Top 5 Takeaways from Week 1
The college basketball season is finally underway, and the past 5 days of games have brought plenty of surprises! The top 25 teams as ranked by the Preseason AP poll all played home openers on Monday, November 7th, and all beat up on less talented rosters. While the narrative is that head coaches at the Power 5 level are afraid of scheduling big games to be their season openers, From Downtown wanted to focus on the positives and take the chance to illuminate some of the highlights from the 1st week of the 22-23 season!
5) Oklahoma State, Florida State stumble to start the season
2 teams From Downtown was lower on than most other analysts stumbled in week 1, which validated those predictions (ignore the fact that Cal, From Downtown’s projected most underrated team, started the season 0-2). The Cowboys fell to Southern Illinois’ Salukis despite leading for most of the game. This was a winnable game for Oklahoma State, as the Salukis went just 9 for 31 from the 3-point line. Mike Boynton’s squad seems to still be getting their heads back into the game after last season was marred by a postseason ban. As for Florida State, the Seminoles lost badly to Stetson and UCF in their first 2 games. Leonard Hamilton is an obviously strong coach, and has enjoyed a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 3 of the last 4 tournaments. However, this season seems to be following last season’s slump. Seminoles and Cowboys fans alike will have to hope that they can turn things around in the coming weeks.
4) Top 25 teams Oregon and Villanova Lose in Week 1
Dana Altman’s Oregon Ducks and Kyle Neptune’s Villanova Wildcats both entered the season in the Preseason AP Poll as top 25 teams. However, the Wildcats lost to Temple, and the Ducks lost to UC Irvine. There are different issues to address for both teams. Altman expressed disappointment in his team’s “hustle” after their double digit loss to the Anteaters, a team which started the season at 150th on KenPom. Altman is a proven coach, and coached the Ducks to their first and only Final Four appearance since 1939. He will look to players such as freshman Kel’el Ware and leading scorer N’Faly Dante to pick up the slack. As for Villanova’s close loss to the Owls, Neptune will likely catch a lot of the blame for the loss. No matter whether or not it was a personnel or coaching failure that led to the loss, Wildcats fans will flock to blame the new coach. Considering Jay Wright is one of the greatest college basketball coaches in history, a loss in the 1st week of the season will certainly do numbers to Neptune’s reputation with Villanova fans. He will look to get this program back to top form in the coming weeks as well.
3) Georgetown Starts Season 2-0
After a buzzer beater 3-pointer sent Coppin State into overtime against the Hoyas, Patrick Ewing’s squad soared out to a double digit overtime win. Ewing once again coached a good game against Green Bay, outscoring the Phoenix by 32 in the 2nd half to win 92-58. Prior to these 2 wins, Georgetown had lost 21 straight, and Ewing’s job security was in jeopardy. Granted, these are both games Georgetown should have won, but it nonetheless is building confidence for a program that was sorely lacking in to enter the season. Georgetown may have a few more tests in the coming weeks, with Northwestern, Texas Tech, South Carolina, and Syracuse all on their non-conference schedule. All 4 of those project to be losses for the Hoyas, but winning any of them could further Ewing’s strong start to the season. Georgetown will continue to be an interesting team to monitor in the first month of the season due to their unique situation.
2) TCU Mounts a Colossal Comeback Against Arkansas Pine Bluff
The Preseason AP Poll ranked TCU the highest in program history this season, but those lofty expectations nearly came crashing down against the 360th (4th worst in D1 CBB) team at KenPom. The Golden Lions outpaced the Horned Frogs by as many as 15 points in the game, and it took a second half rally to avoid an embarrassing upset. Jamie Dixon coached an excellent second half, but the roster seems to be meshing worse than expected. For a NCAA tournament team returning as many players as TCU is, the hope is to not be barely avoiding defeat from bottom of the barrel teams such as the Golden Lions. TCU achieved recourse in their 11 point victory over Lamar, but when the first tests in the season come against Cal, Providence, and SMU, the Horned Frogs will need to smooth out their wrinkles to maintain Top 25 status. Credit goes out to Solomon Bozeman, who coached the Golden Lions to be inches away from what would have been one of the most shocking upsets of the 22-23 season. The 34 year old is in just his 2nd season as a head coach, and his future looks bright if he can ignite talent to this level consistently.
1) Gonzaga Inches past MSU on an Aircraft Carrier
Gonzaga and Michigan State played in the Peraton Armed Forces Classic on Friday, a game which was played outdoors on an aircraft carrier. Not only was this an incredible spectacle, but the game proved to be the highlight of the week as well. Tom Izzo’s Spartans played the national champion contender Bulldogs to a very close game that they led for a large portion. Mark Few, another fantastic coach, needed to pull out all the stops in order to win the game. When the chips were down, Few relied on sensation Drew Timme to be the man to make a play. National player of the year contender Timme scored Gonzaga’s last 3 points, totaling 22 on the night. The Gonzaga defense also proved to be stalwart when it needed to be, with MSU being unable to score any points in the final 2 minutes of regulation. MSU fans, despite the heartbreaking loss, should hold their heads high. They proved that, at their best, they can compete with any team in the country. Despite some analysts being lower on MSU than From Downtown, the Spartans made them reconsider that even despite a loss. Gonzaga and MSU both play an exciting style of basketball, and will be great teams to watch for the rest of the season!
Stay tuned for this Wednesday’s spotlight on SEC coaches Todd Golden and Lamont Parris. These are both first year coaches at the high major level after taking their respective programs (San Francisco, Chattanooga) to the dance last year. We’ll see how their situations are similar, different, and finally, project the level of success they will have at the position! Enjoy!
