KU’s precarious leading spot, MSU’s optimism, more from the Champions

Nov 12, 2024, 09:25 PM ET Though the Champions Classic isn’t the official tipoff of the guys’s college basketball season any longer, it’s still the very first marquee event– and it constantly whets the appetite for Banquet Week action in a couple of weeks. Getting Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Michigan State in the very same building for a doubleheader is always appealing, but the 2024 edition, which happened in Atlanta, has actually some added pop, particularly because the match featuring the No. 1 team in the country is thought about the undercard.Top-ranked Kansas took

on Michigan State in the very first game of the doubleheader, with the Jayhawks coming out at the end of an ugly game with a 77-69 win.But the story of the night will

be the nightcap, featuring the big-game debuts for Mark Pope as Kentucky’s head coach and Duke’s Cooper Flagg as the face of college basketball in 2024-25. ESPN college basketball authors Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf, and NBA draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo break down the games and draft prospects from Tuesday night’s showdowns, starting with Kansas and Michigan State. Does Kansas still look like the No. 1 group after this win?Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The No. 1 discussion is always fluid this early in the season– it’s only the

second week and we don’t have a lot of data. Tuesday’s lackluster effort– everyone not named Hunter Dickinson completed 6-for-26 in the very first half– had the Jayhawks in a back-and-forth affair with a Michigan State team at No. 34 in the KenPom rankings getting in the game. At one point, the Spartans were shooting at a sub-20%clip. With 8:51 to play, the score was connected 52-52. In the end, I don’t think this game suggests anything for KU’s future. Costs Self has a roster with indisputable depth, which is how the Jayhawks weathered the storm in Atlanta and still entrusted to a win. Their competitors for that leading slot likewise have had hard minutes– or will have upcoming stretches– that can’t truly help make their case. UConn won’t play a major challenger(Memphis )up until Thanksgiving week. Alabama had to overcome a nine-minute scoring drought against McNeese on Monday.That said, Auburn’s win over Houston and bludgeoning of Vermont are engaging. Gonzaga beat Baylor by 38 points. So, the Jayhawks may not have done enough to feel safe and secure in their No. 1 ranking. Are they still the best group in America? They didn’t appear like it throughout the majority of the victory over the Spartans, though the effort came days after an exhilarating win over a top-10 North Carolina group. However this early in the season, no group has actually really separated from the pack.– Medcalf Michigan State had a hard time for long stretches however stayed within striking range of Kansas. What positives can the Spartans draw from Tuesday? play 0:25 Jaxon Kohler fired up after pulling MSU even Jaxon Kohler buries a triple from the top of the key for a Michigan State 3-pointer. The long dry spells on the offensive end were undoubtedly concerning, magnified by the reality the Spartans’shooting struggles have been a style in

the early season. They routed Monmouth and Niagara, but shot just 9-for-36 on 3-pointers in both

games. Their 3-for-24 3-point performance Tuesday brings those miserable numbers even lower.But it wasn’t all bad. Michigan State’s defense is legally great. Kansas had its own shooting problems, and a few of the credit has to go to the Spartans, who also defended very well in their first two games. Starting 6-foot-11 Xavier Booker and 7-footer Szymon Zapala makes it challenging for opposing guards to complete at the rim, and the boundary players are aggressive.Offensively, Jaxon Kohler showed flashes as a go-to low-post operator for the second straight game, and freshman guard Jase Richardson continues to look as if he’ll be a factor this season in East Lansing. I do not know if Tuesday materially changed Michigan State’s season-long outlook, however hanging with the No. 1 team in the country for 40 minutes provides some optimism for Sparty.– Borzello What does it state about the state of college basketball that this very first game doesn’t have actually a projected draft pick?It’s a clear sign of where college basketball is trending, especially in regards to what Hall of Fame coaches such as Izzo and Self believe wins games in this era.Michigan State hasn’t had a first-round draft pick because 2018, so it’s clear those aren’t the type of players Izzo is recruiting any longer. Gamers such as Richardson could arrive, and Booker and Coen Carr might get NBA looks down the road, however unless a group has lotto choices (as Duke does), transfers and upperclassmen are what many college coaches believe win games right now, as the results of the previous few NCAA competitions would suggest. That may limit the ceiling of a team such as Michigan State, which has looked pretty stale at times over the past few seasons, however it does offer Izzo a quite constant floor.Kansas has taken that veteran mantra to a severe this season, with 3 24-year-old starters and 5 of its top eight scorers plucked from the portal. The Jayhawks can invest significant resources in top-tier freshmen– currently drawing in 2026 draft possible No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson for 2025-26– however if they do not land the best of the best, they’re most likely to construct around backup freshman center Flory Bidunga.The rest of college basketball, with couple of exceptions, would enjoy to imitate that type of roster building.