2022 NCAA Basketball Discussion Thread

[NewYorkExpress]

This thread is the home of college basketball discussion.

The season starts Monday, November 7.

Among the great games kicking off the first week (and weekend) are BYU @ San Diego State, Michigan State/Gonzaga, Villanova @ Temple, SMU @ Dayton, Florida State @ UCF, Clemson @ South Carolina, Stanford @ Wisconsin, Georgia @ Wake Forest (all on Friday, November 11), Saint Peter's @ Seton Hall (on Saturday, November 12) and Colorado @ Tennessee (on Sunday, November 13).

As much as I would love to do a pick'em, the last two years have taught me that the interest just isn't really here to do so, so there will be no pick'em this year (unless someone else wants to host it).

[NewYorkExpress]

Gonzaga deep in discussions with the Big Twelve, also discussing heading to the PAC-12 and Big East.

Gonzaga's athletic director met in person with the Big 12 commissioner last week as part of broader discussions about the Zags joining the Big 12, sources told ESPN. The discussions are part of the possibility of a seismic move of the basketball powerhouse leaving the West Coast Conference for a power conference.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark met with Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford at the Hyatt in Frisco, Texas, while the Zags were in the Dallas area to play Tennessee in a scrimmage, according to sources.

The move backs up Yormark's promises of the Big 12 to be aggressive and "open for business," and it could end up shifting the landscape of college basketball.



Sources indicate that Gonzaga has been exploring its conference options, as it has emerged as one of the premier basketball programs in the country. Both the Pac-12 and the Big East have been engaged with Gonzaga, according to sources, but the extent of those conversations is uncertain.

Gonzaga plays in the West Coast Conference, a mid-major conference it has consistently dominated as it has grown into one of the top programs in the sport. The school has been transparent with the WCC about its conversations.

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We've got a possible upset on this election night, as Rider leads Providence 40-30 at halftime.

Providence came into this game as thirteen point favorites.

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Two rather notable upsets today.

The small one, was South Dakota State beating Boise State 68-66 in Boise.

The big one, was Bellarmine stunning Louisville 67-66 for their first ever win over a Power Five program.

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Southern Illinois travels to Stillwater, stuns Oklahoma State 61-60.

It's the Saluki's first win over a Power Five program since last season's Paradise Jam tournament, when they beat Colorado.

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Evening's only half over, and we already have a pretty interesting upset, as Southern Mississippi comfortably beats Vanderbilt 60-48.

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Pretty massive upset over in Philadelphia, as Temple stuns #16 Villanova 68-64.

This is Villanova's first loss to a fellow Philly Big Five school in almost four years, their last loss coming on December 11, 2018, against Penn at the Palestra.

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Another pretty significant upset tonight as Grambling stuns Colorado 83-74.

This is Grambling's first victory over a Power Five school in almost five years, their last win coming against Georgia Tech on December 1, 2017.

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We had a trio of upsets today, two of them small, and one much bigger.

The two small ones were, Texas State defeating Rhode Island 70-66, and Alcorn State defeating Wichita State 66-57.

The big one is Wright State defeating Louisville 73-72.

For Wright State, this is their first win over a power five school in almost a year, their last one being a victory against NC State in Raleigh.

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We had a pretty healthy surprise today, as Colorado took down #11 Tennessee 78-66.

The Buffalo were sixteen point underdogs entering the game, and this win is their second win in a row against a ranked opponent in the regular season, having last beaten then #2 Arizona, 79-63, last February 22.

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In addition to the already mentioned upsets of Florida by Florida Atlantic (76-74), and Boston College by Maine (69-64), we have a couple more upsets to talk about tonight.

First, Troy defeated Florida State, 79-72. This is the Trojans's first victory over a Power Five school in four years, their last one coming on November 12, 2018 against Pittsburgh as part of the Barclays Center Classic.

The other one is Northwestern State's 64-63 victory over #15 TCU. This is Northwestern State's first victory over a Power Five opponent in nine years, their last win coming on November 16, 2013 against LSU.

[NewYorkExpress]

We had a trio of upsets today, two of them small, and one much bigger.

The two small ones were, Texas State defeating Rhode Island 70-66, and Alcorn State defeating Wichita State 66-57.

The big one is Wright State defeating Louisville 73-72.

For Wright State, this is their first win over a power five school in almost a year, their last one being a victory against NC State in Raleigh.

That's two consecutive one-point upsets against Louisville.  They next play Appalachian State, so perhaps they can go for the hat trick.

Called it!  App State won 61-60.

When was the last time Louisville started 0-3?

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In terms of upsets tonight, in addition to Appalachian State's victory over Louisville, We had one other big upset so far this evening.

Colgate stunned Syracuse, 80-68.

The Raiders also beat Syracuse last season, which was their most recent victory over a Power Five team.

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Still time left, but with about nine minutes left, #11 Texas is demolishing #2 Gonzaga 78-60.

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In addition to Texas A&M's loss to Murray State today, three other Power Five teams have lost so far today, with one upset, one modest surprise, and one being a loss to a Big East team that was clearly better.

