College Wheelchair Hoops Updates - with a Little Comedy from Luke Hutchinson.
- Luke Hutchinson
- Apr 6
- 13 min read
3/19/2025
The NWBA has officially announced the seedings for the 2025 NIWBT! The tournament will take place March 26th-March 29th.
Link to watch the games: https://www.youtube.com/@nationalwheelchairbasketba3804
Lets break down the brackets. Starting with the men’s.
Men’s Teams:
1. Arizona
2. UTA
3. Alabama
4. Auburn
5. SMSU
6. Illinois
7. UW-Whitewater
8. Edinboro
9. CUNY
10. Missouri
11. Eastern Washington
The top 5 seeds receive a first round bye to the quarterfinals. #4 Auburn plays #5 SMSU in the quarterfinals. The other three teams will have to await their opponents in the first round. In the first round, #8 Edinboro plays #9 CUNY for the opportunity to play #1 Arizona. #6 Illinois faces off against #11 Eastern Washington for an opportunity to play #3 Alabama. #7 UW-Whitewater plays #10 Missouri to advance to play #2 UTA. I expect Edinboro, Illinois, and UW-Whitewater to advance to the quarterfinals. This gives us matchups of #1 Arizona vs #8 Edinboro, #2 UTA vs #7 UW-Whitewater, #3 Alabama vs #6 Illinois and, as previously mentioned, #4 Auburn vs #5 SMSU. As we all know, March Madness can create a lot of upsets. However, in this round, I don’t see a whole lot of opportunities for upsets. I expect Arizona, UTA, Alabama, and Auburn to advance to the Final Four. The matchups in the Final Four would be #1 Arizona vs #4 Auburn and #2 UTA vs #3 Alabama. Here is where I could see a couple of upsets. Alabama has beaten UTA a couple of times this year and UTA has beaten them once. Honestly, I don’t understand why they aren’t flipped in the seeding. I expect Alabama to pull off the “upset.” Auburn has played Arizona tough this year and could win it if things go their way. However, I expect Arizona to pull it off and advance to the championship to have a rematch of last years championship game, against Alabama. That brings us the the final game! The rematch! Arizona vs Alabama… Part 2. These two teams have played tough against each other all year with both teams winning some matchups. The last two years, I’ve picked Arizona to win it all after strong regular seasons. They’ve let me down twice. I’m not making that mistake again. I expect Alabama to take home a third straight title. Although, this Mizzou Tiger is hoping for a miracle. MIZ, forever!
Now onto the women’s bracket!
Women’s Teams:
1. Alabama
2. UTA
3. Illinois
4. Arizona
5. UW-Whitewater
6. CUNY
This bracket is far less complicated than the men’s. There are only six teams. #1 Alabama and #2 UTA get a first round bye to the Final Four. #4 Arizona faces off against #5 UW-Whitewater for the chance to play #1 Alabama. I expect Arizona to pull this one out. The other first round matchup is #3 Illinois vs #6 CUNY to advance to play UTA. CUNY has struggled against every team this year so I expect Illinois to win this one. This brings us to the Final Four. #1 Alabama vs #4 Arizona. Alabama has dominated every team in the league this season, except UTA, but I’ll get to that in a minute. I expect Alabama to advance to the national championship… again. This brings us to the other final four matchup, #2 UTA vs #3 Illinois. UTA has also dominated every other team in the league, not named Alabama. I expect them to advance to the championship to face Alabama for the (insert big number here) year in a row…. What? I’ve lost count of how many times they’ve played in the national championship. These two teams have faced off a number of times this season, and for the most part, Alabama has beaten them. There have been a few matchups this year where UTA has come out on top, but I expect Alabama to win… again. I think this will be five in a row, but again I’ve lost count. If any readers are interested in following the tournament, the link will be at the bottom of this article. After the tournament, I will post a recap! Thanks to everybody for following along this season.
NIWBT link: https://dres.illinois.edu/niwbt2025/
Thanks,
Luke Hutchinson
3/17/2025
Here’s the update for the weekend.
This weekend, teams met all around the country to finish out the regular season. Three men’s teams met in Tuscaloosa this weekend to wrap up their seasons. Alabama had two wins against Auburn (83-72) and Edinboro (67-48). Auburn split their weekend with a win over Edinboro (70-36) and a loss to Alabama (83-72). Edinboro continued their rough season with an 0-2 weekend. They lost 67-49 to Alabama and 70-36 to Auburn. That’s a very long drive for just two blow out losses.
