Burning Questions in College Basketball Early in the 2014-15 Season

OK, so it's not quite March yet, but only a couple of weeks into the NCAA basketball season, and there are already enough breakout stars, bitter disappointments and surprising plot twists to fill out a soap opera.

With a host of early-season tournaments bringing together conferences and teams that don't get a chance to meet later in the season, we're already finding out that our preseason predictions were wrong in so many ways. I mean, the Big East might actually be relevant this year while the Florida Gators might not.

Of course, not all of the predictions were wrong (just ask any team that's faced Kentucky so far).

As December play gets underway and things start to take a modicum of shape, it's time to look at a few of the burning questions that November's slate of games left behind. 

Can Anyone Beat Kentucky?

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Look, I know what you're thinking: It's way too early to start talking about anyone having an undefeated season. In theory, I agree. And yet Kentucky is good enough to at least merit a discussion. After all, many are already questioning whether the Wildcats the best college basketball team ever. 

Last year's runner-ups have started this season with a bang, winning their first seven games by an average of 31 points, including a 32-point victory over No. 5 Kansas. 

With his all-star team and fool-proof rotation in place, coach John Calipari has to be feeling good about his team's future. The depth, talent and chemistry is undeniable. Now, the only thing left to be determined is how the much-hyped team will react when the pressure gets intense and the games get tight.

Of course, Calipari has a plan he's pretty comfortable with if and when his Wildcats are in a close game late, as reported by Jerry Tipton of Kentucky.com:

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Calipari offered air-tight assurances Friday that Aaron Harrison will take that [final] shot. The only question about it is whether such an occasion ever occurs.

"If it's late-game and it's tight, who do you think I'm going to go to?" Calipari asked media types. "I don't care if he's shooting 12 percent, I'm going to him. And the reason is demonstrated performance. I've seen it. I know.

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Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good plan to me. Whether the Wildcats make NCAA history this season or not, they'll certainly be a lot of fun to watch.

Can Duke's Freshmen Keep It Up?

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Duke is off to a great start this year, going 7-0 and scoring an average of 90 points per game. At times, its offense has seemed simply unstoppable, and that's mainly thanks to its high-velocity class of freshmen.

Jahlil Okafor, the much-touted recruit who was nearly unanimously considered the top freshman of the year before the season, has been the standout. The 6'11" Chicago native has gotten off to a swift start this season, leading the team with an average of 27.4 minutes and 17.7 PPG. 

Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski is certainly enamored with the teenager, as reported by ESPN.com: 

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He's really one of the great kids. He's 6-10, about 265. He has huge hands. So the ball is small in his hands. Part of that hurts him some because he's accustomed to rebounding with one hand, and rebounding is better with two hands. But scoring-wise he's able to do it. He's got incredible touch and really good feet.

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However, Okafor isn't the only freshman that Duke's opponents have to worry about. Three of the team's top five scorers are freshmen: Justin Winslow is averaging 13.0 PPG, while Tyus Jones has 8.9. Duke is currently fourth in the nation in scoring, and the powerhouse freshmen are going to have to keep it up if the team wants to win the tough ACC.

Who Is the Player of the Year?

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Over the next month or two, look for the truly elite players to step up and turn their teams from pretenders into contenders.

Even this early in the season, there are players who are standing out. We've already discussed Duke's Jahlil Okafor, and he is certainly in the running for Player of the Year. Right now the only big man in his league is Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin, the star senior who led his team to the Final Four last year. Kaminsky is already averaging 16.6 PPG.

Kevin Pangos of Gonzaga has also had an incredible start to the year. The 21-year-old from Canada has been the best guard of the season so far; his efficiency and vision around the court have led Gonzaga to a 7-0 record.

Angel Rodriguez from Miami, Jerian Grant from Notre Dame and Jonathan Holmes from Texas have all been stellar as well.

Only time will tell whether it's one of these players or one of the countless talents not on the list who steps up and outshines the rest. 

Will the Games Continue to Be Sluggish?

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So, this is a fun subplot to pay attention to as the year goes on: Will this be the slowest college basketball season ever? (OK, perhaps "fun" was the wrong word to use there.)

Last year's NCAA tournament was almost painful to watch due to the incessant foul calling by the refs—particularly late in games—and this year seems to be more of the same.

Ken Pomeroy of Deadspin's Regressing does a great job breaking down the data on this, and comes to a worrying conclusion:

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In each of the past 13 seasons, the final average pace has been at least 1.2 possessions per 40 minutes less than the early-season value. Given the current value of 66.7, there's reason to have very high confidence that this season will finish lower than the 2013 record low of 65.9.

