By: William Smythe

As NCAA fans, it is almost impossible to wrap our heads around the glorious co-existence of the dawn of college basketball and the postseason buzz around college football. For schools reeling in the football arena – think Virginia, for all of the Cavalier fans out there – feel free to turn your attention to basketball for as long as winning lasts.

If your school has exceeded expectations – consider TCU’s ascendance – don’t worry too much after your no. 14 ranked Horned Frog basketball team nearly fell to an inferior University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Game 1. You’ve already won, right? But – if you’re greedy – you’ll use college basketball as an escape to further your college’s glory.

Now, we’ve experienced the thrill of Week 1 and have garnered enough understanding of where some teams sit – even despite the unpredictability of the non-conference schedule. Who’s already doomed for disaster? Who’s making a case for national supremacy? Let’s examine the roller-coaster ride that has been Week 1 of CBB’s return. 

Florida State and Louisville are doomed

The Rothstein-ism, “epitome of brutality,” fits well into the trajectory of both the Seminoles’ and Cardinals’ seasons. The former – predicted to finish fifth in the ACC preseason poll – dropped its first game to in-state, Atlantic Sun member Stetson. Oh, and the Seminoles (0-2) would subsequently defy the odds by suffering a fourteen-point loss to another in-state foe – UCF.

To imagine a Leonard Hamilton-coached team losing back-to-back non-conference games is beyond the realm of comprehension. Even with a roster chock-full of talent – including defending ACC Sixth Man of the Year Matthew Cleveland – the Seminoles have already played themselves into the CBI Tournament, far from the luxury of March Madness. 

Luckily enough for Florida State, they have an 0-2 companion in the ACC – the lowly Louisville Cardinals. In the first year of Coach Kenny Payne’s tenure, the Cardinals have successfully lost to Division 2 opponent Lenoir-Rhyne in an exhibition, fallen by 1 to a crosstown team in Bellarmine, and conceded a last-second jumper from Wright State’s Trey Calvin to seal a 73-72 victory in an uncharacteristically winless KFC Yum! Center. I’m actually all ears for worse ways to lose your first two basketball games.

Now, Louisville and Florida State may be doomed, but don’t get it twisted: the ACC will return with a vengeance. The best – yes, I said it – conference in college basketball will not tolerate this sort of inadequacy from its members. Expect Duke, North Carolina and Virginia to turn on the burners as they attempt to reclaim the ACC’s glory.

Houston is the best team in the country, and it’s not even close

PHI SLAMA JAMA HAS RETURNED! It’s only taken two games against inferior opponents for me to realize that Houston should be ranked no. 1. I’ll bear the burden of defending the Cougars against the claims that they haven’t faced a top-25 team – well, neither has anyone really – but I’ve seen enough from Gonzaga and North Carolina to catapult Houston to the top of the ladder.

No one could have expected that junior forward J’Wan Roberts – who averaged 3.2 points last season – would be the Cougars’ co-leading scorer (15.5 ppg) and second leading rebounder (9 rpg). What a great sign for Coach Kelvin Sampson to have Roberts ascend, and, if he eventually fades, we all know who will pick up the slack. Preseason All-American guard Marcus Sasser and freshman phenom Jarace Walker are right behind Roberts – averaging 14 ppg and 15.5 ppg, respectively – and will inevitably be the X-factors if Houston wants to make a deep run in March.

I just can’t stop talking about this team. They’re lightyears ahead of any competition in the American Athletic Conference. They’re fueled by two straight years of bitter losses late in March, and they have the talent to push even further. Walker may just be the most dynamic freshman to grace the court in 2022, while Sasser is on track to return to his high level of play before an injury last season.

When the AP Poll releases on Monday, I expect the Cougars to remain in their current position due to the lack of movement from the top two. What the committee should know, however, is that Sampson and company have blitzed through the competition in a way that the Tar Heels and Bulldogs have not. I consider Gonzaga’s recent win over an unranked Michigan State to be neither encouraging nor impressive considering their preseason expectations. 

Villanova will be fine, TCU may not

Ok, maybe it was Wright for Villanova fans to miss Jay. It’ll be an immense project for first-year coach Kyle Neptune – the former assistant under the two-time national champion – but it’s unfair to write off a team that is without arguably its most talented player: five-star forward Cam Whitmore. Yes, Villanova did lose the battle for Philadelphia after Temple knocked the Wildcats off for the first time in ten years. Don’t read into the Wildcats 1-1 record, though.

Whitmore’s return from a thumb injury – likely to happen later this month – will reinvigorate a team that is undergoing as big of an administration change as FDR’s to Herbert Hoover’s. I don’t believe that Kyle Neptune will be as disappointing as Herbert Hoover and his economic policies, but he’ll have big shoes to fill. The Temple loss is not at all an indicator of where this team will be in March, especially if the Wildcats fall out of the top 25. They’ll be just fine as the season hums along and will certainly challenge Creighton for Big East supremacy. 

TCU fans, I’m so sorry for dragging your team’s name through the mud. It’s not fair. However, maybe the Horned Frogs’ basketball program won’t share the same luck that football has enjoyed this season. Ranked no. 14 in the AP Poll after returning all five starters from a Round of 32 team, the Horned Frogs (2-0) may have been bound for disappointment. I’ve said it time and time again: you can’t overvalue veteran teams based on their performance in a prior season’s postseason tournament.

Although led by an All-American candidate in junior guard Mike Miles (20.5 ppg), the Horned Frogs haven’t shot the ball well – going 22.6% from behind the arc – and have won their first two non-conference games by only twelve points. Perhaps these shooting woes will correct themselves, but perhaps they won’t. TCU will have to prove that they can put away inferior competition before returning to top-15 consideration nationally. 

A Quick Word:

• Gonzaga needs to help Drew Timme, and Malachi Smith needs to find his footing after recording only five points in 30 minutes of action
• North Carolina is not a no. 1 team after struggles against the College of Charleston and UNC-Wilmington
• Virginia Tech’s Grant Basile (20.5 ppg) – by way of Wright State – could very well end up being the nation’s most impactful transfer
• Michigan State should be considered a top-25 team after their dogfight against Gonzaga
• I can’t wait for some Blue Blood v. Blue Blood action this week