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NCAA Basketball: 8 takeaways from first month of 2018-19

By Brian Rauf

ANN ARBOR, MI - NOVEMBER 28: Jon Teske #15 and teammates Charles Matthews #1 and Zavier Simpson #3 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrate a win over the North Carolina Tar Heels at Crisler Center on November 28, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 84-67. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - NOVEMBER 28: Jon Teske #15 and teammates Charles Matthews #1 and Zavier Simpson #3 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrate a win over the North Carolina Tar Heels at Crisler Center on November 28, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 84-67. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 27: Chris Mack the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals gives instructions to Darius Perry #2 during the 82-78 OT win over the Michigan State Spartans at KFC YUM! Center on November 27, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 27: Chris Mack the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals gives instructions to Darius Perry #2 during the 82-78 OT win over the Michigan State Spartans at KFC YUM! Center on November 27, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

The first month of the NCAA Basketball season is nearly in the books. What are the biggest takeaways from this week’s action?

It’s hard to believe that we’re already a month into the new NCAA Basketball season, but here we are.

The national schedule is set to go into its annual early December lull due to final exams but this past week was full of big games and statement wins.

Perhaps no one made a bigger statement than Michigan, who blew out both North Carolina and Purdue to cement themselves as one of the country’s best teams. Louisville stepped up as well, knocking off Michigan State before going on the road and beating Seton Hall.

The Spartans were not the only ranked team that was upset by an unranked foe this week. In fact, far from it. Virginia Tech was shocked by Penn State on Tuesday, Radford(!!!) stunned Texas in Austin on Friday, Marquette handled Kansas State thanks to 45 points from Markus Howard on Saturday, and Oregon fell again, this time to Houston.

Saturday was also a day for close calls. Gonzaga needed a red-hot second half from Zach Norvell Jr. to beat Creighton while Kansas needed overtime to beat Stanford and Villanova only beat a winless La Salle team by seven.

So, with all the crazy action across the country, what did we learn? Here are the eight biggest takeaways from the past week of college basketball in this edition of the Rauf Report.

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