College Basketball Opening Night Reaction: The upsets have already begun

Nov 25, 2020; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard William Jeffress (24) drives to the basket against St. Francis (Pa) Red Flash guard Bryce Laskey (left) during the second half at the Petersen Events Center.
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Matthew Lowrimore

NCAAB

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Matthew has been with Pickswise for a while now, covering a wide variety of sports. His main passions are college football and UFC, and those are the sports he has covered the most. Matthew uses a variety of methods to handicap games, including stats, trends, injuries, and situational factors. His goal is to consistently give out winners and will put in the research to try and achieve this. For Matt Lowrimore media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.
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Opening Night of the 2020 College Basketball season is behind us and after just one day, we have seen some major upsets. I am not necessarily talking about any top teams that went down, but a few well known teams did lose as decent favorites. With the uncertainly surrounding this season, I believe upsets are going to happen on a nightly basis. Let’s discuss a few of these teams that went down and perhaps speculate if they can fix their early problems.

1. Pittsburgh is already in trouble

I will start by saying that the Panthers were by no means a team on many people’s radar. They finished below .500 last season, but returned a few of their top scorers this season. They played decent defense last year, but any “hype” for this season has already come crashing down. The Panthers just lost to the St. Francis Red Flash, a team they were favored against by 15.5 points. Not only did they lose, but they lost by double-digits and surrendered 80 points. I mentioned the Pittsburgh defense was decent last year and that is because they allowed just 65.7 points per game. If this is the defensive effort we will be getting from the Panthers, I am going to look to fade them often this year.

The Panthers’ biggest problem last season was shooting the three and that is already a glaring problem this season after one game. They just shot 25 percent from downtown, going 6 of 24. They also turned the ball over 22 times. The Panthers know this cannot continue especially once they get into conference play. This is a team to keep an eye on because if they do not show improvement in their next few games, they could be a team to make money on by betting against them.

2. Kansas State is in the same boat

There is no question that Kansas State was horrible last year. They finished the season 11-21, but came into this season hoping to turn things around. After just one game, it is almost safe to say that will not happen. The Wildcats just lost to Drake, a team they were a 4.5-point favorite against. To be fair, Kansas State did lose their top three scoring threats from last year, however Drake is not some Mid-Major that is known to upset Power 5 schools. The Kansas State defense was their strength last season, allowing just 65.0 points per game. This ranked 54th in the country, yet they have already allowed 80 points after one game. They allowed Drake to shoot 48 percent from the field as well, when last year they allowed their opponents to shoot 43 percent from the field on average.

Obviously, it will take some time for this young team to gel, but they are still a team to look to fade. They had two scorers with 15+ points and the third-highest scorer ended with nine points. This is not going to work going forward and they will need more balance once they start playing more talented teams. Similar to Pittsburgh in the first segment, I would keep an eye on the Wildcats and if they do not fix their problems soon, I will probably look to bet against them in certain spots as the season goes along.

3. UCLA might be overrated

The Bruins came into this season feeling good. They were ranked 22nd in the country and finished last season 19-12. They also ended last year by winning seven of their last eight games. Had the tournament been able to go on, the Bruins were easily a team that could have made a run. They started this season as three-point favorites against San Diego State. That is where the hype ends though considering how bad they played in the opening game.

The Bruins mustered just 58 points and basically were playing from behind the entire night. Considering they were the only ranked team to lose on Opening Night, they appear to be a tad overrated. This UCLA team is still extremely talented, so they are going to be fine as the season moves along. However, they are going to have to show us a lot more if they want to be taken seriously in the Pac-12.

Pickswise is the home of free NCAA basketball picks and predictions. We will provide predictions on both the side and totals for all of the power-conference and Top 25 games during the 2020-21 season.

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