The start of 2026 has been exceedingly chaotic in the college basketball world. There have been upsets galore, surprising international additions and ill-timed injuries. The pecking order that seemed to have settled in during December has been upended — with one notable exception. Whew, look at those UConn Huskies. Coming off of another clinical blowout (a 41-point rout of Creighton on the road), the Huskies are fourth in offensive rating and first in defensive rating despite having the highest
Whew, look at those UConn Huskies.
Coming off of another clinical blowout (a 41-point rout of Creighton on the road), the Huskies are fourth in offensive rating and first in defensive rating despite having the highest opponents’ win percentage, per Her Hoop Stats. They’re first in effective field-goal percentage and assists per game and also fifth in turnovers forced. Sarah Strong leads the nation in total win shares for the second consecutive season even though she averages fewer than 27 minutes.
UConn doesn’t wait too long to blow out teams. A measured first quarter leads to a big run in the second; against the Bluejays, the Huskies led 21-14 after the first period and stretched that lead to 38-14 in the blink of an eye.
It’s another season of familiar dominance for UConn — Creighton even recorded its second-highest attendance of all-time Sunday despite not being competitive at all with the Huskies. Fans simply want to be along for the ride. The question is whether any other team is capable of providing a challenge. Since Michigan came within three points of UConn thanks to a furious fourth-quarter rally, the defending champs have won each of its last 12 games by at least 26.
Last season provided proof of concept that the Huskies don’t necessarily need to be tested in January and February to be ready in March. While everyone else in the country is beating up on each other, UConn is perfectly paced to peak in two months time, a scary thought when it already comfortably looks like the nation’s best team.
| Rank | Team | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | |
2 | 3 | |
3 | 2 | |
4 | 4 | |
5 | 13 | |
6 | 6 | |
7 | 8 | |
8 | 12 | |
9 | 5 | |
10 | 9 | |
11 | 10 | |
12 | 24 | |
13 | 16 | |
14 | 19 | |
15 | NR | |
16 | 11 | |
17 | 22 | |
18 | NR | |
19 | 7 | |
20 | 21 | |
21 | 18 | |
22 | NR | |
23 | 20 | |
24 | NR | |
25 | NR |
Dropped out: Nebraska (15), USC (17), Stanford (23), Georgia (25)
Also considered: Oregon, Minnesota, West Virginia
It’s the Jaloni Cambridge show
Arguably no one had a better week than Ohio State sophomore Jaloni Cambridge. Cambridge’s favorite player, Las Vegas Aces’ star A’ja Wilson, watched her take on Illinois, and the Buckeyes guard put on a show with a career-high 41 points on 15-of-25 shooting. Despite not having a 3-point jumper to speak of, Cambridge reliably got into the lane. She took 10 shots inside the restricted area, where she converts 75.7 percent of her attempts for the season. Cambridge’s efficiency in the paint is reminiscent of a young Chennedy Carter, both smaller guards who lived inside even though defenses didn’t have to worry about their long-range jump shot.
Cambridge followed up the win against the Illini with another strong road showing against Maryland. The Terrapins hadn’t lost at home all season (and only once overall), but had few answers for Cambridge. She once again got to the rack, taking seven shot attempts inside of 4 1/2 feet. She also found success in the midrange, specifically in the fourth quarter as she hit three in-between jumpers to put away Maryland late. Cambridge has the wiggle to get to her spots no matter the opposition, and she’s been far more efficient converting in her second year than as a freshman. Her assist rate is about the same, but she’s scoring .14 more points per play.
Ohio State’s early schedule didn’t give much indication of its capabilities; the Buckeyes’ only opponent of note was UConn, and the Huskies, as they do, crushed Ohio State. Against Big Ten opposition, Cambridge and the Buckeyes are proving that they are still relevant in the conference, even if national title contention eludes them for the time being. Beyond UCLA, it’s hard to point to a Big Ten team playing better than Ohio State.
Cotie McMahon expands her range
As her former program finds its footing without her, Cotie McMahon is showing a different part of her game than existed at Ohio State. McMahon was basically a bowling ball taking down the pins on the way to the basket when she played for the Buckeyes, but she has been required to demonstrate more craft at Ole Miss.
