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The Breakfast Buffet: UConn’s depth, Mark Byington, the Big 12

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

UConn’s depth is reminiscent of 2022-23
We all remember how that season went. The genesis of the Huskies’ return to blue blood status, UConn’s first national title run under Dan Hurley featured a lethal bench that saw four potent reserves — Donovan Clingan, Joey Calcaterra, Hassan Diarra, and Nahiem Alleyne — average double figure minute and play major roles. This team has a similar makeup. In Friday’s 74-61 win over Illinois at MSG, UConn had four different players — Malachi Smith, Braylon Mullins, Eric Reibe, and Jayden Ross — come off the bench and play double figure minutes all while combining for 29 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. History feels like it’s repeating itself in Storrs. This is ONLY November.

Mark Byington is doing Mark Byington things
It’s not as pronounced as other head coaches in college basketball, but Byington’s current three-year run in the sport is awfully impressive. Two seasons ago in 2024, he led James Madison to an NCAA Tournament win over Wisconsin prior to taking the Vanderbilt job. The Dores were then picked to finish 16th in the SEC Preseason Poll a year ago and wound up earning a bid to March Madness. Byington currently has Vanderbilt at 8-0 after it beat Saint Mary’s 96-71 on Friday in the title game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas .This guy can coach.

The Big 12 is getting mileage out of unexpected places
Everyone knew that Houston, BYU, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Arizona, and Kansas were going to be relevant nationally prior to this season, but the depth of this conference has truly been on display this week. In the past few days, TCU beat both Wisconsin and Florida, Arizona State upset Texas, Utah shocked Ole Miss, and Colorado picked up a key neutral site victory over Washington. Oklahoma State is also 2-0 this season against power conference opponents. None of those teams were picked to finish in the top half of the league. The Big 12’s depth is no joke.

On The Side

  • Duke’s Cameron Boozer (22.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists) could be the first freshman big man to be an AP First-Team All-American since Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton and Duke’s Marvin Bagley earned first-team honors during the 2017-18 season.
  • Michigan’s three opponents this past week at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas — San Diego State, Auburn, and Gonzaga — shot a combined 32 percent from the field 28.7 percent from three-point range. The Wolverines’ defense is going to be a major storyline all season long.
  • Florida is plus 23 this season against power conference opponents when Urban Klavzar is on the floor. Are we sensing a trend here?
  • Iowa’s top four scorers — Bennett Stirtz, Alvaro Folguieras, Tavion Banks, and Cooper Koch — are all shooting 45.7 percent or better from three-point range.
  • Seton Hall has already tied its win total — seven — from all of last season.

Daily Specials

  • Bethune Cookman at Indiana
  • Montana State at Utah State
  • DePaul/LSU

Leftovers