Not too many SEC Basketball teams played on opening night of the college basketball season, with just seven of 16 tipping off. Still, the league ended up having two of the most consequential results of the night, for opposite reasons.
Here’s a look at the biggest takeaways from the SEC.
1. Oklahoma takes awful Quad 4 loss
HISTORY FOR EAST TEXAS A&M ‼️
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 3, 2026
The 28.5-point underdog stuns Oklahoma for its first-ever win against a power conference opponent. It's the second-largest point-spread DI upset of the past 30 years 😮 pic.twitter.com/FqGg18Lpui
There’s always one team that suffers a bad loss on opening night and this year, it was Oklahoma. The Sooners fell 68-64 at home to East Texas A&M, a guaranteed Quad 4 loss for their at-large resume. Yes, they were without last year’s leading scorer Xzayvier Brown (15.4 ppg) but there was still more than enough talent for them to beat the Southland foe. For a program with a ton of ongoing roster turnover, the Sooners have a lot of work to do to make up for this setback.
2. Florida holds serve against top-15 Miami
The Gators led for the final 30 minutes to pull off the 77-67 victory, led by 19 points from Thomas Haugh. It wasn’t the greatest performance for Florida, missing 15 free throws and getting just 5/18 shooting combined from the starting backcourt. But the Gators frontcourt defense was fantastic against Miami’s good group of forwards, allowing them to get one of the biggest wins of the night.
3. Marcus Spears Jr. with solid debut for Texas
Spears is one of three notable five-star freshmen set to play two years in college basketball. He came off the bench for the Longhorns and went for 11 points and five rebounds, along with four blocked shots in 20 minutes. Texas easily handled Chicago State, 109-59. The athleticism was on full display for Spears against the NEC foe but we’ll see how well he looks against more capable opponents going forward.
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