5 Observations From The First Week Of College Basketball

By Camden Joiner on November 21, 2014

The first week of college basketball is in the books! As most fans expected, it was filled to the brim with surprises, disappointments and big time blowouts.

Here are the 5 things to take away from the first week.

Image via ukathletics.com

1) Kentucky Is The Early Favorite … By A Mile

By the end of their match-up with the 5th ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the Champions Classic, the Kentucky Wildcats had the same amout of blocks as the Jayhawks had field goals. Eleven.

Perhaps Kansas isn’t as good as their initial ranking, which is probably true, but credit has to be given to Big Blue. The pure size of their front court challenges that of an NBA team.

John Calipari has so much depth, he is now successfully using a platoon system. A platoon system is two separate teams of five players. When Calipari substitutes players, he subs out all five on the court for a brand new five off the bench. This is rarely seen in basketball and can only be successfully done with a team with incredible depth.

Of Kentucky’s front-court, I expect six to be drafted, and most of them in the first round. Karl-Anthony Towns, Trey Lyles, Dakari Johnson and Willie Cauley-Stein are probable first rounders with Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee possibly making the jump to the first round as well.

Add the starting guards, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, to the team of future NBA players and you get a truly remarkable team. Normally, no college team could defeat an NBA team, but they way the Philadelphia 76ers are playing matched with the size of UK’s front court, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kentucky stole a few games in a seven game series.

I don’t see anyone getting in the way of this team’s championship aspirations.

Image via sbnation.com

2. Jahlil Okafor Is The Best Player In College Basketball

While Kentucky has the most talented front court in basketball, it doesn’t quite have the best player. That talent would belong to the Duke Blue Devils in the form of Jahlil Okafor.

The 7-footer was the top ranked prospect in last year’s recruiting class and it’s already clear why. In just a few games, Okafor has been a monster in the paint. He scores easy points at the basket and on defense he’s already showing the potential to be a superb rim protector.

Paired with Duke’s electric point guard, Tyus Jones, the Blue Devils appear to be the only team near Kentucky’s level at this point.

Image via gatorcountry.com

3. Florida Has Taken A Step Back

It’s still early, but Florida is already struggling in a place it usually doesn’t. Before last Monday night, the Florida Gators had won 33 straight games at home. But after a buzzer beater by Miami point guard Angel Rodriguez, that streak came to an end.

Florida was the top number 1 seed in last year’s March Madness Tournament, but it doesn’t look like the Gators will repeat that feat. Add a few more games scheduled against rival Kentucky this season and things are certainly not looking up in Gainseville.

Image via ljworld.com

4. Kansas Will Not Win The Big XII

I predicted that Kansas wouldn’t win the Big XII in my College Basketball 2014-15 preview and so far that’s looking to be true.

In their first game, the 5th ranked Jayhawks defeated UC Santa Barbara by just 10 points in a pretty sloppy affair. Their struggles really came to light Tuesday night when they were blown out by Kentucky 40-72.

Kentucky is a great team, but they aren’t that good. The Jayhaws only managed to score 11 field goals during the entire duration of the game. The Jayhawks did a good job of getting to the free throw line, but that was about the only positive. Their offense looked dismal and their defense often looked confused.

With stars like Kelly Oubre, Wayne Selden and Cliff Alexander on the roster headed by a winning head coach like Bill Self, there’s really no excuse for this. Texas, lead by Myles Turner, will make it much more difficult for Kansas to repeat as Big XII champs this time around.

Image via bleacherreport.com

5. Emmanuel Mudiay Should Have Gone To SMU

Point guard Emmanuel Mudiay was the 5th ranked recruit in his class by ESPN, right behind Jahlil Okafor. He originally committed to play for the SMU Mustangs before deciding to forgo college and sign a 1-year contract with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.

The play in the NCAA is much more similar to the NBA than the CBA, and in my opinion, much tougher. It was dissappointing to hear that he decided against college for the money in China, but no one was more disappointed than the students at SMU.

Twenty-second ranked SMU lost their second game of the season to Gonzaga Monday night, a game that would have probably gone much differently with Mudiay on the floor.

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