2023 College Basketball Roundup: Part 1

American East Conference:

Headline: This isn’t a Vermont walk away this year. Sure the Catamounts are good as always, but they’ve got a new challenger in the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks who beat Georgia Tech and nearly took down Arizona State in non conference play. They are joined up top by Bryant. The Bulldogs had some early season turmoil from their coach being arrested, but they’ve turned it around with an upset win over Florida Atlantic and an undefeated start to conference play.

Surprise(s): New Hampshire Wildcats – not much was expected of New Hampshire, they were picked 2nd to last in preseason but they’ve already rattled off 10 wins and currently appear to be solidly in the top half of the conference.

Disappointment(s): Binghamton Bearcats – Binghamton was picked to finish 4th in preseason but it hasn’t gone well for the Bearcats who are currently winless in conference play. They have time to turn it around at least! I was close to including Maine as well, the Black Bears were expected to make a step forward and looked improved to begin the year but they’re in the midst of a 6 game losing streak, but at least the conference losses have all been close so there’s hope they can turn it around.

ACC:

Headline: North Carolina and Duke are back on top, but does anyone else in this conference want to make the tournament???

Surprise(s): Clemson Tigers – I’ll keep them on here, but Clemson is trying their hardest to play themselves off this list. Clemson is still a surprise for how amazing their non-conference was, but they haven’t followed it up well in conference play. They are still in the tournament currently. Wake Forest Demon Deacons – Wake was picked to finish 7th in the ACC in preseason so it’s not like there wasn’t much expected of them, but they’ve started strong in ACC and are currently projected to make the tournament.

Disappointment(s): Miami Hurricanes – Miami is coming off a final 4 run with a lot of the same players returning and some nice transfers, a lot was expected but things have dropped off badly lately. On 1/10 the entire complexion of their season changed with a disaster of a home loss to Louisville, and the Hurricanes followed it up with a home loss to Florida State. They’ve fallen rapidly and need to right the ship soon. Virginia Cavaliers – it seemed like Virginia would be a solid team that would hover in the Top 25 most of the year but that hasn’t happened. They’ve been tough at home, but the Cavaliers have struggled miserably away from home including a 20+ point loss at rebuilding Notre Dame. Pitt also is coming off a tournament appearance but hasn’t come close to that level. Honestly I could keep adding to this list.

AAC:

Headline: Memphis and Florida Atlantic have awesome teams, but the rest of the conference won’t make it easy on them. Both the Tigers and Owls made waves in non-conference with several quality wins but both have met challenges already with Memphis losing at home to South Florida, FAU losing at Charlotte and both teams scrapping by in other close games. North Texas came close but couldn’t pick up any key non-conference wins, but the Mean Green are starting strong as the last unbeaten in conference play. SMU is quietly a challenger too, but they need some quality wins to get off the outermost fringe of the bubble.

Surprise(s): North Texas Mean Green – not much was expected of the Mean Green with a new coach, but as mentioned above they currently lead the conference. Charlotte was disappointing in non-conference but they’ve surprisingly started conference play strong. The South Florida Bulls get honorable mention, they struggled early starting 2-4 but now they won 8 of their last 9 including a road win over Memphis.

Disappointment(s): East Carolina Pirates – There aren’t many complete disappointments because this is such a competitive league but the Pirates were expected to make a step forward (preseason #5) and they haven’t made that step yet. Wichita State was expected to at least be ok in Paul Mills’ first year but the Shockers have lacked electricity

Atlantic 10

Headline: The Dayton Flyers have an awesome team and are a lot of fun, but is anyone else going to step up and join them at the top? The Flyers had potential the last couple years but injuries prevented them from achieving what they could, but this year not enough people are talking about how great they’ve been. The Flyers have lost only 2 games and maintain one of the best records in the sport, they’ll be a lot of fun if they keep this going and make the tournament. St Joe’s and St Bonaventure looked good in non-conference play but have faltered in conference play so far. Richmond surprisingly is the only other undefeated team remaining in A-10 play.

Surprise(s): Richmond Spiders – as mentioned above, Richmond has surprised so far with an undefeated start in conference play. They lost their best player from last year (Tyler Burton) to Villanova and were picked 11th in the A-10. At 12-5 they seem ready to exceed those expectations. George Washington and George Mason have also gotten off to nice starts this year.

Disappointment(s): Duquesne Dukes – this was supposed to be a really good year for Duquesne, they were picked 4th in the preseason poll and they even looked solid in non-conference play, but things have collapsed in as they are the only winless team in A-10 play. VCU is undergoing a lot of change with a new head coach and a mostly new group of players but still were expected to challenge the top of the conference and an At-Large bid but they currently sit near the middle of the conference instead.

Atlantic Sun:

Headline: Good luck figuring out who’s going to win this league. The ASUN is very competitive and not many teams have separated themselves from the pack. Eastern Kentucky is currently undefeated in conference play but is only 8-9 overall, half their wins came in the last 4 games. Kennesaw State looks good again, Lipscomb beat Florida State just before conference play but hasn’t sustained the momentum. Florida Gulf Coast actually has the most notable win of anyone in the league, beating FAU but the Eagles are 2nd to last in the conference standings.

Surprise(s): Central Arkansas Bears – There hasn’t been a true surprise team that’s contending for the league so I’ll give a shout-out to Central Arkansas. They have struggled a lot in recent years and were unanimously predicted to finish dead last in the ASUN but they’ve proven that wrong with a 3-1 start in conference play. Massive steps for the Bears.

Disappointment(s): Florida Gulf Coast Eagles – FGCU was expected to be one of the top contenders for the conference but instead it’s been quite the rollercoaster of a season so far. FGCU nearly beat Indiana on opening night and early on were competitive against good competition. Seemingly out of nowhere they managed to spring an upset over FAU but they failed to sustain the momentum from that with a 1-3 start in conference play.