The Baylor Bears extend their winning streak to seven, while the Texas Longhorns continue a streak of their own.

College Basketball Report: Week 6

UT basketball coach Shaka Smart
Shaka Smart and Texas. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

TEXAS LONGHORNS (9-1)

Last week (1-0): W-Central Michigan 87-76

This week: Saturdayvs. Providence

The Texas Longhorns had a short week but continued their winning ways against Central Michigan on Saturday. The Longhorns extended their winning streak to five in an 87-76 victory over the Chippewas.

It was a backcourt affair inside the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center in Austin as Texas' junior guard, Jase Febres posted a game-high 23 points (7-11 FG, 7-10 3PT), while second-year guard Courtney Ramey added in a career-high 20 points in the win. Following the victory, the Longhorns will return to action on Saturday for a road match against Providence in Rhode Island

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (4-5)

Last week (1-0): W - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 63-60

This week: Saturday vs. Oregon State

The Texas A&M Aggies ended their four-game losing skid in a 63-60 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Sunday. It was a big come from behind win for the Aggies, as Texas A&M trailed by 11 early in the second half. They went on to outscore the Islanders by 10 in the second half (39-29), as Emanuel Miller scored 20 points while shooting 7-8 from the floor.

After allowing nine made 3-point field goals in the first half, the Aggies picked up their defensive intensity and held the Islanders to shoot 20% (2-10 3PT) from behind the arc in the second half. With one game on the schedule, the Aggies will look to make it two straight wins on Saturday when they take on Oregon State.

HOUSTON COUGARS (6-3)

Last week (1-1): W - UT Arlington 71-63, L - Oklahoma State 61-55

This week: Thursday vs. UTEP, Sunday Portland

The Houston Cougars had one heck of the week that ended in heartbreak. The Cougars extended their winning streak to four in a 61-55 victory over the UT-Arlington Mavericks on Wednesday. It was a wire-to-wire victory on a night where sophomore guard, Nate Hinton, scored a career-best 25-points (9-15 FG, 4-8 3PT) and 10 rebounds in the win.

Unfortunately, Houston's win streak came to a halt on Sunday in a 61-55 loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. On a night where the Cougars struggled to buy a basket, freshman guard, Caleb Mills, was one of two players who scored in double-figures with a career-best 25 points in the loss. Mill's performance against OSU was enough to award him with the American Athletic freshman Player of the Week.

Following the win, the Cougars will return to the Fertitta Center for a contest against UTEP before opening their Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Sunday against Portland.

RICE OWLS (7-4)

Last week (1-0): W - Houston Baptist 96-84

This week: Thursday vs. St. Thomas

The Rice Owls overcame a 29-point performance from Houston Baptist' Ian DuBose to pick a victory over the winless Huskies on Saturday in a 96-84 win. Senior guard Robert Martin led the Owls with 20 points while shooting 8-for-9 from the field, 3-for-4 from behind the arc.

Following the win, the Rice Owls will return to Tudor Fieldhouse for a match against the St. Thomas Celts.

BAYLOR BEARS (8-1)

Last week (1-0): W - Butler 53-52

This week: Wednesday vs. Tennessee-Martin

The sizzling Baylor Bears continued their early-season success with a 53-52 victory against the No. 11 Butler Bulldogs on Tuesday. Junior forward Mark Vital sealed the one-point victory for the Bears with a game-winning block on Butler's Kamar Baldwin with 1.5 seconds remaining in the second half.

It was a total team effort by Baylor as guards MaCio Teague and Devonte Bandoo led the Bears in scoring with 10 points apiece.

Win the win, Baylor has extended their winning streak to seven, ahead of their home match against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks on Wednesday.

TCU HORNED FROGS (8-2)

Last week (2-0): W - Winthrop 70-60, W - Lamar 79-50

This week: Sunday vs Xavier

After a heartbreaking loss to USC, TCU picked up back-to-back convincing wins over Winthrop (70-60) and Lamar (79-50) last week. Both the Eagles and the Cardinals did not have an answer to slowing down the Horned Frogs, as TCU shot 47.3 from the floor, 34.4% from deep. Sophomore guard R.J. Nembhard averaged 14.0 points on 42% shooting from the floor, to go along with 6.5 rebounds in a two-game sweep.

TCU will return to action on Sunday to face off against the Xavier Musketeers.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (7-3)

Last week: (2-0) W - Louisville 70-57, W - Southern Mississippi 71-65

This week: Saturday vs. UTRGV

The Texas Tech Raiders ended their three-game losing skid in a convincing 70-57 victory over No. 1 ranked Louisville Cardinals. The win over the Cardinals was the first victory against a top-ranked team in the Red Raiders' program history.

Texas Tech completed the upset with a great defensive performance, as the Red Raiders held the Cardinals to 34.0% shooting from the field, and an unpleasant 17.6% from behind the arc. Following their second straight win over Southern Mississippi (71-65), Texas Tech will return to the court on Saturday for a showdown against the Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros.

