What is this, March?

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Now, let’s dive into opening night.

1. Did James Madison think it was March?

Turns out college basketball’s opening day can be an incredible show. Star performances, dramatic finishes, incredible upsets, Monday night had it all.

And that was just in East Lansing.

James Madison stunned No. 4 Michigan State, 79-76, in overtime behind the dynamic duo of Terrence Edwards Jr. and TJ Bickerstaff (they combined for 45 points and 19 rebounds). A timely 3-pointer from Raekown Horton, his only made basket of the game, certainly helped.

It marked the first-ever Top 10 win for James Madison — and threw quite the dose of cold water on Michigan State’s season. The Spartans became the first AP Top-5 team to open a season at home against an unranked opponent and lose since No. 4 Kentucky did so in 2001. It’s also Tom Izzo’s first November home loss of his 29-year career.

For those without Big Ten Network, Michigan State had a few things that derailed it vs. the Dukes:

• It was an awful 1-of-20 from beyond the arc

• Its frontcourt stunk (Mady Sissoko, Xavier Booker and Carson Cooper combined for just six points and nine rebounds)

• And its upperclassmen (AJ Hoggard, Jaden Akins and Malik Hall) looked like freshmen. They were a combined 6-of-33 and just didn’t rise to the occasion.

Not that it’s completely hopeless for Michigan State. Tyson Walker was awesome (35 points on 26 shots, 6 steals and 3 assists), but that ended up being by necessity, not because it was in the flow of the game.

Still, it’s Day 1. Hardly time to panic for Izzo’s team. But on a night when an experienced roster should fare better against a 16.5-point underdog, it’ll push Izzo to re-evaluate his lineups before facing Duke next week. And he’s going to do just that.

“I don’t know why three juniors and seniors didn’t play well, but I don’t care. I’ll play some freshmen,” he said afterward. “Let the controversy begin.”

fwiw, James Madison is gonna be a handful in the Sun Belt. If it beats Kent State on Thursday, it may not lose again until January.

2. Hm. Maybe it IS March.

Monday night had a little more March-esque magic.

The last time Princeton played Rutgers was 2013 when it lost to the Scarlet Knights. But it seems Princeton was thinking more about the last time it played a power conference team, like the 2023 NCAA Tournament when it beat Arizona and Missouri.

Because the Tigers used a strong second half to upset Rutgers on Monday in Trenton, 68-61. They controlled the boards, and made Rutgers uncomfortable inside despite being undersized.

Princeton guard Matt Allocco led all scorers with 21 points, and was one of the few players who had a good shooting night. The Tigers (26-of-60; 43%) were slightly better than Rutgers (25-of-62, 40%), as both teams adjusted to a physical game.

Then you’ve got UMBC, famous for its upset as a 16-seed against No. 1 Virginia in 2018. It wasn’t facing an NCAA Tournament-caliber team in Louisville, but it sure seemed ready to beat another ACC team.

The Retrievers led by eight points with just over 7 minutes remaining, but Louisville, to its credit, didn’t wilt like it did last season. But the end wasn’t pretty, either.

Still, the W meant Cardinals coach Kenny Payne could smile and left his team over .500 for the first time since Jan. 29, 2022.

• The other 16 seed to ever beat a 1? Fairleigh Dickinson. The Knights held off MAC foe Buffalo, 92-86, which might not seem like a big win, but the Bulls were 7-point favorites.

• Abilene Christian knocked off Texas in the 2021 NCAA tourney. Monday, it knocked off Oklahoma State, 64-59, in a game that the Wildcats controlled throughout and led by as many as 15. IN STILLWATER.

• Another March darling, Saint Peter’s, gave Seton Hall and former coach Shaheen Holloway fits. The Peacocks led at halftime, and were only down 2 with just over 5 minutes left before the Pirates pulled away, 70-59.

• Finally, there’s McNeese State. The Cowboys have never won an NCAA Tournament game in two appearances. But this may be the year. An impressive 76-65 win at VCU means McNeese State might very well be unbeaten by the time it visits Michigan just before New Year. (The Rams do have a new coach and are missing key players, but still. It’s a good win.)

3. More scores, tidbits from opening night

It’s only one night, but it sure seems like we could see anything this season. That goes beyond upsets, too.

We’ve got Wisconsin scoring 105 (!) points on 81 possessions (!!). That’s not a typo. That’s the Badgers setting a new Kohl Center record — and dropping 56 (!!!) points in the first half against Arkansas State. Can’t wait to see what Wisconsin does on Friday vs. Tennessee.

And if it seems like plenty of teams scored more easily than in previous seasons, you’re right. 70 teams topped 90 points, up from the previous two seasons on opening night (which also had more games last year). Teams scored more efficiently this year, which you love to see.

So, on that note, here’s what else was interesting on Monday night:

• Hunter Dickinson missed one (1!) shot, and finished with 21 points, 8 boards and 5 assists as No. 1 Kansas rolled. Notable: the Jayhawks hit 13-of-23 from deep.

• Zach Edey missed one field-goal attempt (and four free throws) and went for 16 and 11 and somehow won the jump ball. Notable: the No. 3 Boilermakers hit 16-of-29 from beyond the arc.

• Kyle Filipowski missed two shots and finished with 25 points and 7 rebounds as Duke hammered Dartmouth. Can’t wait to see which of those three big men miss more than 5 shots in a single game.

• It wasn’t Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton or newbies Stephon Castle or Cam Spencer who led UConn in scoring on Monday. It was forward Alex Karaban. There’s a good chance it’ll be like that all season.

• After holding Tennessee Tech to 27.5% from the field, Tennessee has the No. 1 defense on kenpom.com. Some things will never change.

