College basketball’s much-needed return on opening night is Christmas Day … until it starts to get hairy in the second half of a buy game. Just ask North Carolina‘s Michael Malone, who had to bench his starters midway through the middle of a second-half collapse against Western Carolina. UNC, with help from an untimely technical on the Catamounts, avoided disaster in Monday’s 80-72 win, but it was a pucker-worthy showing from a $20 million roster that looks far from the top of the ACC pecking order.
The Field of 68 also garners some well-deserved recognition for bringing back the opening day marathon! Grambling State and Northern Illinois played one of Monday’s best games in a 4 a.m. banger. The Tigers of Grambling State won 89-87.
Let’s dive into the rest of the winners and losers from Monday’s slate.
Winner: Illinois is good at the whole offense thing
The Illini are in the middle of changing their offensive gameplan, pivoting from a team that played slow and relied heavily on pick-and-rolls into a zoom-zoom transition attack that basically has no plays.
It took one game to break record books.
The 75-point margin of victory was the largest for Illinois at the State Farm Center, which opened in 1963. The Illini fell seven points short of tying the school record for points in a game.
The Illini drained a program-best 19 3-pointers in a 120-45 romp over FDU. They shot 51 3-pointers. They went 26-for-31 on layups or dunks. 30 of the 46 buckets were assisted. These stat lines were bonkers:
Seven different players deposited multiple treys. Offensive coordinator Tyler Underwood remains at the top of his craft, and Brad Underwood’s willingness to change may be his strongest attribute. Even stronger than excellent evals of guys like Brown, who was a three-star recruit with no high-major offers and all of a sudden looks every bit the part of a multi-year Big Ten starter.
Illinois’ performance was even more impressive considering the Illini were playing without CBS Sports First Team All-American David Mirkovic, who is recovering from early August foot surgery and underwent an appendectomy Saturday and is out indefinitely. – Isaac Trotter
Winner: Thomas Haugh shows why he’s a POTY contender
Thomas Haugh has two games with four 3-pointers made in his Florida career: In the Elite Eight against Texas Tech in 2025 and on Monday against Miami. Haugh shot a respectable 32.6% on 5.9 attempts from beyond the arc last season, but one of the best shooting nights of his career came in the first game of the new season.
And it wasn’t just the shooting that stood out. Haugh, known as the ultimate Swiss Army knife, finished with 10 rebounds, four assists and a block and a steal to go along with his 19 points. Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. was CBS Sports Preseason Player of the Year. However, there is a case for Haugh winning the award. And if this was any indication, it’s going to be a special season for Haugh and the Gators. – Cameron Salerno
No. 1 Florida opens season with convincing victory vs. Miami: Gators show why they deserve No. 1 ranking
Cameron Salerno
Loser: Malik Reneau’s struggles against elite competition continue
Reneau led Miami in scoring last year at nearly 18 points per game. It was a big boon to get him back for a fifth year of eligibility, but he had no real answer for Florida’s elite frontcourt. Reneau fouled out in 24 minutes and finished with just five points, including an 0-for-5 mark on 2-pointers. Reneau is now shooting just 50% on 2-pointers in his last 25 games against top-50 opponents. Miami will have to get through elite teams if it wants to make the Final Four. It needs more from Reneau to scale that mountain. – Trotter
Loser: Iowa State isn’t the same ol’ Iowa State yet
Memphis knocked off No. 18 Iowa State 80-76, behind 26 points from Jayden Reid and an 18-point, eight-rebound showing from SEMO transfer Luke Almodovar. Iowa State entered Monday rated No. 6 on KenPom.com. That seemed high for a roster that lost Milan Momcilovic (to Kentucky) and Joshua Jefferson (to the NBA). The first impression hints that Iowa State isn’t close to a top-10 team at the moment. Not without injured defensive maven Killyan Toure. Not if breakout candidate Jamarion Batemon is going to go scoreless. Not if Tamin Lipsey is going to score just 12 points on 13 shots, while looking pretty rusty. T.J. Otzelberger’s group has a ton of work to do. – Trotter
Loser: Oklahoma suffers historic loss
After finishing as the first team left out of the 2026 NCAA Tournament field, Oklahoma is already fighting an uphill battle to reach the 2027 Big Dance after the Sooners suffered a stunning 68-64 loss to East Texas A&M. The visiting Lions entered with a 42-87 record in four seasons as a Division I member but did the unthinkable by slaying an SEC foe as a 28.5-point underdog. The Sooners have reached the NCAA Tournament just once under sixth-year coach Porter Moser, and while the event’s expansion to 76 teams gives OU a bit more wiggle room, this is already uncomfortable.
