Top Takeaways from the Non-Conference Portion of the College Basketball Season

After Winning the National Championship, Kansas hasn’t missed a beat

Fresh off their National Championship, the Jayhawks went into this season a little bit under the radar for their standards. Head Coach Bill Self was suspended for the first four games of the season, for the FBI Investigation that took place in 2017. In addition, Kansas lost the majority of the players on that National Championship team including four of their top six leading scorers in Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, David McCormack and Remy Martin. The Jayhawks entered the season ranked #5 in the AP Poll, however after losing all of that production it was reasonable to expect a little bit of a drop off compared to the usual elite standard of Kansas.

Instead, the Jayhawks have started off the season with a 12-1 record and look like a National Championship contender yet again. There haven’t been many players in College Basketball that have taken a bigger leap so far this season than Jalen Wilson, who is currently averaging 21 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. The Junior from Denton, Texas, had never averaged more than 11 points coming into the season and has looked like one of the best players in the sport so far this season. DaJuan Harris also back doing his thing as one of the most clutch and winningest players in the country. It isn’t easy for someone to gain Bill Self’s trust to have the ball in your hands for the majority of the game, but that is exactly what Harris has done, always making a winning play that helps Kansas win.

Despite the Big 12 again looking like the premier conference in College Basketball with not a lot of nights off, Kansas remains the team to beat. The Jayhawks already have collected victories over Duke, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri, who all look like NCAA Tournament teams. Bill Self’s ability to develop off the radar players that might not have entered college as the highest ranked recruits, shows just how good of a coach Self really is. With Baylor struggling compared to expectations and the uncertainty around the Texas program, Kansas is currently the team to watch for in the Big 12 and Bill Self remains at his best when everything is going against him.

First Year Coaches in the SEC are Making an Impact

This offseason the SEC Conference went through a serious coaching makeover, as there were six new Head Coaches hired throughout the league. While Todd Golden’s Florida Gators were picked the highest of any team with a first year Head Coach in the preseason media poll, it isn’t even them that is turning heads in the SEC. Matt McMahon’s LSU Tigers were picked 8th in the preseason media poll, and at one point during the summer, they didn’t have a single scholarship player on their roster. Fast Forward to now, LSU has started their season with a 12-1 record, including a signature victory over #9 ranked Arkansas to open up SEC play. In addition, Murray State transfers KJ Williams, who is currently second in the SEC in scoring with 18.5 Points Per Game.

LSU doesn’t appear to be the only SEC team with a first year Head Coach and realistic NCAA Tournament aspirations. Chris Jans has Mississippi State off to a very impressive 11-2 start, after being voted 10th in the preseason SEC media poll. The Bulldogs have one of the best defenses in the country, holding their opponents under 70 points in every game with the exception of last week’s SEC opener vs Alabama. Jans had great success at New Mexico State turning over rosters quickly, with his experience in the JUCO ranks cited as a massive help. Jans was able to bring back a solid core from Ben Howland’s Mississippi State team last season that was very talented but couldn’t get over the hump.

Finally, Dennis Gates has brought some much-needed energy into the Missouri program and the Tigers feel like a team that is on the rise. Missouri started off their season with a 9-0 record before losing at home to Kansas on December 10th. Despite the loss, it was noticeable just how great the environment was at Mizzou Arena and it was clear that Missouri fans are really excited about the direction of the program thanks to Gates. Since the loss, the Tigers are 3-0 with statement victories over two really good teams in Illinois and Kentucky. Missouri’s leading scorer D’Moi Hodge came with Gates from Cleveland State and not every coach in the country would have the recognition to realize a player is ready for the jump in competition. Gates also was able to convince Kobe Brown to come back to school similarly to Jans at Mississippi State, which has been crucial to Missouri’s success as well. The future of the SEC is really bright, considering all of the success of these first-year coaches.

The B1G Remains a Grind

The Big Ten has collected a combined 19 NCAA Tournament bids in each of the last two seasons, and with so much talent to replace going into this season, it was unclear what the league would look like. Indiana was tabbed as the preseason favorite, but have already lost three games and will be without Point Guard Xavier Johnson going forward due to a foot injury. In addition, Iowa and Maryland both looked like Top 25 caliber teams within the first month of the season, but have really struggled lately with both teams going a combined 1-5 in Big Ten play to start off the conference season. Michigan was ranked as the #22 team in the preseason, but their caliber of play hasn’t necessarily matched that and they suffered a brutal loss last week to Central Michigan.

