NCAA Basketball: 13 most pleasant surprises of the early season

With non-conference schedules coming to a close around the country, which NCAA basketball teams have been the most pleasant surprises?

With kickoffs finally starting to be replaced by tipoffs in primetime, it appears as though NCAA basketball season is beginning to heat up. While the non-conference portion of the year supplied plenty of intriguing storylines, it was only half of the season and league play is always a gauntlet. With that said, though, we did learn many things about the college basketball landscape through the first two months of this season.

Most notably…TRUST. NO. ONE. Seemingly from the opening tip of this season, everyone’s preseason expectations have been shattered at one time or another. Kentucky lost to Evansville, Duke lost to Stephen F. Austin, Florida tumbled all the way out of the Top 25, and the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll was seemingly cursed for anyone who tried to claim that they were the best in the country. This season has felt crazy and the lack of a true dominant force at the top of the rankings is a major reason why.

As is the case in physics, though, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” So, as many presumed top teams in the country disappointed during the non-conference schedule, several programs emerged as pleasant surprises on the national stage. These teams might not have been picked to finish all that high in their respective conferences but now warrant attention as either Top 25 teams or dark-horses for big runs come March.

So, with conference schedules beginning (or continuing) around the nation, let’s take a dive into some of the teams that have been the biggest pleasant surprises thus far. There are obviously more than just the 13 that I will discuss in this article but these are the ones that have jumped out most to me. Also, it is important to mention that there is no order to these selections.