Welcome back to the Starting 5. The Starting 5 is written multiple times per week by Adam Spencer to keep you up-to-date on all the news and events in the world of college hoops. You can follow Adam on Twitter at @AdamSpencer4.

I’m actually a little sad that the Feast Week tournaments are over. I missed college basketball, and this was a great week of action.

Add in the fact the college football season is winding down and the looming darkness of winter is really starting to set in. Fortunately, though, college basketball is still early in the season, and there are more great nonconference games on the way.

Let’s get started with today’s Starting 5:

1. The Opening Tip

The No. 1 topic today involves No. 1 teams, specifically, how they keep losing. First, preseason No. 1 Michigan State lost on opening night to Kentucky. Then, No. 1 Kentucky lost at home to unranked Evansville. That moved Duke up to the top spot in the AP Poll.

Not to be outdone, the Blue Devils lost in overtime to Stephen F. Austin last Tuesday, with the Lumberjacks winning on a last-second dunk:

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1199678832585916417

SFA’s Nathan Bain recorded the game-winning dunk. A native of the Bahamas, Bain’s family house was damaged during Hurricane Dorian. The family has a GoFundMe page. Prior to the game-winning dunk, the page had only raised $2,500. After the dunk, the total has climbed to nearly $150K. That’s a great story.

It’s also always fun when Duke loses. The Blue Devils are college basketball’s villain and past teams have relished that role. Can Duke rebound and finish the season with a bang?

It’s another young team that Coach K has on his hands, but this one doesn’t have the elite talent last year’s squad had with Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and RJ Barrett. It’ll be interesting to see how this group improves moving forward.

Louisville is No. 1 in the poll. Will the Cardinals be able to avoid an embarrassing loss while they’re in the No. 1 spot? We’ll find out moving forward. A matchup against Kentucky in December looms large, as does Tuesday night’s huge top 5 matchup against No. 4 Michigan, which is part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge (more on that later). For now, let’s move on to some SEC chatter.

2. Home-Court Advantage

Georgia finished in 7th place out of 8 teams at the Maui Invitational last week, but it was a great coming out party for star freshman Anthony Edwards. Edwards was absolutely incredible.

In a 2nd-round loss to Michigan State, Edwards scored 33 points in the second half. But what has me so excited to watch him play moving forward is this absolutely insane pass. Just look at how hard he throws this ball with perfect placement for an easy assist:

Then, in the 7th-place game, he hit the game-winning 3. The game might have been in Maui, but Edwards pulled up from the mainland to nail this tough shot:

There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, but right now, I’d have Edwards atop my 2020 draft board if I was an NBA executive. We’ll see if he can keep it up during SEC play.

Now, for a look around the SEC:

  • Tennessee went to the Emerald Coast Classic and lost its first game against Florida State. The Seminoles are 2-0 against SEC teams, taking down the Vols and rival Florida. After losing its opener at Pitt, the Seminoles have rattled off 6 consecutive wins. Unlike the FSU football team, the Seminoles have been a terror to the SEC on the court.
  • The Vols did bounce back, though, beating VCU in the next game on this buzzer-beater from Lamonte Turner:

  • Ole Miss also had a wild Thanksgiving week, going 1-1 at the NIT Season Tip-Off tourney in Brooklyn. The Rebels went from trailing Penn State 43-27 at halftime of that game to actually winning in regulation, 74-72. Then, they followed it up the day after Thanksgiving with an embarrassing 78-37 loss to Oklahoma State. Jim Halpert from “The Office” will sum up the state of Ole Miss basketball for us:
Jim The Office What Is Going On GIF from Whatsgoingon GIFs

  • Mizzou went 0-2 in front of a Kansas City crowd that would have liked to have seen the Tigers win at least 1 game. Instead, they lost to Butler and Oklahoma. The problem was their slow starts. Mizzou trailed 15-3 in each game. This isn’t exactly complex analysis, but you aren’t going to win many games when you spot your opponent an early 12-point lead.
  • Texas A&M is an absolute disaster. The Aggies went to the Orlando Invitational and lost 3 games to a very mediocre group of teams — Harvard, Temple and Fairfield. That’s … not good. The Aggies have a ton of work to do under first-year coach Buzz Williams, who made a strange comment on his weekly radio show:

  • That’s not what you want to hear from your coach, who, you know, has to do some recruiting.

Now, let’s take a look around the rest of the country, starting with a quick preview of this week’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

3. Road Game

The Big Ten/ACC Challenge started Monday night, with Minnesota beating Clemson and Miami knocking off Illinois. So, through Day 1, the challenge is tied at 1-1.

