It was all smiles for all but one of the teams with numbers next to their names as margins escalated on the first day of the college basketball season.
The Oui-Play doubleheader in Paris kept delivering the best and most competitive games of the initial day. It was where the only upset occurred when No. 16 Baylor took down No. 7 Duke, and where National Player of the Year contender Mikayla Blakes poured in 27 points for Vanderbilt to edge Cal, 74-65.
In the United States, it was more a case of how much the favorites would win by than if they would win at all. No. 4 Texas, No. 22 Oklahoma State, No. 2 South Carolina and No. 11 North Carolina all cruised past the 90-point threshold. The SEC (12-0), Big 12 (9-0) and Big Ten (9-0) all swept the competition.
Connecticut opens its title defense on Tuesday with No. 20 Louisville in the Armed Forces Classic (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). No. 8 Tennessee and No. 9 NC State co-headline the second day of action in Greensboro, North Carolina, (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2). No. 5 LSU (vs. Houston Christian), No. 13 Michigan (vs. Canisius), No. 18 USC (vs. New Mexico State), No. 23 Michigan State (vs. Mercyhurst) and No. 24 Richmond (Mount St. Marys) are also in action.
On to the takeaways from the first day of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
No. 4 Texas dropped 123 points in its debut against Incarnate Word, the high of the first day of action and a record for the Longhorns Moody Center. The previous mark was 119. The 72-point margin of victory, 123-51, matched their opener last year, which led to a Final Four appearance. Oklahoma State was the only other team to reach the century mark in a 109-48 win over New Orleans.
The Longhorns shot 65.4% from the floor on 78 attempts, a scorching hot night in which nearly everything went in for most of their roster. They were 7 of 17 on 3-pointers, an area of concern a season ago. In that dominating 2024-25 opener, they were only 2 of 9.
Breya Cunningham, a junior transfer from Arizona, made all seven attempts in her Texas debut. She received the start at center over Kyla Oldacre, who was also 7 of 7 from the bench. Jordan Lee, who started, and Bryanna Preston were 16 of 24 field goals with nine rebounds and six assists.
It wasnt a rosy beginning to No. 3 UCLAs charge for a second consecutive Final Four appearance. Head coach Cori Close called a 77-53 win over San Diego State on a neutral site a good wake-up call.
Honestly, it was flat all the way around, Close said. I didnt think we had a focus defensively. I didnt think we played near to our potential on both sides of the ball.
Starting point guard Kiki Rice came off the bench while coming back from shoulder surgery she underwent in April. Close said she has not been healthy in two years. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 12 points (5 of 9) in her Bruins debut after missing last year with injury, and Gianna Kneepkens notched nine points and seven rebounds after transferring from Utah.
Lauren Betts led all scorers with 21 in a clear size advantage over the mid-major squad. Sienna Betts, the younger sister of Lauren and a top recruit, did not play because of a lower leg injury.
South Carolina makes a championship living by boasting waves of unrelenting talent that head coach Dawn Staley can tinker with for the best matchups. The Gamecocks two leading scorers in their 2024-25 Final Four run came off the bench. It was a win-by-committee approach that went 10 players deep.
Not so this time. It was the starters who carried South Carolina to its 15th consecutive opening victory in Staleys tenure. The quintet of Joyce Edwards (13 points), Madina Okot (12), Tessa Johnson (19), TaNiya Latson (20) and Raven Johnson (11), the only returning Gamecock starter, each reached double-digits in a 94-54 win over Grand Canyon.
The backcourt proved as potent on the court as on paper. Latson, the transfer from Florida State who led DI in scoring a year ago, led the way, hitting 7-of-10 field goals, while the Johnson and Johnson backcourt duo drilled three threes each. Raven Johnson neared a triple-double with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Staley said over the weekend she knew her team would put up a lot of points; rather, it was a matter of how many her team would allow. Defense, she said after the win, remains the side of the ball to improve upon as the season progresses with a new slew of players.
We cant rely on scoring 90 points every game, she said.
The first upset of the season belonged to No. 16 Baylor in its 58-52 win over Duke, re-exposing old wounds for the No. 7-ranked Blue Devils. Dukes offense mustered a paltry 19 second-half points, barely over its first-quarter (17) and second-quarter (16) performances. They were 4 of 21 (19%) in the frame, dropping their overall field-goal percentage to .290, and missed all nine second-half 3-pointers.
The ranked opponents entered the fourth quarter knotted at 43, but Duke didnt score until the 6:07 mark. They went on another three-minute scoring drought, snapped by Toby Fourniers jumper that cut the deficit to five. Six of their fourth-quarter points came in a 90-second span in which they stayed within a two-possession reach.
Head coach Kara Lawson said after the loss that season openers are an opportunity to find ones strengths and weaknesses. Duke already knows what those are in the big picture. It needs to develop ways to break through these droughts as the season continues. Lawson likes to schedule tough competition in the non-conference slate because it exposes those weaknesses in a way that forces players to adjust and improve.
Baylor guard Taliah Scott earned the badge for best transfer of the day-old season. Scott scored a game-high 24 in the upset of Duke and hit two of the Bears three 3-pointers. It wasnt that she scored them; it was when and how. She had 12 in the fourth quarter, which the Bears won, 15-9, and hit a clutch 3-pointer at the end of the third that helped tie the game.
Scott averaged 22.1 points in 20 games at Arkansas and 20.3 points in three games a year ago at Auburn. A wrist injury ended her season. Head coach Nicki Collen claimed when the Bears signed Scott that she would be one of the best guards of the country, and the player has put the nation on notice. Shes an asset to an already strong Baylor squad that lacked a go-to scorer.
Scotts performance stood taller than more notable names largely by virtue of playing in the most evenly matched game of the day. Chazadi Chit-Chat Wright, a sophomore point guard from Georgia Tech, opened her Iowa career with 9 points, 7 assists and 2 steals in an 86-51 win over Southern. Oluchi Okananwa continued her leadership of the Terps offense with 18 points (6 of 9, 4 of 4 from 3). Cotie McMahon shot 4 of 6 from the perimeter for 13 points in her Ole Miss debut.
Belmont asserted an early case as the mid-major to watch by challenging No. 6 Oklahoma most of the opener. The Bruins led in the third quarter and were within two in the fourth until Oklahoma tore off a 22-7 run in the games final 7:44 to win, 84-67. Oklahoma center Raegan Beers led all scorers with 29 points, and the Sooners dominated the paint, 54-18, and boards, 61-38.
The Bruins were voted the preseason favorites to win the Missouri Valley Conference and return three starters from a team that reached the Womens Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) championship game, a harbinger of success the following campaign. Theyll have opportunities to boost their NCAA Tournament resume and put a damper on others with contests against No. 7 Duke, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 24 Kentucky, Ohio State (receiving votes) and Princeton (RV).