Our sincerest thanks, Arizona and Florida, BYU and Villanova, and Duke and Texas, for a hearty first 48 hours of this young college basketball season. Three terrific games to whet the ol’ hoops palate.

That means, even with a sleepy midweek slate — which, c’mon, there’s no reason for during opening week — we’re fully into one of the most unhinged portions of the calendar: overreaction season.

Starting with the game of the season so far, No. 13 Arizona’s 93-87 win over No. 3 Florida, and the performance of the year to date, by a freshman who’s going to get a lot more love from here on out:

1. Koa Peat, and a question worth asking

This week’s biggest winner so far? Unequivocally Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona Wildcats, who upset the defending national champions, on a neutral court, in a game we’d happily run back in the Elite Eight. And no individual was more responsible than Peat, the Arizona freshman forward who put together one of the most dominant debuts we’ve ever seen.

If that sounds like hyperbole … it’s not. Peat is the first freshman in the past 25 seasons — basically the entire one-and-done era — to record at least 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block in his debut. He’s also one of just six freshmen ever to post a 30-5-5 line in a victory over a ranked team, joining the likes of Cooper Flagg and Trae Young. Against arguably the best frontline in America, which returned every frontcourt player from last season’s national title team — including preseason first-team All-American Alex Condon — Peat was unquestionably the best player on the floor. Just look at this:

5⭐️ Arizona freshman Koa Peat with the alley-oop poster 😳🔥 @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/XNLvA82oCW

— SLAM University (@slam_university) November 4, 2025

And while nobody expected Peat to do that in his first college game, his emergence — coupled with the outstanding hype and early debuts of AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer and Darryn Peterson — does raise the question: Could this be an all-time freshman class?

Possibly, even, the best we’ve ever seen? (Told you it was #overreactionSZN.)

It’s not out of the question, although there are some pretty high bars to clear. The 2008 class featured five freshmen in the top seven NBA Draft picks, including Derrick Rose and Kevin Love — who led their respective teams to the Final Four — plus Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo. The 2021 class of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Suggs, Hunter Dickinson and Evan Mobley is up there, too, holding the current record with four All-Americans. The 2018 trio of Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III and Trae Young was another banger, with nine freshmen — including the reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — going in the top 11 picks of the subsequent draft. That’s without mentioning the elite duos we’ve seen over the last quarter century, too: John Wall and Boogie Cousins in 2010, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden in 2007, and Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett in 2019.

But this year could top them all.

The Big 3 of Dybantsa, Boozer and Peterson are already plenty spoken for. But now add Peat to the mix? And how about the other stat-stuffing freshmen we’ve already seen this week, like:

• North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson (22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists);
• Baylor guard Tounde Yessoufou (24 points, 7 rebounds);
• Tennessee forward Nate Ament (18 points, 9 rebounds);
• And Arkansas guards Darius Acuff Jr. (22 points, 4 assists) and Meleek Thomas (21 points, 7 assists).

It’s ridiculous, frankly. Even this early on, you don’t have to squint to see waves of first-year players matriculating to all-conference and All-America teams — and most likely, the 2026 NBA Draft.

Enjoy ’em while we’ve got ’em.

2. Dybantsa is the star, but BYU’s secret weapon is …

Speaking of those top freshmen, Dybantsa’s debut — 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and no turnovers in the Cougars’ 71-66 win over Villanova — was mostly what we expected: the athletic 6-foot-9 wing scoring in droves, but still operating within a team construct. Down the stretch, though, when BYU needed to keep a charging Nova at bay, it was naturally Dybantsa with the ball in his hands, getting to work freely in the pick-and-roll.

With three and a half minutes left and BYU up 2, Kevin Young gave Dybantsa the keys to the car. Over the Cougars’ next four possessions, Dybantsa and senior center Keba Keita ran three pick-and-rolls, two of which became decisive baskets. (The fourth possession was … also a pick-and-roll with Keita, but that time with Baylor transfer Rob Wright initiating.) Dybantsa will get the credit for the scoring and handling, but it was really Keita who unlocked that action — specifically, the Gortat screens he set near the rim, which shielded Dybantsa from an extra defender and cleared his path to the rim.

