2023-2024 College Basketball Discussion Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

#25 Northwestern lost at home to 3-9 Chicago State (a 23-point underdog) last night, 75-73.

[GeorgiaModerate]

A terrific slate of early-season basketball this weekend, starting with tonight's UConn-Gonzaga matchup.  Tomorrow the headliner is #1 Arizona vs #3 Purdue, but there are a bunch of other interesting games:

LSU-Texas
Kansas-Indiana
Baylor-Michigan State
Texas A&M-Houston
Clemson-Memphis
FAU-St. Bonaventure
North Carolina-Kentucky
Alabama-Creighton
NC State-Tennessee

[GeorgiaModerate]

We're down from seven to five unbeaten teams today as Baylor was clobbered at Michigan State while Clemson lost at Memphis.  And it might be four soon, as Arizona is in a lot of trouble at Purdue.  (The others: Houston, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and James Madison.)

[GeorgiaModerate]

There are now three unbeaten teams left (Houston, Ole Miss, and James Madison) after Oklahoma lost to North Carolina last night.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Here's a really weird metric stat that happened in Sunday's game between Nebraska and Kansas State.  Entering the game, Nebraska's Kenpom rating was 62 and KSU's was 46.  The final score: Nebraska 62, KSU 46.  This is the first time ever that both teams in a game have scored exactly their pregame rating.

[GeorgiaModerate]

In the Letdown category, #7 FAU followed up their thrilling 2OT win over Arizona by...losing to 5-9 Florida Gulf Coast.

[GeorgiaModerate]

And then there were two -- undefeated teams, that is, as James Madison was upset at Southern Miss.  And there might be only one after tonight, as Ole Miss is a big underdog at Tennessee.  The remaining one (Houston) had less than no trouble in its first-ever Big 12 game, beating West Virginia 89-55.

[GeorgiaModerate]

And then there were two -- undefeated teams, that is, as James Madison was upset at Southern Miss.  And there might be only one after tonight, as Ole Miss is a big underdog at Tennessee.  The remaining one (Houston) had less than no trouble in its first-ever Big 12 game, beating West Virginia 89-55.

And it's indeed down to Houston, as Ole Miss got run out of Knoxville 90-64.

[GeorgiaModerate]

There are no more undefeated D-1 teams, as Houston loses at Iowa State 57-53.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Top-ranked Purdue lost by 16 at Nebraska. Did not see that one coming.

[GeorgiaModerate]

#3 Kansas loses at 6-11 West Virginia, 91-85.  Conference play is tough.

[GeorgiaModerate]

#3 North Carolina loses 80-76 AT HOME to Clemson (a solid but not great team).  This is notable because the series has one of the most lopsided home advantages around.  This was Clemson's second win in Chapel Hill in 62 games.

[YE]

Baylor beating Texas Tech (on a 13-0 run atm). Big XII continuing its madness.

[JGibson]

In Women's Basketball, Iowa star Caitlin Clark made history in women's college basketball, as she broke the record for most points in NCAA Women's Basketball history.

https://twitter.com/NBCSports/status/1758296967178752068

[JGibson]

Caitlin Clark is closing in on the all-time NCAA Basketball points record, regardless of gender. She needs 17 to tie and 18 to break Pete Maravich's record. Maravich's record is likely to stay intact when considering men's college basketball.

She broke the women's college basketball record when counting NCAA's predecessors such as the AIAW. The record was held by Lynnette Woodard.
https://twitter.com/espnW/status/1763053657409364233

https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCBB/status/1763044506348175597

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's been an interesting season, and the NCAA Tournament is right around the corner.  UConn, Purdue, and Houston look like locks for #1 seeds, with the fourth one up for grabs between Arizona, Tennessee, and North Carolina.  One interesting storyline is whether Gonzaga makes it; they're precariously on the bubble.  If they don't, it would break a long string of NCAA appearances for the Zags.

Possibly the biggest surprise this year is the remarkable turnaround at South Florida, currently ranked #25 and leading the AAC by 3 full games, under first-year coach Amir Abdur-Rahim.  He previously led a similar resurgence at Kennesaw State, and is definitely a name to watch for more prestigious coaching positions in the future.  What's really odd is that USF might not get an NCAA bid if they don't win the AAC tourney, due to some truly horrible losses early in the season.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I don't know what to make of my Tar Heels this season. Some games we look like world beaters and others it looks like we have no idea what we're doing. There's an outside chance we can still get a 1 seed, but I am not confident we win at Duke next weekend.

Of course, we could also lose to State or Notre Dame and I wouldn't be shocked.

[JGibson]

Iowa's Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA D-I basketball scoring record previously held by Pete Maravich, regardless of gender. Clark did so on the 2nd free throw via a technical foul from Ohio State.

https://twitter.com/CBBonFOX/status/1764364566966796525

[GeorgiaModerate]

Kansas got run out of the gym at #1 Houston, losing 76-46.  It was the Jayhawks' largest conference loss in over 24 years.  Houston won the Big 12 regular season title in its first year in the league, one of the more impressive feats in recent college basketball history.

[GeorgiaModerate]

#5 Tennessee, considered to be one of the contenders for the fourth #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (the other contenders are Arizona and North Carolina; the other three #1's are pretty much locked in as Houston, Purdue, and UConn) was thrashed by Mississippi State 73-56 in the SEC tournament quarterfinals today, and now is almost certainly out of the #1 seed conversation.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Purdue goes down to Wisconsin in the Big 10 semifinals.  This won't cost them a 1-seed, but probably costs them the overall top seed if either Houston or UConn wins their conference tourneys.

[Storr]

ACC Tournament Championship tonight at 8:30 between #1 North Carolina and #10 (!!!) North Carolina State. NC State hasn't won it since 1987 (naturally, over North Carolina) under coach Jim Valvano!

I feel like this will either be a game were UNC dominates and wins by double digits or where NC State wins with a team of destiny miracle last minute shot. If the latter happens, I'll simply have to tip my hat to them for pulling of an incredible 5 games in 5 days conference tournament championship run.

[GeorgiaModerate]

After Purdue's stunning loss in the Big 10 semifinals, #1 Houston says "hold our beers" and proceeds to lose by 28 to Iowa State in the Big 12 final.  If UConn holds on to beat Marquette in the Big East final, the Huskies should be the top overall seed.

[GeorgiaModerate]

And the AAC auto-bid will not go to any of USF, FAU, or Memphis (which had the worst midseason collapse I've seen in decades), but rather the winner of tomorrow's UAB-Temple game.  I love college basketball.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Kent State just lost their conference championship game by fouling UP by 1 in the final seconds (because their player thought they were losing).  I'd say that it was unbelievable except for the fact that it happened to Vandy the last time we were in the NCAA Tournament.