College Basketball Roundup Part 2

Big East Conference:

Headline: UConn is one of the championship favorites once again, but who else can emerge from the battle royale that is this conference? UConn might be even scarier this year, last season they actually went on a slide in Big East play but they’ve been above it this season. Marquette and Creighton were both expected to be UConn’s biggest adversaries for the conference title but both have already lost 3 conference games. Villanova has also looked good at times but the Wildcats need to be more consistent. Don’t forget about Rick Pitino 🤌 at St John’s

Surprise(s): Seton Hall Pirates – Not much was expected of Seton Hall entering this season, they were picked to finish 9th in the Big East and miss the tournament. Instead the Pirates currently are near the top of the Big East and are the only team in the conference who has a win over UConn. Providence also looked good but lost their star in Bryce Hopkins to injury which has hurt.

Disappointment(s): Xavier Musketeers – This isn’t a huge disappointment, it was known Xavier was in a rebuilding year, but the Musketeers were still expected to make the tournament. Instead they struggled outside of conference play and are currently not even on the tournament radar. I know DePaul can’t really show up here because nothing is ever expected of them, but 3-15??? Seriously??

Big South Conference:

Headline: This is an under the radar conference that could put a dangerous team in the tournament. Multiple teams either pulled an upset win or put a scare into someone notable in non conference play. At the top of the league having an incredible year are the High Point Panthers. They’re undefeated in conference play, 16-4 overall and their largest margin of defeat was by 8 points at Georgia. Winthrop and UNC Asheville are some of their top challengers. Radford gave North Carolina a test to open the season but are off to a rough start to conference play, Longwood also looked good out of conference and struggled in conference play but both teams could be dangerous in the conference tournament.

Surprise(s): High Point Panthers – The Panthers amazing season is even more remarkable by the fact that it wasn’t expected. High Point was voted 7th in preseason! What a year! For one moment it felt like the Presbyterian Blue Hose could occupy this space when they opened the season 5-1, alas they’ve gone 4-10 since.

Disappointment(s): Radford Highlanders – Radford was picked 2nd in the preseason poll and even early on they looked like one of the top contenders so a slow start to conference play wasn’t what they had in mind.

Big Ten Conference:

Headline: There’s 2 big ones. First, will Purdue’s revenge tour end in tournament success? The Boilermakers have been clearly one of the best teams in the country and there’s no doubt about that, but what will they do in the tournament? The Boilermakers used to be consistent in the tournament where you could chalk them up to make the sweet 16 but they’ve lost to teams seeded 13 or lower the last few years, including a historic loss to 16 seed FDU last year. The second headliner is the Wisconsin Badgers. They’ve rocketed to the top of the Big 10 with a surprisingly good offense, and this might be the best Badger team we’ve seen in some time. Don’t forget about Illinois who is also a contender.

Surprise(s): Nebraska Cornhuskers – Good basketball has been tough to come by for Nebraska, but this might finally be their year to make the tournament. Nebraska played great out of conference and so far has been solid to open Big 10 play. Here’s hoping the Cornhuskers keep it up!

Disappointment(s): Can I just say half the conference?? Where do I start? From a top level Michigan State was expected to be a national title contender but instead the Spartans sit closer to the bubble. Michigan looked good in a 3-0 start but collapsed afterwards to fall off the map. Indiana needs a massive turnaround to make the tournament which isn’t what was expected of them either.

Big West Conference:

Headline: This might be the most competitive conference in the sport. There are at least 8 teams that have a chance at winning this conference and just about every game is a battle as a result. Whoever comes out of this league will be a dangerous first round foe, there’s already a lot of notable results from teams in this league. UC Irvine beat USC and nearly took down San Diego State (so did UC San Diego who is sadly ineligible for the tournament), Cal State Northridge beat UCLA, Long Beach State has wins over Michigan/USC, Hawaii came so close to beating Georgia Tech/TCU in the Diamond Head classic.

Surprise(s): Cal State Northridge Matadors – As mentioned before Cal State Northridge beat UCLA, but they’ve been strong in general at one point they were 12-3. They’ve slid a bit as of late, but this is an impressive showing for a team that was expected to finish 10th out of 11 teams in this conference. UC San Diego is also at the top of the conference and they were picked to finish 9th

Disappointment(s): UCSB Gauchos – UCSB is the defending conference champ, returned one of the best players in the conference and added some high profile transfers that made them the unanimous favorite to win this conference. Lots of folks eyed the Gauchos as a potentially dangerous 12 seed but it just hasn’t come together for them. There’s still time but this season isn’t what the Gauchos expected to this point.

CAA:

Headline: The CAA is led by a trio of great teams in the Drexel Dragons, UNC Wilmington Seahawks and the Charleston Cougars. Drexel is in command to potentially win the regular season title with a 7-0 start in league play. The Dragons also notably beat Villanova on the road. UNC Wilmington has the biggest headline win in the conference, the Seahawks took down Kentucky in Rupp arena earlier this year, Kansas is only other team that can claim such a win. Charleston is following up last year’s 30 win campaign with another strong season, though notable non conference wins were hard to come by (https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/cofc/cofc-hears-thanks-but-no-thanks-from-power-5-basketball-teams/article_f6d100ea-2d6b-11ee-8ee4-979e6a88b5b4.html) because Florida Atlantic was the only tournament contending team willing to schedule them.

Surprise(s): Monmouth Hawks – Monmouth grabbed an early season win over West Virginia to really set the tone for their improvement. They may not be ready to contend for the conference title but they’ve improved to the mid tier of the conference which is impressive considering they were picked to finish 11th in preseason.

Disappointment(s): Hofstra Pride – Hofstra was expected to challenge the big 3 for the CAA title but instead they find themselves with a .500 record and near the bottom of the league standings. What’s even more surprising is they’ve yet to even play some of the best teams in the CAA yet. They can still rebound but it needs to happen soon.