A look at what can be gleaned from a whole bunch of wins
The Big Ten came out on fire as a conference on the first night of the season, as all 14 teams in the conference that played on Monday night secured season-opening victories. Washington kept the Big Ten unscathed with a close victory on Tuesday. Some teams looked dominant with new faces from the transfer portal stealing the spotlight (Michigan, USC and UCLA to name a few), while others relied on familiar faces and youth movements to start their season off on the right foot, such as Northwestern, Purdue and Michigan State.
Indiana – No. 4 Seed (No. 15 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 4 seed (No. 16 overall)
Indiana has not played its season opener yet, but the Hoosiers will look to prove their status as a serious contender in the Big Ten tonight when they take on SIU Edwardsville. The Hoosiers did slightly shift up in the bracket because of Texas A&M’s loss to UCF.
Purdue – No. 4 Seed (No. 16 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 5 seed (No. 17 overall)
Purdue did win its opener in dominant fashion, beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 90-73, but shooting 56.4% from the field and 42.3% from beyond the arc are levels of efficiency that the Boilermakers probably can’t consistently rely on without Zach Edey. Braden Smith ended up with a great night as he posted 12 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds, but other than his performance and Fletcher Loyer’s 21-point night, nothing really stuck out from this game. Purdue looked as expected, but moves up a seed line by virtue of the Texas A&M loss, just like Indiana did.
UCLA – No. 6 Seed (No. 21 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 6 seed (No. 23 overall)
UCLA jumped out to a strong start to the season with an 85-50 victory over Rider. After offensive struggles plagued the Bruins throughout the 2023-2024 season, this was exactly what Bruins fans were looking for. Skyy Clark and William Kyle III, who both scored 13+ PPG last season at Louisville and South Dakota State respectively, only scored three points combined (Clark had all three), so UCLA still has some work to do on that end of the court to get those two big-time scorers involved. Even without those two contributing, UCLA moves up within its seed line because of the Texas A&M and Texas losses. The Bruins have a higher level opponent coming up on Friday when they take on New Mexico.
Illinois – No. 6 Seed (No. 23 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 7 seed (No. 25 overall)
Illinois moves up a seed line, partially thanks to losses by the Aggies and Longhorns, but also because the Fighting Illini led the conference with 112 points on Monday night in their 112-67 win against Eastern Illinois. Illinois got contributions from across the board. Sophomore Tomislav Ivisic had a 14-point, 14-rebound Illinois debut and sophomore Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn poured in 21 points off the bench. Transfer Ben Humichrous scored 14 points of his own, but the story of the night was Illinois’ phenomenal five-star first-year Will Riley, who had 31 points, seven rebounds and three assists in his debut. The Illinois roster lost a ton of production after last season, but there is still heavy offensive firepower coming out of Urbana-Champaign.
Ohio State – No. 6 Seed (No. 24 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 seed (No. 31 overall)
Ohio State was the only Big Ten team to face a major conference opponent within the first two days of the season, and the new-look Buckeyes put on a show in their Las Vegas first impression as they defeated No. 19 Texas 80-72. San Diego State transfer Micah Parrish poured in 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, but the talented transfer trio of Meechie Johnson, Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart struggled — they combined for just 10 points on 3-of-19 shooting. Luckily, the returners and first-years picked up the pieces. Returner Bruce Thornton led the way with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists and fellow returner Devin Royal added in 16 points of his own. But the story of the night was four-star first-year John Mobley Jr., who only played 13 minutes but managed to score 14 points off the bench with stellar shooting splits (4-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc). The Buckeyes passed a tough test on opening night, and move up two seed lines as a result while leapfrogging Oregon, Michigan State and Michigan in the process.
Michigan – No. 7 Seed (No. 27 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 7 seed (No. 27 overall)
Michigan trounced Cleveland State 101-53 in its season opener. Danny Wolf stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks, but the Wolverines won because of balanced contributions from across the roster. Six players scored in double figures in Michigan’s first game (Wolf, Tre Donaldson, Will Tschetter, L.J. Cason, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Sam Walters), but Michigan has its first real test of the season on the horizon against fellow tournament hopeful Wake Forest. That matchup on Sunday in Greensboro — which is technically a neutral site game, but really should be treated more like a road game — is the first of Michigan’s whopping six matchups against major conference teams in the non-con slate, and the Wolverines’ first opportunity to prove themselves on a big stage this season.
Michigan State – No. 8 Seed (No. 30 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 seed (No. 29 overall)
Although Michigan State only had two double-figure scorers in its 81-57 victory over Monmouth on Monday night — Jaden Akins led the way with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists and was joined by first-year Jase Richardson who had 10 points and four assists — three Spartans (Frankie Fidler, Szymon Zapala and Coen Carr) had nine points as well. Akins definitely shouldered the offensive burden on opening night, but as Fidler gets more comfortable playing with this roster, Michigan State should continue to improve as the season progresses. More importantly, though, the Spartans will take on No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday night with an opportunity to prove if Michigan State will either have another middling season or if Izzo has a contender once again.
Oregon – No. 8 Seed (No. 31 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 seed (No. 30 overall)
The starting lineup for Oregon carried opening night for the Ducks. Every starter scored in double figures other than Jackson Shelstad (he finished with nine points). Keeshawn Barthelemy went 1-of-8 from the field and only finished with two points off the bench, but the Ducks’ starting front court trio of Brandon Angel, Kwame Evans Jr. and Nate Bittle combined for 56 points and 22 rebounds on 20-for-36 shooting to give Oregon all the offense it needed to defeat UC Riverside 91-76.