SMU MUSTANGS (8-1)

Last week (0-0): No Games Scheduled

This week: Tuesday vs Georgia Bulldogs, Monday Georgia State

With no games on the schedule, SMU will return to the floor on Tuesday, December 20th against the Georgia Bulldogs.

LSU TIGERS (7-2)

Last week (0-0): No Games Scheduled

This week: Wednesday vs East Tennessee St., Saturday USC

With no games on the schedule, LSU will return to the floor on Wednesday against East Tennessee St before taking on USC on Saturday.

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Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman are hot names at the Winter Meetings. Composite Getty Image.

The woeful state of the Astros' farm system has made it very expensive to continue maintaining a good team, prohibitively so (in part self-imposed) from having a great team. Even if they re-sign Alex Bregman, trading Framber Valdez and/or Kyle Tucker for prospects could snap the Astros' run of eight straight postseason appearances. But if they KNOW that no way do they intend to offer Framber five years 130 million dollars, Tucker 7/225 or whatever their free agent markets might be after next season, keeping them for 2025 but getting nothing but 2026 compensatory draft picks for them could do multi-year damage to the franchise.

The time is here for the Astros to be aggressively shopping both. It doesn't make trading them obligatory, but even though many purported top prospects amount to little or nothing (look up what the Astros traded to Detroit for Justin Verlander, to Pittsburgh for Gerrit Cole, to Arizona for Zack Greinke) if strong packages are offered the Astros need to act if unwilling (reasonably or not) to pay Valdez/Tucker.

Last offseason the Milwaukee Brewers traded pitching ace Corbin Burnes one season ahead of his free agency and then again won the National League Central, the San Diego Padres dealt Juan Soto and wound up much improved and a playoff team after missing the 2023 postseason. But nailing the trades is critical. The Brewers got their everyday rookie third baseman Joey Ortiz and two other prospects. The Padres got quality starter Michael King, catcher Kyle Hagashioka, and three prospects.

Back to Bregman

Meanwhile, decision time approaches for Alex Bregman. He, via agent Scott Boras, wants 200-plus million dollars. Don't we all. If he can land that from somebody, congratulations. The Astros' six-year 156 million dollar contract offer is more than fair. That's 26 million dollars per season and would take Bregman within a few months of his 37th birthday. If rounding up to 160 mil gets it done, ok I guess. Going to 200 would be silly.

While Bregman hasn't been a superstar (or even an All-Star) since 2019, he's still a very good player. That includes his 2024 season which showed decline offensively. Not falling off a cliff decline other than his walk rate plunging about 45 percent, but decline. If Bregman remains the exact player he was this season, six-156 is pricey but not crazy in the current marketplace. But how likely is Bregman to not drop off further in his mid-30s? As noted before, the storyline is bogus that Bregman has been a postseason monster. Over seven League Championship Series and four World Series Bregman has a .196 batting average.
The Astros already should be sweating some over Jose Altuve having shown marked decline this season, before his five year 125 million dollar extension covering 2025-2029 even starts. Altuve was still very good offensively though well down from 2022 and 2023 (defensively his data are now awful), but as he approaches turning 35 years old in May some concern is warranted when locked into paying a guy until he's nearly 39 1/2.

Jim Crane is right in noting that long contracts paying guys huge money in their later years generally go poorly for the clubs.

Bang for your buck

Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez is heading into the second year of a five-year, $124 million extension. That's 24.8 million dollars per season. Jose Ramirez is a clearly better player than Alex Bregman. Ramirez has been the better player for five consecutive seasons, and only in 2023 was it even close. It should be noted that Ramirez signed his extension in April of 2022. He is about a year and a half older than Bregman so the Guardians are paying their superstar through his age 36 season.

Bregman benefits from playing his home games at soon-to be named Daikin Park. Bregman hit 26 home runs this year. Using ball-tracking data, if he had played all his games in Houston, Bregman would have hit 31 homers. Had all his swings been taken at Yankee Stadium, the "Breggy Bomb" count would have been 25. In Cleveland, just 18. Ramirez hit 41 dingers. If all his games were home games 40 would have cleared the fences, if all had been at Minute Maid Park 47 would have been gone.

Matt Chapman recently signed a six-year 151 million dollar deal to stay with the San Francisco Giants. That's 25.166 million per season. Chapman was clearly a better player than Bregman this year. But it's the only season of Chapman's career that is the case. Chapman is 11 months older than Bregman, so his lush deal with the Giants carries through his age 37 season.

The Giants having overpaid Chapman doesn't obligate the Astros to do the same with Bregman. So, if you're the Astros do you accept overpaying Bregman? They would almost certainly be worse without him in 2025, but what about beyond? Again, having not one elite prospect in their minor league system boxes them in. Still, until/unless the Seattle Mariners upgrade their offense, the Astros cling to American League West favorites status. On the other hand, WITH Bregman, Tucker, and Valdez the Astros are no postseason lock.

For Texans’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me on our Texans On Tap podcasts. Thursdays feature a preview of the upcoming game, and then we go live (then available on demand) after the final gun of the game: Texans on Tap - YouTube

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