After what was quite the exciting opening week of college basketball, week 2 did not disappoint. Many Thanksgiving week tournaments tipped off, with a few champions crowned over the weekend. If that was not enough, there were also a ton of upsets throughout the week to add to the excitement. Both the holiday tourneys, and upsets highlight this week's 5 (+1) teams of the week. Check out more below!
Top 5 (+1) "Teams" of the Week
1. Arizona
The Arizona Wildcats capped off a weekend of hoops by winning the Roman Main Event mini-tournament in Las Vegas over Michigan 80-62. Arizona dominated throughout the game, and frankly looked like the better basketball team. Along with that, the Wildcats picked up a win over Wichita State in round one of the tournament, and beat North Dakota State on Tuesday to go 3-0 on the week.
2. St Bonaventure
What a statement weekend for St Bonaventure. The Bonnies won the Charleston Classic, defeating Boise State, Clemson and Marquette by 16 in the final to win the title. St Bonaventure was able to win the Charleston Classic despite up and down shooting from the three point line. The Bonnies were 4/17 (24%) vs Boise, 14/24 (58%) vs Clemson, followed by 2/17 (12%) in the championship vs Marquette. This is an older group that can win in a lot of ways. Look out!
3. Purdue
As we tweeted earlier in the weekend, it would appear that Gonzaga, UCLA and Kansas now have a 4th team joining them at the top of this early college basketball season. Purdue defeated North Carolina and Villanova over the last few days to win the Cheez-It Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. The Boilermakers made 10+ threes in both contests, and had all five starters score in double figures in the title game against Villanova.
4. Utah State
After suffering an opening night loss at home to UC Davis, there was potential for some panic for the USU Aggies. Since that loss, UC Davis has looked less like a bad loss, and Utah State won three games in four days to capture the Myrtle Beach Invitational Championship. USU defeated Penn in a 2OT thriller, blew out a good New Mexico State side, and capped the tournament off with a 73-70 win over Oklahoma. Justin Bean was incredible against OU, registering 24 points and 19 rebounds.
5. Utah
Utah is 5-0 on the young season, and defeated Boston College and Tulsa to win the Sunshine Slam tournament. Wins against BC and Tulsa may not compare with some of the other tournament champions, but as we have said before, there is something to be said about winning these tournaments and the confidence it brings a team moving forward. Utah has seen early success thanks in large part to its defense. Utah has held 4/5 opponents to under 60 points, and the fifth total was just 61. Keep an eye on the Utes in the Pac-12!
6. Big Upsets
A week with five tournament champions warrants a sixth "team" of the week. In this case, it's a chance to highlight some of the incredible upsets we saw over the last seven days. Xavier defeated Ohio State 71-65 in a game in which it led throughout. Seton Hall beat Michigan on the road in a 67-65 thriller thanks in large part to holding Michigan to 3/15 shooting from three. BYU dismantled Oregon 81-49 behind 25 from Alex Barcello and look like a clear Top-20 ball club. The mid-majors joined the party as well, with Colgate scoring 100 and defeating Syracuse by 15 on the road, George Mason surprising Maryland away from home, and Southern Illinois stunning Colorado. What a week for the upset!
Honorable Mentions:
-Cornell: defeated aforementioned Colgate 78-68 and is 4-0 on the year
-James Madison: beat a George Mason side who defeated Maryland just one game prior
-DePaul: picked up a quality non-conference win in its Gavitt Games matchup against Rutgers
-Indiana: similar to DePaul, added a strong win to its resume with the defeat of St Johns in the Gavitt Games
-Oklahoma State: regrouped from the early loss to Oakland by beating a solid NC State team
-Houston: held Virginia to 47 points and beat the Cavaliers by 20 points
-Villanova: picked up a quality win over Tennessee to help overshadow the two close losses
-Marquette: continued to strengthen its non-conference resume with wins over Ole Miss and West Virginia
-Alabama: blew out a solid Oakland team that beat Oklahoma State just one week before
Send us a DM @TBracketology if there is a school we missed! Excited for another full week of college basketball to tip off!
Comments