Michigan dominated good teams en route to winning the Player’s Era Festival.
The Big 12 had a successful Thanksgiving holiday thanks to Kansas, Iowa State and TCU.
Preseason favorite Florida and St. John’s have some growing pains in the early season.
It took Dusty May five seasons before he turned Florida Atlantic into a Final Four team.
At Michigan, it may just take two.
Over three days in Las Vegas, the Wolverines proved they are a national championship contender after a dominant showing in the Player’s Era Festival.
The showing came after Michigan had struggled in the first few weeks of the season with close wins against Wake Forest and TCU. There were questions about how the Wolverines would fare in the 18-team tournament loaded with ranked teams. Those doubts went away as fast as chips at a blackjack table.
Michigan blew out San Diego State and No. 25 Auburn by a combined 70 points to earn the spot in the championship game against No. 10 Gonzaga. The Bulldogs had also been impressive over two games in Sin City, making the matchup billed as a meeting of a possible Final Four opponents.
Instead, it looked like a No. 1 seed playing against No. 16. Michigan jumped out to a 20-5 lead in the first five minutes and never looked back in a 40-point over the Bulldogs, the biggest loss in the Mark Few tenure.
It’s hard to grasp how exceptional Michigan looked with its closest game the 30-point defeat of Auburn.
Yaxel Lendeborg showed why he was the top transfer in the country with 52 points and 22 rebounds in the three games, and the 6-foot-9-inch forward just one piece of what is a long lineup that features 7-foot-3-inch Aday Mara and 6-foot-9-inch Morez Johnson Jr.
Is it early to declare a national championship favorite? Probably, with Selection Sunday more than three months away. But it’s hard to not laud Michigan after one of the most impressive three-day stretches you can have in November.
The Wolverines have sent a message to the rest of the country, and that’s why they lead the winners and losers of Feast Week.
Winners
Kansas
Kansas had a favorable road in the Player’s Era Festival and were set up to fail in the third-place game. Instead, Kansas proved it still is a contender with a perfect finish in Las Vegas.
After handling unranked Notre Dame and Syracuse, it felt like the the Jayhawks would have a rough outing against No. 16 Tennessee, which just knocked off No. 2 Houston. The result seemed locked when the Volunteers had a 12-point lead in the second half. That’s when Kansas turned it on. Elmarko Jackson and Melvin Council Jr. combined for 27 second half points and shut down Tennessee for a massive 81-76 win.
It can’t be overstated how much Kansas needed that win since it looked flat against North Carolina and Duke earlier in November. It felt like it was trending to another down year, but this game certainly gives Bill Self his mojo back, especially with standout freshman Darryn Peterson still sidelined. The Jayhawks can ride the momentum into big contests against Connecticut and North Carolina State in December.
Iowa State
The Cyclones were denied the Player’s Era championship due to its unusual tiebreakers, but you can’t take away what was an exceptional week in Las Vegas for T.J. Otzelberger’s squad.
No. 13 Iowa State got a major test in the first game against No. 15 St. John’s, and proved to be tougher in the final minutes for a major one-point victory over the Red Storm. The win did come at a cost with star guard and leading scorer Tamin Lipsey being injured late and missing the rest of the tournament.
It wasn’t much of a problem. The Cyclones returned with a rout of Creighton, and took their frustrations out on missing out on the big prize in the Player’s Era Festival by putting a beat down on Syracuse in the second half of a 31-point victory. Iowa State remains undefeated and gets two early Quad 1 wins to make its case for being among the Big 12 favorites.
TCU
There’s a noticeable trend that the Big 12 had a great week, capped off by TCU’s performance at the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.
The Horned Frogs have recovered from the season-opening loss against New Orleans. They nearly beat Michigan on Nov. 14, but got the job done last week with a key win over defending champion Florida on Thanksgiving Day. Against Wisconsin in the championship, the Horned Frogs kept a safe distance from the Badgers, never trailing despite 30 points from Badgers guard John Blackwell.
Credit Jamie Dixon’s team for not letting the season get away, and the Horned Frogs become another team that makes the Big 12 a gauntlet of a conference.
Southern California
All aboard the Muss Bus? It wasn’t a loaded Maui Invitational, but it’s still impressive to win in Lahaina, and the Trojans are feeling the aloha spirit after winning the prestigious tournament.
