January 28, 2026
The Weekly Fast Break: Rivals unleashed
New windows, SEC battles, freshmen sensations & emotional rivalries
In 1981, Clemson was crowned the national champion in college football with an unblemished record of 12-0. Their second-to-last game of the season landed on Nov. 21 of that year at their in-state rival, South Carolina. When asked about the matchup and its meaning two days before, Tigers fullback Jeff McCall told the Associated Press, “It doesn’t matter what kind of year each team is having. This game is played on emotion, not personnel.”
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You can have a rival in business or politics, but there is nothing quite like a rivalry in sports. It not only brings out the emotions of everyone involved, but it also inspires highlight-worthy performances of those playing the game. Rivalries divide extended families, neighborhoods and even married couples. Loyalty to one’s favorite team so often starts at birth with infant onesies and blankets that bear the mascot. In 1981, Clemson and South Carolina fans had to call one another on a landline telephone to talk trash before the game. Today, it is the group text chats and family email chains full of bulletin board material that get the blood boiling on gameday.
Here at The Weekly Fast Break, we love to see rivalry games on the schedule. We always circle the traditional in-state ones, the longtime conference battles and the newer matchups that have emerged over the past few years as must-see games. Tennis legend Billie Jean King once said that “pressure is a privilege – it only comes to those that earn it.” Rivalry games are the ultimate pressure point for coaches and players.
The emotional rollercoaster of wins and losses is felt by more than just those in the locker room. It is what lets someone walk into the office the next day with their alumni tie on and a smile on their face. It is the ammunition needed for the next family dinner to put your brother-in-law in his place. A win over a rival will put a coach’s athletic director and university president in a very good mood the next morning in staff meetings. Rivalries run deep and that is why seasons are made or lost in these signature games – no one wants to become the next round of bulletin board material.
*A special thanks to everyone who noticed that we were off last week – our backlog of game film got the best of us, so we appreciate your patience!
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TIP-OFF
Opening and closing the window: In the insanity that is college athletics today, there is one thing we can count on – no one can agree on when the transfer portal should open and close. In each sport, coaches and administrators argue over what would work and what seems appropriate. If the transfer portal opens when postseason action begins, then those who have qualified say they are at a disadvantage. If we had a dollar for every time we have heard ‘how am I supposed to recruit the portal when I am preparing my team for postseason competition?’ there would be no need to play the Powerball each week. No matter what timeframe and limits are placed on the transfer portal window for any sport, the rules and system will be stretched by coaches, agents and student-athletes. If you think tampering is not happening, then we regret to tell you that you are wrong. It is here to stay until people are exposed and punishments are given out.
In November 2025, the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees proposed that the notification-of-transfer windows open for 15 days starting after the conclusion of the 2026 Men’s and Women’s Final Fours. On Jan. 14, the NCAA Division I Cabinet approved those changes, as well as others, in several sports, including men’s wrestling, men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s track and field, which were recommended by the oversight committees for each sport. These changes are effective immediately.
For women’s basketball, the 15-day window will be open from April 6-20 at the conclusion of the Final Four. There was also a change to when student-athletes can request to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after a coaching change occurs. The 15-day period for transfers after a head coaching change starts five days after a new coach is hired or publicly announced. If the new head coach is not announced within 30 days of the last coach’s departure, the transfer window opens on the 31st day. It should also be noted that midyear transfers in basketball will not be eligible to compete at a second school if they enrolled at an NCAA school during the first academic term, whether they competed there or not.
The transfer window is now shorter and aligns with the overall conclusion of the college basketball season. These parameters seem reasonable and are much of what coaches have been asking for since the portal overtook college athletics. But again, let us not be fooled – decisions on new destinations for hundreds of players who intend to transfer will be made long before this 15-day window opens. How conferences and the NCAA handle those under-the-table transactions is the next great mystery in college basketball.
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SEC Shake-Ups: It is hard to not to argue that the SEC has been the best conference women’s college basketball this season. As of Jan. 26, it has the lowest conference average NET ranking in Division I. On that same day, it set a record with 10 teams ranked in the AP Top 25 poll, the most teams ever in a single week in the 50-year history of the poll. There are 16 teams in the SEC, and so scheduling can either be your best friend or an utter nightmare. In a 16-team schedule (eight on the road and eight at home), including one rotating home-and-home opponent, there are nights when you could say the SEC is eating their own. Teams in the bottom half of the standings, surprising a favorite for an upset, is not uncommon. Holding home court is essential and finding road wins is the key to winning the coveted SEC title.
