Technically, the start of the 2026-27 college basketball season was on Sunday, when Notre Dame defeated Villanova for the first true regular season game. But back in the states, the Field of 68 is tipping off the year with a 24-hour marathon of games. It started at midnight and three games have already been played.
If you had to sleep through the night, you probably missed the early results. Here’s a look at what happened and the key takeaways.
High Point 72, Liberty 57
The Panthers showed why it’s one of the best mid-majors this season, having plenty of depth and being able to run away from the Flames at the end. It was a balanced effort, with the bench scoring 37 points to win. Liberty was competitive for at least 30 minutes and should be a favorite in Conference USA. The big bright spot was Zander Carter, scoring 21 points on 9/14 FG shooting. After averaging 3.3 ppg as a freshman, Carter looks to be a breakout star for the Flames this year.
Grambling 89, Northern Illinois 87
No coffee for Coach Crarey, but he'll take an Isaiah Miranda slam 😂@gsutigers_mbb leads by 6 here in Rock Hill! pic.twitter.com/Ju3PXrEElp
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) November 2, 2026
The Huskies are looking to be competitive in its first year in the Horizon League and the opening day performance gives them hope. They also were a balanced unit, with Trevor Polite (15 points) one of five different scorers. Grambling was led by Isaiah Miranda, a former top-50 prospect who has struggled at several previous spots. But he could be a SWAC Player of the Year candidate if this keeps up, scoring a career-high 29 points and eight rebounds in just 21 minutes in the win.
Appalachian State 63, Merrimack 49
A 23-3 run by the Mountaineers created far too much of a deficit for Merrimack to recover. Jaylen Colon led all scorers with 14 points, with App State’s defense shining in this one. The Warriors defense (held App State to 20 second half points) did help them make the final score more respectable but its offense wasn’t anywhere near good enough to get the win.
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