December 10, 2025
The Weekly Fast Break: No rest during dead week
Star power performances, high value investments in college athletics
On most campuses across the country, students are hunkering down in coffee shops and the back corners of libraries and student centers to cram for finals. The semester is approaching its end and so is the deadline for that final project or term paper. All-nighters are common and DoorDash is a widely-used app on many phones. The anticipation of packing up for the holiday break is high and there is no better feeling than being able to text mom and dad in the group chat those four magical words – ‘my finals are over!’
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For college basketball players from coast to coast, there will be joy in finishing their projects and tests, but they are still quite far from leaving campus for a short holiday trip home. Non-conference games will fill the next ten days on the calendar along with even some early conference matchups. Teams have traveled far and wide in November and early December, testing themselves against quality competition and looking for the right combinations on the floor that will put them in the running for a league title in 2026.
Winter is setting in with a chill in the air, but you can also feel the pressure rising on campus as well. The tension felt to hit that 90% mark on the final project to get an A is real and trading sleep for studying in the hopes for that solid B is your new reality. Here at The Weekly Fast Break, we live by the great Billie Jean King’s phrase that “pressure is a privilege – it only comes to those that earn it.” Whether it is on the court or in the classroom, those that can handle the load and stand up to the pressures of a full-court press or an economics final are going to be celebrating in style.
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TIP-OFF
Hot Starts in Husker Land: There are just three Division I schools left with undefeated women’s and men’s basketball programs and one of them is in Lincoln, NE. Both Nebraska squads are undefeated, and they each find themselves in the AP Top 25 poll. The women’s program jumped into the poll at No. 24 this week after capturing their ninth win with a 101-83 victory over Big Ten foe Penn State on Dec. 6. The Huskers have a high-octane offense, scoring 80 points for the school-record tenth consecutive game and three 100-point performances this season. The 101 points at Penn State also matched the school record for most points ever scored in a conference road contest. The Huskers took care of Omaha on Dec. 9 87-35. Head coach Amy Williams has a deep roster, led by sophomore Britt Prince, who is averaging over 20 points and four assists per game. 6’2 junior Jessica Petrie, 6’3 sophomore Petra Bozan and 6’2 sophomore Amiah Hargrove have stepped up to fill big shoes left from graduation and injury. The Huskers have two non-conference games left before the Christmas holiday and then will host No. 16 USC on Dec. 29. There is a good chance that Herbie Husker is undefeated on the women’s side when the calendar hits 2026. *Iowa State and Vanderbilt are the other two schools with undefeated women’s and men’s teams, as of Dec. 9.
Filling the Dollar Gaps: The ever-changing landscape of college athletics is leaving university leadership and athletic directors searching for immediate investments in their institutions and departments. We are in a world where student-athletes are the recipients of revenue sharing, the transfer portal is a constant moving target and third-party NIL deals benefit players financially, many in large sums. The cost of supporting a nationally competitive athletics program has risen dramatically and at many institutions far outpaces revenue growth. Two institutions have recently announced significant influxes of dollars for their athletic departments – one via the traditional method of private donor giving and the other that opens a new door to the world of private equity.
On Dec. 5, Michigan State announced it had received a $401 million gift from Greg and Dawn Williams, supporting the university’s and athletic department’s fundraising initiatives with the largest donation to the school and one of the richest in college sports history. William is the co-founder and CEO of Acrisure, a financial technology company. The gift includes $390 million for the athletic department’s $1 billion fundraising campaign and $100 million for Spartan Ventures, a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation set up to raise funds for the athletic department. Or in more common terms in today’s landscape – Michigan State’s NIL fund. This substantial surge of funds will give a much-needed boost to all Spartan athletic programs.
(photo credit: © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
There has been a lot of conversations about conferences venturing into the world of private equity to generate more dollars over time for their members. While commissioners and boards are weighing the pros and cons of these arrangements there is one institution that is going all in now – Utah. It was announced on Dec. 9 that they are finalizing a landmark private equity partnership that would be the first of its kind in college athletics. Utah is set to enter an agreement with New York-based firm Otro Capital that will help generate an estimated $500 million for the school and the deal is expected to be finalized in early 2026.
