The college basketball season isn’t even two weeks through and some teams are already playing better than expected.
Arizona State
With their win over Grand Canyon on Thursday night, Arizona State officially has everybody’s attention. The Sun Devils have quality wins over Santa Clara and GCU – two mid-major teams poised to make the NCAA Tournament, or at least come close, if all goes well.
Their only loss came to Gonzaga, by just 8 points. ASU was tied at the half and held a lead with less than 7 minutes to play. It’s a fun team to watch, led by guards Alston Mason and BJ Freeman. Bobby Hurley has been doubted for a long time but this may be the year he gets the last laugh.
Atlantic Sun
I’m cheating with two A-Sun teams in Austin Peay and North Florida.
The Governors knocked off Butler and Chattanooga on their way to a 3-0 start. They’ve got Tennessee coming up on Friday, which could wind up being a tricky test for the Vols.
UNF was practically the team of the opening week, taking down South Carolina and Georgia Tech before the run finally halted at the hands of Georgia. Still, the Ospreys look like a dangerous team and still have non-conference tests against Nebraska and Florida.
Columbia
Columbia’s marquee win is Villanova but that isn’t all the 4-0 Lions have accomplished early on. They also won at Loyola Maryland by 3 points and by 1 point against Lehigh. All four of their wins come against Division I teams and they’ve already proven they know how to close out tight games.
DePaul
3 wins for the Blue Demons match their entire total from last year, so go crazy, Chicago! Chris Holtmann is starting to turn things in the right direction for a program eager to become competitive in the Big East. They don’t have a very quality win yet, but step one is getting the fanbase interested and that seems to be checked off already. Just ask Blue Demon Degenerate on X/Twitter.
Hofstra
Hofstra won one of the ugliest games of the college basketball season, 49-48 over Seton Hall. But that’s not the main reason the Pride is on here. The team’s top returning scorer from a year ago is KiJan Robinson, who averaged a mere 3.3 points per game. Tyler Thomas, Darlinstone Dubar, and Jaquan Carlos were major gets in the transfer portal for other teams, yet Speedy Claxton hasn’t batted an eye. Hofstra better soak it all in, because I’ve got a feeling a power conference job is going to come calling soon.
LSU
After two wins over mid-majors, LSU won AT Kansas State by 11 points. They limited Coleman Hawkins to just 8 points and outrebounded the Wildcats, 43-25. It seems like a make-or-break year for Matt McMahon and these are the type of wins that can make a season and build momentum.
New Mexico
After losing Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr., and JT Toppin, I figured the Lobos would take a slight step back. But low and behold, Richard Pitino and UNM knock off UCLA and start 3-0.
Their offense has been clicking even after losing so many talented scorers. Donovan Dent is practically averaging a double-double with 19.0 PPG and 9.7 APG. And the Lobos’ defense is causing chaos with 12.3 SPG.
Siena
Siena’s win total from 2023-24? 4. The Saints went 4-28.
This season, they’re off to a 3-0 start and you can probably thank new head coach Gerry McNamara for lending a part in the positive turnaround. It’s early, but Siena is averaging roughly 18 more points per game than they did last season and if they continue at this pace, it’d be their highest average since the 1999-2000 season.
UCF
Johnny Dawkins took a chance on a lot of players who have had rough goings to start their collegiate basketball careers. And so far, he’s getting the craziness to turn into a beautiful mess. The Knights have quality wins over Texas A&M and FAU and if you like offense, they’re delivering that. UCF is scoring at a high rate and play with a lot of energy. They might be the sleeper team in the Big 12.
Wichita State
It’s been a while since Wichita State had a really good season – they haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2021 and haven’t won 20+ games in a season since 2020. But the Shockers are off to a quick 3-0 start and picked up a nice win over Northern Iowa on Thursday night. They also started off their season winning at Western Kentucky, so it doesn’t seem like a fluke.
Justin Hill looks like a star and there are plenty of other talented players around him that could make Wichita State one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference.