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00:00But we do have some action on night number two of the 2024-25 college basketball season.
00:12No ranked teams in action tonight, as we saw a ton of them yesterday, but some more key
00:18matchups to know.
00:19Rice and FIU, five and a half point spread.
00:22Texas Tech, 28 and a half point favorite against Bethune-Cookman.
00:26We got Kansas State, should be a good year for Jerome Tang and company in the Big 12.
00:31They're laying 28 and a half.
00:33Could be a really good year for BYU.
00:36This Cougars team in Big 12 play, one to keep an eye on, 29 and a half point favorite.
00:41Washington's Big 10 debut as a program, new head coach in Danny Sprinkle.
00:47He brings over one of the Mountain West players of the year.
00:50That's great.
00:51Osibor now playing for the Huskies.
00:53They're laying 13 and a half against UC Davis, and Arizona State, who got walloped, did Bobby
01:00Hurley against his alma mater in Duke in an exhibition game.
01:04Sun Devils, 18 and a half point favorite against Idaho State.
01:07Anything catch your eye tonight, Joe Bernieri?
01:09Yeah, I'm going to be very interested in seeing Arizona State and can the Hurley brother keep
01:15up here?
01:16Is he on a hot seat with his big, his other brother there at UConn, who once again is
01:23looking to win a third straight championship that nobody thinks they can do.
01:28I think Arizona State, I think they're poised to make a pretty good run here this year.
01:32I would not be at all afraid to lay that number there, because I do think he's looking to
01:39come out and make a big statement here tonight at Arizona State.
01:42Kevin Young, the new head coach for BYU, brings over some NBA experience.
01:47BYU is recruiting really well right now.
01:51What a time for the Cougs.
01:5222nd in the Ken Palm rankings, by the way.
01:55Joe Bernieri, we appreciate the time on this Tuesday.
01:58Next up, we're going to focus with John Rothstein on some college hoops, but we love them.
02:02Action numbers.
02:03Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday here on Sports Screen.
02:06More of the Early Line next.
02:08Sure this might only be the second day of the 2024-25 college basketball season.
02:14Sure this is only November, but this is how you know a new college basketball season is
02:20fully underway.
02:22John Rothstein joins us live right here on this Tuesday on the Early Line on Sports Grid
02:27on behalf of the FanDuel Sportsbook, and of course, the best college basketball insider,
02:32in my humble opinion, working for CBS Sports.
02:36John Rothstein, we are so happy to have you here on this Tuesday to tip off a new college
02:41basketball campaign.
02:43Can't wait to get your thoughts on the season and the opening day of the year yesterday
02:47as well.
02:48Ben, great to be with you.
02:50And I think I speak candidly when I say great to finally talk to you in person for the first
02:54time.
02:55I know, man.
02:56It has been too long.
02:57No off-season beers for us this time, John Rothstein.
03:00On the Upper East Side, maybe we'll change that at some point throughout this college
03:05hoops season.
03:06Busy day yesterday, John.
03:08356 Division I men's and women's college basketball games, and it ended with a top
03:1310 tilt out in Spokane between sixth-ranked Gonzaga and number eight Baylor.
03:19But with a 38-point win, John, for the Zags.
03:22In my notes, I was going to ask you, John, what was your main takeaway for this season
03:27opener for both Gonzaga and Baylor?
03:29We don't really need the main takeaway.
03:31Gonzaga was overwhelmingly impressive.
03:34But what stood out to you most about the Zags in a 38-point dominating win over Baylor?
03:40We spend so much time celebrating new additions, whether it's through the transfer portals,
03:45especially in this climate, or five-star freshmen, that retention is not celebrated
03:51enough or focused on enough in this current climate of college sports.
03:55Look at the two teams last season that played in the national championship game, UConn and
04:00Purdue.
04:01Seven of the 10 players that started in that game were in those respective programs the
04:07season prior.
04:08And if you look at Gonzaga's breakdown roster-wise entering the season, the Bulldogs returned
04:14over 75% of their scoring from last season's team that won 27 games and lost to Purdue
04:21in the Sweet 16.
04:23That includes six of their top seven scorers from that unit.
04:26Baylor, while obviously extremely talented, was leaning on two impact transfers in Norch
04:32Adomir and Jeremy Roach, and also a five-star freshman in Vijay Edgecombe.
04:37Gonzaga had rhythm and chemistry.
04:39It showed.
04:40Yeah, it certainly did.
04:42And when you look at Mark Few's team, Nolan Hickman back, team's leading scorer, 17 points.
