NCAA Notables: Opening Day

Recapping some of the key takeaways from the first big night of college basketball.

#1 Indiana 97, Bryant 54
#5 Michigan 100, Slippery Rock 62
Yeah, their opposition was Bryant and Slippery Rock. But the point is Indiana and Michigan had no trouble putting up huge offensive numbers. And they share a league with Ohio State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. The Big 10 is going to be a vicious dogfight, with plenty of casualties.

#3 Kentucky 72, Maryland 69
Kentucky got the hard-fought win in Brooklyn's new Barclays Center. Still, the game meant more to the Terrapins. Down by 13 at halftime, they clawed their way back into it and briefly held the lead. Their 7-footer Alex Len finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds (7 offensive) against Kentucky's vaunted front line. Len is being talked about as a potential NBA lottery pick; if he plays up to that standard, Maryland will be a top-four team in the ACC. Meanwhile, Kentucky needs a point guard.

#6 N.C. State 97, Miami (OH) 59
#8 Duke 74, Georgia State 55
#11 North Carolina 76, Gardner-Webb 59
No problems for the top echelon of the ACC playing at home against inferior competition. Both Duke and UNC relied very heavily on their big man inside (Mason Plumlee and James McAdoo, respectively) while N.C. State was far more balanced. Which is why the Wolfpack are favored to win this conference.

South Alabama 76, #25 Florida State 71
While the rest of the ACC took care of business...this happened. Ouch. A home loss to South Alabama? Not pretty for Florida State, whose annual role of "ACC sleeper" is being stolen by Maryland. Of course, the Seminoles did lose to two (two!) Ivy League teams early last season before winning the ACC tournament, so we'll see.

Connecticut 66, #14 Michigan State 62
Here's your statement win of the day. UConn lost a ton of talent from last year, Jim Calhoun has retired, his replacement Kevin Ollie is on a lame-duck seven-month contract, and the Huskies are ineligible for postseason play. All of that together sounds like the recipe for a disastrous noncompetitive season. Instead, the undersized Huskies took advantage of early Michigan State sloppiness and held on for dear life until the final buzzer sounded to get Ollie his first upset victory. So UConn might be relevant despite the postseason ban. At least the Spartans saw very encouraging things from forward Branden Dawson, who's expected to fill some of the massive hole left behind by Draymond Green's graduation.

#7 Kansas 74, SE Missouri State 55
#19 Baylor 99, Lehigh 77
The two best teams in the Big 12 took care of business. Nothing to see here.

#13 UCLA 86, Indiana State 59
UCLA won the game, but lost in the big picture. The Bruins' prized recruit Shabazz Muhammad was ruled ineligible by the NCAA on Friday and it's unclear when (or if) he'll be on the court for the team. Without Muhammad, UCLA gets bumped down from title contender to just another team trying to make the tournament.

#16 Creighton 71, North Texas 51
Two of the country's best players, neither of whom happen to play in a major conference, went head-to-head in this one: Doug McDermott against Tony Mitchell. McDermott scored 21 on just 11 shots and led his team to victory. Because Mitchell and North Texas are a legitimately good small-conference team, this win may end up being one of Creighton's best when the Selection Committee is deciding where to seed the Bluejays.

#21 Gonzaga 103, Southern Utah 65
Important to note that this game featured one of this season's biggest wild cards: Gonzaga freshman Przemek Karnowski. He's over seven feet tall, but being from Poland, not much is known about him. He's supposed to be awesome. Who really knows? In his first game, Karnowski led his team in scoring with 22 points, so he's off to a good start.

Condensation 3, College Basketball 0
Three more marquee games were supposed to take place on aircraft carrier decks on Friday night. It wasn't meant to be. San Diego State vs Syracuse had already been postponed to Sunday because of weather. Then Ohio State vs Marquette was cancelled because of condensation on the outdoor court. Florida and Georgetown then played a half of basketball before their game was called off too, for the same reason. As it turns out, boats can get wet sometimes.