Four men’s teams met in Arizona for their last few games of the season. Arizona went 5-0 this weekend to cement a top 2 seed going into the NIWBT. They had wins over SMSU (84-72 and 88-64), UTA (69-54 and 68-48), and a win over Eastern Washington (76-52). SMSU had a 2-3 weekend with losses to Arizona (84-72 and 88-64) and to UTA (72-59). They also picked up two wins over EWU (72-41 and 67-31). UTA had a 2-2 weekend with losses to Arizona (69-54 and 68-48), a win over SMSU (72-68) and a suspected win over EWU but no score was posted.
Four women’s teams met at UTA to finish out their regular season. Alabama had a 2-1 weekend with a win over Illinois 51-32, a win over Arizona 60-19 and a loss to UTA 65-56. Illinois had a 2-2 weekend with two wins over Arizona (49-43 and 52-42), a loss to Alabama (51-32) and a loss to UTA (55-46). Arizona went 0-4 this weekend with a 60-19 loss to Alabama, two losses to Illinois (62-42 and 49-43), and a 55-29 loss to UTA. UTA had wins against Alabama 65-56, a win over Illinois 55-46, and a win over Arizona 55-29.
There you have it! The final regular season standings before the NIWBT. Once the brackets for the men’s and women’s tournaments are released, I will post my predictions for each matchup.
You may notice a difference in records from this update to the last update and say “wait. I thought Arizona had 14 wins last time and won 5 games this weekend.” Well, my answer to that is a few teams actually posted their records this weekend to help me have more accurate standings.
Men’s Standings:
1. Arizona (20-3)
2. Alabama (20-6)
3. Auburn (16-7)
4. SMSU (13-8)
5. UT-Arlington (9-6)
6. Illinois (11-13)
7. Edinboro (3-9)
8. UW-Whitewater (6-12)
9. Mizzou (2-16)
10. Eastern Washington (1-11)
11. CUNY (1-6)
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (20-3)
2. UT-Arlington (15-5)
3. Illinois (6-10)
4. Arizona (2-12)
5. UW-Whitewater (1-7)
6. CUNY (0-9)
Luke Hutchinson
3/9/2025
Here’s the men’s update for the weekend.
Three teams met in Marshall, Minnesota for a men’s tournament this weekend. SMSU went 2-2 in their home tournament. They played two games against Illinois and two against UWW. They beat Illinois 64-40 and UWW 76-65. They also lost 75-63 to Illinois and 79-70 to UWW.
Illinois went 3-1 with a win over SMSU 75-63 and two wins over UWW 64-39 and 52-39. They also lost to SMSU 64-40.
UWW went 1-3 over the weekend with a win over SMSU 79-70, a loss to SMSU 76-65, and two losses to Illinois 64-39 and 52-39.
Next weekend there are two tournaments and those will be the last two before the NIWBT March 25th-29th.
Men’s Standings:
1. Alabama (18-6)
2. Arizona (14-3)
3. Auburn (15-6)
4. SMSU (8-4)
5. UT-Arlington (7-4)
6. Illinois (11-13)
7. Edinboro (3-7)
8. UW-Whitewater (6-12)
9. Mizzou (2-16)
10. Eastern Washington (1-7)
11. CUNY (1-6)
I don’t think there were any women’s games. And that’s a good thing - well, for any team not named Alabama.
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (18-2)
2. UT-Arlington (12-5)
3. Illinois (4-8)
4. Arizona (2-8)
5. UW-Whitewater (1-7)
6. CUNY (0-9)
Luke Hutchinson
2/28/2025
Here’s the wheelchair update for this weekend: There are no college wheelchair basketball games this weekend.
This is a good thing for certain schools who don’t want to fall any further behind in the rankings.
Stay tuned for updates next weekend as we get closer to NIWBT 2025.
2/23/2025
No men's update this week.
Here’s the women’s update for the weekend.
Three women’s teams met in Tuscaloosa for a tournament this weekend. Here are the scores.
Alabama continues their incredible season with another 4-0 weekend. They had two wins over Arizona 52-20 and 58-27. They also had two wins over UTA 67-58 and 69-47.
Arizona had a tough 0-4 weekend losing to Alabama twice 52-20 and 58-27 and to UTA 60-32 and 75-38.
UTA went 2-2 this weekend. They lost twice to Alabama 67-58 and 69-47. They bounced back and beat Arizona twice 75-38 and 60-32.
