Welcome to the latest Providence Journal college basketball podcast. This is Bill Koch, sports writer for The Journal. I'm joined as always by Nick Coit, sports director at ABC6 and weekend co-host of Cordischi and Coit on WEEI-Providence.

We touch on all eight local Division I teams here -- Rivalry Weekend is covered in a special edition. Brown-Bryant women (1:10) got us started Wednesday night, and it was the Bears getting it done late.

University of Rhode Island women suffered a surprising late loss to Quinnipiac on Thursday (10:00). A look at the Rams and a couple early stumbles.

Providence women went on the road and fell to Columbia, a power in a difficult Ivy League (17:30). The Lions are one of at least three teams with real NCAA Tournament aspirations there. 

The Friars men cruised past Lehigh and Wagner coming off their Bahamas trip (21:40). Josh Oduro, Bryce Hopkins and Ticket Gaines have all flashed their offensive ability. 

The URI men rallied for a statement win over Yale (27:40). The Rams are showing signs of real growth even without David Green, who will sit the 2023-24 season after having a waiver request denied by the NCAA.

The Bulldogs men filled an open schedule date with Springfield and eased to a predictable win (38:20). More on Bryant and it's difficulty finding willing opponents -- including, in this case, Connecticut -- here.

Brown's men salvaged the middle of three games during their Bahamas trip, but the Bears are searching for answers (48:00). There's still some time to salvage nonconference confidence, but it's growing short.

Thanks as always to everyone tuning in.