PORT JEFF, NY – We could use a distraction from current events, right? And #Rangers’ and #Knicks’ fans don’t want to talk #NBA or #NHL stuff… No worries. I’ve got you covered with: College Basketball Opening Night Reactions, Featuring the Big East
Big East opening night reactions, college hoops finally tipped off this past Monday and we immediately saw some upsets and statements. Well start by addressing the red storm who blasted the Rams of Fordham, the returning core of Siemon Wilcher, Brady Dunlap and Zuby Ejiofor paced the Johnnies who put up 92 in a blowout to get the season off to a nice start. Now that we have that out of the way, there are two teams that deserve attention, and not in a good way. Well start in Philly,
With the Wildcats of Villanova being upset by Columbia of all teams, at home, this is a disastrous loss that will haunt Nova into march, serving as a ‘quad 4’ loss, meaning this is something that the NCAA tourney committee monitors very closely, Nova will need to snag a few big out of conference wins to help the resume. Since Jay Wright decided to retire the Wildcats have been a NIT regular and have not made the NCAA tourney since.
The other team in the mighty Big East I wanted to touch on is Georgetown, in year 2 of the Ed Cooley era there should be a drastic improvement, on Wednesday the Hoyas barely escaped the power house of Leigh, in this day in age it matters how much you beat a team by, granted its only one game and who knows where the season will go but nonetheless giving up 77 points to a team like that is a tad concerning, Georgetown has not made the NCAA tourney since the 2020 season and has been historically bad since. Cooley took over a program in flux just a year ago but with the college game how it is today and with NIL and the transfer portal being at the forefront it is easier than ever for a team like Georgetown with the resources to be successful and have them in the upper tier of the conference. The Big East is better when St. John’s and Georgetown are better.
Some other notable performances don’t worry I did not forget about the defending champion UCONN Huskies who steamrolled Sacred Heart 92-45, or preseason favs Alabama and Kansas who each hung 100 points on their respective opponents. There were some head-scratchers in the opener as well, as Gonzaga boat raced a Baylor team that could easily find themselves in the final four. South Carolina– who had an amazing season last year, and returned key pieces fell to North Florida in another one of those games that will come back to haunt them by March.
