NCAA Basketball: Creighton’s fall, Mountain West success among biggest takeaways

8. Unexpected mid-majors to watch

Preseason predictions are never completely accurate and that’s the beautiful part of sports. College basketball would be super boring if we just named a champion or Final Four in early November and that just happened instead of five months of intriguing back and forth between all these teams. We’re going to take a brief look at a couple of teams that have played well the first month of the season; specifically looking at some mid-major programs breaking out here in mid-December.

First and foremost has been the early success of the College of Charleston. The Cougars sit 10-1, with their only loss coming in Chapel Hill against then #1 North Carolina a month ago. They won the Charleston Classic, have defeated Virginia Tech, Colorado State, and Davidson, and have now won nine games in a row. They’re depending on a bevy of seniors and sophomores and look like the best team in the CAA early.

Another team to keep your eyes on is Florida Atlantic, which actually sits in the Top 10 of the most recent NET rankings. Since an early loss at Ole Miss, the Owls have looked fantastic, especially on offense. They knocked off Florida in Gainesville nearly a month ago and have taken care of their business in recent weeks against weaker teams. Consider also that they’ve barely played a game with all of their top threats healthy at once.

One final team to mention is Sam Houston State, who are certainly one of the early frontrunners in the WAC this season. The Bearkats sit at 7-2 but have picked up impressive road wins against Oklahoma and Utah this year, with those contests being their first two D1 games.  Qua Grant, Donte Powers, and others on this roster have played smart basketball this season and could be an intriguing NCAA Tournament team if they take care of business in the WAC.