Utah has received clearance from the NCAA, with stipulations, including their university president and athletic director must remain majority decision-making control. The deal will create Utah Brands & Entertainment LLC, which will exist as an independent offshoot of the athletic department co-owned by the university and Otro Capital. It will build the university’s brand as well as manage and grow key revenue streams across the Athletics Department and the university. This includes overseeing, optimizing and enhancing the fan experience, corporate sponsorships, ticketing, event-related revenues and campus-wide university trademarks and licensing.
The interesting piece of bringing private equity into college athletics – alumni, donors and fans will be able to purchase stakes in Utah Brands & Entertainment. Between the investments from outsiders and a nine-figure deal with Otro Capital, Utah could raise more than $500 million, giving it long-term stability in the revenue-sharing era of college athletics. Just when you thought things were crazy with schools directly paying student-athletes, there is yet another layer to the madness. Who will be next? Thanks to what Utah is doing, it probably will not take long for the next private equity deal in college athletics to hit our inboxes via a press release.
Poll Watch: The top ten spots in this week’s AP Top 25 poll remain unchanged, which includes No. 7 Maryland who survived their double-overtime road challenge at Minnesota on Dec. 8. No. 17 Mississippi (loss to K-State) and No. 25 Michigan State (loss at Wisconsin) are the biggest drops this week, moving down four and five spots respectively. No. 21 Ohio State is up two places as the Buckeyes have won five games in a row since their Nov. 16 loss to No. 1 UConn. Tennessee is in the AP Poll for the 800th time in the 50-year history of the rankings, up one to No. 18. The Big Ten has nine teams ranked this week, which ties a record that was set last December. No. 24 Nebraska enters the poll this week as the Huskers have started 9-0 for the second straight year. The first two teams sitting just outside this week poll are Princeton at 9-1 and 10-0 Texas Tech, who is turning heads ahead of Big 12 play starting before the holiday break.
(Photo credit: © Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
STAR POWER
We turn up the spotlight at The Weekly Fast Break when we get a triple-double alert. TCU graduate student guard Olivia Miles registered her seventh career triple-double in the Horned Frogs 95-40 beatdown of UTEP on Dec. 6. Miles, a transfer from Notre Dame, had 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in what was just the fourth triple-double in TCU program history. She is now tied for fifth in NCAA history for career triple-doubles and is also one of only 10 Division I players to post a triple-double this season. The 5’10 native of Phillipsburg, NJ also had 15 points and six assists in the Dec. 3 victory over Incarnate Word. Miles’ stellar week earned her Big 12 Player of the Week, the second TCU player to be tapped for that honor in the past three weeks.
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SEC Freshman of the Week honors went to Oklahoma guard Aaliyah Chavez after she led the Sooners to a pair of wins last week. On Dec. 3, Oklahoma beat NC State 103-98 in overtime in the ACC/SEC Challenge and Chavez led the way with 33 points, the most in a single game by any freshman this season. She shot on 50% from the floor (13-for-26) and added four rebounds, four assists and one block in the victory. She was instrumental in erasing a 10-point deficit in the second half. The 5’10 guard’s 33 points were the most of any SEC player on the week. In OU’s dominant 90-37 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 7, Chavez finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, helping OU extend its winning streak to eight games.
Lexus Bargesser of Colorado State was named Mountain West Player of the Week after guiding the Rams to a 1-1 record last week. Over two games, the 5’9 senior guard from Grass Lake, MI averaged 21 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. In CSU’s 70-58 loss to Utah on Dec. 4, Bargesser posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards and then followed that up with a career-high 23 points along with nine rebounds and five assists in the 70-47 victory over Southern Utah on Dec. 7.
