It has been 37 days since the men's college basketball season began -- and what a wild opening stretch it has been.
The freshmen class quickly emerged as one of the best in the history of the sport. The group is so good that Washington's Hannes Steinbach, at an average of 18.5 points and 12.8 rebounds, is projected as the 21st pick in ESPN's 2026 NBA mock draft.
The early stretch has also helped identify which preseason contenders are true threats to win the national championship -- see: Michigan defeating fellow AP top-10 team Gonzaga by 40 points during Feast Week -- and which look more like pretenders.