Men’s Standings:
1. Alabama (18-6)
2. Arizona (14-3)
3. Auburn (15-6)
4. SMSU (6-2)
5. UT-Arlington (7-4)
6. Illinois (8-12)
7. Edinboro (3-7)
8. UW-Whitewater (5-9)
9. Mizzou (2-16)
10. Eastern Washington (1-7)
11. CUNY (1-6)
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (18-2)
2. UT-Arlington (12-5)
3. Illinois (4-8)
4. Arizona (2-8)
5. UW-Whitewater (1-7)
6. CUNY (0-9)
Luke's Funny: Yeah Arizona had a tough weekend, but on the positive side they are no longer in Tuscaloosa.
Luke Hutchinson
2/16/2025
This weekend was a big weekend in the world of wheelchair basketball! There were several tournaments around the country at all levels, but I’ll just focus on the college as that’s what I’ve been instructed to do.
Five men’s teams and five women’s teams met at the University of Illinois this weekend for an important tournament leading up to the nationals tournament next month!
On the men’s side:
Illinois had a huge 4-0 weekend with a big upset win over Alabama 59-50. Their other scores were 73-41 over CUNY, 68-52 over UW-Whitewater, and 57-38 over Mizzou.
Alabama had an interesting weekend that not many people saw coming. They started with a win over CUNY 65-24. Then they had a loss to UW-Whitewater 62-52, a win over Mizzou 55-28, and finished with a loss to Illinois 59-50. Alabama had double digit wins over both Illinois and UW-Whitewater earlier in the year.
UW-Whitewater had a 3-1 weekend with a big win over Alabama 62-52, a win over Mizzou 63-51, a win over CUNY (no score posted but CUNY only posts scores when they win and they didn’t post) and a loss to Illinois 68-52.
CUNY picked up their first win of the season (and maybe first collegiate win in program history) with a win over Mizzou 40-37. They struggled in their other three games with a 65-24 loss to Alabama, 73-41 loss to Illinois, and an assumed loss to UW-Whitewater.
Mizzou had another 0-4 weekend with a 40-37 loss to CUNY, a 63-51 loss to UW-Whitewater, a 55-28 loss to Alabama, and a 57-38 loss to Illinois.
Now for the women’s update that I promised you last week.
Alabama had a 4-0 weekend with with a win over UTA 50-41, a win over CUNY 66-22, a win over UW-Whitewater 74-20, and an 86-41 win over Illinois.
UTA had a 3-1 weekend with a loss to Alabama 50-41, a 64-42 win over Illinois, a win over CUNY 63-26, and a 65-29 win over UW-Whitewater.
Illinois went 2-2 with a 74-21 win over UW-Whitewater, a win over CUNY 62-24, a loss to Alabama 86-41, and a loss to UTA 64-42.
UW-Whitewater had a 1-3 weekend with a win over CUNY (again no score posted from either team), a loss to Alabama 74-20, a loss to UTA 65-29, and a 74-21 loss to Illinois.
CUNY had an 0-4 weekend with a loss to Alabama 66-22, a loss to UTA 63-26, a loss to Illinois 62-24, and an assumed loss to UWW since they didn’t post the score.
If any team representatives are reading this article and you don’t post scores, I highly recommend it so high school players can get a look into what’s going on with a team they might want to play for.
Though clearly they’d all be better off if the just went to Mizzou - my alma mater.
Men’s Standings:
1. Alabama (18-6)
2. Arizona (14-3)
3. Auburn (15-6)
4. SMSU (6-2)
5. UT-Arlington (7-4)
6. Illinois (8-12)
7. Edinboro (3-7)
8. UW-Whitewater (5-9)
9. Mizzou (2-16)
10. Eastern Washington (1-7)
11. CUNY (1-6)
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (14-2)
2. UT-Arlington (10-3)
3. Illinois (4-8)
4. Arizona (2-4)
5. UW-Whitewater (1-7)
6. CUNY (0-9)
2/9/2025
Last weekend, four teams met in Missouri for some games. Here are the scores:
Auburn had a huge 4-0 weekend with wins over Mizzou (69-42), UWW (70-56 and 68-58), and SMSU (70-64).
SMSU had a 3-1 weekend with a 70-64 loss to Auburn, two wins over Mizzou (63-48 and 51-38), and a win over UWW (81-69).
