Welcome back, college basketball.
The 2026-27 season officially tipped off, and from games in Rome to contests played at obscure hours, all 365 Division I teams have begun the marathon to March.
Sure, this was only the first of 20 weeks before Selection Sunday, and most teams have played just a couple of games. But some managed to stand out, for better or worse, in roughly 80 minutes of action. Ranked matchups immediately tested rosters and offered an early glimpse at which teams might be serious contenders and which might not be as formidable as initially thought.
Then there were the dreaded losses
in buy games, the kind of disastrous starts that can make a season feel like it's over before it ever really began.
Whether the first week inspired optimism or hopelessness, there were already some major winners and losers in college basketball.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL WEEK 1 WINNERS
UCLA
No statement was louder than the one UCLA made, with the Bruins taking down No. 4 Arizona in convincing fashion.
In just one game, UCLA showed this could be the most complete team Mick Cronin has had in Westwood. Veterans Trent Perry and Eric Dailey Jr. know how their coach wants to play, while an array of newcomers, from sharpshooter Jaylen Petty to do-it-all Serbian freshman Nikola Kusturica, have already impressed.
Kusturica reinforced that early hype with a spectacular performance in the home opener, dropping a game-high 29 points in a 51-point win over North Florida. Even more impressive, he has yet to commit a turnover in his college career.
The Bruins' versatility has been on full display. It's only been two games, but UCLA already looks like a team worth watching and one capable of doing some serious damage in the months ahead.
Virginia
The Cavaliers are here to stay. After an impressive 30-win season in Ryan Odom’s first campaign, Virginia looks poised to do it again.
The only 3-0 team in the top 25, the Cavaliers have cruised through every game. But the biggest statement came against Arkansas in the nation’s capital, where Virginia led by as many as 27 points in a 91-72 rout of the SEC contender. Preseason ACC Player of the Year Thijs De Ridder has lived up to the billing, but it’s the supporting cast that makes Virginia so dangerous, with four players averaging at least 13 points per game.
It’s also a win for the ACC. Virginia and Duke look capable of competing for top seeds in the NCAA Tournament, something the conference hasn’t had since 2019.
UConn
The national championship rematch went to the runner-up, with UConn getting its revenge on Michigan in impressive fashion.
Don’t let the 85-77 final score fool you. This was a game the Huskies controlled nearly the entire way. They knocked down shots, consistently got to the free-throw line and forced the Wolverines to play catch-up for much of the night. Braylon Mullins and Silas Demary Jr. combined for 44 points, staking their claim as one of the best backcourts in the country while outdueling Michigan’s tandem of Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney.
The sting of losing his first Final Four game as a coach must still be fresh for Dan Hurley. If this early statement is any indication, his Huskies look determined not to let it happen again.
Memphis
Coming off his worst season at his alma mater, Penny Hardaway needed to quickly prove he was still the right man for the job. Nothing like doing it in the first week.
The Tigers opened the season with a much-needed ranked win over Iowa State, prevailing in a back-and-forth battle behind Northwestern transfer Jayden Reid. It quickly became clear that performance was no fluke. In the home opener, Memphis won another close game, this time against VCU, with Reid delivering in the clutch again. Even if the season doesn’t continue on its current trajectory, those are the kinds of wins that could pay huge dividends with the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
It’s only two games, and bigger tests await, but Hardaway has to be feeling a lot more comfortable now that his seat has cooled considerably.
Saint Louis
Whether Robbie Avila plays or not, Saint Louis is showing it can be just fine without its star.
The Billikens got a rare in-state showdown with Missouri and took full advantage, beating the Tigers in St. Louis. It was a true team effort, with all five starters scoring in double figures and Saint Louis shooting an impressive 56% from 3-point range. That kind of performance should give Josh Schertz confidence that even if Avila is unable to return this season, the Billikens have enough firepower to keep rolling.
