Penny Hardaway, Memphis off to miserable start in 2025

The Memphis Tigers (4-7) have had a miserable start to the 2025-26 season, and it continued with a 71-66 road loss to Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., on Saturday. 

The loss is the third straight for Penny Hardaway's Tigers, who dropped games to No. 11 Louisville and No. 13 Vanderbilt before losing Saturday's contest. 

Memphis also has losses to Ole Miss, UNLV, Purdue and Wake Forest this season. Their best win of the season so far came against Baylor on Dec. 6. 

But Memphis is lacking another marquee win, which could go a long way for both the team's confidence and NCAA Tournament resume. 

The problem? All of Memphis' chances to secure such a win in non-conference play are gone. Only a single non-conference game against Alabama State on Dec. 22 remains before UM starts American Athletic Conference play against North Texas on Dec. 31. 

At the moment, none of Memphis' AAC opponents are ranked. The Tigers' best chance at a signature victory could be a road trip to Tulsa (11-1) on Jan. 21. 

Memphis staring down the barrel of missing NCAA Tournament

It's early, but it could already be time for Hardaway and his team to press the panic button. 

The Tigers, who were a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago but lost to Colorado State in the first round, are already in big danger of missing the Big Dance unless they can find a way to emerge as one of the top teams in the AAC.