04:48Graham E.K., 15 points as well.
04:50And Ryan Nembhard orchestrating the offense, John, double-digit dimes last night with 11.
04:57So John, it's very early, right?
04:58We're still five months away from Final Four weekend in San Antonio.
05:02It's a long college basketball season here in non-con action into conference play, and
05:07then of course a tournament described as madness in March.
05:11But as we look at the 10 best prices to win a national championship this year on the FanDuel
05:16Sportsbook, if you had to highlight one of these 10 teams that you believe will be in
05:20the title conversation all season long, which program would that be?
05:25I'm going to go with two.
05:26I'm going to take Houston and Alabama.
05:28Houston, to me, would have been in the Final Four last season had Jamal Shedd not went
05:33down, obviously, with that devastating injury against Duke in the Sweet 16.
05:37Also, Ben, I remember this especially closely because I was with Houston as a sideline reporter
05:42during the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.
05:45Houston also last year did not have Terrence Arsenault, who was out with a season-ending
05:51injury, and did not have JoJo Tugler, their backup post player, who was out with a season-ending
05:56injury.
05:57So this rendition of Houston is going to be the deepest rendition that we have seen under
06:02Kelvin Sampson.
06:04And as far as Alabama goes, look, I can say without hesitation that this is the most anticipated
06:10season in the history of Alabama's basketball program.
06:15And it's because the Crimson Tide, who are coming off their first Final Four appearance
06:20in school history, are vastly better defensively than they were a season ago when they went
06:27to a Final Four.
06:28And the main reason why is the addition of Rutgers transfer Cliff Omori.
06:32Ben, the numbers don't lie.
06:35Last season, Alabama blocked 133 shots as a team.
06:39Omori blocked 93 by himself at Rutgers.
06:44To anchor that defense, one of the woes for Nate Oates, the question never the offense.
06:49110 points in the opener for Alabama last night.
06:53John, you see that group of four teams at 11-1 to win a national championship, only
06:57behind the favorites Duke.
06:58We'll talk about the talented Blue Devils and that young freshman class in just a moment.
07:03One of those groups, one of those teams, and the head coach on your screen, it's Dan Hurley's
07:08Huskies, the two-time reigning national champs in college basketball, looking to make history,
07:14trying to become the first three-time national champion back-to-back-to-back since the John
07:20Wooden days in the early 70s at UCLA.
07:23What will it take, John, for this Connecticut team to make history this season?
07:28Well, there are two elements that I'm looking closely at right now for UConn.
07:33One is a big part of these back-to-back runs for UConn to win the national championship
07:38in 23-24 in convincing fashion was the two-headed monster at center, Sanogo and Klingen, and
07:44then Klingen and Samson Johnson.
07:46Samson Johnson and Tarris Reid have to be dominant together for 40 minutes at the five-spot.
07:53And then the perimeter for UConn has to be in a situation where it takes a major step
07:58forward, and that's directly correlated to St. Mary's transfer, Aiden Mahaney.
08:03Dan Hurley told me when I spoke to him last week that Aiden Mahaney has to be somewhere
08:08in between what Tristan Newton was in his first year in UConn's program in 2023 and
08:14what Cam Spencer was in UConn's program in 2024.
08:18They need Aiden Mahaney to be close to an all-Big East caliber player if UConn's going
08:23to have a chance to three-peat, but I want to point this out, Ben.
08:27UConn in the last two years has won 12 NCAA tournament games by an average of 21.7 points
08:35per game.
08:36So the Huskies don't have to be nearly as good as they've been to win it all once again.
08:42If UConn was 15 points worse than it was the last two years combined, it would still be
08:49beating opponents by almost seven points per contest.
08:51Yeah, it would be crazy.
08:53Quickly here, John, about 30 seconds left.
08:55The debut for Cooper Flagg and Duke last night, 96-62 in Durham, a cover as well.
09:02How do the national championship favorites entering the year look in their season opener?
09:08You know, what you would expect in a bye game against Maine, we're not going to have a real
09:11feel for Duke against top-notch competition until one week today they go mano-a-mano with
09:18Kentucky in the Champions Classic.
09:21Now that is going to be incredible.
09:23Cooper Flagg good, Khan Knipple great last night for the Blue Devils.
09:28John Rothstein, we think we're on the early line next.
09:32The college basketball season in 2024-25 now officially underway.
09:36A lot of men's basketball scores that we have brought you so far in these three hours.