No. 5 Vanderbilt suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of No. 3 South Carolina on Jan. 25 at home, giving the Gamecocks a decisive win on the road 103-74. It was the bounce-back game head coach Dawn Staley needed from her team after their setback in Norman to No. 10 Oklahoma earlier in the week (94-82). The Sooners had dropped three SEC matchups before knocking off South Carolina and used it as a springboard to dispatch of Auburn on the road 72-65 on Jan. 25.
If you want to hear about the rigors of SEC scheduling, dial up Vic Shaefer. The head coach at Texas had his team off to an 18-0 start before back-to-back road games at now No. 6 LSU and No. 3 South Carolina. The Longhorns dropped both but seem to be finding their footing again after annihilating this in-state conference rival, Texas A&M, on Jan. 18 by 45 points. No. 18 Kentucky has run into the SEC buzzsaw with three losses in a row, including a 72-67 home defeat on Jan. 24 to now No. 23 Georgia. The Bulldogs have been steadily gaining traction with a strong non-conference slate and have run off three SEC victories in a row.
(Photo credit: Dustin Safranek | Imagn Images)
Ever so quietly, the leader in the SEC clubhouse as of Jan. 28 is No. 15 Tennessee. The Lady Vols sit at 6-0 and are the only undefeated team in conference play. Early struggles in the season had many thinking this might not be as strong a team as many thought head coach Kim Caldwell had assembled in her second season. But the fast-paced, non-stop chaos speed that Tennessee plays at is working – they are second in SEC games in scoring defense, giving up just 61.3 points per game, and are scoring at a clip of over 75 per game. No player is averaging over 28 minutes per game in conference action, and they have three double-figure scorers. They will look to stretch their winning streak to seven on Jan. 29 when Mississippi State comes to town.
No one in the SEC is comfortable at the moment because they know any night you can be knocked off your winning perch. The narrative to watch as February looms is how many teams could get into the NCAA Tournament field – who and where they each play will give us a better picture in the coming weeks. Conspiracy theories are abundant – just head to the Forty Acres to investigate.
Poll Watch: With its record-setting 10 ranked teams in the AP Top 25, the SEC is dominating this week’s poll. Three of the top five spots are SEC schools, including Vanderbilt, who stays at No. 5, even after their first loss of the season at the hands of No. 1 UConn. Iowa is up two spots to No. 8 as the Hawkeyes have won eight in a row since a late December loss to the top-ranked Huskies. Other big movers north include No. 10 Oklahoma (up six spots), Tennessee to No. 15 (two spots) and into the poll for the first time since 2022, No. 23 Georgia. Kentucky tumbles seven places to No. 18 after losing three in a row and Nebraska is out of the Top 25 after also dropping three in a row. The Cornhuskers did snap their skid with an 81-75 victory over R/V Illinois on Jan. 24. The mid-majors are still very much in the Top 25 conversation, with Princeton firmly at No. 19 and Rhode Island and Fairfield receiving votes. All three of those teams are undefeated in their respective conferences to date.
STAR POWER
It was a big week of performances in the American Conference, which means there are two Player of the Week honors that capture our spotlight. Temple guard Tristen Taylor claimed the honor after powering the Owls to two conference victories. The 5’6 junior from Dallas, Texas, had 16 points and five assists in the 86-83 win over South Florida on Jan. 20 and then followed it up with a career-high 32 points on Jan. 24 in their 83-82 win over Charlotte. Taylor went 6-for-6 from both the three-point line and the charity stripe in the game. She poured in 17 fourth-quarter points to spark the largest comeback in program history, as the Owls erased a 26-point deficit to secure the win.
Wichita State graduate student Abby Cater was also named Player of the Week in the American after a dominate performance powered the Shockers to a 66-59 win over Memphis on Jan. 20. The 5’7 guard, who transferred from Austin Peay, dropped 42 points on the Tigers, going 15-for-29 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line, helping to snap a seven-game losing streak for Wichita State. Cater’s 42-point performance is tied for the second-most in American Conference history and set a new program record as well. It is the seventh most points scored in a game this season in Division I.
