An Opening Day Look Back

The college basketball season kicked off on November 9, 2012 with games being played in Germany, aircraft carriers, and the new Barclay’s Center. With the brackets being released, here is a look back at certain games of interest:

Connecticut 66 Michigan State 62 – In the first game of Kevin Ollie’s coaching career he led the Huskies to a victory over Tom Izzo and the Spartans at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Shabazz Napier led the way with 25 points. Now: Uconn finished the season with a 10-8 conference record and is currently ineligible for the NCAA tournament while Michigan State received a 3 seed in the Midwest bracket.

Miami 87 Stetson 79 – Miami was tied at the half before outscoring Stetson 53-45in the second half. Miami had five players score in double figures led by big man Kenny Kadji (12 points / 12 rebounds) and Reggie Johnson (22 points / 11 rebounds). Only seven Hurricanes saw the floor with one of them being freshman high riser Bishop Daniels who departed the team after three games. Now: Miami ended the season with a regular season ACC title and an ACC tournament title earning a two seed in the East bracket. Point guard Shane Larkin turned into one of the best point guards in the country and the Hurricanes are one of the top teams in the country. I don’t think anyone predicted this after a close home opener against Stetson.

North Carolina 76 Gardner Webb 59 – After losing four starters to the NBA draft, big things were expected from James Michael McAdoo. He delivered in the home opener with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore P.J. Hairston played 14 minutes and scored two points on 1-6 shooting. Now: After a lackluster start to the season, P.J. Hairston was inserted into the starting lineup on February 13, 2013. With the Heels on the verge of not making the tournament, Hairston led the team to an 8-3 record down the stretch with almost 30 minutes and 18 points per game. McAdoo received 2^nd team All-ACC although his draft stock slipped throughout the year. Despite the late season turn around, the 8-3 push was not enough to offset the early losses and UNC received an 8 seed in the South.

Ohio St. vs. Marquette – This match-up was supposed to take place on an aircraft carrier in South Carolina but was cancelled due to weather conditions. Now: Ohio State won the Big 10 tournament title and earned a 2 seed in the West, while Marquette tied Georgetown and Louisville in the Big East regular season with a 14-4 conference record. Marquette earned a 3 seed in the East.

Bucknell 70 Purdue 65 – An experience Bucknell team came into West Lafayette and earned a victory over the young and inexperienced Boilermakers. Bucknell outscored Purdue by nine points in the second half as Mike Muscala finished with a double double (14 and 10) and junior Cameron Ayers scored 18. Now: Bucknell won the Patriot League and Mike Muscala won his second POY award in the league. Bucknell earned an 11 seed and faces off against another team from Indiana in the Butler Bulldogs. Bucknell was a six point underdog against Purdue and now in the tournament they are 3.5 point underdogs against Butler. Meanwhile, the inexperienced Purdue team had some big wins but not nearly enough as they finished under .500 for the season. 

Kentucky 72 Maryland 69 – These two teams kicked things off in the shiny new Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. The defending champs held off Maryland in the second half receiving 19 points from one of the few returning players in sophomore Kyle Wiltjier and an unexpected 10 points from Jarrod Polson. NBA scouts were able to witness two top big men go head to head in Maryland’s Alex Len and Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel. Len got the better of Noel in Noel’s first college game scoring 23 points on 10-18 shooting. Now: At the beginning of the year Kentucky was ranked #3 in the AP Poll and nobody would have been surprised with another one seed coming Kentucky’s way in March 2013. Well, that number one seed sure came; however it came in the NIT. Despite home wins against Missouri and Florida, the loss of Noel crippled the Wildcats as did their SEC tourney game against Vanderbilt. While Kentucky earned a one seed in the NIT, Maryland earned itself a 2 seed in the same tournament. Maryland had some big wins against Duke, but they also had some rough losses and were too inconsistent to earn a tournament berth. This was one of the most intriguing match-ups of the day and could be one of the most intriguing potential match-ups under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden in the NIT final four. 

Florida vs. Georgetown – Florida came into their carrier match-up ranked #10 in the country and five point favorites over an unranked Georgetown team. Playing in Jacksonville, FL, Florida took a 27-23 lead into the half before the game was called due to condensation on the court. Will Yeguete led the way with eight points while sophomore Otto Porter led the way for Georgetown with seven. Now: While this game never finished on November 9^th, it could finish on March 29^th in Texas for a sweet 16 match-up. Georgetown turned the corner during conference play and won the Big East regular season title earning itself a two seed, while Florida won the SEC regular season title and a three seed. While Georgetown was an underdog in the first meeting, they will most likely be a favorite if both teams take care of business this upcoming weekend. 

Colorado State 72 Montana 65 – In one of only two games on opening night to feature two NCAA tournament teams, Colorado State was led by Colton Iverson with 18 points and 8 rebounds and outscored Montana by 14 points in the 2^nd half. Montana was without their top player Will Cherry who returned on December 15^th. Now: Colorado State finished 2^nd in the Mountain West during the regular season and earned an eight seed in the Midwest bracket, while Montana won the Big Sky tournament championship and faces off against Syracuse as a 13 seed.

While opening night kicked off with games in Germany, Hawaii, and everywhere in between, March Madness will tip with games in Dayton, OH. Looking back on November 9^th, it is safe to say that much has changed in the college basketball landscape over the past four months. Plenty more will change over the next three weeks.