09:41Let's look at the opening night of action in women's college basketball.
09:45It was nighttime out in Paris, but actually early in the afternoon out here stateside
09:51for a couple of marquee top-20 tilts under the Eiffel Tower with the very talented Juju
09:56Watkins and USC taking on Ole Miss and UCLA matching up against Louisville in some highly
10:02competitive games for some of the best teams in the country yesterday.
10:07USC surviving at the end, a couple of clutch free throws, not from Juju Watkins, but Kiki
10:13Arjofan to pull things through for the Trojans yesterday who went cold from the floor against
10:22Ole Miss, but do survive.
10:24The running rebs do cover as a 10.5 point underdog.
10:27UCLA laying near double digits as well against Louisville.
10:31The cards cover, but do lose by 766-59.
10:35UCLA made a deep run of the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament a year ago before their season
10:41came to a close against LSU.
10:43How about the reigning national champs who have won two national championships in the last
10:47three years?
10:48That, of course, is Don Staley's Gamecocks in South Carolina, number one in the country and
10:53laying more than 20 yesterday out in Las Vegas against Michigan, a tournament team a season
10:59ago, just a six-point win for South Carolina, who is often dominant in non-conference action.
11:06Not the case yesterday.
11:07The Wolverines keep it close, 68-62 the final.
11:12I still think South Carolina is the rightful, deserved, and the best pick to win a national
11:17championship at plus 155, as we'll show you in just a moment.
11:22There it is.
11:23Notre Dame not all that far behind at a 6-1 number, and again, keep an eye on this very
11:28talented team this season.
11:30Led by Hannah Hidalgo, one of the best point guards in the country.
11:33Six steals yesterday for the Irish.
11:35Olivia Miles scoring 20 points for Notre Dame.
11:38They roll over Mercyhurst.
11:40LSU has lost a lot of pieces, of course, in the last two years, but they are still stacked
11:47under Kim Mulkey.
11:49Flau'jae Johnson still there.
11:51LSU knocking off Eastern Kentucky, winning by 51-95-44.
11:57If you don't know the name, Audie Crooks, I would start to pay attention.
12:01One of the best bigs in women's college hoops.
12:03Leads eighth-ranked Iowa State to a 96-56 victory over Chicago State in the season opener.
12:11Plenty of other action yesterday around women's college basketball to start off this new season.
12:18Nebraska handles Omaha in the in-state rivalry, winning by 40.
12:23Last year, a really good team for the Cornhuskers, making it to the NCAA Tournament.
12:29Indiana has been great under Terry Morton.
12:31When you look at their number, 82-60 yesterday in the victory against Brown.
12:36And Alabama women's basketball also ranked entering the year.
12:41They go absolutely nuclear yesterday, 115 points for Alabama.
12:47The men's side scored 110, the women's team putting up 115.
12:53So just some names and some numbers to pay attention to to start off a new season in college hoops.
12:59Did want to make this point for UConn.
13:02That's men's basketball.
13:04Women's basketball team, as you saw just moments ago, second-best number to win a national
13:09championship led by Paige Beckers.
13:12They are going to be great this year in stores under Gino Auriemma.
13:16Once again, that 4-1 number.
13:18The Connecticut Huskies on the men's side, an 11-1 price tied in that group of four programs
13:23for the second-best number behind Duke.
13:26UConn opens their season tomorrow against Sacred Heart.
13:30No ranked teams in action on this second day of the college basketball season.
13:35On the men's side, to start this season, we will see some more tomorrow.
13:40So maybe that paves the way for a huge night in college football.
13:45Again, those college football playoff rankings for the first time in the 12-team era, for
13:50the first time this year in 2024.
13:53We have appreciated the AP poll, but after tonight, it takes a back seat.
13:57It's how the selection committee is seeing the country in college football.
14:02And I like to get a little bit mad at the committee at some times because I don't think
14:07they do a great job of standard operating procedure, protocol, for how they carry things
14:13over and what is most important year-to-year, week-to-week throughout these rankings.
14:19And these first rankings will set the stage, because again, you have to work your way up
14:25or work your way back.
14:27And you will have to be ranked in front of teams for an at-large berth.
14:31And for those five highest ranked conference champs, it's not just being in the top five,
14:35it's also being some of the four highest ranked to earn that opening round bye.
14:39I hope they set a precedent tonight in criteria that continues for a season.
14:44And how about some action football, maybe leaning under in both?
14:49The Early Line returns tomorrow, 8 a.m. Eastern Time on A Wednesday.