UWW had a 1-3 weekend with a 50-46 win over Mizzou, two losses to Auburn (70-56 and 68-58), and a loss to SMSU (81-69).
Mizzou continues to have a rough year as they went 0-4 at home. They had 2 losses to SMSU (63-48 and 51-38), a loss to UWW (50-46) and a loss to Auburn (69-42).
This weekend, a five teams met in Tuscaloosa on the men’s side.
Here are the men’s scores:
Arizona: 70-56 loss to UTA, 73-57 loss to Alabama, 84-69 win over Auburn, and a 74-38 win over UWW
Alabama: 57-40 win over UWW, 73-57 win over Arizona, 61-57 loss to UTA and a win over Auburn 74-63
Auburn: 72-41 loss to UTA, 56-48 win over UWW, 84-69 loss to Arizona, and a loss to Alabama 74-63
UTA: 72-41 win over Auburn, 70-56 win over Arizona, 78-48 win over UWW, and a big upset win over Alabama 61-57.
UWW: 57-40 loss to Alabama, 56-48 loss to Auburn, 78-48 loss to UTA, and a 74-38 loss to Arizona
Men’s Standings:
1. Alabama (16-4)
2. Arizona (14-3)
3. Auburn (15-6)
4. SMSU (6-2)
5. UT-Arlington (7-4)
6. Illinois (4-12)
7. Edinboro (3-7)
8. UW-Whitewater (2-8)
9. Mizzou (2-12)
10. Eastern Washington (1-7)
11. CUNY (0-3)
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (10-2)
2. UT-Arlington (7-2)
3. Illinois (2-6)
4. Arizona (2-4)
5. UW-Whitewater (0-4)
6. CUNY (0-5)
Luke's Funny: Some of you may be wondering “why haven’t there been any women’s updates?” Well I have good news! The women’s teams will be meeting in Illinois next weekend and Alabama the following weekend so stay tuned for updates! And yes I used the phrase “stay tuned” even though I’m way too young to have ever “tuned" into anything
1/26/2025
Four teams gathered in Auburn this weekend for a men’s tournament. Scores are as follows:
Illinois: 48-47 loss to Auburn, 65-46 and 49-43 losses to Alabama, and a 44-22 win over Mizzou.
Auburn: 48-47 win over Illinois, wins over Mizzou 61-32 and 60-43, and a 57-56 loss to Alabama
Alabama: 57-56 win over Auburn, wins over Illinois 49-43 and 65-46, and 52-19 win over Mizzou
Mizzou: losses to Auburn 61-32 and 60-43, loss to Illinois 44-22, and a loss to Alabama 52-19
Men’s Standings:
1. Arizona (13-1)
2. Auburn (10-3)
3. Alabama (13-3)
4. SMSU (3-1)
5. UT-Arlington (3-4)
6. Illinois (4-12)
7. Edinboro (3-7)
8. UW-Whitewater (1-2)
9. Mizzou (2-8)
10. Eastern Washington (1-7)
11. CUNY (0-3)
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (10-2)
2. UT-Arlington (7-2)
3. Illinois (2-6)
4. Arizona (2-4)
5. UW-Whitewater (0-4)
6. CUNY (0-5)
Luke's Funny: Shoutout to the Mizzou team page for posting at least one of their scores this week… even if score in the graphic and caption didn’t match… you tried.
1/19/2024
The Men’s and Women’s wheelchair basketball season finally resumed after a long holiday break.
On the men’s side, Arizona improved to 13-1 with wins over Edinboro (72-68), CUNY (58-43), and Eastern Washington (69-32). Other teams have not posted their scores from the weekend.
On the women’s side, UTA, Illinois, and Alabama all played each other this weekend.
UTA scores: 60-47 loss to Alabama, 62-48 and 64-57 wins over Illinois, and a 59-46 win over Alabama Illinois scores: 63-52 loss to Alabama, a 64-57 loss to UTA, a 77-34 loss to Alabama, and a 62-48 loss to UTA. Alabama scores: 63-52 win over Illinois, a 77-34 win over Illinois, 60-47 win over UTA, and a 59-46 loss to UTA.
Men’s Standings:
1. Arizona (13-1)
2. Auburn (7-2)
3. Alabama (9-3)
4. SMSU (3-1)
5. UT-Arlington (3-4)
6. Illinois (3-9)
7. Missouri (2-4)
8. UW-Whitewater (1-2)
9. Edinboro (3-7)
10. Eastern Washington (1-7)
11. CUNY (0-3)
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (10-2)
2. UT-Arlington (7-2)
3. Illinois (2-6)
4. Arizona (2-4)
5. UW-Whitewater (0-4)
6. CUNY (0-5)
Luke's Funny:
Note to teams that have not posted their scores: Thanks for making my job easier.