UMass defeated Colorado, 66-63, also at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

Meanwhile, at the Shriner's Children's Charleston Classic, Colorado State flattened South Carolina, 85-53.

And St. John's improved to 4-0 by obliterating Nebraska, 70-50. The Red Storm have yet to get a quality win, with their next opponent being Temple, and likely won't have a chance to do so until either December 4 at Iowa State, or a four game stretch that sees them play Florida State at home, then play Villanova and Xavier back-to-back.

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Over in the Legends Classic, Arizona State steamrolled #20 Michigan, 87-62.

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Some big matchups ahead tonight in Vegas, with #16 Virginia taking on #5 Baylor and #19 Illinois facing #8 UCLA in what could be a future conference matchup, pending a final decision from the board of Governors at UCLA.

Also today, two of the more surprising unbeaten teams go at it in the Charleston Classic, as Penn State and Virginia Tech put their 4-0 records on the line. Right now the Nittany Lions currently have the better NCAA Tournament resume at this very early juncture, with a home win against Butler, and another home win against Furman that could look good later in the season, while the Hokies's most resume-building matchups are ahead of them, as in addition to the tough ACC schedule, they have a home game with Minnesota as part of the ACC/Big Ten challenge (Penn State gets Clemson), a home game against Dayton (immediately after their conference opener against North Carolina), and a home game against Oklahoma State.

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Louisville is now 0-4 for the first time since the 1940-41 season after being flattened by Arkansas 80-54 in the Maui Invitational.

How quickly do think it'll take for Kenny Payne to get the axe??

I mean, the schedule doesn't get easier for Louisville, they still have the rest of the Maui Invitational (which means Texas Tech and then one of Ohio State, San Diego State or Arizona), a home game against Maryland, and a road game with Kentucky left in their non-conference schedule (not including home games against Western Kentucky, Florida A&M and Lipscomb). The Cardinals could easily be 3-10 or worse by New Year's Day.

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Louisville should get some ACC wins since it's such a terrible conference usually, I"d like to know NYE's take on Michigan State.

Honestly, the Spartans should be 1-3 right now. They got very lucky against both Villanova and  Kentucky (though you can make an argument for 2-2 the way Gonzaga played against Texas, though again, Gonzaga destroyed Kentucky in a way Michigan State did not). The Spartans could easily get shut out at the Phil Knight Invitational, but Notre Dame is one of the easier possible opponents in the ACC to draw for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and their last three non-conference games are layups. 9-4 heading into the New Year should be the expectation for Michigan State (especially since first two Big Ten opponents are Northwestern and Penn State), and 10-4 heading into their January 7 game with Michigan should be the expectation here.

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It really doesn't qualify as an upset, but Georgia lost 87-73 to UAB today in the Sunshine Slam Championship Game in Daytona Beach.

UAB's having another nice season in Conference USA, and with their only other non-conference tests being back-to-back games against West Virginia and South Carolina, they could easily enter conference play with one or two or losses (I think the Blazers lose to West Virginia but beat South Carolina, personally). They have to be the favorites in Conference USA right now.

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San Fransisco on track to possibly be the best non-Gonzaga team in the WCC, taking down Wichita State 67-63 in the Hall of Fame Classic finals.

San Francisco easily could go into WCC play unbeaten, as their only serious test in non-conference play is a home game against Arizona State on December, and the only clear losses in WCC play I can see are the two games against WCC, with the two games against BYU/St. Mary's being tossups in my eyes.

San Francsico should get an at-large seed in the NCAA Tournament easily, and easily could get a top four seed (especially if they can get a win against Gonzaga-or two, including a conference tournament victory).

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Over in the Fort Myers Tip-Off, Sam Houston crushed Northern Illinois 88-54 to improve to 6-0.

The Bearkats have one of the more impressive non-conference resumes, especially for the WAC, with wins over Oklahoma and Utah already. They have another chance for a signature non-conference win, when they head to Stillwater on December 6.

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Louisville now an embarrassing 0-6 after getting blown out by Cincinnati 81-62 at the Maui Invitational.

Next up for the Cardinals, a tough home game against Maryland as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, followed by games against Miami (FL) and Florida State to begin ACC play. 0-8 by mid-December seems likely for Louisville, and they haven't been competitive against any Power Five level team.

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Embarrassing upset today at the ESPN Events Invitational as Siena destroys Florida State, 80-63.

The Seminoles's only victory so far was at home against Mercer, and they draw Purdue for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, meaning that they likely will be 1-8 when ACC play begins on December 3 (at Virginia, which is a horrible road trip).

I wouldn't be shocked if longtime Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton is fired or forced to retire by season's end.

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The Kyle Neptune era at Villanova is not off to a good start. The Wildcats lost to Iowa State at the Phil Knight Invitational, 81-79, to fall to 2-3 (losses against Temple, Michigan State and Iowa State, victories against La Salle and Delaware State). In addition to their Big East-Big Twelve battle against Oklahoma (not the hardest Big Twelve foe...they got really lucky to avoid both Kansas and Baylor), two of their final three non-conference games are against Philly Big Five schools (Penn and Saint Joseph's), and they've already split the first two (easily beating La Salle, and losing to Temple).