There is some serious freshman star power in the Big 12 Conference, and it starts with Jaliyah Davis of Kansas. The 6’2 forward from Overland Park, Kan., was named Freshman of the Week for the fourth straight week after posting over 20 points in two key Jayhawks victories. She had 25 points in the Jan. 20 victory at Arizona (80-69) and followed it up with 22 on Jan. 25 in the 83-61 win over in-state rival Kansas State. Davis, who missed six weeks earlier this year due to injury, was 7-for-8 from the field and 8-for-12 from the free-throw line against the Wildcats in 28 minutes of action. The McDonald’s high school All-American is averaging 20.8 points per game on the season and has not attempted a single 3-point shot. Davis becomes the fifth player ever to win the league’s Freshman of the Week title four consecutive times.
(Photo credit: Jordyn Pennington/Kansas Athletics)
Mountain West Player of the Week honors went to Nala Willams of San Diego State after the senior led the Aztecs to another victory and moved their conference record to 9-0. The 5’8 guard had 20 points and 10 assists in just over 25 minutes on the floor in the 94-66 win over San Jose State on Jan. 24. Williams, who spent three seasons at Cal State Dominguez Hills, is the first SDSU player in the Mountain West era to have at least 20 points, 10 assists and no turnovers in a game. She is also the third player in the nation to have that stat line in a single game this season.
Zoe Brooks for NC State was named ACC Player of the Week after leading the Wolfpack to a key conference road win. The 5’10 junior guard had a career-high 37 points in the 78-76 overtime victory at Virginia on Jan. 24, going 8-for-15 from the floor and 19-for-20 from the free throw line. Brooks, a native of Plainsfield, N.J., scored 23 of her 37 points in the second half and overtime, including six of the team’s 12 in OT. She set the program record for the most free throws made and attempted in a game, while her 37-point performance was the ninth-highest scoring effort in NC State history and the most since 1998.
A week of big performances by rookies means four is the lucky number for the Co-Freshman of the Week in the Big South Conference. Longwood guard Jesstynie Scott garners her fourth award of the season after averaging 16 points and five steals in two games for the Lancers. The 5’10 native of Americus, GA, had a career-high 20 points, going 7-for-13 from the field, in the 74-50 win over USC Upstate on Jan. 23. Scott also had a career-high seven steals in the victory. Georgia Simonsen of Radford shares the award with Scott after averaging 14 points, six rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game in two wins. The 6’1 forward from Fairfax, Va., ironically set a career-high in the Highlanders’ 78-63 win over Longwood on Jan. 21, posting 18 points (8-for-14 from the floor) and pulling down six boards. This was also Simonsen’s fourth conference award of the season.
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FULL COURT PRESS
Rivalry games are must-watch TV, not only for the action on the court but also for the rabid fanbases that come out in droves to cheer on their teams. You can always find a few visitors scattered through the arena, trying to will their team to a decisive road win. Emotions will run high, and you must keep the nerves in check – who is walking out after the final buzzer with the upper hand this time around? It’s time to curl up on the couch with your lucky alumni t-shirt on and find out (check your local listings for game times and broadcast availability):
Jan. 28
Grand Canyon at Utah State
North Texas at UTSA
R/V Minnesota at Penn State
BYU at R/V Oklahoma State
Arizona at Arizona State
UNLV at New Mexico
Jan. 29
Arkansas State at Georgia State
Kansas at No. 12 TCU
No. 4 Texas at Florida
No. 9 Michigan at Indiana
Quinnipiac at Fairfield
No. 5 Vanderbilt at No. 17 Ole Miss
No. 8 Iowa at USC
No. 3 South Carolina at Auburn
Notre Dame at Cal
Sacramento State at Montana State
Jan. 30
Columbia at No. 19 Princeton
Campbell at William & Mary
Drexel at Monmouth
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Jan. 31
Ohio at Miami (OH)
Ball State at Kent State
Lindenwood at Morehead State
DePaul at Villanova
South Dakota State at South Dakota
UCF at Iowa State
Utah at BYU
Oregon at No. 16 Maryland
Murray State at Belmont
Gonzaga at Washington State
Feb. 1
No. 15 Tennessee at No. 1 UConn
No. 24 Alabama at No. 6 LSU
No. 9 Michigan at No. 13 Michigan State
No. 14 Baylor at No. 22 West Virginia
No. 12 TCU vs. No. 21 Texas Tech
Northern Iowa at Drake
Notre Dame at Stanford
R/V Nebraska at No. 11 Ohio State
Feb. 2
R/V North Carolina vs. R/V NC State
No. 3 South Carolina at Texas A&M
Boston U at Holy Cross
Feb. 3
SIUE at Lindenwood
Little Rock at UT Martin
UTSA at UAB
Tulsa at Wichita State
*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.