12/21/2024
Four men's teams played a tournament at Auburn this weekend to finish out the semester.
Auburn had a strong weekend with wins over Edinboro 66-34 and 62-49, and a win over Arizona 74-70. They had a tough loss to Alabama 76-70
Arizona had wins over Edinboro 59-51 and Alabama 74-57 and 69-67. They also had a tough loss to Auburn 74-70
Alabama had a win over Edinboro 59-37, 2 losses to Arizona 74-57 and 69-67, and win over Auburn 76-70.
Men’s Standings:
1. Arizona (10-1)
2. Auburn (7-2)
3. Alabama (9-3)
4. SMSU (3-1)
5. UT-Arlington (3-4)
6. Illinois (3-9)
7. Missouri (2-4)
8. UW-Whitewater (1-2)
9. Edinboro (1-6)
10. Eastern Washington (0-5)
Women’s Update:
1. Alabama (7-1)
2. UT-Arlington (4-1)
3. Illinois (2-2)
4. Arizona (2-4)
5. UW-Whitewater - (0-1??)
6. CUNY (0-5)
Luke's Funny:
Yes, you read those standings correctly, Alabama Women have a loss and Alabama Men have three. Though I’m guessing if you are not from Alabama you didn't read the prior sentence correctly. You likely added and exclamation mark or two.
12/14/2024
Updated women’s:
Arizona (2-4): 53-42 loss to Illinois, 65-30 loss to UTA, 64-21 loss to Bama, win over UWW 56-28, win over CUNY 46-10, and 49-34 loss to UTA
UTA (6-1): 51-31 loss to Bama, 58-38 win over Illinois, 49-34 win over Arizona, 62-44 win over bama, 65-30 win over Arizona, and a win over CUNY but no score posted
CUNY (probably 0-5, I think.)
Illinois: no more games than the ones below
UWW doesn’t post scores but I’ll keep looking.
Men’s Standings:
1. Arizona (7-0)
2. Alabama (7-1)
3. Auburn (4-1)
4. SMSU (3-1)
5. UT-Arlington (3-4)
6. Illinois (3-9)
7. Missouri (2-4)
8. UW-Whitewater (1-2)
9. Edinboro (1-2)
10. Eastern Washington (0-4)
Women’s Standings:
1. Alabama (7-1)
2. UT-Arlington (4-1)
3. Illinois (2-2)
4. Arizona (2-4)
5. UW-Whitewater
6. CUNY (0-5)
There have been a lot of close games between the top teams in the men’s division. It’s wide open this season! For the women, it looks like it’ll be a tight race between Alabama and UT-Arlington for the national title!
Luke's Funny:
Then again, some teams don't post scores unless they win, and some teams don’t post because MOV was so bad. Some people might find this, oh let's say, frustrating. Though maybe it should just be viewed as brilliant marketing. Seems like it's worth a shot by the NBA's Washington Wizards.
12/4/2024
Updated records for a few teams after the Mizzou tournament this weekend (last one before winter break I think).
Mizzou (1-5): loss to Illinois 60-34, win over EWU 49-36, loss to Auburn 58-41, and win over EWU 55-26
Auburn (4-1) win over EWU 85-39, win over Illinois 81-57, loss to Illinois 78-61, and win over Mizzou 58-41
Illinois (3-9): win over Mizzou 60-39, win 85-42 over EWU, loss to Auburn 81-57, and win over Auburn 78-61
EWU (0-4): 49-36 loss to Mizzou, 55-26 loss to Mizzou, 85-39 loss to Auburn, 85-42 loss to Illinois
Men’s Standings:
Arizona (7-0)
Alabama (7-1)
Auburn (4-1)
SMSU (3-1)
UTA (3-4)
Illinois (3-9)
Mizzou (2-4)
UW-Whitewater (1-2)
Edinboro (1-2)
EWU (0-4)
Women’s Standings:
Alabama (7-1)
UTA (4-1 I think)
Illinois (2-2)
Arizona
UW-Whitewater
Luke's Funny:
Still working on women’s records because these programs are, well, let’s just say in need of some improvement when it comes to running their pages.