• Like, ever. Kentucky freshmen scored 54 of the Wildcats' 86 points vs. New Mexico State. They only assisted on half of their made shots, but hey, this is a solid start. Curiously, forward Adou Thiero started, but did not play the final 12:35 due to a “headache,” per John Calipari.

• And some things do change. Kinda. North Carolina shook off a slow start to beat Radford by 16. But I’m not sure UNC fans feel the least bit relived. Better talk it out.

• Pittsburgh guard Carlton Carrington became the first freshman in the last 15 years to notch a triple double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over North Carolina A&T. Not a bad debut.

• Isaiah Collier looked like the top 2023 recruit at times, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting with 6 assists — he overpowered K-State defenders most of the night — but also looked like a freshman with 6 turnovers. Boogie Ellis had 24. The Trojans’ backcourt is a handful.

• Illinois started slow, and eventually handled Eastern Illinois, 80-52, but the news in Champaign was that guard Sencire Harris will redshirt this season. He would’ve been one of the key players off the bench.

• Adem Bona had a career-high 28, and UCLA gave coach Mick Cronin his 100th win with the program, tying Jim Harrick for fastest to reach that mark in school history.

• Alabama dropped 105 on Morehead State, which is perhaps the best team in the Ohio Valley. Grant Nelson went off (24 points, 7 rebounds), which isn’t a huge surprise considering his performances last season against Summit League teams.

• Arizona scored 1.56 points per possession in a 122-59 win over Morgan State, the highest in Tommy Lloyd’s three seasons. Semi-related: Caleb Love had 12 points, 4 assists, 0 turnovers.

• Dayton won, but point guard Malachi Smith missed most of the game due to an undisclosed injury.

• West Virginia needed a monster second half to beat Missouri State, 67-59. Interim coach Josh Eilert gets a W, but not having Kerr Kriisa run the offense really hurt.

• This is awesome: Tyon Grant-Foster missed the last two seasons because of a heart issue. He had 30 points last night.

• Cam Hildreth scored 33 points and had 6 boards (Steve Forbes is a wizard) in a wild game where the Deacs trailed by 21, yet won by 23, the only D-I game in the last 15 years where a team trailed by 20 and still won by 20.

• Seven players topped 30 points last night: Walker, Grant-Foster, Hildreth, Boston College’s Quinten Post (31), Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Kylen Milton (34), Denver’s Touko Tainamo (31), and Richmond’s Jordan King (34).

4. A list worth praising

We probably spent too much time a few weeks ago bemoaning the watch lists for the position awards. So it’s mentioning that the 50 players on the Naismith Trophy watch list announced on Monday includes pretty much everyone you’d list among the sport’s 50 best players.

How do I know? Numbers 1-33 on the Almanac’s list of the Top 100 players is the same as Naismith’s. Forty-one of the Top 50 Almanac players are on this Naismith list. That’s how you know you’ve covered all the right people.

And the outliers, such as Baylor Scheierman (34th in the Almanac) or Kam Jones (82nd in the Almanac) make for a reasonable debate. Could Scheierman be on the Naismith list? Sure. Could Jones be a top 50 player? Absolutely. Is this too many self-answering questions? 100%.

Anyway, nice job by the Naismith folks.

5. Elite teams + an elite presentation

So you’re contemplating what you get for that annual $50 if you subscribe to the Daily — besides all the college basketball news that mattered from the day before, mixed in with pithy comments?

We’ll have original content (we always do), but the goal is to provide even more of it, whether that’s interviews with coaches, statistical analysis, or graphical looks at the sport, such as what JG Trends does in his Twitter feed.

This one demonstrates just how good Kansas, Virginia, Gonzaga and Houston have been vs. the sport’s best teams over the last five seasons. (Not to mention provides a hint about how few chances teams like Dayton, Saint Mary’s and Belmont have to even play in these types of games.)

But we’re not just going to rip stuff straight from his Twitter feed. He’ll create graphics that’ll appear exclusively in the Daily, which helps differentiate our content from the rest of the folks who cover college hoops.

Hey, we want you to feel good about a paid product. More to come on this front. (And don’t forget to subscribe!)

A Top-25 worthy showdown

Could tonight’s Baylor-Auburn game be a showdown of college basketball’s most overlooked teams? The Bears are 20th in the AP poll and the Tigers aren’t even ranked. But if you look at Kenpom (they’re ranked 7 and 15, respectively) or EvanMiya (where they’re 10th and 15th), it’s a game that actually could be a Top 25 showdown. Maybe that’ll appease some of the people bemoaning a lack of compelling matchups to start the season? (9 pm ET on ESPN)

Other games to watch (All times ET)

• Florida Gulf Coast at Indiana, 6:30 pm (Big Ten Network)

• UNC Asheville at Michigan, 8:30 pm (Big Ten Network)

• Northern Iowa at North Texas, 8 pm (ESPN+)

• Auburn at Baylor, 9 pm (ESPN)

• UC Irvine at San Jose State, 10 pm

Man in the middle

The last time that a reigning NPOY returned to school and won the national title was 2009 when Tyler Hansbrough and UNC cut down the nets. The wrinkle? Hansbrough didn’t repeat as NPOY. So does Hansbrough think anyone can top Zach Edey for NPOY this season? (And what about a title?)

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Links as you wait in line to vote in your local election.

• Missouri center Connor Vanover will miss the first three games of the season because he played at Portsmouth over the summer.

• Schools produce plenty of hype videos, but this one from Indiana with a Bob Knight angle is pretty damn good.

• Five-star prospect Jayden Quaintance is no longer considering playing with G-League Ignite.

• BYU added Top 150 guard Brooks Bahr.

• Penn State grabbed Top 150 forward Miles Goodman.

• This is how you dress for class. Tyler Kolek approves.

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