One team that has overachieved relative to expectations is Purdue, who started off the season with a perfect 13-0 record, prior to last night’s loss vs Rutgers. This is a prime example of just how difficult it is to navigate a full Big Ten slate, considering about 67% of the conference has made the NCAA Tournament within the last two seasons. This was the second season in a row, that Rutgers knocked off a #1 ranked Purdue team and Steve Pikell just continues to impress. The Scarlet Knights have now collected victories over Purdue, Indiana and Wake Forest and should be on their way to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. This would be the first time this took place in the history of the Rutgers program.

With teams like Penn State and Nebraska also playing much better than expected, even the games against teams projected at the bottom of the league are not going to be easy. Nebraska has already collected a win over Iowa and took Purdue to overtime in a game that easily could have gone either way in December. The Player of the Year in the Conference  might just be Penn State’s Jalen Pickett, who is currently averaging 16.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game for the Nittany Lions. The transfer from Siena has proven he is good enough to play at this level and could bring Penn State to their first NCAA Tournament since 2011. With all of these factors, no game is a guarantee and just when you think you have this conference figured out the opposite happens.

Struggling “Blue” Bloods

While Kansas has played really well relative to expectations, there are other blue bloods where that has been far from the case. After North Carolina made it all the way to the National Championship Game last season and started this season as the #1 ranked team in the Preseason Top 25, on the court that has been far from the case. The Tar Heels have already suffered five losses this season, and were one miraculous Pete Nance buzzer beater away from that number being at 6. Currently, the only wins on North Carolina’s resume that could move the needle are against Ohio State and Michigan and they will need much more than that to secure a bid. We are seeing a lot of things from this Tar Heel team that we saw during their struggles prior to March last season, including the inability to defend consistently and flat out not making enough shots. North Carolina has already lost twice in ACC play on the road at Virginia Tech and at Pittsburgh and it won’t get easier with a game against Wake Forest and a road trip at Virginia soon after.

Kentucky is another team that falls into this category, considering they were ranked #4 in the Preseason AP Poll and the clear cut favorite in the SEC. Instead, they already have lost four times, including a rout at Missouri to start off SEC play. Considering Kentucky failed to make the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and lost to #15 seeded Saint Peter’s in the first round of the big dance last season, Kentucky fans weren’t going to be competent with anything but the normal standard of greatness. Instead, things feel like they might be falling off the rails and Kentucky hasn’t played great in any of their marquee games so far this season. Oscar Tschibwe was the first reigning National Player of the Year to return to College Basketball since Tyler Hansbrough in 2009.

 In addition, Kentucky also brought back a solid core from last season’s 26-win team and added a high-level Freshman in Cason Wallace. However, every time you watch Kentucky you wonder where the “dudes” are, that we’ve gotten so used to seeing with John Calipari’s teams. Kentucky still has a ton of work to do in order to safely secure an NCAA Tournament bid.

” Mid-Major” Madness

There have already been a ton of surprises in the Mid-Major ranks so far this season. Pat Kelce’s Charleston Cougars are currently ranked #23 in the AP Poll after starting their season with a 14-1 record, that includes a victory over Virginia Tech. Charleston has opened up Colonial Athletic Conference play with a 2-0 record that included an overtime road victory over Towson, who was the consensus preseason favorite in the league. The Cougars are currently a #11 seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest NCAA Tournament bracket projection and would be a tough out in March that not many power 6 teams would want to see.

There have also been some teams at the Mid-Major level that have disappointed in a big way, relative to expectations. Saint Louis returned each of their top 4 leading scorers from last year’s team that won 23 games and made the NIT. In addition, Javonte Perkins, who was their leading scorer in 2021 (Averaged 17.1 Points Per Game) also returned from a knee injury that kept him out all of last season. The Billikens received 36 votes in the Preseason AP Top 25, and were projected to finish second in the Preseason Atlantic 10 Media Poll.

The season has gone in the complete opposite direction than expected so far for Saint Louis, as they have already suffered some damaging losses that could have already cost them an NCAA Tournament bid. The Billikens last three losses have been super damaging however, as they have fallen to Iona, Boise State, and SIU Edwardsville. It also hasn’t only been Saint Louis who has disappointed in the Atlantic 10 so far, as Dayton is not close to the team anyone expected and won’t move the needle on your NCAA Tournament resume. Travis Ford has had a history of underachieving with relatively good talent, but there is simply no reason for the Billikens to be this bad.

The Mountain West as a league has also surprised in a major way, with New Mexico being the last remaining unbeaten team in College Basketball. In only his second season in Albuquerque, Richard Pitino has done a phenomenal job getting this program back on the map in a big way. With Pitino’s former player at Minnesota Jamal Mashburn Jr and former Top 70 recruit Jaelen House also coming to New Mexico, the Lobos haven’t had this much pure talent on their team in recent memory. With Wichita State Transfer Morris Udeze also making a major impact, New Mexico has Power 6 type talent that not many other teams around the Mountain West can match.