The college basketball season has just gotten underway. Things will rev up on Tuesday with an explosion of big match-ups between power teams. As we get underway, here are a few things to monitor in the first week of action:
1. Kentucky’s New Lineup
This is the topic that’s going to get more attention than anything else. No. 1 Kentucky is a hyped and much-scrutinized team to begin with, and since the Wildcats pull in the best freshmen in the country each year, there’s always curiosity surrounding the new class John Calipari puts on the floor.
They got their first taste of action on Friday when they smoked Grand Canyon 85-45, but we’ll learn a lot more about them on Tuesday when they square off with No. 5 Kansas in Indianapolis.
If you’ve been drinking that blue Kool-Aid all offseason, loading up Wildcats’ futures and dreaming of a team going perfect the entire way through the season and March Madness, well, you – and the rest of us – will find out a whole lot more about this Kentucky team on Tuesday.
2. How Will Cliff Alexander And Kelly Oubre Perform Against Kentucky?
Can you sense that the Tuesday’s Kansas-Kentucky will be pretty important? It’s true that Kentucky lands the most quality freshmen in the country, but Kansas has two high-profile freshmen in forwards Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre.
How these youngsters react to Kentucky’s size and power in the paint will do a lot to shape Tuesday’s battle. How Kansas’ prized recruits play will help Bill Self to reshape the way Kansas plays and adjusts over the course of the season – especially in the next month of non-conference competition.
This is the No. 5 team in the nation even though two of their key contributors from last season were taken in the top three of the 2014 NBA Draft. That tells you all you need to know about how Kansas rebuilds. Still, they’ve had plenty of roster turnover and we’ll have to see how they handle it. They failed to cover the 16.5-point spread in their opener against UC-Santa Barbara on Friday. They’ll have to play better on Tuesday, or else the Big 12 might be more up for grabs than people think.
3. How Will Michigan State Respond To Losing Key Pieces?
Sparty enters the season with some question marks. Yes, they made it to the Elite Eight last season and nobody really counts out Tom Izzo, but this team lost their best interior post presence in Adreian Payne and their best perimeter player in Gary Harris.
But both players are gone now and the Spartans are retooling. If their opening performance – a slight five-point win versus Navy – is any indication, this team has plenty of work to do. They go up against Duke in Indianapolis on Tuesday and we might end up saying that Michigan State has a lot to learn from the Blue Devils after that matchup
4. The Jahlil Okafor Show
The Blue Devils’ new star player is a freshman big man Jahlil Okafor. Recently, Duke has not been very strong in the low post, which is why the program has made just one Final Four since the 2004 season. Duke usually has guard-heavy teams but Okafor is poised to change that culture.
It’ll be interesting to see the Blue Devils have some muscle near the paint. Okafor looked great in his debut, posting 19 points (nine-of-10 from the field), six rebounds, four assists and a block in a 69-point win over Presbyterian.
How Okafor handles Michigan State’s relentless defense next Tuesday in Indianapolis will be the first true indication of where Duke stands as it tries to take Mike Krzyzewski back to the Final Four.
