NCAA Basketball: 10 hot takes after 1st week of 2024-25 season

Gerry McNamara will win the MAAC Coach of the Year

This is quite the take given that McNamara has never been a head coach before and Siena was one of the worst teams in the country last year. Siena is now 2-0 with wins against decent teams. Coach McNamara has completely transformed this roster with efficient offense and Siena loves to get out and run. The defense needs work but it is going to come around. Siena looks like a team who is going to have a nice run through the MAAC. Through the first week of the season this is not the Saint from last season and they are playing like the best team in the MAAC. 

UCLA will not make the NCAA Tournament

The Bruins opened the year ranked in the top 25, and I had them ranked this year as well. Head coach Mick Cronin has always been able to recruit, and when in his early years at UCLA, he was able to bring the Bruins back to glory and was able to get them back to a final four. Last year, the Bruins struggled and finished under .500. Two games into this season, and it looks like another year of underachieving for UCLA. They struggled against New Mexico and didn’t have any notable stars. The Big Ten will be unkind to the Bruins and they will miss the tournament.

These are not meant to be be true or false these takes are meant to be discussion starters and I am going to revisit these as the year goes on. I hope you enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed getting them out to you.