TORONTO — The No. 4 nationally ranked Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's basketball team have officially finished up their 2025-26 regular season and now begin their quest for the OUA championship, the Wilson Cup.

After ending the season with a 7-1 record in their final eight games, the Bold and Head Coach David DeAveiro managed to snag the top seed in the OUA playoff standings. 

The ranking, which gave TMU a bye past the first round, was won in a confusing tiebreak scenario with the Carleton Ravens, Western Mustangs, and Brock Badgers.

All four teams finished the regular season with strong records of 17-5. Because they finished with the same record, the judgement for playoff seeding then fell to their points difference. The Bold finished with the largest difference of the four (+330), which landed them the number one spot, followed by the Ravens (+327), the Mustangs (+206), and the Badgers (+41) in spots two, three, and four respectively.

The complicated situation leaves TMU as the number one team in playoff seeding despite ranking number two in the OUA Central Division standings. The Bold are the first team to achieve the feat since the Queen's Gaels in 2023-24.

Despite the strong finish, though, the squad is hungry for more:

"17-5…that's an amazing year," praised DeAveiro, "we're going to celebrate our regular season, give them a couple of days off, and get back to the grind…these guys have been great, but they're not satisfied."

With their newly-owned top spot, the Bold now advance straight to the OUA quarterfinal to face the eight seeded Guelph Gryphons who took down the ninth seed Windsor Lancers in the first round on Wednesday night.

TMU and Guelph played in the regular season just a few weeks ago on February 6. The Bold took care of business in the matchup with a 79-67 win. 

Size was the difference-maker in the victory for the Bold, as their larger players were able to overwhelm the Gryphons inside. Guard Aaron Rhooms logged 20 points and seven rebounds, while the 6-foot-11 Aidan Wilson contributed with 13 points and nine rebounds of his own. TMU as a team grabbed 14 offensive boards to Guelph's eight.

The largest player in Guelph's rotation stands at just 6-foot-7", whereas TMU boasts multiple players over that mark. The Bold will need to rely on their size advantage to take home another victory against the Gryphons in the postseason. 

Coach DeAveiro is ready for the challenge, though, and isn't counting out Guelph — or any team in the OUA playoffs:

"This league is an amazing league," he said, "there are no easy games."

Should they defeat the Gryphons in the quarterfinal, DeAveiro's squad will move on to the OUA semifinal to face the winner of the fourth-seeded Badgers and the fifth-seeded Ottawa Gee-Gees. The winner of the match will move on to the finals to play for the Wilson Cup.

The path to get there might not be easy, though: TMU have struggled against both the Badgers and the Gee-Gees in recent years. 

In two matchups this season, the Bold have fallen twice to the Badgers. Brock managed to hold their fifth-ranked offence, which averages 82.9 points per game, to just 62 and 76 in those games.

TMU also lost their lone game against the Gee-Gees this season, 80-87. In 2024-25, they fell to Ottawa in the OUA semifinal: a heartbreaking result that prevented the squad from advancing to the final and qualifying for the U SPORTS National Championship tournament.

The Gee-Gees have been the Bold's kryptonite over the years, as TMU haven't taken them down since 2020. 

"They're well coached," admitted DeAveiro, "they're very good defensively, probably one of the top teams in the country defensively. And they have two or three guys who can really shoot the ball."

But no matter who they face, DeAveiro and his team are ready for the challenge. 

Led by Rhooms, who finished the season ranked second in the province in points per game at 22.0, the Bold are a tough team to stop.

"He's done this a couple times," praised DeAveiro after Rhooms knocked down a game-winning jumpshot in the team's final regular season game, "he says, 'Hey guys, jump on. I'm going to carry us to the promised land.'"

Alongside Wilson, Rhooms is one of only two fifth-year players on TMU's roster. A majority of the team's rotation is made up of first, second, and third years, and DeAveiro is relying on him to help guide his less-experienced teammates under the pressure of a playoff situation.

"Pressure's not something that's easy to deal with," explained DeAveiro, "that comes with time, confidence, and reps. And so, we've just got to find a way."

"Get the ball to Aaron, and get out of the way," he joked when asked for a solution.

But although Rhooms leads the team on offence, he's also fully and completely bought into the Bold's defensive identity.

"Whoever we face, it's just about us competing on the defensive end," stated the guard, "it's just playing our brand of basketball, bringing energy on both sides of the floor, and we're going to be all right."

TMU ranked as the second-best defensive team in the province this season, allowing just 67.9 points per game. Their opponents have shot just 37% from the field, and 24.5% from three.

The mentality has been a staple of DeAveiro-coached teams for years, and it's helped the Bold win a ton of important games down the stretch.

"It's just about locking down their key players," Rhooms said when asked about how to beat Ottawa, "once their team gets going and clicks, it's about stopping those guys and slowing them down. And then we go from there."

It's not often that a top player — let alone one of the highest scorers in the history of a country (Rhooms ranks 12th all-time in U SPORTS with 1,990 points) — fully commits to a defensive focus. The Bold are fortunate to have such a special talent in the fifth-year guard, and, as DeAveiro noted, he's determined to do his best to carry the team to "the promised land."

TMU's journey to the Wilson Cup kicks off on Saturday, February 21 at 6 p.m. against the Gryphons. Students can enter the game for free with their OneCards. Fans and alumni can purchase tickets here.