Caught in the NET The initial NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings of the 2025-26 season dropped on Monday, and Cleveland State debuted at 165th overall. That’s a substantial fall from the 70-110 range most often assigned the Vikings since the NET was introduced for women’s basketball in 2020, though it was still the third-best number in the Horizon League, behind Green Bay (121) and Purdue Fort Wayne (155).

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Although their record might not jump out at anyone to this point so far, a team’s record doesn’t always tell the whole story in sports. This would certainly be the case with the Detroit Mercy Titans to this point in the season. After losing three of their last four contests in their recent stretch, Detroit’s College Team sits now at 2-6.

Columnists We are seeking writers for each of the Horizon League’s member schools, as well as general assignment writers who are interested in covering any team. Candidates should be availabl…

The Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team (5-2) was ready to go from the opening tip in their 90-63 blowout road over the still-winless Akron Zips (0-7) on Sunday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena. YSU got off to a hot start and scored the first five points of the day with a three from redshirt freshman Danielle Cameron and a layup from sophomore Sophia Gregory before freshman Corinne Reed recorded Akron's first bucket with a three of her own at the 8:07 point.

By Tristan Freeman, Special to the HoriZone Roundtable We’re about a month into the 2025-26 college basketball season, which, for the Horizon League, means one thing… conference play! The Horizon has the special distinction of having one of the earliest starts to league games. And with the new conference tournament format coming into play, it’s more important than ever to get one of the top three seeds, since a first-round home win allows them to make the semifinals in Indy.

Bob and Jim preview Horizon League games beginning on Wednesday, December 3rd and ending on Sunday, December 7th.

Good news, everyone! Toledo’s not on the list this week! Sure, we used the Rockets playing a sizable number of Horizon League teams as a running bit for the last couple of weeks. But now that the non-conference schedule is taking a pause for a bit and conference play is about to fire up, it’s time to get focused on the teams that are actually in this league.

Rank Team Last Change 1 Cleveland State 3 +2 2 Green Bay 1 -1 3 Youngstown State 5 +2 4 Purdue Fort Wayne 4 - 5 Robert Morris 2 -3 6 Northern Kentucky 7 +1 7 IU Indianapolis 6 -1 8 Wright State 8 - 9 Oakland 11 +2 10 Detroit Mercy 9 -1 11 Milwaukee 10 -1 Cleveland State…

It was less than two years ago that Tristan Enaruna hit a jumper off one foot to send the Cleveland State Vikings to the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Now, Enaruna is firmly set in the starting lineup for the G-League Cleveland Charge and has many people talking. Just like his college career, his professional career didn’t start in Cleveland, but he’s getting his footing in the same town where he dominated as a Viking for two years.

The Northern Kentucky Lady Norse returned to the friendly confines of Truist Arena after playing seven of their first eight games on the road to begin the season. Another non-conference matchup against former GLVC rival Southern Indiana awaited NKU was on the docket. The Screaming Eagles arrived in Highland Heights winners of their last three and were looking for the home and home sweep of NKU after last season’s 75-73 win in Evansville.

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The Horizon League had a great week in the lead-up to conference play, and Bob and Jim break down the games and what to look forward to as the league starts playing each other. Subscribe: ⁠⁠⁠⁠horizoneroundtable.com/subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donate: ⁠⁠⁠⁠horizoneroundtable.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠ Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/horizoneroundtable

Northern Kentucky had another afternoon battle with Terriers on Saturday, this time with the Terriers from Boston University. Boston was able to use their size and nationally ranked shooting prowess early, but the Norse were once again able to reclaim the lead in the second half and not let it go in a 74-65 victory. This win gives NKU their fifth in a row and keeps their home record blemish free.

In Cleveland State's first overtime contest of the season, the Vikings received clutch points down the stretch from both Colbi Maples and Izabella Zingaro, along with some timely defense, to rally past Radford, 62-59. Here are five observations from a scintillating afternoon in Woodling Gymnasium, as the hosts completed a sweep of the CSU Invitational field to improve to 7-1:

On the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving, the Youngstown State Penguins men's basketball team (4-4) put their feet on the gas pedal and never took it off of there in their 87-64 blowout win over the still-winless Chicago State Cougars (0-8) inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The Cougars scored the game's first two points on a steal and a fastbreak layup from Prairie View A&M grad transfer Braelon Bush, but the Penguins scored the next 15 unanswered points all the way to the 14:48 mark and led by double digits for the rest of the day.

CSU (2-5 entering the week) played two games against vastly different opponents this week. A matchup against a D-III school combined with a game against an undefeated SEC team was an interesting mix. The Vikings played both games without two of their starters (Josiah Harris and Tre Beard) and due to the difference in opponents, there is a lot to learn about the other parts of the roster.

In the middle game of the CSU Invitational, Cleveland State dominated Valparaiso 80-41 inside Woodling Gymnasium to improve to 6-1 overall. Here's what stood out from a happy Black Friday for the Vikings: 1. The victory was the sort of “everyone plays, everyone scores” afternoon not often seen against Division I competition. CSU still relished that opportunity though, particularly in the heart of the three-games-in-four days schedule of their invitational.

Northern Kentucky played host to the Wofford Terriers on Wednesday afternoon. A choppy and foul-filled first half turned into a free flowing and high scoring affair that saw Northern Kentucky come out on top, 93-83. This win made it four wins in a row for NKU and kept them undefeated at Truist Arena this season. Much like Monday, the game started slow for both sides.

Led by Colbi Maples' team-high 23 points, Cleveland State opened the CSU Invitational with a 75-71 win over a persistent St. Bonaventure squad on Wednesday evening in Woodling Gymnasium. Here are five things that stood out, as the Vikings improved to 5-1 overall: 1. The second half of the game was, quite literally, a basket-for-basket affair, as neither team was able to earn more than four points of separation until a couple of key plays by Jada Leonard in the final quarter.