NCAA Basketball Takeaways: UNC, Gonzaga, Houston and UCLA all get major wins

10. Virginia and UNLV fall from the unbeaten ranks

Heading into the weekend, just seven NCAA Basketball programs remained without a loss in the season. But many of them faced tough tests. We already know about Virginia losing to Houston, far from a bad loss. UConn defeated Butler and Purdue survived Davidson among what’s already been talked about.

Utah State (9-0) was idle this weekend and will take on Weber State and Seattle U to round out non-con play. Elsewhere in the Mountain West, New Mexico and head coach Richard Pitino defeated his father and Iona head coach Rick Pitino at home by 12 points on Sunday, while UNLV blew a double-digit lead late to fall to San Francisco on Saturday.

The last team to be mentioned is Mississippi State (11-0), which is definitely flying under the radar. They haven’t played much of a non-conference schedule, with wins over Utah and Marquette most notable. After beating Jackson State, the Bulldogs took on Nicholls St. of the Southland Conference. The game ended up being a nail-biter, with the SEC team winning, 68-66. Tolu Smith, who has been the team’s best player this season, had 15 points and eight rebounds.

That makes it just five teams without a loss, though there are definitely tiers. Purdue and UConn are viewed as national title contenders, while questions remain as to how real is Mississippi State. And both Utah State and New Mexico could enter league play without a loss, giving the Mountain West potential for multiple bids.

A lot happened this weekend, with some big results that will propel some teams for the next couple of months. It’ll be a quiet next couple of weeks with the holiday break coming up but let’s hope for some more big-time basketball games the rest of the 2022-23 NCAA Basketball campaign.