NEWS AND NOTES:
-For the most part, it was your typical season opener. Good teams played easy home buy games and won theme easily. There were more games yesterday than there will be at any other point in the season, but there were also more predictable results yesterday than at any point in the season. But, there were still some surprises and some very notable results.
-Arizona’s season got off to a great start as they managed to defeat 3rd ranked and defending national champion Florida 93-87. Both teams play tough schedules and will have ample opportunities to rack up big wins and build big resumes, but Arizona is certainly first out of the gate. They picked up a win against a top five (for now) team away from home. There aren’t too many teams that manage that at any point in the season.
-Villanova, who I was not big on at all, now has my attention. They didn’t beat BYU, but they battled in the second half and were in a position to win the game. The Cougars held on 71-66, but it was a much better showing than I expected from the Wildcats. The few writers that voted for them in the preseason poll may not have been so crazy after all.
-One of the best performances of the day was High Point. They blew a pretty good Furman team out of the gym at the Field of 68 Marathon 97-71. High Point is one of the top Under the Radar programs and has adapted very well to the transfer heavy/NIL era, and was able to reload their roster. They were VERY impressive in this game, and I know it’s just one game, but you can’t help but start to wonder how much noise they’ll make this season.
-All the games in the Field of 68 Marathon were good games. Major respect to those guys for putting together a great event! When most teams were playing buy games and dump-trucking their opponents, these were all compelling matchups. Winthrop got a nice win against Queens 81-74, Saint Bonaventure outlasted what we think is a pretty good Bradley team 69-63, and Murray State and Drake also picked up early season wins.
-Troy picked up a tough road win against Kent State in overtime 93-87. The MAC-SBC Challenge games also gave us some really good matchups. Miami OH looked good in their win against Old Dominion, and Arkansas State also got a nice road win at Ohio U.
Several teams had to sweat more than expected.
-UCLA had trouble putting Eastern Washington away, but held on 80-74.
-Auburn needed overtime to get past Bethune Cookman 95-90, and Cookman actually had a chance to go up two possessions with less than a minute to go, but Auburn came up with a big defensive stop. It was heartbreaking for Cookman and would have been a monster win, but this is a really good Cookman team that seems positioned to have a big season. The SWAC has a lot of good teams this year and will likely do much better than the 16 line.
-Colgate hung with Michigan State for a while, and this was not a Colgate team we were expecting much out of in the Patriot League. The Spartans got control of the game and won 80-69, but it took them a while to do it.
-Georgia Tech needed overtime to get past Maryland Eastern Shore 56-52. UMES is expected by many to be among the worst teams in all of D1. Not a great start for the Yellowjackets.
And, there were a few upsets!!
-New Orleans, who I wasn’t expecting anything out of this year at all but who Rocco Miller seemed to like, went into TCU and got a 78-74 win. This is a fantastic start to the season for UNO!!
-And last, and certainly least Boise State, who all of us except Joby Fortson were expecitng to have a real shot at making the NCAA Tournament, lost at home to D2 Hawaii Pacific 79-78. This game actually won’t impact the metrics that badly because most of them do not account for nonD1 games, but this will absolutely torpedo their tournament resume!!
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-TEXAS VS DUKE (Charlotte NC) – Many, including myself, feel that Duke is a Final Four contender and is the clear favorite to win this game, but Texas has some life in them. Sean Miller takes over as head coach and is trying to build Texas’s program back up. A win tonight would be a very quick and very major step forward in regards to changing the perception of that team, not to mention it would put a high level quality win on their resume.
-HAWAII AT OREGON – I like this Hawaii team and think they can make quite a bit of noise in the Big West this year, and perhaps even compete to win the Big West. Having said that, this is a very tough road assignment against an Oregon team that’s rebuilding, but also seems to have reloaded with talent.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-UNC Asheville @ Wichita State – it’s not the best game, but at least both teams appear to have a pulse, and it’s good chance for UNCA to get a really solid road win in their opener
-Louisiana Tech @ Nevada – LA Tech is a team from CUSA that has a little bit of promise. A road win tonight would be really nice for them and a great way to start the season
-Long Beach State @ San Diego State – this isn’t a bad regional matchup to play, but tonight it’s a huge mismatch. Beach just isn’t what they used to be
-Portland State @ Stanford – this is a buy game, but I’m listing it here because it wouldn’t shock me if Portland State won this one
CRAPPY BUY GAMES:
-Evansville @ Purdue
-Nicholls @ Kentucky
-NC A&T @ South Carolina
-Alcorn State @ Florida State
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ West Virginia
-Lindenwood @ Texas Tech
-UNC Greensboro @ Kansas State – far from the worst buy game, but still a buy game
-Oral Roberts @ Oklahoma State
-Robert Morris @ Iowa
-Cal Poly Humboldt (nonD1) @ Santa Clara
-UT Martin @ UNLV
