league – who is ready to embrace it? These games will tell us a lot about who is up for the challenge in the next week (check your local listings for game times and broadcast availability):
Jan. 14
Fairfield at Marist
New Mexico at San Diego State
Buffalo at Ball State
R/V Washington at Indiana
No. 3 UCLA at R/V Minnesota
No. 18 Baylor at R/V Utah
No. 19 Iowa State at Colorado
Jan. 15
No. 9 Louisville at No. 23 Notre Dame
Cal at Syracuse
No. 5 Vanderbilt at Mississippi State
No. 24 Nebraska at No. 15 Michigan State
UNC Greensboro at Furman
Portland State at Northern Colorado
Missouri State at UTEP
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Jan. 16
Bradley at Drake
Campbell at Northeastern
Drexel at Charleston
Monmouth at Towson
Jan. 17
Army at American
Lehigh at Navy
K-State at No. 17 Texas Tech
Marist at Quinnipiac
Florida Gulf Coast at Queens U.
North Dakota State at South Dakota State
No. 18 Baylor at BYU
Kansas at Arizona State
Albany at Vermont
Jan. 18
No. 16 Ole Miss at R/V Georgia
Duquesene at R/V Rhode Island
No. 20 Tennessee at No. 21 Alabama
Texas A&M at No. 4 Texas
No. 12 Maryland at No. 3 UCLA
No. 15 Michigan State at No. 11 Iowa
Georgia Tech at R/V Duke
Jan. 19
No. 14 Ohio State vs. No. 10 TCU (Prudential Center, New Jersey)
No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt (Prudential Center, New Jersey)
Harvard at No. 24 Princeton
Northern Colorado at Montana State
Jan. 20
UT Martin at SEMO
East Carolina at UTSA
Kansas at Arizona
*All statistics cited in this column are sourced from university and conference-provided statistics
Written by Missy Heidrick
Retired Kansas State shooting guard who spent almost 20 years working in Higher Education and Division 1 athletics. Currently working as a WBB and MBB basketball analyst for television, national college basketball correspondent at The IX Basketball, podcast host, WBB Naismith Award board of selectors member and run my own consulting business.
