Last season saw a talented (if not entirely cohesive) group lead the Horizon League most of the way before a devastating Horizon League tournament loss in the Quarterfinals. Departures (transfers and graduations) of most of the Panthers' starting rotation has given way to the promise of a new hope that waits in the wings with some much-heralded new arrivals.
This season, Milwaukee looks to get back to the Horizon League Championship that should have been reached last season, but this time, win it all and get back to the NCAA Tournament. At this level and in this period in college basketball history, there isn't much pride in reaching the NIT and much less pride in accepting also-ran invites to CBI/CIB side tourneys who have struggled to build sizeable audiences in recent years.
Punching a ticket to March Madness is the name of the game if you play the game seriously.
The Panthers have an excellent chance at winning the Horizon League which has seen seasons with better league-wide talent. The infusion of veteran backcourt players like Amar Augillard and Isaiah Dorceus to go along with Panthers likes Danilo Jovanovich and Faizon Fields in the front court figures to set a stable base for the 9-man rotation and a foundation for a championship team.
Non-conference schedule
The huge non-conference showdowns with Indiana, Texas Tech, Wichita State and Wisconsin will serve as good indicators as to how much of a shot this Panther squad would have in the NCAA Tourney should they reach that golden height.
Oct. 25 -- vs. Parkside
Nov. 3 -- vs. Hampton
Nov. 8 -- at Wofford
Nov. 10 -- vs. Little Rock
Nov. 12 -- at Indiana
Nov. 14 -- at Texas Tech
Nov. 17 -- vs. Dominican (D-3)
Nov. 22 -- at Wichita State
Nov. 29 -- at Akron
Dec. 14 -- vs. Indiana State
Dec. 19 -- vs. South Dakota State (at Fiserv)
Dec. 30 -- at Wisconsin (15)
Conference schedule
Milwaukee begins the conference season in the midst of its non-con dominated early schedule at home versus Robert Morris and ends the season at IU Indy on the last day of February. As usual, we play each Horizon League conference opponent twice during the regular season- one at home and one on the road.
The reigning Horizon League champion is Robert Morris (25-8, 15-5 in '24-'25), who was assigned a 15 seed and dispatched by a 2-seeded Alabama 90-81 in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, Texas.
For what it's worth, our recruiting haul and general program direction has not failed to impress. We seem to be a preseason favorite among those who follow the Horizon League; this has a lot to do with our coaching continuity, and the fact that Lundy is coming off of three consecutive 20-game win seasons with an HLT Semifinals and HLT Finals appearance to boot.
The HoriZone Roundtable (@horizoneroundtable.com) recently noted that, "The Blue Ribbon Yearbook is out, and here's their predicted #HLMBB outcome:"
1. Milwaukee
2. Youngstown State
3. Robert Morris
4. Oakland
5. Northern Kentucky
6. Purdue Fort Wayne
7. Wright State
8. Cleveland State
9. Detroit Mercy
10. IU Indy
11. Green Bay
Of course, preseason accolades are largely meaningless, but it says something that even after our HLT collapse last season and a huge roster shuffle, people are still expecting Milwaukee to fight for the Horizon championship.
The next step is to push this program into 25+ game territory where the big dogs live with little margin for errors and fluke losses. But with all those wins, and all that pressure to get them, comes immeasurable increased respect and support from the Milwaukee community and university that we've recently seen to evaporate a bit, even in light of our run of 20-win seasons.
If ever some day we are going to realistically rack and pack an average of ~4,000 fans into the lower level of Panther Arena, we are going to have to give people an encouraging reason to head downtown and cheer for Milwaukee Panther hoops.
And repeat.
And repeat.
And repeat.
go panthers.
remember the little things. 🏆🏀
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