NCAA Basketball: Biggest Winners and Losers from the 2018-19 non-conference
By Adam Childs
No. 8 Loser – Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wake Forest has got to be one of the worst power five teams not in the Pac-12. Danny Manning was supposed to bring life back into the Demon Deacons, but instead, they are just plain bad. They got blown out by Tennesse recently but that isn’t anything to be ashamed of.
The losses to Houston Baptist, Saint Joseph’s, Richmond and most recently Gardner Webb are the ones that make this a bad team. That would make four mid-major teams that Wake has lost to and they have not exactly looked great in the games they have won. They might become the second team in two years to go winless in the ACC after Pitt did it last year.
No. 8 Winner – Texas Tech Red Raiders
The nation has been waiting for someone to finally unseat Kansas as the top team of the Big 12 and last year it looked Texas Tech was on its way to doing it. Then they fell down the stretch and Kansas again would win the conference. This year it did not seem like Texas Tech would be able to be a team to keep up, but so far this year it looks like they just might have the team to do it.
An early blowout win against Nebraska should what they could do and another good win over Memphis kept the momentum going. But probably their biggest “win” was their loss to Duke. They showed that they could compete with them and led Duke late into the second half before falling a tough game. With its start, the Red Raiders have climbed to 11th in the AP poll and look like they are ready for big things when the Big 12 starts. Could they finally knock Kansas off their perch? Time will tell but they have shown they can compete with them.