William & Mary

By Robert Canady: robert_canady@msn.com

 

Rick Barnes' Texas (9-2) Longhorns have gotten off to a solid start despite heavy personnel losses from last year's NCAA Tournament team, but outside of a neutral-court win over NC State there aren't any decisions that jump off the page. Can't credit Santa with this pre-Christmas "gift" but they've got a great opportunity to pick up a quality win as they visit #6 North Carolina (10-2). One key for Texas' prospects this season is the play of freshman point guard Myck Kabongo (10.8 ppg, 6.0 apg), and the Canadian has shown signs by the game that he'll be alright.

The college basketball season finally got underway on Monday night with three games featuring squads that will be in New York next week for the 2K Sports Classic Benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. All three favorites, Arizona, Mississippi State and St. John's, won but predictably there were signs of rust. That comes with the territory, but what are some of the things that can be learned from these games? Here are a few basic observations for each of the six teams in action.

RPI #'s updated as of 3/01/10, 4:00 pm.

 

 

Another year in the books, and thankfully conference play is finally here.  After all the preseason tournaments, marquee matchups, and guarantee games played in the last two months, these teams have seemingly come out of nowhere to become the early season surprises so far.

 

 

William & Mary

The first few days of the Big East conference schedule certainly haven't lacked drama, with Seton Hall, Marquette and Cincinnati all having opportunities to knock off more established programs. But the difference between the Bearcats and the other two schools is that they were able to take full advantage of their opportunity, knocking off #10 Connecticut 71-69 at Fifth Third Arena. Lance Stephenson passed his first conference test with flying colors, scoring 21 points and knocking down two free throws with seven tenths of a second remaining to provide the final margin. 

With four teams legitimately battling for the CAA title, and top-notch players like Charles Jenkins and Chad Tomko on lesser teams, the CAA season should be one to remember.

George Mason

Hofstra

Northeastern

Old Dominion

VCU

Other (Delaware, Drexel, Georgia St, JMU, etc)