Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt Norlander

@norlander.bsky.social

20K followers 200 following 3.1K posts

Senior Writer and talking head for CBS Sports. Music obsessive 🎸 Ski lover ⛷️

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · Jul 24

I wrote nearly 8,000 words on the people, moments, stories and scandals that have defined men's college basketball over the past 25 years.

A labor of love. Let's hop in the time machine!

The Top 25 (And 1) biggest stories in men's college basketball since 2000

The players, coaches, games, moments and off-the-court stories that had the greatest impact in college hoops in the past 25 years

www.cbssports.com

7 2 33

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 5h

Could barely watch. In Week 6 of a season they likely won't make the playoffs.

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 5h

Bears win.

a man with a beard is wearing a vest that says netflix

Alt: I somehow didn't wake up my children.

media.tenor.com

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 5h

I am outright protesting settling for any field goal attempt outside of 40 yards in these conditions against this team on that field one year removed from one of the most horrifying plays in Bears history.

1 1 23

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 5h

GO WIN THE DAMN GAME, CHICAGO

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 6h

There was zero reason not to just let the third quarter end, reset for third down to start the fourth. But no. A hurried play, a loss of yardage, and now the blocked field goal.

Have seen this game hundreds of times.

It will be a genuine stunner if the Bears find a way to win it.

1 14

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 6h

Why is Phil Collins hitting so hard going to the break at 10:29 ET on a Monday night.

3 2 17

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 8h

The Commanders' uniforms are entirely forgettable.

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 9h

The Falcons' uniforms are positively flawless.

4 27

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 12h

#NoContextEyeonCBBPodcastPreview

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiy0...

I promised I wouldn't say where I ate this.

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 14h

Naturally!

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 14h

I think the early 1990s?

Douglas Beach @taliesinnola.bsky.social · 1d

When was the last time KU were not in the pre-season top 20?

1 8

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 14h

My preseason Top 101 will publish near the end of next week, if all goes as scheduled.

Jared Fields @jaredfields.bsky.social · 16h

Love seeing all the preseason rankings. When does yours drop?

1 6

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 15h

Podcasting! In like three minutes!

www.youtube.com/live/Fiy0kgM...

2025 - 26 Big Ten Season Preview, Predictions: Will the league jump the SEC and finally win a natty?

YouTube video by CBS Sports College Basketball

www.youtube.com

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 16h

Preseason AP Top 25 just dropped. Purdue, Houston, Florida, UConn, St. John's are the top five, followed by Duke, Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and Texas Tech.

apnews.com/hub/ap-top-2...

1 3 18

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 1d

My order is determined.

Tonight begins my annual rite of passage: double-checking the data and typing out the capsules.

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 1d

All day-after cynicism aside, a serious question: Will Penn State's next coach do a better or worse job than Franklin?

What are the chances it's worse: 75%? 90%?

The Athletic @theathletic.com · 1d

BREAKING: Penn State has fired head coach James Franklin, the school announced Sunday.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/670...

7 2 27

Reposted by Matt Norlander

Evan Miyakawa @evanmiya.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting to compare the preseason top 50 at EvanMiya.com to @kenpom.com, which just released this morning.

Some teams I'm higher on:
Arizona
BYU
Oregon
NC State
Miami
Oklahoma

Teams I'm lower on:
Kentucky
Texas Tech
Baylor
Wisconsin
USC

3 6 15

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 1d

My preseason Top 101 won't publish for a week-plus, but I'll semi-spoil just a few things b/w my ranx and Ken's:

—Thought I would be the highest out there on Illinois, but nope
—Only two teams with identical rankings in the top 40
—Notable disagreements: Zona, Oklahoma, Kansas, USC, Marq, UVa

4 1 16

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 1d

SUNDAY AM BULLETIN: @kenpom.com's preseason rankings have gone LIVE. Here's a look at the top 80.

College hoops season is 22 days away!

10 9 37

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 2d

Ah, there it is.

3 13

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 2d

Fully rested and ready to feel baseball pain once more.

It’s me and one of my brothers. Guessing this is 1989.

2 20

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 2d

It took Gonzaga 15-plus years to get to this tier. I'm interested to see if there's a swath of backlash and gatekeeping against the Hoosiers the way the Zags had this weird militia of skeptics for a real long time (and in some ways, still do, stupidly).

5 18

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 2d

Indiana being this good in football is if like Northwestern suddenly became confident, convincing 1-seed material in men's hoops. Basically inconceivable.

3 3 63

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 2d

Jet lag inducing me to fall asleep by 10:15 last night has brought on a heavy bout of Sports Regret this morning.

2 29

Matt Norlander @norlander.bsky.social · 3d

And: Who was the best coaching hire in 2025? There is a clear top-three, with six coaches receiving 89% of the vote.

I went back into the archives to see how many times coaches have actually picked the right guy, so beware that the popular pick is usually not the correct one.

Candid Coaches: Which school made the best college basketball coaching hire in 2025?

There were 14 high-major job swaps this year and the Big Ten has three of the top six vote-getters in our poll

www.cbssports.com

1 6