USC powered past Boise State and Seton Hall in its first two games, and in the championship, the offense shined in a comfortable win over Arizona State. What’s even more impressive is the win over the Sun Devils came without leading scorer Rodney Rice. That’s when a guy that knows about winning the tournament in Chad Baker-Mazara stepped up. The Auburn transfer has transitioned well for USC and looked like the best player on the court with 23 points in the title game, earning tournament MVP.
Eric Musselman has been trying to bring some hype back to Los Angeles, and starting 7-0 will certainly help. The Trojans have the makings of an NCAA Tournament team, something it’s trying to get back to after two straight seasons missing out.
Michigan State
Michigan wasn’t the only team in the state to have a great week with No. 12 Michigan State picking up another ranked win to prove the Spartans still are a contender.
In the Fort Myers Tip-Off, the Spartans had a comfortable win over East Carolina, but the main attraction was the Thanksgiving matchup against No. 17 North Carolina. Both teams have impressed so far, and the winner would get another big boost. It was a back-and-forth first half, but Michigan State grabbed control before halftime and never let it go en route to a 16-point win over the Tar Heels.
That’s now three ranked wins in the first seven games for Tom Izzo, and it’s notable that two of those ranked victories were by double-digits. Michigan State is an experienced team and it shows, and it’s the first undefeated November for the Spartans since 2015-16, and this team is capable of winning 30 games again this season.
LOSERS
Florida
A 1-1 showing in the Rady’s Children Invitational is not what Florida had in mind. Instead of winning the four-team tournament, the Gators head back from the West Coast with more questions.
Things seemed to be going well against TCU until Florida’s offense fell apart in the second half, leading to a head-scratching loss. The Gators were able to regroup for a win against Providence to avoid a disastrous time in San Diego.
It’s obviously hard to defend a national championship, but Florida came into this season looking like it would be well positioned to do so with a mix of key transfers joining some veteran pieces. But it hasn’t looked quite right since the season-opening loss to Arizona, and the Gators don’t look anywhere near as dominant as last season’s national championship-winning squad.
St. John’s
Rick Pitino’s magic in New York looks like its fading, with the hype surrounding St. John’s coming to a screeching halt after a losing week in the Player’s Era Festival.
The Red Storm fell in a thriller to Iowa State in the opening contest. There wasn’t anything wrong with the loss, and they came back to beat Baylor in the second game, but the consolation round performance was troubling. After leading Auburn by nine points at halftime, the Tigers outscored St. John’s by 20 points in the second half to win. A team that could’ve contended for a Player’s Era crown instead went 1-2 in Las Vegas.
St. John’s is now 4-3 in the young season looks suspect on defense. It’s allow 76.4 points per game and gave up an astonishing 88 points against the SEC and Big 12 teams it has played this season. If it can’t defend against top-tier teams, there won’t be another big season for Pitino.
Oregon
The inaugural Player’s Era Festival champion didn’t get anywhere near an encore with a winless showing in the expanded field.
Oregon returned to Las Vegas and had double-digit losses to Auburn, San Diego State and Creighton. The Ducks returned two key pieces from last season’s tournament team, but they haven’t been able to put together solid performances. Jackson Shelstad struggled as he recovers from a broken hand, and big man Nate Bittle got hurt against San Diego State. The result led to sloppy performances throughout the week.
North Carolina State
There was a great opportunity for Will Wade to prove in Maui the Wolfpack were ready to get off to a fast start in his first season. Instead, NC State showed it still has some ways to go.
According to the rankings, NC State was the best team in the Maui Invitational, but ended up finishing in sixth place. The Wolfpack fell to Seton Hall before responding beat Boise State. In their final game, they allowed 102 points to Texas to head back to the mainland with a 1-2 record.
Defense is a glaring problem, but what is a real concern is Texas Tech transfer Darrion Williams hasn’t been the dominant player he can very easily be. It will go a long way if Williams can assert himself as one of the best players in the ACC, but at this point, the Wolfpack don’t look like they can be a heavy contender yet.
Boise State
It’s far too early in the season to be declared out of the at-large tournament discussion, but Boise State has a lot of ground to make up if it doesn’t the Mountain West’s automatic bid.
After the stunning season-opening loss to Division II Hawaii Pacific, the Maui Invitational provided for the Broncos to earn some quality wins, but they couldn’t capitalize in their first two games. They played Southern California close in the opener before not being able to keep up with NC State the following day. That left Boise State in the last=place game against Chaminade, another game against a Division II school that won’t count in the NET rankings.
What was a big moment for Boise State ended in a dud with no signature victory, and things are going to have to drastically change in Boise if the Broncos don’t want to miss the tournament again.