NCAA Basketball: Biggest winners and losers from opening week of 2020-21

Here’s a look at the biggest NCAA Basketball winners and losers from Week 1 of the 2020-21 season.

The 2020-21 NCAA Basketball season kicked off this past Wednesday as teams kicked off their nonconference schedules and it was an exciting week, to say the least.

While some Power 5 conferences have gotten out of the blocks in a hurry, others have stumbled a bit with the abbreviated preseason practice.

ACC Basketball has been one conference that’s hit some bumps in the road. The Virginia Cavaliers took their first lumps of the season with a 61-60 loss to the San Francisco Dons on Friday night, showing some early signs of chinks in the armor on offense after putting up  89 points in their first game of the season against Towson. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are winless at 0-2 currently as well.

The Illinois Fighting Illini look like the team to beat in the Big Ten Conference as they’re off to a 3-0 start on the season behind the play of Ayo Dosunmu, who put on a show against Ohio Bobcats junior guard Jason Preston in an entertaining duel.

Over in the West Coast Conference, there’s a reason the Gonzaga Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in many early preseason polls. With their backcourt play of Jalen Suggs and Andrew Nembhard alongside the efforts of Corey Kispert and Drew Timme, the Bulldogs are an early favorite to win it all.

There’s a lot to cover in an action-packed few days of basketball games. Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from the opening week of the 2020-21 NCAA basketball season.