4) Congrats to the Field of 68 for putting on their marathon event starting at midnight and eventually into two different venues. True confession. Woke up at 6:15 and went immediately to the IPad to start watching. Hope this continues.
Bonus) The Wednesday 5 has put off asking some questions about the SEC going forward this season. I wanted to wait until we had some games to study. Those questions come next week. Follow along!
2OT) Very excited to get another season started with ESPN tomorrow night. And if one is to get another season started, why not do it with the number 1 team in the land?!
OT) Best mid major win between two really good teams? Miami (Oh) with a big 2nd half winning on the road at James Madison. Keep an eye on both teams this season.
5) Strangest play of the night had to be UCF throwing the ball back in bounds under their own basket, only to have FGCU make the catch and score at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. UCF did win under the Wise Theory.
Biggest upset of the opening night had to be East Texas A&M winning at Oklahoma. See if you can catch the common thread here. Lions were +18 in 3 point differential.
2) Biggest surprise win of the night happened in Sioux Falls with Memphis beating Iowa State. Great way to start the season. Tigers were +15 in 3 Pt differential.
1) Best win between power teams had to be UCLA beating Arizona in Vegas. Did we actually see Mick Cronin smile in the post game interview? Bruins made 10 3s.
#hoopjunkies Finally, we have results to chat about. The Wednesday 5 shares thoughts from the games played on opening night. Follow along.
Mark Wise retweeted
ESPN unveils '26-'27 college basketball commentator roster
🏀 Lead announce teams return
🏀 @DickieV set for 47th season at ESPN
🏀 Commentator additions include LaPhonso Ellis, Stacey Dales & more
🔗 bit.ly/47OgHa5
2OT) Lastly, the competitive spirit was through the roof good. Our game is still as old as it has ever been so that makes getting easy baskets very hard to do. With roster turnover, I think defenses are ahead of offenses right now.
OT) Overall, the most disappointing thing was the shooting. Yes, Florida shot poorly but they had company. The teams combined to shoot 29% from deep. Only one of the 8 shot 35% or better. Congrats Baylor. Disappointing? Yes. Concerned? Not yet.
5) So many practice fouls. What do I mean? Every coach was his/her team to be physical. So they practice that way. Over and over. It is allowed in practice. Then in the game, the stripes, rightly so, called those fouls. Practice fouls.
4) The games averaged 44.7 fouls per. They could have easily called 20 more in each game. Did not see one foul on the initial meet and greet with the bigs. Chucking a cutter has been eliminated (good thing) but holding off the ball is bad.
3) Coaches treated the exhibitions as real games. They simply coached to win. I have not seen a lot of experimenting with either personnel or schemes. Coaches worked the refs non stop, nothing new there.
2) I was not focused on outcomes. Others can overreact about those. I wanted to look for trends, both playing and officiating. Did teams play faster? Not as much as I thought. Was there a better flow to games? No. Were players intense? Absolutely.
1) The teams that I have seen include Vandy, Virginia, Auburn, FSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Florida, and Baylor. The outdoor vibe was awesome in Charleston, the Ballin’ in Boutwell has a unique intense setting, and Jax had a great crowd.
#hoopjunkies The Wednesday 5 has been on the exhibition tour prepping for the soon to be here upcoming season. Some thoughts from what I have seen. Follow along.