College Basketball: 3 bold predictions for the opening weekend

After months of continual breaking news, we finally have games to watch and talk about. Here are three bold predictions for this opening weekend.

1. Nick Ward has a 30 point and 20 rebound game for Michigan State.

Head coach Tom Izzo has one of the best frontcourts in America. Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson look to be the leading stars all season long, and that has somehow left one of their best players without any publicity in the offseason.

The person who hasn’t been getting any attention is Nick Ward, who averaged 13.9 ppg in just 20 mpg last season. He has the talent, but consistency and motor issues plagued him throughout his freshman campaign. That caused him at times to be in Izzo’s doghouse and therefore a drop in his overall minutes.

I believe that the depth behind Ward this season lights a fire under the sophomore. To start the season, he can solidify his standing with the team with a huge outing against an undersized North Florida. His best performance last year was a 22 and 16 game at Maryland. This time around he starts off strong with an absurd day.

2. The Ivy League has a monstrous weekend

The non-conference portion of the schedule is what ultimately determines which mid-majors has a chance (albeit small) in the at-large conversation. The Ivy has three teams in Harvard, Yale, and Princeton who are top-100 quality teams coming in. But before they beat up on each other in conference play, they can build solid resumes.

This weekend provides those opportunities with Princeton taking on Butler, and Yale playing two big games against Creighton and Wisconsin. While these teams are good, they’re by no means vastly superior. At worst, the Ivy squads are slight underdogs in these games and have the talent the pull off the wins.

Another under-the-radar game is Cornell playing at Syracuse. The Big Red isn’t going to be a good team, but Matt Morgan is the kind of player who can go off for 30 on any given night. The Orange is expected to struggle as well this season, so another upset isn’t out of the question. Columbia at Villanova would be the ultimate upset, but that may be going too far. Still, Yale and Princeton will both give the Ivy headlining wins.

3. There will be more upsets than expected

We’ve seen more and more parity in college basketball. That’s because of a variety of reasons, including one-and-dones, transfers, and no players leaving early to play overseas. That’s left some power conference teams vulnerable, especially early on.

That makes these early games so intriguing, as there are a number of small schools who haven’t been ravaged by transfers. There are plenty of teams who bring back four or even all five starters. A number of quality scorers who aren’t good enough in the eyes of scouts to go pro also return.

Next: Breaking down AP top-25

With the number of neutral games rising, as well as the edge in terms of experience and chemistry. Expect a number of upsets in “name only” this weekend, and possibly even some unexpected close calls involving some high-ranked teams. There may be fewer at-large mid-major teams compared to the past, but there’s still more than enough good teams to pull off some wins. There will be plenty of those this weekend.

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