The win carries extra weight because Saint Louis has only two games scheduled against power-conference opponents, with DePaul coming Dec. 12. That makes cashing in on those opportunities crucial, especially if the Billikens stumble at some point in Atlantic 10 play.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL WEEK 1 LOSERS
Oklahoma
There was perhaps no bigger loser than Oklahoma. Porter Moser entered the season with an already scorching hot seat, and it's blistering following a catastrophic 68-64 loss to East Texas A&M, a team ranked No. 294 in KenPom.
How the Lions got their first win against a Power Four program was embarrassing for the Sooners, controlling the majority of the game with a lead as large as 16 points early in the second half. Oklahoma was able to tie it with just under three minutes left, but went 1-for-7 from the field the rest of the way. That also didn't account for the bad 17-for-32 (53%) mark from the free-throw line as this is a team with offensive issues.
The loss will undoubtedly be a Quad 4 loss, a cardinal sin for a team that was already going to be spending all season fighting to make the tournament. Even with an expanded field, Oklahoma may have already killed its chances of making it for just the second time in Moser's six seasons.
Purdue
The Boilermakers enjoyed years of consistent success under Matt Painter, fueled by veteran players who stuck around and developed in his program. Now those veterans are gone, and the void they left is already painfully obvious.
It’s been a disastrous start for Purdue, which is 0-2 for the first time since 1976-77. The opening loss was forgivable, with the Boilermakers battling Gonzaga in a six-point defeat. The home opener, however, offered a much grimmer picture. Valparaiso walked into Mackey Arena, erased a 12-point halftime deficit and forced two overtimes before Justus McNair buried a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to stun Purdue and give the Beacons their first win over a Big Ten opponent since 2004.
From an inability to take care of the ball to inefficient perimeter shooting, it’s clear Purdue is in a rebuilding phase. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a program that spent the past four seasons chasing Final Fours. Painter remains one of the best coaches in the business, but he has plenty of work ahead if Purdue is going to extend its streak of 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Kansas State
There is a lot of unknown about what Casey Alexander has in his first season with the Wildcats, but it got off on the wrong foot with a season-opening loss to South Dakota State at home.
The Jackrabbits stormed out early lead and although Kansas State recovered, it wasn't able to put away the visiting team and crumbled late, with an 8-2 run from South Dakota State in the final minutes proving to be too much for the Wildcats to overcome. There's plenty of time to figure out what teams are, but a loss to a team that was 14-18 last season and ranked 190th in KenPom isn't a good start to a tenure, even with Kansas State responding by beating Cal State Northridge in the second game of the season.
Villanova
The trip to Rome to see Pope Leo and visit the Vatican was supposed to be a celebration for Villanova. Instead, it ended in disappointment with a surprising loss to Notre Dame to open the season.
Things looked fine when Villanova led by 10 with 10 minutes remaining, but Notre Dame punched back while the Wildcats managed just 12 points the rest of the way. You could make excuses for playing an international game, but this was against a Fighting Irish team that has struggled under Micah Shrewsberry. It was supposed to be a relatively comfortable win for Kevin Willard’s team. Instead, Villanova let it slip away.
The loss raises immediate questions about Villanova’s place in the Big East pecking order, where the Wildcats are supposed to challenge UConn and St. John’s. Villanova finally returned to the NCAA Tournament last season. Now the next step is winning there for the first time since Jay Wright’s final game in 2022.
Iowa State
Even when you bring back one of the best players in recent program history, it doesn’t fill every hole left on the roster.
Iowa State’s loss to Memphis showed T.J. Otzelberger still has to figure out how to replace the production lost with Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic. Along with Tamin Lipsey, the trio formed the core of a team capable of making a Final Four run. The Cyclones are also without veteran Killyan Toure until at least the start of Big 12 play in January.
Lipsey remains, but he can’t do everything himself. Those concerns were reflected in the Coaches Poll, where Iowa State suffered the biggest drop of the week, falling from No. 14 to No. 23.
Fortunately for the Cyclones, the rest of the nonconference schedule isn’t especially daunting. But that also leaves little room for another damaging loss. Iowa State needs to find answers before the Big 12 gauntlet arrives.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College basketball wasted no time getting wild. Here are Week 1’s biggest winners, losers
