This year I skipped the whole preseason prediction process and instead decided to roll right into the regular season. Last night was the official opening night of the college basketball season, and it was a dandy. Two major games, in particular did not disappoint, with one being on the national stage and one being on the international stage in Germany. And then, of course there were other games that stood out to even the most casual fans.

Here is my recap of the night in abbreviated format:

Heavyweight Thrillers

Kentucky 72, Maryland 69

The Wildcats may have a slew of fabulous freshmen, but they are a long way from last year’s squad that won the national championship. The nation’s number one recruit, Nerlens Noel, was limited in all ways, showing raw ability and potential at times, but major inexperience at others. Ryan Harrow and Alex Poythress also struggled, but it was Kyle Wiltjer and Jarrod Polson who stepped up and carried UK to the narrow victory.

Maryland has a future top-10 draft pick in big man Alex Len, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds. The Terps should probably cut down on the number of 3-pointers they shoot, as they only shot 3-19 from beyond the arc on the night. James Padgett and Nick Faust held their own, too against the talented yet undisciplined Wildcats.

Connecticut 66, Michigan State 62

The game of the night came from Germany, where the 2009 Final Four re-match dazzled and entertained our troops stationed overseas. Michigan State started the game about as poorly as possible, trailing by as many as 16 in the first half. The Spartans fought back in typical Tom Izzo fashion, crashing the offensive glass and pounding the ball inside. Michigan State appears to lack leadership without Draymond Green, instead relying on a bevy of underclassmen to lead the charge. Big men Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne are talented and will really determine how far MSU can go this season, but struggled against a sub-par UConn front court.

On the flip side, UConn’s guards, Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright, will dictate their success this season. Forward DeAndre Daniels is also intriguing and will generate a lot of buzz. He can undoubtedly play but he is somewhat hesitant to really play physical with his 195lbs frame.

Eyebrow-Raising Upsets

South Alabama 76, Florida State 71

It was close the whole way, but former Miami guard Antoine Allen tipped the game in the Jaguars’ favor as he made four of five 3-pointers en route to 23 points. Florida State could never get into a groove, and Michael Snaer struggled mightily, shooting 2-11 and turning the ball over five times. Terrance Shannon and Okaro White looked good for the Seminoles, but in general the team played sluggish against the upbeat Jaguars.

Bucknell 70, Purdue 65

Purdue may be rebuilding and Bucknell may contend for the Patriot League crown, but this result is still somewhat shocking. A back and forth game the whole night, it never seemed like Purdue had control, even as they held a narrow lead for most of the first half.  Bucknell forward Mike Muscala struggled at times, yet Cameron Ayers picked up the slack, scoring 6 points in 45 seconds early in the second half, shifting momentum over to the visiting team.

College men’s basketball is one of the most unique college sports in how it ends up determining who will win the NCAA championship for the season every year. Instead of simply having the top two ranked teams at the end of the normal season play each other and determine a winner that way, college basketball uses a system most commonly known as March Madness. In this system schools are assigned to play against each other in a bracket set up. After each game, the losing team is eliminated from the bracket and the winning team moves on to the next round. This allows a team that might not have been great during the regular reason to have a chance at making it all the way and winning the championship. The key word here is “allows.” It isn’t often that a team that wasn’t ranked or wasn’t ranked very high ends up winning the championship, but there’s always the possibility.

College students eagerly anticipate March Madness all through the regular season. Students agree that it’s a lot of fun to watch your team play and win during the regular season, but during March Madness it’s so much better. During March Madness there is more pressure on the team, so if the team wins and they advance on to the next round that puts them one step closer at potentially winning. No college student likes to see their team lose during March Madness. In fact, in the past some schools have had riots when their men’s basketball team lost in one of the last few rounds, such as VCU losing in the Final Four round last season.

Another reason that college student like March Madness so much is because it lasts through the whole month of March. For college football, the top two teams compete in the championship game and then it’s determined who the winner is, along with the bowl games that determine who the winner is of a specific bowl game. All of these games are usually right after New Years. These games don’t normally go more than a week past New Years. That’s what makes March Madness so great. There are games going on well past the end of the regular season. This year’s March Madness is predicted to be one of the best according to some students at OSU. Students have said that because there has been such a change in the past few weeks in the top ten teams and where they are ranked that March Madness will be something you won’t want to miss. March Madness is coming up right around the corner and it’s anyone’s guess as for who is going to win.

Valentines Day has always been about spending time with your significant other and celebrating how much the two of you mean together. However, these days Valentine’s Day is more than that. I think what better way to spend Valentine’s Day than watch the Buckeye’s play? It’s no secret that you want to watch the game and know how it turns out, so why deceive your significant other and secretly check the score on your phone while you’re out celebrating tonight. Instead you should order in and watch the game at 9 pm while Ohio State plays away at Minnesota.

I am not the only one that thinks this. In the past few days I have asked many students around campus what their plans are for Valentine’s Day, and shocker, most of the answers were the same. Most students have plans with their boyfriend or girlfriend to go out to a nice dinner and just spend some “quality time together” outside of their busy schedules. When I brought up the fact that there is a basketball game tonight, almost every student said that they knew there was and that they would either be getting updates on their phone while they were out or that they would record the game at home and watch in later. I asked why not just do an earlier dinner and then watch the game with your loved one and most of them gave me the strangest look. Apparently the thought hadn’t crossed their minds.

The students that I spoke with said that they had just planned on spending time with their loved one and that they didn’t want to tell their loved one that they also wanted to watch the game because it might “ruin” Valentine’s Day. The guys that I talked to all said that their girlfriends would be very upset if they even brought up watching the game tonight. The girls that I talked to that said that they wanted to watch the game tonight had various reasons for not doing so. Some of them said that their boyfriends had planned romantic dinners or dates and that they didn’t want them to think that they didn’t appreciate all of the thought that their boyfriends had put into planning the “perfect” Valentine’s Day. Some of the other girls said that they didn’t want their boyfriends to know that they are so into sports, because then that would be all that they ever talk about and that would just “ruin the relationship.”

