Early Storylines
It was a very eventful week in college basketball, and we're finally getting to see which teams are for real, and which teams are not.
Big Upsets
There were some huge upsets this week. #1 Duke lost to Boston College, who is 10-62 in their last 72 conference games in the ACC. This is a pretty bad loss for Duke, but the Blue Devils have been so inconsistent defensively all year long that it is honestly not that surprising. I could see Duke getting a lot of huge wins this year, but also losing a few head-scratchers.
#2 Kansas also lost twice this week. The first loss was to Washington, a huge surprise considering that Washington, just like Boston College, has been terrible in recent years. Washington is probably better than they were last year under new coach Mike Hopkins, a former Syracuse assistant who has brought the 2-3 zone defense with him to Washington. That loss was concerning, but the Jayhawks also lost at home to Arizona State. Unlike Washington though, Arizona State is really good. They are undefeated, and now have a signature win. Tra Holder played 40 minutes for ASU, and scored 29 points, upping his average to 20.3 points per game.
In yet another major upset, #5 Florida lost their third game in a row, to Loyola (IL), a mid-major that Porter Moser has done a great job rebuilding. Loyola Chicago is ranked #73 on kenpom.com, and are 10-1 with a signature win. They are ranked ahead of teams like Indiana, Vanderbilt, Iowa, Georgetown and Illinois. I think a big part of this upset though is that Florida is overrated. They have wins over Gonzaga and Cincinnati, but they are more of a 5 or 6 seed than a 1 or 2 seed. It would be interesting to see this Florida-Loyola matchup again if Florida was a 5 seed in the NCAA tourney and Loyola were to win their conference and become a 12 seed.
Some Big Surprises
There have been some really surprising teams early on. Virginia has been one of the best teams in the country after losing a ton of guys from last year's team. The Cavaliers are ranked #3 on kenpom.com, and are led by Kyle Guy, who is averaging 16.8 points per game. Guy is a great personality (used to wear a man bun last year and was a fan favorite at Virginia), and also happens to be a McDonald's All-American, something that is rare for a Virginia player. Year in and year out though, Tony Bennett seems to build a quality national title contender, and although they haven't been making any final fours, he has still built a fantastic program, making it not too big of a surprise that they are so good yet again.
Texas A&M has also been a major surprise. The Aggies went 16-15 last year, and were not expected to be 8-1 and ranked 6th in the country on kenpom.com as they are right now. A&M is really tough to stop inside, averaging 43 rebounds a game with guys like Tyler Davis, DJ Hogg and Robert Williams inside. All three have been fantastic this year, and they have also been boosted by Marquette transfer Duane Wilson.
The third big surprise team this year has been Oklahoma. The Sooners have only one loss, and wins over Oregon and USC, after being absolutely terrible last year (11-20). The big difference for Oklahoma has been star freshman Trae Young. Young was highly recruited, but not nearly as much so as guys like Trevon Duval, DeAndre Ayton or Marvin Bagley. He's arguably been the best of the bunch though, averaging 28.8 PPG, 8.8 APG on very good shooting percentages (47.9% from the field). Although Young may cool off shooting wise, he reminds me a lot of Steph Curry, great ball-handling and passing combined with incredible range from the outside. Oklahoma took a one year hiatus in being a powerhouse team in the Big-12, but I think they will be back this year and could be a 4 or 5 seed type team.
Big Upsets
There were some huge upsets this week. #1 Duke lost to Boston College, who is 10-62 in their last 72 conference games in the ACC. This is a pretty bad loss for Duke, but the Blue Devils have been so inconsistent defensively all year long that it is honestly not that surprising. I could see Duke getting a lot of huge wins this year, but also losing a few head-scratchers.
#2 Kansas also lost twice this week. The first loss was to Washington, a huge surprise considering that Washington, just like Boston College, has been terrible in recent years. Washington is probably better than they were last year under new coach Mike Hopkins, a former Syracuse assistant who has brought the 2-3 zone defense with him to Washington. That loss was concerning, but the Jayhawks also lost at home to Arizona State. Unlike Washington though, Arizona State is really good. They are undefeated, and now have a signature win. Tra Holder played 40 minutes for ASU, and scored 29 points, upping his average to 20.3 points per game.
In yet another major upset, #5 Florida lost their third game in a row, to Loyola (IL), a mid-major that Porter Moser has done a great job rebuilding. Loyola Chicago is ranked #73 on kenpom.com, and are 10-1 with a signature win. They are ranked ahead of teams like Indiana, Vanderbilt, Iowa, Georgetown and Illinois. I think a big part of this upset though is that Florida is overrated. They have wins over Gonzaga and Cincinnati, but they are more of a 5 or 6 seed than a 1 or 2 seed. It would be interesting to see this Florida-Loyola matchup again if Florida was a 5 seed in the NCAA tourney and Loyola were to win their conference and become a 12 seed.
Some Big Surprises
There have been some really surprising teams early on. Virginia has been one of the best teams in the country after losing a ton of guys from last year's team. The Cavaliers are ranked #3 on kenpom.com, and are led by Kyle Guy, who is averaging 16.8 points per game. Guy is a great personality (used to wear a man bun last year and was a fan favorite at Virginia), and also happens to be a McDonald's All-American, something that is rare for a Virginia player. Year in and year out though, Tony Bennett seems to build a quality national title contender, and although they haven't been making any final fours, he has still built a fantastic program, making it not too big of a surprise that they are so good yet again.
Texas A&M has also been a major surprise. The Aggies went 16-15 last year, and were not expected to be 8-1 and ranked 6th in the country on kenpom.com as they are right now. A&M is really tough to stop inside, averaging 43 rebounds a game with guys like Tyler Davis, DJ Hogg and Robert Williams inside. All three have been fantastic this year, and they have also been boosted by Marquette transfer Duane Wilson.
The third big surprise team this year has been Oklahoma. The Sooners have only one loss, and wins over Oregon and USC, after being absolutely terrible last year (11-20). The big difference for Oklahoma has been star freshman Trae Young. Young was highly recruited, but not nearly as much so as guys like Trevon Duval, DeAndre Ayton or Marvin Bagley. He's arguably been the best of the bunch though, averaging 28.8 PPG, 8.8 APG on very good shooting percentages (47.9% from the field). Although Young may cool off shooting wise, he reminds me a lot of Steph Curry, great ball-handling and passing combined with incredible range from the outside. Oklahoma took a one year hiatus in being a powerhouse team in the Big-12, but I think they will be back this year and could be a 4 or 5 seed type team.
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