NCAA Basketball: Oregon’s potential, Livers’ importance and more takeaways

3) Don’t sleep on Memphis

Memphis picked up their first signature win of the season on Saturday, knocking off in-state rival Tennessee in Knoxville. It certainly wasn’t pretty – the Tigers shot just 33.9 percent from the field and turned the ball over 17 times – but their defense gave them enough to win 51-47.

Memphis already had victories over quality competition like Ole Miss and NC State but, in order to live up to their lofty preseason expectations, they needed a win like this. The Vols had proven themselves with wins over Washington and VCU and the Tigers ousted them without playing anywhere near their best – and did so without their best player.

Remember, Memphis is playing without star center and projected No. 1 pick James Wiseman, who is serving a 12-game suspension and won’t be back until the middle of January. He has left a sizable hole in their offense, but the rest of the group has been able to pick up the slack.

This was the nation’s top recruiting class for a reason and they’ve shown that. They’ve been phenomenal defensively (17th in efficiency) and have been good enough offensively. Oh, and they haven’t lost during Wiseman’s suspension despite some “nervous energy,” as head coach Penny Hardaway said after the Tennessee victory.

"“When you have a young team, you just really don’t know. We were well prepared, but you never can account for the nervous energy. Last week at UAB, I think they took those guys lightly, and they jumped on us, and this week I think they were too hyper to get into the game because they knew what kind of game it was going to be. That’s what you get with young teams.”"

Memphis may jump into the top 10 next week thanks to this seven-game win streak without Wiseman. The seven-footer takes this group to another level, too, particularly offensively.. When he gets back and they get a few games under their belt to shake off the rust, the Tigers have real Final Four potential.