Nearly two weeks into the college basketball season, some of the country’s top teams are still rolling over opponents that have no business playing in front of a national audience.
Top-ranked Kansas is preparing to face Oakland on Saturday. No. 3 UConn welcomes East Texas A&M to town on Tuesday. Up next for fourth-ranked Gonzaga is a meeting with UMass Lowell on Friday.
Smaller programs have nothing to lose during these meetings with teams from power conferences. They can either pull off a stunning upset or get drilled like everyone expects them to, still gaining valuable experience in the process.
It’s a different story for the favorite, who is essentially going through a slightly more intense scrimmage or getting humiliated in front of hundreds of thousands of fans.
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At least a couple of tune-up games are needed coming out of the offseason. Forcing teams to jump right into what is typically an uber competitive conference schedule would result in some really ugly games on Opening Night and beyond.
But leave it at that. Have teams like Alabama, Auburn, Duke and Houston get a pair of 40-point blowouts under their belts, then start having the big boys square off against each other. League play doesn’t necessarily have to start up, but there shouldn’t be games with 35-point spreads, either.
Everyone wins with fewer lopsided games. Teams in the top 25 would truly be battle-tested come March, fans are getting a better product and the NCAA would rake in more money. After all, wallets open easier for a battle between Houston and Arizona than they do for a Tennessee-Austin Peay game.
Things are finally about to heat up this season. Let’s just hope the NCAA doesn’t force us to watch small Catholic school after small Catholic school try to challenge powerhouses much in 2025-26.
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