Over the next 2 days, the real meat of the challenge will take place, with 3 games between ranked opponents — No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 4 Michigan, No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 7 North Carolina and No. 10 Duke vs. No. 11 Michigan State.

No, these games don’t count as anything other than a single regular-season win or loss, but it could be a good preview of games you might be seeing again in March. The ESPN networks will have the action. I predict the ACC will win the challenge 8-6.

Now, for a few other notes from around the country:

  • Make sure you’re watching Dayton’s Obi Toppin every chance you get. The guy can absolutely ball. He went head-to-head with Kansas’s Udoka Azubuike during the Maui Invitational, scoring 18 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and swatting away 3 shots. He scored 24 points against Virginia Tech and earned some serious NBA buzz. Here’s a look at his highlight reel against the Hokies:

  • Speaking of Azubuike, the Kansas big man is playing his best basketball, but there’s one thing I can’t get over. He’s shooting only 40% from the free-throw line this year! How is that possible? I get that big men often have trouble with free-throws (Shaq, Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and others come to mind), but Shaq was a 52.7% free-throw shooter for his career, with Howard checking in at 56.6% and Drummond at 45.4% (though he’s shooting a career-best 62.4% from the line this year). Azubuike’s horrible free-throw shooting should be a major red flag for NBA teams. Toppin, for the record, is hitting 79.3% of his free throws this year.
  • The Arizona Wildcats are 9-0 and fresh off a Sunday win over Wake Forest. That was a more comfortable win than Thursday’s dramatic victory against Pepperdine. As you can see, star PG Nico Mannion saved the day with a crazy running shot at the buzzer to earn a 93-91 win:

  • Senior G Anthony Cowan Jr. has been on a tear lately, leading the No. 3 Maryland Terrapins to a perfect 8-0 record. He’s led the Terps in scoring the past 4 games, including all 3 victories at the Orlando Invitational. He scored a total of 72 points in the 3 Orlando games. This was a huge shot just before halftime on Sunday against Marquette:

  • That’s NBA range from downtown. He’s a bit undersized at only 6-feet, 180 pounds, but if he can keep playing at this level, he’ll find a spot in the pros.

So, what are the best games of the week? As mentioned, the next couple of days are all about the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Here are the 5 games I’m most excited for.

4. Outlet Pass

The Thanksgiving tournaments are over, but college basketball is still providing must-see television. This week’s big focus will be on the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Here are the 5 best matchups in the coming days:

  1. No. 6 Ohio State at No. 7 North Carolina (Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN) — This is the 2nd-highest rated matchup of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, but it’s the one I’m most excited for. Can the Buckeyes remain undefeated against star freshman Cole Anthony and the Tar Heels?
  2. No. 4 Michigan at No. 1 Louisville (Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN) — Michigan has been one of the biggest surprises of the year under first-year coach Juwan Howard. Meanwhile, Louisville will try to avoid being the latest No. 1 team to lose. Should be fun!
  3. No. 10 Duke at No. 11 Michigan State (Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN) — This would have been the No. 1 matchup of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge ahead of the season, but now it’s only No. 3 on my list. Duke and Michigan State both have losses this year. Which team will bounce back?
  4. No. 5 Virginia at Purdue (Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2) — This will be a matchup of the No. 1 defense (Virginia) and the No. 7 defense (Purdue) in the KenPom.com rankings. Don’t expect a lot of points, but do expect a great matchup.
  5. No. 17 Florida State at Indiana (Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2) — Florida State has 2 wins over the SEC this year, beating Florida and Tennessee. Can the Seminoles hand a talented Indiana squad its first loss?

Should be another exciting week of college basketball action!

5. Buzzer Beaters

Here’s a spot where I’ll answer a couple of random questions in each column. The first one comes to us from my friend Robert:

Which players are on your “how is that guy still in college” team?

I’ve got a few good ones, especially after I watched countless hours of basketball this past week. Here’s the Starting 5 (oh hey, that’s the name of this column):

  • Payton Pritchard, Oregon
  • Brad Davison, Wisconsin
  • Zavier Simpson, Michigan
  • Myles Powell, Seton Hall
  • Udoka Azubuike, Kansas

Those guys don’t seem like they’ve been around quite as long as Grayson Allen and Perry Ellis were back in the day, but they’ve still been around forever.

Who would you rather have as your boss — Ron Swanson or Michael Scott?

I asked this question to 4 family members who were at my house for Thanksgiving, and naturally, it was split 2-2. I was leaning toward Ron, but then my wife swung me toward Michael.

I appreciate feedback on what I’m doing, and Michael would give me that interaction. With Ron, I’d constantly be nervous about my job security.

Enjoy the Starting 5? Have a question? Want to yell at me about something? Follow me on Twitter @AdamSpencer4 or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.