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After having the season, most notably the March Madness tournament, cut short last season, college basketball is off to a fast start. That is not to say that there haven’t been any hiccups to the beginning of the season, but the NCAA is hopeful that it can get a full season in. With the season getting into full swing, let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories in college hoops.

Week Full Of Upsets

There has been a lot of shuffling in the top-25 after the week saw several of the top teams fall. Here is a look at three of the most notable:

Virginia Tech Beats No. 3 Villanova: Virginia Tech pulled off a shocker on Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats. The Hokies and Wildcats were tied at the end of the first half and the end of regulation, but it was Virginia Tech that prevailed in overtime. The final score saw the Hokies win 81-73. In the win, Keve Aluma had 23 points and eight rebounds, while Collin Gillespie led Villanova in the loss with 25 points.

San Francisco Shocks No. 4 University of Virginia: Another shocker last Friday saw the San Francisco Dons overtake the No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers. In the win, guard Jamaree Bouyea led the way for the Dons with 19 points and six assists. In the loss, Justin McKoy and Reece Beekman had 11 points apiece for the Cavaliers.

Richmond upsets No. 10 Kentucky: One last upset featured the Richmond Spiders upsetting the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats. After being down four at halftime, the Spiders put up 48 points in the second half to beat the Wildcats 76-64. Nathan Cayo and Blake Francis led the Spiders with 18 points apiece while Brandon Boston Jr. had 20 points and ten rebounds in the loss for Kentucky.

Gonzaga Played Despite Positive Test

Unfortunately, COVID-19 is going to be a hot topic the entire season as teams try to navigate between being able to play games while also staying safe and following protocols. Already, there have been several games canceled or postponed due to COVID-related issues.

It is for that reason that it is perplexing that No. 1 Gonzaga was able to play Auburn on Friday. During an interview after the game, head coach Mark Few acknowledged that one player and one member of the administrative staff had tested positive. Furthermore, another player was put into quarantine for contact tracing.

While they technically followed all of the protocols put in place by the tournament and followed the health experts, it also seems concerning that in a team sport a positive test would only produce one other player that was in close contact.

While coach Few did not specifically mention names, it is believed that the two players were Dominick Harris and Julian Strawther. Neither of them are regulars but obviously would be around the rest of the team on a regular basis.

While everyone wants to see a season be played out in full, college basketball may be facing an uphill battle as it is impossible to have the same “bubble” effect as the NBA had. Granted, with the NCAA’s announcement that the March Madness tournament would be played in a single location, that will help. The problem, though, is that prior to that time, you have college programs traveling throughout the nation, and keeping all players safe will be a tough task under the circumstances.

Where programs need to be careful is if they push the envelope and things spiral out of control, we may not even get to the final tournament.

In regard to the game itself, Gonzaga was able to avoid the pitfalls of an upset by easily dismantling Auburn 90-67.

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