College basketball started on November 1st, with Notre Dame and Villanova playing in Rome. We honestly thought Villanova might get an easy win here, but that’s not what happened.
The Wildcats did build a double-digit lead at times, but the Irish kept fighting back, and at the end, they pulled off a pretty good win.
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It wasn’t always pretty, but Notre Dame hung around, got 14 steals, and was up by two when Braeden Shrewsberry went to the line with just a few seconds left.
You could tell by his face that he was uncertain, and he did miss, but Notre Dame’s defense held up, and the Irish won, 74-70.
It reminded us somewhat of Butler, where coach Micah Shrewsberry once worked for Brad Stevens. Villanova would get ahead, but couldn’t stay ahead. Notre Dame just wouldn’t go away.
Things get cranked up in earnest on Monday, starting at 6:00 PM when #14 Miami takes on #1 Florida. That could get really interesting, and we’ll learn a lot about both teams.
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The rest of the games are pretty mundane tune-ups: Stetson and Clemson tangle, Western Carolina visits UNC, New Haven travels to Syracuse, Rider tests Pitt’s rebuilt roster, Campbell checks in to play NC State, Southern goes to SMU, Adams State will play Cal, Maryland Eastern Shore flies down to Wake Forest, Florida A&M will try to rattle Florida State in the Orion180 Tipoff Classic, Chattanooga challenges Louisville, and Eastern Washington jets down to the Farm to take on Stanford. Here are some of the things we’ll want to learn about:
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How UNC fares. The Charlotte game was not encouraging, but it’s probably a one-off.
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How Syracuse looks under Gerry McNamara. Was Siena a prelude?
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How Jeff Capel’s new roster looks for Pitt.
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How well Justin Gainey’s NC State team has adjusted to his system.
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How Florida State’s Massive Marcis Ponder looks (we claim full credit for Massive Marcis Ponder. You heard it here first).
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Finally, how Louisville looks with its new roster, including how Flory Bidunga fits, and freshman big Obinna Ekezie, Jr, who was highly impressive in Louisville’s exhibition win at Kansas. It hasn’t happened yet, but this is coming: people are going to try to foster a rivalry between Ekezie and Duke’s JoJo Boumtje Boumtje. Both freshmen are 7-2 and versatile. Incoming!
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