By: William Smythe

Are you not entertained? Are…you…not…entertained? Let’s dive into some of the recent storylines from a college basketball season already living up to expectations. Suffice it to say that the blue-bloods are down, the Big East may be up and Zach Edey might just be our National Player of the Year.

ACC is, um, looking pretty shoddy outside of Virginia

What is happening to the nation’s most historic basketball conference? Why us, why now? The hopes and dreams of ACC supremacy are quickly fading after North Carolina’s fall from grace and Duke’s blowout loss to no. 5 Purdue. No. 3 Virginia – who captured a massive road win against a tricky Michigan team – is the anchor of a conference who may only receive three to four bids come March Madness.

Louisville (0-7) is – as we expected – abysmal, and a one-win Florida State could literally lose by 40 tonight against the Boilermakers. I guess there are some teams in the middle of the pack – Miami, NC State and Wake Forest – who could pick up the slack as the heavyweights struggle, yet don’t expect the ACC to share its former successes in 2022.

College basketball’s most polarizing player is helpless

Whether you hate him or not, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme might be the most valuable player to his team in all of college basketball. I don’t think I’ve seen the ‘Zags more dependent on any one guy in their history, let alone a mustached, undersized big who’s been in college for what seems like a Kihei Clark-esque amount of time. However, everything funnels through Timme (20.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg) – the sole contributor in the frontcourt and the centerpiece of an offense that’s had some better guard play in the past.

If Few wants his team to compete, he has to squeeze more out of transfer Efton Reid, veteran forward Anton Watson and the up-and-coming Ben Gregg in the frontcourt. When the backcourt looks sketchy (as it did against Purdue), the ‘Zags will need Timme’s compatriots to help him shoulder the offensive load.

Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd is an International Man of Mystery

My goodness, I don’t think anyone expected Arizona to compete once again. After a surprise 33-4 campaign in 2021, the ‘Cats lost Pac-12 POY Bennedict Mathurin, first-round draft pick Dalen Terry and center Christian Koloko and still look the part. Tommy Lloyd, how do you do the things you do? The Maui Invitational gave the world a taste of the high-octane offense many thought would suffer big-time this season, as Arizona defeated no. 17 San Diego State and no. 10 Creighton en route to the ‘ship.

Good luck stopping the International Revolution that Lloyd has carried on from his predecessor, Sean Miller – I’m more specifically referring to the 7’0, 260-pound Oumar Ballo and 6’11 Azuolas Tubelis, both of whom are averaging at least 19 points per game. You’ll need some big boys to do the dirty work against Lloyd’s frontcourt, but you’ll be faced with the tall task of slowing down their sharp-shooting guards in turn. 

Baylor just lost to Shaka Smart…by 26?

Never thought I’d see the words “Marquette” and “blowout” together in this Big East-Big 12 matchup. Well, Shaka Smart had something to say in a dominant defensive performance by his Golden Eagles against the nation’s best backcourt. Baylor posted a ridiculous 16 turnovers before the half, and Marquette converted 24 (!) points in turn after swarming the likes of Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer and Keyonte George.

Thus, when the Bears’ backcourt struggles, they’re still not going to get much production from their bigs. I don’t know exactly how to read this result simply because Marquette may spontaneously combust later into the season, but Baylor has to figure some things out soon. Their three guards – while incredibly dangerous – will determine whether Scott Drew can secure another high seed in March Madness.