Lock Mamba

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Contributor to Pickswise for College Basketball. Former Illinois basketball manager. Top ranked Bracketologist
  • Offseason Biggest Winners

    Offseason Biggest Winners

    Texas Tech – All-American JT Toppin returned to school for 4M 

    Purdue – Highest minutes returning in the power five, including two All-Americans Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn 

    Houston – Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp and Joseph Tuglar are back

    BYU – AJ Dybnasta 

    Louisville – Massive transfer class with guards Adrian Wooley, Ryan Conwell and Isaac McNeely coming in 

    Illinois State – Returns 56% of minutes and is projected to win the MVC 

    Akron – Looking for a third straight tourney appearance with 40% of their minutes back 

    UConn – 56% minutes back and scored one of the best transfers out there in Silas Demary Jr. 

    Michigan – Reloaded their front court with Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mora and Yaxel Lendeborg 

  • Big 10 Coaches Ranked for 2025-26

    Big 10 Coaches Ranked for 2025-26

    1. Matt Painter
    2. Tom Izzo
    3. Dusty May
    4. Brad Underwood
    5. Greg Gard
    6. Mick Cronin
    7. Dana Altman
    8. Eric Musselman
    9. Chris Collins
    10. Steve Pickiell
    11. Fred Hoiberg
    12. Danny Sprinkle
    13. Jake Diebler
    14. Mike Rhoades

    New coaches not ranked: Darian DeVries, Buzz Williams, Ben McCollum, Niko Medved

  • Big 10 Standings Prediction

    Big 10 Standings Prediction

    Purdue 1-2 Seed

    Michigan 2-3 seed

    UCLA 3-4 seed

    Illinois 4-5 seed

    Oregon 4-5 seed

    Michigan State 5-6 seed

    Wisconsin 6-7 seed

    Iowa 7-8 seed

    USC 8-9 seed

    Ohio State – bubble 

    Indiana – bubble 

    Washington – bubble 

    Northwestern

    Maryland

    Nebraska

    Minnesota

    Rutgers

    Penn State

  • All-Big 10 First & Second Team

    All-Big 10 First & Second Team

    First Team
    G Braden Smith – POY
    G Donovan Dent
    F Yaxel Ludeberg
    F Trey Kaufman – Renn
    C Tomislav Ivisic 

    Second Team
    G Bennett Stirtz
    G Jackson Shelstad
    G John Blackwell
    G Bruce Thorton
    C Nate Bittle

  • Picking Every Conference Winner

    Picking Every Conference Winner

    ACC – Duke 

    Big 10 – Purdue

    Big 12 – Houston 

    Big East – UConn

    SEC – Florida 

    A10 – VCU 

    Mountain West – San Diego State  

    MVC – Illinois State

    WCC – Gonzaga

    American – Memphis 

    AE – Vermont 

    Atlantic Sun – FGCU 

    Big Sky – Idaho 

    Big South – Radford 

    Big West – UC Irvine 

    CAA – UNC Wilmington 

    C USA – Liberty 

    Horizon – Wright State 

    Ivy – Yale

    MAAC – Siena 

    MAC – Akron 

    MEAC – South Carolina State 

    NEC – Long Island 

    Ohio Valley – SEMO 

    Patriot – Navy 

    Sun Belt – James Madison 

    Southern – Furman 

    SWAC – Jackson State 

    Southland – McNeese State 

    Summit – St. Thomas 

    WAC – Abilene Christian 

  • Offseason Biggest Losers

    Offseason Biggest Losers

    Rutgers – Underachieved with two top five picks and are expected to be at the bottom of the Big 10 

    Xavier – Lost Sean Miller and Ryan Conwell after a tourney appearance 

    Texas A&M – Lost Buzz Williams and program legend Wade Taylor IV 

    Memphis – Still in the American and have 0% of minutes returning 

    Dayton – Have only made one tourney since 2018 (plus 2020) and are not expected to win the A10 

    Auburn – Lost their hall of fame coach Bruce Pearl and NPOY candidate Johni Broome 

    Ole Miss – Lost a bunch of seniors after a second weekend appearance 

    Penn State – Yanic Niederhauser stayed in the draft and Penn State will likely be the worst team in the Big 10

    Clemson – Failure to make the big dance is on the table after back-to-back great seasons 

    South Carolina – Will likely be the worst team in the SEC again 

  • High Major Coaching Hires This Cycle Ranked

    High Major Coaching Hires This Cycle Ranked

    1. Will Wade – NC State 
    2. Ben McCollum – Iowa 
    3. Niko Medved – Minnesota 
    4. Sean Miller – Texas 
    5. Ryan Odom – Virginia 
    6. Darian DeVries – Indiana 
    7. Buzz Williams – Maryland 
    8. Jai Lucas – Miami 
    9. Kevin Willard – Villanova 
    10. Richard Pitino – Xavier 
    11. Bucky McMillan – Texas A&M 
    12. Luke Loucks – Florida State 
    13. Ross Hodge – West Virginia 
    14. Alex Jensen – Utah 
    15. Steven Pearl – Auburn 
  • Top 10 Offenses for 2025-26

    Top 10 Offenses for 2025-26

    1. Purdue
    2. Louisville
    3. BYU
    4. UConn
    5. Duke
    6. Illinois
    7. Alabama
    8. Florida
    9. Creighton
    10. Gonzaga

    HM: Arizona, Michigan, Houston

  • Top 10 Defenses for 2025-26

    Top 10 Defenses for 2025-26

    1. Houston
    2. Tennessee
    3. Iowa State
    4. UCLA
    5. Florida
    6. Michigan
    7. Michigan State
    8. Duke
    9. Kansas
    10. San Diego State

    HM: Arkansas, St. John’s 

  • Preseason Top 16

    Preseason Top 16

    Lock Mamba has officially announced our preseason top 16 below. The top 16 better resembles the NCAA Tournament’s top 16 protected seed list (Seeds 1 – 4) rather than a top 25 ranking

    1. Purdue
    2. Houston
    3. Florida
    4. UConn
    5. St. John’s
    6. Dule
    7. Texas Tech
    8. Michigan
    9. BYU
    10. Louisville
    11. UCLA
    12. Iowa State
    13. Kentucky
    14. Arkansas
    15. Alabama
    16. Illinois

    Honorable mentioned: Arizona, Tennessee, Auburn, Kansas, Gonzaga