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Pomeroy says that increased attention on charges and restrictions against the offense have led to slower, lower-scoring games. If he's right, we might all be mad well before March begins.

What Happened to Florida?

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Things are not looking good for head coach Billy Donovan and company early on this season in Gainesville.

The Gators, who won 30 games in a row last season before falling to Connecticut in the Final Four, are 3-3 to start the season and have fallen out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2011.

Sure, Florida is dealing with some key early-season injuries, particularly to Dorian Finney-Smith and Eli Carter, but it's really been poor shooting and a lack of contributions from the bench that have caused the Gators to fall to Miami, Georgetown and UNC. The team still hasn't won back-to-back games this season, and it doesn't get any easier with a trip to No. 11 Kansas coming up on Friday.

Florida opened the season at No. 7 in the AP Top 25, but it has been falling ever since. 

It's not time for Donovan's squad to panic quite yet, but if the Gators don't come together as a team—and start shooting better than 38 percent—they are in for a season to forget. The last time the team started the season 3-3 was 1996, when it ended up with an abysmal 13-17 record.

Will UConn Find Any Rhythm?

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Sure, expectations were modest for UConn this season, but it's far too early in the year to take the defending champions off of the radar.

The Huskies are currently 3-2 on the season and have had some trouble on and off the court: Rodney Purvis has been injured, Ryan Boatright sprained his left ankle in the final seconds of a heartbreaking 55-54 loss to Texas and coach Kevin Ollie had to suspend Omar Calhoun and Rakim Lubin after they broke team rules during the trip to Puerto Rico.

But Purvis is on the mend, Boatright's injury shouldn't keep him out long (if at all) and Lubin and Calhoun have already been reinstated, so things are looking up for the Huskies. Now they just need someone to step up and replace the on-court leadership of Shabazz Napier, which is easier said than done.

UConn has fallen out of the AP Top 25, but it's certainly worth remembering what a masterful job Ollie did with his team last March. The Huskies proved the world wrong when nobody counted on them then, so nobody should count them out this year—at least not quite yet.

Will North Carolina Be Able to Find Any Consistency?

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Despite the academic scandal hanging over its head, UNC was supposed to be a contender this season, with star Marcus Paige and a bevy of talent on the Roy Williams-led squad. 

But Tar Heel nation had some not-so-nice flashbacks to last year's topsy-turvy season when the team shockingly fell to Butler in the fourth game of the season, 74-66. This caused the Heels, who have been ranked as high as No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll this season, to fall to No. 12 and Williams to literally hit the floor.

But the guys from Chapel Hill bounced back quickly with two impressive wins over No. 22 UCLA and No. 18 Florida, leaving fans hoping that the Butler game was merely an aberration, not a sign of things to come.

After the win over UCLA, Paige claimed that the team was back on track, per ESPN.com (via The Associated Press): 

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It's easy now for us to see the difference in how we played tonight versus how we played (Wednesday in a loss to Butler). The way everyone was into it, playing unselfish, flying around on defense, being active, that's a more fun way to play. ... And when you see the results as drastically different as they were, why wouldn't you want to play that way?

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If the Tar Heels can keep their maturity and focus throughout the long season, they will be a force to be reckoned with. However, right now, that feels like a big "if."

Who Will Be the Sleeper Team?

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It's too soon for Cinderella to reveal itself, but that doesn't mean that we can't have fun guessing her identity right now.

As we look at the brief sample size of 2014-2015 games played so far, there are a few teams that have already surprised and plenty of others that might have potential down the road.

The Big East has had a few shocking teams, such as Creighton, which is off to a 5-1 start and hasn't been missing Doug McDermott as much as feared, Georgetown and Providence. All three teams could far surpass expectations and be factors late in the season, possibly even providing some resistance to Villanova for the conference crown. 

Butler has certainly been the most Cinderella-like team so far, upsetting UNC and Georgetown and amassing a 5-1 record. The Bulldogs are a gritty, resilient team who could be ready for a run that resembles 2010 and 2011.

Maryland has also been a lot of fun to watch so far this year behind the surprising breakout of guard Romelo Trimble. The Terrapins haven't been dancing in March in a few years, but a 7-0 start this season is just what the doctor ordered. Northern Iowa is also making quite an impression—and inching toward a Top 25 appearance—with a 7-0 start.

Of the teams that aren't off to a great start to the season, I wouldn't take my eyes off of SMU, Syracuse or VCU quite yet. There's a lot of basketball left to be played, and the search for Cinderella is a lot more fun when it's a season-long quest.