Almost everywhere you look, the old guard isn’t going quietly, no matter how vulnerable they may appear. And some have appeared quite vulnerable at one time or another this year.
In the Big East, this shows up with Villanova and Xavier both winning on Sunday. Villanova went on the road and took over in the second half to beat Creighton 90-78, which pushes them to 4-0 in Big East play. Phil Booth (28 points, seven assists) continues to play like the winning veteran of late, and while no one thought this team would be a national championship contender, most figured they would not exactly fall off the map. There were concerns, but the Wildcats are looking like Big East favorites once more.
Xavier, meanwhile, looked ready for a bigger drop given their personnel losses and a change on the bench. And to be sure, the Musketeers basically lived up to that in non-conference play, as they were 8-5 but not the Xavier teams of old. They didn’t score a resume win, with their best win being over Illinois in Maui or Evansville depending on your perspective. They got their best resume win of the season on Sunday, a 70-69 comeback win over Butler to go to 3-2. In fact, they’ve been the comeback kids lately, as they were down by 17 to Georgetown on Wednesday before rallying to beat the Hoyas.
In the Big Ten, we’ve chronicled how Michigan lost significant pieces but actually looks better, and that continued on Sunday as the Wolverines beat Northwestern 80-60 to improve to their best start ever at 17-0. Arch-rival Michigan State wasn’t thought to be vulnerable, so their 6-0 start after handling Penn State 71-56 in Happy Valley isn’t the least bit surprising.
In the Atlantic 10, we see a comeback of sorts with Dayton. Last season, Anthony Grant’s first at his alma mater, was a down year after so many good ones. Now the Flyers are 11-5 and 3-0 in Atlantic 10 play after they edged visiting UMass 72-67 on Sunday, joining Saint Louis and Davidson in winning their early conference games.
You can even see this in the MAAC. Rider is leading the way at 4-0 after sweeping their road weekend in western New York, concluding it with a 104-84 romp at Niagara, but three-time defending champion Iona, whose non-conference mark of 2-9 (ending with a seven-game losing streak) was one to forget, moved to 3-1 with an 88-70 win at Canisius. The Gaels are right there in the running, and they will welcome the Broncs in less than two weeks for the first meeting between the two.
Sometimes winning programs acquire “winning DNA”. They win even when they’re not as talented, experienced, or both. They win against teams they shouldn’t. And when they do go down, it isn’t quietly or easily.
Side Dishes
In the American Athletic Conference, UCF moved to 3-0 as they took care of East Carolina 76-65 in Orlando, while Memphis moved to 3-1 by holding off Tulane 83-79 as Jeremiah Martin had 27 points.
George Mason didn’t fare as well as expected in non-conference play given the veteran cast they have, but the Patriots moved to 3-1 on Sunday with a convincing 84-67 win at Rhode Island behind a nice double-double from Justin Kier (19 points on 8-10 shooting, 10 rebounds), his fourth straight.
Out west, the home teams won as Oregon blew out USC 81-60, turning an eight-point game at the half into the final margin, while Oregon State pulled away from UCLA 79-66 to go to 3-0 in Pac-12 play. USC was without Kevin Porter Jr., who they have suspended indefinitely for what they said was “personal conduct issues”. The highly-touted freshman has missed nine of the last 11 games due to injury and suspension after averaging 14 points per game in the first five games of the season.
Tonight’s Menu
Starting tonight, Mondays will be much like this one the rest of the way: light overall but with a few big matchups mixed in.
- The evening starts with Indiana hosting Nebraska in Big Ten action (6:30 p.m.)
- In ACC play, Duke hosts Syracuse and Florida State travels to take on a Pittsburgh team that had a chance to knock off NC State on Saturday, with both games tipping at 7 p.m.
- The MEAC and SWAC have busy slates, though none of their games look like matchups of teams off to similarly fast starts
- In a later Big Ten game, Maryland hosts Wisconsin (8:30 p.m.)
- Big 12 play takes over later as Texas visits Kansas and Baylor visits Oklahoma State, with both games tipping at 9 p.m.
- Also tipping at 9 p.m. is a Big Sky battle between two contenders as Northern Colorado tries to bounce back from a blowout home loss on Saturday while hosting Montana State.