This isn’t a blue-blood program, but Sooners fans have much higher standards than this program is producing. It’s just one game, but this will almost certainly go down as a Quad 4 loss, and it will be a few weeks before OU actually gets a chance to begin undoing the damage against a quality opponent. — David Cobb
BYU’s offense is a turbo smash
No. 25 BYU’s starting lineup makes so much sense. Point guard Rob Wright III can pressure the rim. Collin Chandler is a big-time combo guard who can shoot the 3-pointer and also drive to the cup. Tyler Betsey is a net-shredder. Freshman wing Bruce Branch III can play on or off the ball. Michigan State’s 5-in-5 transfer Jaxon Kohler was the skeleton key, though. His ability to play the 5 and stretch the floor keeps the paint open for everything to fall into place.
The on-paper vision came to life against Ohio State in the opener. BYU scored 60 (!) points in the second half of Monday’s 94-83 win. Wright poured in 33 points, and the rest of that starting lineup cracked double figures. It’d be stunning if BYU doesn’t finish as a top-10 offense this year. The personnel is too good. — Trotter
Time is now for Zags’ Fogle
Gonzaga sophomore wing Davis Fogle is primed for a massive season, and he got busy in Zags’ season-opening 78-72 win over Purdue. Fogle totaled 22 points, mixing in slick drives, a sweet catch-and-shoot 3-pointer and 10 attempts from the charity stripe. He was a total handful for this Purdue wing corps that is on the smaller side. — Trotter
Winner and loser: UCF does UCF stuff while Dior Johnson does Dior Johnson stuff
Dior Johnson scored 41 points, as Dior Johnson is one to do. Meanwhile, UCF survived FGCU 96-95 in overtime. I don’t have high hopes for UCF in the Big 12 this year, but at least Johnson is going to go absolutely insane like once a week. – Trotter
Winner: This is only the beginning for High Point
High Point coach Flynn Clayman, clad in his ice-cold purple suit, was back in the spotlight, and his Panthers delivered a 72-57 shellacking of a good Liberty squad. High Point’s point-of-attack defense is going to be a major strength this season. South Florida transfer CJ Brown and top-150 freshman Trey Pearson are hounding defenders who were draped onto Liberty’s point guards for all 40 minutes.
This High Point squad does not project to be an awesome 3-point shooting team, but its best offense could be this suffocating defense that can lead to numerous good looks in the open floor. Pearson and ex-Arizona walk-on Conrad Martinez combined for 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and just one turnover. Oh, and they both were coming off the bench. Clayman’s got another real-deal squad. High Point is currently favored by double figures in every single Big South game. – Trotter
Winner: This is only the beginning for Murray State, too
Murray State has some of the deepest pockets at the mid-major ranks, and this roster looks like a high-major outfit. Full stop. The Racers buried Tennessee State 94-64, with a new defensive recipe. Murray State has flipped from a passive to an aggressive defensive scheme, and it passed the first test with flying colors. Tennessee State, filled with numerous former high-major names like Arterio Morris (Texas), Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky) and Ty-Laur Johnson (Wake Forest), turned the basketball over a whopping 26 times.
Murray State was everywhere. Sophomore wing Roman Domon was awesome, finishing with 22 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Domon has a chance to get paid to play basketball for a very long time. This team is deep and talented, but it also has so much room to grow. If the first impression is any indication, Murray State has the pieces to earn an at-large bid. That hasn’t happened for the Missouri Valley since 2021. – Trotter