After speaking with everyone, I gave them all the challenge of speaking up to their significant other and mentioning watching the game together – it still has them spending time together on Valentine’s Day, just not in the traditional manner. I challenge all of my readers to do this as well. Sports are a part of our everyday lives, it’s not just guys that want to watch the games tonight either. So instead of spending extra money on a movie after dinner, see if your loved one would be willing to go home, cuddle up on the couch and watch the Buckeyes crush Minnesota. There’s a good chance that they might just be willing to – give it a try. There’s nothing to lose on this one.

Buckeyes are known for three big things when it comes to sports – motivation, spirit, and heart. These three things are what help to make the athletes at Ohio State so great, but in the men’s basketball game against Michigan State this past week the team really seemed to be lacking in all three of these. This was a big game for both teams, because they are not only competing in the NCAA tournament, but they are also both Big 10 teams and are competing for a Big 10 title as well. On Saturday, before the game, Columbus was filled with people in their Scarlet and Grey as well as people in their green and white. There was no shortage of fans for either team. So wouldn’t you think that there being so many people there to cheer on both teams that the Buckeye’s would have had a little more spirit themselves when they were playing? Apparently not.

After the game, I spoke to some students and fans about what their thought was on the Buckeye’s lost. Many of them felt that the team really wasn’t playing their hardest for their game. One fan said “they seemed to have no heart in this game. It’s like they just didn’t want to be playing tonight.” This isn’t something that any athlete would want for one of their fans to be saying after a big game. Athletes aren’t only playing because they love the game; most of them also play because they love the popularity and the way that the fans love them.

I caught up with a few Michigan State fans after the game as well to get their opinion on the outcome, and I have to admit I was very surprised. A couple that I talked to said that they had planned on coming to this game and walking away with a loss. They figured that the game would be close, within 10 to 15 points (it was a 10 point difference) but they also figured that Ohio State would win. They even agreed with the Ohio State fan saying that the OSU players really didn’t seem to be all there tonight and that they were honestly kind of disappointed in that. It’s not often that fans of the opposing, winning team are disappointed in the home, losing team. So Buckeye’s where was the heart for this game? Let’s hope the players get it back for the next few games left in the season.

When your school is home to the sole undefeated basketball team over halfway through the season, the way you celebrate has to be unbeatable as well. And for the fans at Murray State University, nothing seems to be more fitting than a rap video created by three-die hard students in need for some more recognition for the 2011-2012 Racers. Thanks to SBNation, I came across one of the best sports fan videos I have seen in years.

What works in this video is that it shows everything and everyone on Murray State’s campus in full support of their unstoppable basketball team. It is not just the equivalent of the Cameron Crazies or Block-O; the entire university is involved—the rappers, cheerleaders, a classroom, a few players, and of course, a jam-packed gymnasium on game day.

Murray State was a prominent team last year, but they had multiple losses at this point in the season and did not last long in the 2010 tournament, let alone even making it in 2011. Excitement lingers everywhere as fans anxiously await upcoming opponents and pump the life into their unstoppable Racers. They do not want a repeat of 2010, simply making it to the Big Dance and getting knocked out in the second round. They want the third round. They want the Elite Eight. They want the National title. And it shows; they have taken it upon themselves to race around campus with a video camera in hand, capturing every ounce of support and enthusiasm they can gather, which is obviously not hard to find.

And if Murray State does happen to stumble upon a loss one of these days, we can assume their campus will be right behind them, pushing them into the postseason tournament and fighting for the National Championship. Murray State is not done with a loss, they are only just beginning. The 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is waiting.

Photo courtesy of the Washington Examiner

It is a rare occasion that the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team loses by 15 points, or 20 points, or, in this case, 33 points.

A team filled with multiple national championships from years past and numerous collegiate players who have moved on to successful careers in the NBA, it was probably a shock to all who tuned in last Monday night to see them get annihilated by the Florida State Seminoles. What turned out to be an even bigger surprise, however, was Roy Williams’ inability to lead five of his players off the court at the end of the game before the Florida State fans rushed it.

ExtremeSkins.com reports from ESPN that while making the precautious choice to flee the area with his benched players twelve seconds before the game ended, Williams neglected to remember the five remaining, leaving them to dig their way out against the raging students quickly approaching like fire.

What does it say, however, about Williams? It appears that when down 33 points to a team the Tarheels should beat, he forgoes the safety of his players coming off the bench. That is not to say he purposely put them in danger, but it is remarkably obvious that he cares deeply for the safety of his starters and even those who come off the bench but record more points.

You have to feel bad for the remaining five; after being utterly humiliated through a loss of 33 points and being the ones left on the court to face the embarrassment, they also have to deal with rejection from their very own coach who put them on the team. On small athletic teams, such as basketball, there will inevitably be the favorites, the elites, the “chosen ones.” But in Williams’ case, if you are going to completely disregard the others and show them no compassion, why take them under your wing anyway? Watching the clip was like watching a pack of abandoned puppies pushed out of their home and into the street; the players were left to fend for themselves among a sea of untamed college students ready to show them no mercy.

It is one thing for Williams to keep them on the bench most of their college basketball career, but to leave them to face the shame that they had not even caused in the first place is despicable. Williams has since apologized, but that is not to say an incident like this will not happen again, especially for other college basketball teams trying to uphold their prestigious athletic traditions.

Photo courtesy of Phil Sears/U.S. Presswire