After helping Creighton to two key victories over St. John’s and Tulsa, 5’10 guard Ava Zediker was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week. The Des Moines, IA native averaged 14.5 points, five rebounds, and three assists over two games, including popping for a career-high 26 points against Tulsa. She finished 8-for-12 from the floor, including 4-for-4 from behind the arc and added eight boards and five assists in the 73-60 home victory on Dec. 7.
FILM ROOM
If the Big Ten regular season is anything like the double-overtime thriller in Minneapolis on Dec. 7, then we are in for a rollercoaster ride until March. No. 7 Maryland opened conference play on the road at Minnesota, and it would be an understatement to say this was a game of runs. The Terrapins opened the game 12-5 but the Golden Gophers responded with a 6-0 run and were down one after the first quarter. Maryland expanded their lead in the second 10 minutes, but Minnesota responded by going 10-for-19 in the second quarter and used a 17-0 run to lead by 14 at halftime. Both teams traded outstanding plays, from knocking down threes to converting on three-point plays. Maryland used a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to put them up 64-59 but the Gophers would not go away. They tied the game at 70 with a free throw and to overtime they would go.
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The first overtime ended at 84-all and it was the second extra frame that was unlike anything they have seen in Williams Arena in a very long time. Minnesota had a 97-88 lead with just over a minute to play but Maryland brought full court pressure and trapped in the backcourt that completely rattled the Gophers late. Minnesota could not stop the bleeding as the Terrapins capitalized on turnovers and their lack of timeouts, roaring back with a 12-2 run to capture the road win 100-99.
Maryland redshirt senior Saylor Poffenbarger, who sealed the win with her layup with less than 10 seconds left, finished the day with a career-high 30 points and junior transfer Oluchi Okanawa posted 25 points, making it the first time this season Maryland had multiple 20-plus point scorers. Minnesota was paced by junior Grace Grocholski with 31 points, going 9-for-12 from behind the arc. The Gophers ended the game with 19 turnovers, the most crucial ones coming in the second overtime. It was a heartbreaking loss for Minnesota and an inspired win for Maryland. Be prepared – this could be par for the course in the Big Ten this season.
FULL COURT PRESS
The tension around dead week and finals week on campuses means that students are living on Starbucks and pizza, making flash cards by the dozen and praying the wireless internet does not go out in their apartment complex before they hit ‘save’ on their final project. The load of games can be a bit light during the week, but the coffee mug gets fuller over the weekend, so grab your own eggnog latte and settle in (check your local listings for game times and broadcast availability):
Dec. 10
San Diego State at Kansas State
No. 11 Iowa at No. 10 Iowa State
South Dakota State at UNI
Illinois at Missouri
Ball State at No. 22 Louisville
Dec. 11
Georgia Tech at R/V West Virginia
Idaho State at BYU
UL-Monroe at Indiana
Dec. 12
Florida Gulf Coast at Florida Atlantic
UT-Arlington at Rice
Maine at Fairfield
R/V Texas Tech at Washington State
Dec. 13
Hampton at Howard
UNLV at Cincinnati
Arkansas at Missouri State
Drake at St. Thomas (MN)
Green Bay at No. 20 Washington
No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 23 Oklahoma State (Oklahoma City)
No. 1 UConn at No. 16 USC
Houston at New Mexico
Dec. 14
Illinois State at No. 24 Nebraska
No. 2 Texas vs. No. 13 Baylor (Fort Worth, TX)
Toledo at No. 21 Ohio State
Pittsburgh at Clemson
NC State at Miami
No. 15 Kentucky at Belmont
Penn State at No. 3 South Carolina
No. 25 Michigan State at DePaul
Wyoming at Minnesota
Northwestern at Utah
Dec. 15
Memphis at Murray State
Tulsa at No. 23 Oklahoma State
South Florida at No. 14 Vanderbilt
Dec. 16
Auburn at Middle Tennessee
Northern Colorado at Colorado
Arizona State at Gonzaga
*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.