After playing the 4 position her first three seasons, McMahon finds herself running the Rebels’ offense. She has been the pick-and-roll ballhandler on almost as many possessions as all of 2024-25. Her assist rate is 7 percent higher than last season.
When she looks to score, McMahon is coming off of ball screens and settling in short jumpers rather than barreling all the way to the hoop. This season, McMahon is shooting 57.8 percent on paint shots outside of the restricted area, compared to 42.5 percent last season. In Ole Miss’ upset of then-No. 5 Olklahoma, McMahon’s first two possessions started with high screens from Christeen Iwuala, which freed the senior forward to score in the midrange.
The longer the season goes on, the more inexplicable it is that the Rebels lost to Kansas State. But that shouldn’t detract from how impressive Ole Miss has been to start the SEC season, with three good wins and a close loss to Texas. Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer credited McMahon for making the Rebels “problematic” to defend given her ability to score, break people down and play multiple positions. Ole Miss has been a problem for most of its opponents since McMahon’s arrival.
LSU bounces back quickly
The most emblematic play of LSU’s win over Texas on Sunday came early in the second quarter. Freshman Grace Knox, who was promoted into the starting lineup after the Tigers’ back-to-back losses to open the conference slate, charged in for an offensive rebound from beyond the free-throw line. Knox was pushed out of the way by Texas’ Justice Carlton and drew the foul; when she fell to the ground, Knox did a couple of push-ups before getting up, much to the delight of her senior teammate Amiya Joyner.
Rebounding has been a major point of contention for LSU’s coaching staff after the Tigers struggled on the glass in losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Attacking the boards is a non-negotiable at this program; the leading offensive rebounder in the country each of the last three seasons has played for LSU, and Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow both led the nation in total rebounding once as Tigers.
As LSU got back in the win column, it also won the rebounding battle against Georgia (plus-eight) and Texas (plus-nine), highlighted by effort plays such as Knox’s. The Tigers still have to work on their late-game execution, as they nearly gave away a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter (incidentally, a period when Knox didn’t see the floor) but were saved by Mikaylah Williams’ clutch shot-making.
LSU has too much offensive firepower to be counted out. The win over the Longhorns was a reminder of how deadly the Tigers can be when they also control the possession game.
Bailey Maupin’s heroic season for Texas Tech
One of my personal gripes about basketball is how infrequently lane violations are called. Players are constantly stepping into the lane or past the 3-point line before the ball hits the rim but to no consequence. In Texas Tech’s comeback win over West Virginia, the Mountaineers should have been whistled for a lane violation on Snudda Collins’ and-one attempt with under two minutes to play. Fortunately for the Red Raiders, that missed call turned into something better.
After playing catch-up for the entire fourth quarter, Jalynn Bristow corralled the offensive rebound on the missed free throw and found senior guard Bailey Maupin on the wing. Maupin immediately went up for a 3 to give Texas Tech a one-point lead that it would hold for the remainder of the game. She finished with 27 points, none bigger than the jumper that probably shouldn’t have happened.
Bailey Maupin is HER 🔥
Last night against WVU:
27 points
4 rebounds
3 assists
8-15 FG
4-7 3PT pic.twitter.com/uN7E4CgIbt— Scarlet and Black Insider (@SBInsiderHQ) January 8, 2026
It’s been that kind of unexpected season for Maupin and the Red Raiders. They were picked to finish 13th out of 16 in the conference and are instead the Big 12’s lone remaining unbeaten team. Maupin has had the most efficient season of her career by a mile. She’s shooting 56 percent on 2-pointers when her previous best was 46.2 percent; her 3-point percentage of 37 is almost four percent better than her previous high. Texas Tech was supposed to come back down to earth at some point, but the Raiders keep passing every test, first against Baylor, then at West Virginia. They’re building quite the highlight reel in the process.
Games to watch
(All times ET)
TCU at West Virginia, 7 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN+
Louisville at Notre Dame, 6 p.m. Thursday, ACCN
Texas at South Carolina, 7 p.m. Thursday, ESPN2
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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