Maryland – No. 8 Seed (No. 32 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 9 seed (No. 34 overall)
Key returner Julian Reese was was barely involved in the game for Maryland on Monday night as new additions took over the spotlight for the Terrapins. The headliner of the new additions was five-star Derik Queen who put up a 22-point, 20 rebound performance in his college debut. Belmont transfer Ja’kobi Gillespie (16 points, five assists, and three rebounds) and Virginia Tech transfer Rodney Rice (12 points) also powered Maryland to their 79-49 victory over Manhattan, which allowed the Terrapins to move up a seed line as well.
Rutgers – No. 9 Seed (No. 36 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 10 seed (No. 37 overall)
I am not nearly as high on Rutgers as the consensus view of this team, but the Scarlet Knights will get an opportunity to move up a tiny bit in the bracket with enough style points in their game against Wagner where they are heavy favorites at home.
Northwestern – No. 10 Seed (No. 38 overall, Last Four Byes)
Previous seeding: No. 11 seed (No. 44 overall, Last Four In)
Of course the Wildcats were heavy favorites to defeat Lehigh on the opening night of the season, even without Brooks Barnhizer in the lineup. But did anyone expect Northwestern to take a 51-15 lead into the half, and nearly double up the Mountain Hawks on the scoreboard (the ‘Cats won 90-46)? I know I didn’t expect a performance this dominant in the first game of the season, but Northwestern got exactly what it needed to take home a dominant victory. Nick Martinelli put the team on his back with a 26-point double-double, while first-year K.J. Windham put up 10 points, six assists and two steals, and Fairfield transfer Jalen Leach contributed 12 points, six assists and five rebounds. Even with a 10-point performance from Ty Berry that felt pedestrian relative to expectations, the backcourt looked amazing and Luke Hunger’s 15 points off the bench were a great sign to cap off a great victory for the ‘Cats. Northwestern will now turn its attention to one of the tougher games of the non-conference schedule as the Wildcats will take on Dayton — which won its season opener 87-57 against St. Francis PA — on the road over the weekend. For now, dominating without having Barnhizer on the floor resulted in the ‘Cats improving six spots on a crowded bubble.
Iowa – No. 11 Seed (No. 44 overall, Last Four In)
Previous seeding: No. 11 seed (No. 42 overall, Last Four In)
Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Owen Freeman had 15 points and nine rebounds, and the Sandfort brothers were the other two leading scorers for the Hawkeyes in their season opener (Payton had 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and Pryce had 13 points and three rebounds). The Hawkeyes moved down in the bracket by a little bit despite their 89-67 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce, but that’s only because of other teams on the bubble overperforming.
USC – First Four Out
Previous seeding: First Four Out
USC got off to a slow start on offense against Chattanooga, scoring a pedestrian 32 points in the first half. However, the Trojans picked it up in the second half, exploding for 45 points to secure a 77-51 victory behind Chibuzo Agbo’s 14 points and Matt Knowling’s 13 points. Desmond Claude, Saint Thomas, Wesley Yates III, Isaiah Elohim and Rashaun Agee all had eight or nine points each, and the Trojans’ balanced scoring was a recipe for success in the season opener, but not enough to move the needle in terms of pushing USC into the tournament.
Nebraska – First Four Out
Previous seeding: First Four Out
Nebraska relied heavily on two starters and two bench players to carry the load against UT Rio Grande Valley. Brice Williams had 27 points and Rollie Worster had 18 points to carry the starting lineup and Connor Essegian and Andrew Morgan scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, to carry the bench. The Cornhuskers won 87-67 but it will take a lot more than a 20-point victory in an easy matchup to move into the tournament.
Wisconsin – Next Four Out
Previous seeding: Next Four Out
Wisconsin defeated Holy Cross 85-61 in its season opener, but the Badgers are going to need more balanced scoring moving forward to contend in the Big Ten. John Tonje led the way with 23 points and was joined by John Blackwell with 16 points and Nolan Winter with 15 points (on 6-for-6 shooting). The Badgers looked solid defensively, but they won’t truly be tested until a Nov. 15 matchup with No. 10 Arizona.
Washington – Out
Previous seeding: Out
Great Osobor put the Huskies on his back with 15 points and 17 rebounds in his team debut, but overall, Washington played poorly as it barely defeated UC Davis 79-73 at home. The Huskies are going to need to drastically improve their level before conference play and Washington will move on to face Nevada on the road on Saturday in a relatively challenging early season test with a chance to move closer to the tournament radar with a commanding victory.
Penn State – Out
Previous seeding: Out
Penn State was one of three Big Ten teams (also Illinois and Michigan) to score 100 points in its season opener. Zach Hicks led the Nittany Lions in scoring with 22 points (and added seven rebounds and four assists), and was joined by five teammates in double figures, including Ace Baldwin Jr. with 15 points and four assists and Yanic Konan Niederhauser with 16 points and seven rebounds. Penn State looked solid in its 108-66 win over Binghamton, but it is still not on the tournament radar just yet.
Minnesota – Out
Previous seeding: Out
The Golden Gophers play their season opener tonight against Oral Roberts. In terms of its tournament hopes, for now Minnesota remains on the outside looking in — albeit with a large pack of teams obstructing its view.