NCAA Basketball: 10 notable surprises after the first week of action

You never know what’s going to happen when NCAA Basketball tips off but these 10 things surprised us, expecting the unexpected in the first week.

Kentucky struggling

Kentucky opened the season with that blowout loss to Duke, and followed it up having to fight out a win against Southern Illinois. They already slipped to #10 in the AP Poll after starting the season as the second ranked school in the country. We’re not hitting the panic button on UK yet, but they’ve definitely surprised us.

Stony Brook winning

Their win at George Washington probably surprised no one except Colonials fans, but their follow-up performance in Columbia, a 2 point win over South Carolina, certainly caught the attention of the rest of us. Welcome to the national spotlight, Seawolves. We’ll see how long their stay lasts.

Wichita State’s inconsistency

Who knows what to make of the Shockers after a big opening night home loss to Louisiana Tech that was followed up by a win over a Providence team many were calling underrated to open the season? Maybe Gregg Marshall needed a game to regroup after the losses he sustained this off-season, maybe WSU just came out with a little extra against the Friars, or maybe a little of both. Either way, I’m surprised.

The clock striking midnight on Loyola-Chicago in November

Maybe we were all duped by the constant off-season headlines that claimed, despite losing significant scoring, Porter Moser would have the Ramblers ready to make another deep run. Wherever you stood on Loyola to open the year, you were almost definitely surprised by a home loss to Furman.

The Atlantic 10 looks like a one-bid league

George Mason is 0-3, the Bonnies have already put a couple of major holes in their resume, St. Louis hasn’t looked convincing in a few games against low-major opponents, and Davidson’s opener turned into a battle of a 3 point win over Dartmouth. Losses for the conference include Longwood, Houston Baptist, American, Siena, Lafayette, and Niagara. Dayton and Saint Joe’s have done their part, and Duquesne narrowly escaped a home loss to UIC to remain undefeated.

Detroit Mercy’s 27 point-per-game freshman

I know I am not the only one surprised by Antoine Davis going off for at least 20 in his first three games at the college level. I also know that despite the gaudy numbers, some of you are hearing his name for the first time (and I’ll be honest; if I hadn’t happened to see him in person, I still might not know who he is). He’s not putting up these numbers against nobody, either; the 3 star recruit that passed up high-major offers to play for his dad dropped 30 against Temple and 20 at Hinkle against Butler. Imagine what he’ll do at home.

Monmouth looks REALLY bad

No, this isn’t the Monmouth team that won everyone’s affection with their antics on the bench, that tore through the MAAC regular season like a rock through a wet paper towel for a few seasons, but I’d be lying if I told you I expected them to be outscored by a better than 50 point margin through the first week of the season. They were picked to finish fifth in their conference and have been blown out three times.

Penn surviving without Betley

Penn is off to a hot start after a one point road win at George Mason and comfortable victories at the Palestra against Rice and Lafayette. None of those results are particularly surprising until you consider last year’s leading scorer for the Quakers, junior Ryan Betley, went down just a few minutes into their first game with a season ending knee injury. They haven’t skipped a beat, and look poised to fight for a second consecutive Ivy championship.

Cincinnati not re-opening Fifth Third in style

Cincinnati had me convinced that they were going to power their way back to a top ten spot in the AP Poll and claim another set of AAC titles. Those odds took a serious blow with a disappointing loss to Ohio State to open the season, and they certainly didn’t look good in the process.

Iona ignoring the drama

When I heard Iona’s best player put an assistant coach in the hospital, my first response was finally, someone else will be coming out of the MAAC. Not so fast. Iona opened the season with a win at home against Albany, and went two time zones away to play New Mexico tight at The Pit. In other words, they’ve performed about as well as they were expected to before all the mayhem, which is pretty surprising.

What caught you off guard during the opening week of the season?