Duke and Oregon Take Center Stage on Second Night of College Hoops

The opening night of the College Basketball season brought pure chaos, and if it is a harbinger of things to come, it is going to be a fantastic basketball season. The defending National Champions lost on opening night. An excellent Arizona team outplayed Florida. Arizona already has a top-5 win on its resume on Day 1. BYU outlasted Villanova, and Aj Dybantsa was unbelievable down the stretch.

Idaho, New Orleans, and Division II Hawaii Pacific had the wins of the night. Idaho beat Washington State, New Orleans blew out TCU in Fort Worth, and Hawaii Pacific beat Boise State. Then there were the Maryland Eastern Shore and Bethune-Cookman teams, who almost secured the biggest wins in the history of their schools. Bethune is the one who is the least surprising; that team is going to get a lot of teams and lose in Overtime at Auburn. Maryland Eastern Shore lost to Georgia Tech in Atlanta.  That says more about the Yellow Jackets than Eastern Shore.

Tomorrow marks day 2 of the 2025-2026 season, and although there are fewer standout games compared to opening day, three still stand out above the rest. 

UNC Greensboro Spartans at Kansas State Wildcats Prediction and Picks

In the preseason rankings article, I mentioned how much I liked this Kansas State roster. The roster reminds me a lot of the Wildcats roster that made the Elite Eight. It is time for Kansas State to prove that, and they have a test on their opening night. UNC Greensboro is one of the top teams in the Southern Conference and is expected to succeed through its defense and physicality. It is an excellent test for Kansas State at the Octagon.

Texas Longhorns at No. 6 Duke Blue Devils Prediction and Picks

The Dick Vitale Invitational is the game of the night. Texas is introducing a new coach in Sean Miller, and it may take some time for the Longhorns to fully gel together. Texas is looking for a huge win to start the Miller era; the only problem is that they have Duke on the other side. The Blue Devils reload every year, and this year, it's the Boozer Twins who are going to lead the charge, mainly Cameron Boozer, who is a player who may be the first pick in the NBA Draft. Duke rolls!

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at Oregon Ducks Prediction and Picks

Oregon has a lot of guys back from their NCAA Tournament team last year, but there will be one glaring omission from their starting lineup. Star Jackson Shelstad is still recovering from a broken hand and will not play on opening night. Oregon should be able to overcome the loss, but it will take everyone to pick up their scoring. Hawaii has its best team under head coach Eran Ganot. The Warriors are one of the favorites in the Big West and can and will give Oregon a game.

Here are the picks for the rest of the games on Tuesday: