09. South Carolina Gamecocks
Best win: Clemson Tigers
The Gamecocks struggled to pick up quality wins over power conference opponents to start the season, dropping its first two games against ranked opponents. But a third ranked opponent wouldn’t fare as well as the first two. South Carolina hosted instate rival No. 25 Clemson and beat the Tigers 91-88 in overtime to pick up the team's best win of the non-conference schedule. The Gamecocks had to hold off a huge second-half scoring barrage from Clemson to pick up the OT win. Collin Murray-Boyles led the way with 22 points and Myles Stute added 19 points on five made threes.
08. Oklahoma Sooners
Best win: Michigan Wolverines
Oklahoma has quite a few close wins over good opponents this year to pick from, but a win over a ranked Michigan team away from home might be the Sooners' best win of the non-conference schedule. Oklahoma took on Michigan in the Jumpman Invitational and walked away with the 87-86 win. After a short-lived lead to start the game, Oklahoma trailed most of the game and found itself down 11 points with ten minutes to play. The Sooners fought back trading leads over the final minutes before a Jeremiah Fears four-point play put Oklahoma ahead with 11 seconds left.
07. Arkansas Razorbacks
Best win: Michigan Wolverines
Expectations were high coming into the season for Arkansas, with John Calipari taking over, but the Razorbacks struggled against power conference opponents to start the season. So when Arkansas took on Michigan in the Jimmy V Classic, it was one of the first times the team was fully healthy, which made a huge difference in the outcome of the game. The Razorbacks took down No. 14 Michigan 89-87 and saw five different players score in double figures. Freshman Boogie Fland led the team with 20 points and seven assists to help upset the Wolverines, giving Arkansas its biggest win of the non-con schedule.