The WILD weekend in college hoops

Good morning! College football might still in full swing, but the college basketball games over the weekend were perfect counter-programming to some of the chaos at the top of that sport.

Because there was a fair amount of chaos in college hoops, too. Let’s dive in.

1. Auburn makes its case for No. 1

Auburn opened its weekend with an airplane fight that delayed their trip to Houston. They ended it as perhaps the best team in college basketball.

Guess the Tigers were more than a little hyped.

They shrugged off a slow start to the second half and proved to be more than a physical match for No. 4 Houston — no small thing — in an impressive 74-69 win on Saturday night. The semi-home setting for Houston (it was at the Toyota Center) did have a home flavor with the crowd, but it was No. 11 Auburn that made the plays that mattered down the stretch.

Freshman Tahaad Pettiford hit five 3s (en route to 21 points in 24 minutes), while All-American Johni Broome consistently found gaps in the interior Houston defense and finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

That inside-out combo stretched the Coogs beyond what their usual aggressive, ball-pressure defense could contain.

• Auburn scored 1.18 points per possession — and an insane 1.533 ppp in the second half.

• It got buckets on 70% of its possessions in the half.

• It shot 53% overall, just the fifth time in the last seven seasons an opponent’s done that.

The group that found its offensive groove — Pettiford, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Broome and Chaney Johnson — played nearly 10 minutes together, and proved to be more than a match physically for Houston.

"To shoot nearly 60% in the second half against a Kelvin Sampson defense? That's unheard of,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said afterward.

You can hear more from Pearl on today’s Goodman and Hummel podcast (subscribe here), who discusses the incident on the plane, the gameplan for Houston, and much more.

Part of that was Houston (1-1) not having big man Ja’Vier Francis fully healthy — he played just nine minutes and is “just not in game shape” — leaving just J’Wan Roberts and JoJo Tugler to deal with the swarms of Auburn big men. But it was clear from the opening tip that Auburn wasn’t going to be physically overmatched. It pressed Houston all game, and matched the Coogs on the glass.

It also helped that the Tigers limited LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp to just 8-of-23 from the field. Cryer dealt with foul trouble most of the game.

Auburn’s unlikely to rise to the top of the AP poll today, but it is No. 1 at kenpom. That’s no small thing given Houston’s recent history as a dominant program.

But let’s all agree that a team can probably wait until they land before really pumping themselves up for a game.

2. Kansas headlines heavyweight matchup winners

Talk about your three-day trifecta. Friday, Saturday and Sunday delivered on the tantalizing slate of Top 25 showdowns. Well, almost all Top 25 showdowns.

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