Basketball brunch: What we learned from college hoops' opening night
For all the preseason rankings and recruiting leaderboards this year's freshman class headlined, almost all of the accolades were based on potential instead of merit.
A two-time All-American returned for his senior season and it was backpage news. A projected top-2 NBA draft pick chose to return for another year and it was still overshadowed.
HIGHLIGHTS: How the top 25 teams fared
The element of surprise lured us in for months as we geared up for what figures to be one of the most exciting college basketball seasons in years.
And it was all based on the projected ability of a bunch of teenagers.
ONE-STOP SHOP: 2013-14 season index Ranking the freshman performances
The college basketball season opened finally opened Friday on a night with zero games between two ranked teams, but it was must-watch material for the simple fact that we finally got some answers.
As it turns out, these freshmen were pretty good. Three names in particular stood out and it's the same group that was ranked first, second and third in the 2013 class and could very well go 1-2-3 in June's NBA draft. Kansas' Andrew Wiggins, Duke's Jabari Parker and Kentucky's Julius Randle provided a dose of star power that only leaves us wanting more.
FOR THE WIN: 12 must-see players in 2013-14
1. Julius Randle, Kentucky: Ahem, dominance alert. The 6-9 Randle blended in on a Kentucky roster boasting six McDonald's All-Americans but her emerged as the Justin Timberlake (yes I just made an N'SYNC reference) of the band after a 23-point, 15-rebound performance that helped Kentucky run over UNC-Asheville and coach Nick McDevitt calling him a 'specimen.'
2. Jabari Parker, Duke: The silky-smooth 6-8 forward only took eight shots in Duke's 111-77 rout of Davidson and made eight of them to finish with a team-high 22 points, while adding six rebounds. Parker's versatile teammate, Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood, also had 22 points.
3. Andrew Wiggins, Kansas: Perhaps the hype was so high for Wiggins based off LeBron James comparisons that we'd be let down with anything less than a 40-point, dunk-all-over-the-team-and-its-water-boy-and-bus-driver performance. 'He could go for 20 and 10 and disappoint everybody,' Bill Self said. Wiggins wasn't dominant by any stretch. He finished with a team-best 16 points to go along with three rebounds and three steals in KU's 80-63 win over Louisiana-Monroe. The argument can be made that Wiggins was too passive, but the 6-8 forward showed maturity and comfortableness in his first college game and it'd be unfair to suggest he lacked aggressiveness because he led the team in shot attempts -shooting 9-for-5 from the field.
Winners Oregon: Freshly-eligible transfer Joseph Young had 24 points and five rebounds to lead the Ducks to an 82-75 season-opening victory over Georgetown at a U.S. army base gym in South Korea packed with hundreds of soldiers. No. 18 Oregon won despite the loss of two players to suspension, including starting point guard Dominic Artis. Syracuse: The seventh-ranked Orange were trailing by four points but thanks to sharpshooting guard Tyler Cooney (27 points off seven three-pointers), Jim Boeheim's squad was able to coast for an 82-60 victory. UConn: Up by 17 midway through the second half, No. 19 UConn watched the comfortable lead it had built on Maryland slip away but UConn fended off a furious Terps rally to win 78-77 before exhaling. Losers Miami: A year after winning the ACC Championship, the Hurricanes lost their opening game to St. Francis (NY). Yikes. Kansas State:A projected Big 12 middle-of-the-pack finisher, Bruce Weber's KSU group lost 60-58 to Northern Colorado. Florida: This injury-plagued squad looked sluggish but hung on for a 77-69 win over North Florida.
4. Aaron Gordon, Arizona: Gordon scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots in his collegiate debut for No. 5 Arizona and the Wildcats opened their season with a 73-62 victory over pesky Cal Poly on Friday night.
Tweet that speaks volume: Michigan State cruised Friday night in its season opener vs. McNeese State and coach Tom Izzo had a gem response to John Calipari's argument that it's 'unfair' for his young UK squad to have to face an experienced team like the Spartans so early in the season.
Highlight reel: Fresno State sunk UC-Irvine with this halfcourt buzzer-beater.
*** NCAA Jam Session: The night started off with a monster slam from VMI's Jordan Weethee, who posterized a Citadel defender and followed up with a perfect post-dunk camera face. Then later in the night, Arkansas' Michael Qualls later decided to make a poster of defender Keaton Jackson with this monster slam. Best moment: Utah State's 78-65 win against USC on Friday night in Logan, Utah was notable for a few reasons. The Aggies beat the Trojans for the third time in their past four meetings. They handed coach Andy Enfield a loss in his first game as USC's coach. And it featured the return to the court of Danny Berger, who had not appeared in a game for Utah State since Dec. 4, 2012, when he suffered a heart attack during a practice. He was released from a nearby hospital four days later and watched his teammates from the bench that night, but he spent the rest of the season recuperating instead of playing. On Friday night, he finally did play - clocking 21 minutes of action (roughly his season average prior to his heart attack last season) and scoring five points with four assists and a career-high eight rebounds. 'I had a lot of adrenaline out there and my heart was pumping a little bit,' Berger said afterward. 'It was good to feel and it was good to be out there.' On deck Saturday: Top 25 games, all times Eastern. Scott Gleeson, a national college basketball writer/producer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @ScottMGleeson. ALL THE ACTION FROM COLLEGE BASKETBALL'S OPENING WEEKEND 
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Star watch: Bryce Cotton scored 28 points in Providence's 82-78 victory over Boston College in overtime.
Win that matters most: In a clash between two teams that should have been in the preseason top 25, Baylor beat Colorado 72-60. It's a win that could push the Bears into the top 25 of the Coaches Poll should another late top 25 team lose. A close runner-up came with Wisconsin's narrow win over St. John's, 86-75.
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