On the first such possession, watch what happens after Keita rolls. Dybantsa puts his defender in jail behind him, Keita sees it, stops rolling to the basket and then comes back to set the Gortat screen on his original defender, opening up the left side of the lane for Dybantsa to finish:

Two possessions later, this time with Wright as the handler, same thing. Wright starts out driving left, but then snakes his way back to the right side of the hoop to take advantage of the space Keita opened up:

And one more time with Dybantsa, who even spins back to the left to take advantage of Keita’s screening. This is the most impressive finish of the lot, but also probably Keita’s best screen work:

BYU will still go wherever Dybantsa, Wright and Richie Saunders lead it, but Keita is often the secret weapon freeing that trio up. Without him, it’d be much harder for those three to have the scoring success they do.

3. Duke’s “evolution,” and the apparent Robin to Boozer’s Batman

A question I’d been mulling entering this season: Who is Duke’s second-best player?

Obviously, Boozer is No. 1. (Credit to Texas and Sean Miller for holding the top-three recruit scoreless in the first half on Tuesday, but Boozer posted a second-half double-double — 15 points and 10 rebounds — to lead the Blue Devils to a 75-60 win.) One of Jon Scheyer’s best coaching characteristics through three seasons has been his role definition and getting players to understand their respective jobs. Boozer is going to be Duke’s top scoring option and bus driver almost every night, but what about the rest of the pecking order behind him? Entering this season, I wouldn’t have been surprised if anyone from Patrick Ngongba to Isaiah Evans to Dame Sarr emerged as the Blue Devils’ No. 2.

But after Tuesday night, it seems we have an early answer to that question: Evans. The sophomore sharpshooter was tremendous against the Longhorns, scoring a career-high 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting — and importantly, hitting 4 0f 8 from 3. The 2024 five-star recruit has always been a high volume shooter — he took at least five 3s in 15 games last season, despite playing only 13.8 minutes per game — but not always the most efficient one. Tuesday was a huge development on that front, and encouraging for anyone who believes Duke can make it back to the Final Four.

One chief way Evans had success Tuesday? By inheriting the flare-screen looks Scheyer mostly reserved for Kon Knueppel last season. Here’s Knueppel against rival UNC in the ACC tournament:

And here’s Evans against Texas. Same building, same action, same result:

Scheyer said after the game that Duke is in the midst of an “evolution,” especially in terms of defining roles, and that’s more than understandable for a team that lost all five starters to the NBA this summer. But early on, it certainly appears that if anyone can emerge as the Blue Devils’ consistent No. 2 — and on some nights, No. 1 — it’ll be Evans, a likely looming first-rounder.

4. The weekend ahead

I’ll shelve my complaints about the Wednesday and Thursday slate — colleague CJ Moore already touched on most of them — but what we’re lacking during the week, we more than make up for with a stacked weekend schedule. The five games you need to watch, what I’ll be monitoring, and my game picks (which surely won’t age poorly):

No. 19 Kansas at No. 25 North Carolina: Peterson is going to get his to some extent, but can UNC’s revamped frontcourt — led by Wilson and Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar — dominate the glass and earn second-chance points? If so, I like the Tar Heels’ chances to pick up a signature win and validate Hubert Davis’ offseason roster makeover. Alabama transfer Jarin Stevenson, a 6-foot-10 forward, should draw the daunting task of trying to slow Peterson.

The pick: North Carolina

No. 15 Alabama at No. 5 St. John’s: A good old-fashioned offense vs. defense battle. Alabama sophomore guard Labaron Philon looked sensational in the Crimson Tide’s opening win over North Dakota, but a Rick Pitino defense can challenge even the most talented of guards. And as for the Johnnies, who is shooting well enough to keep up with Alabama? Outside of UNC transfer Ian Jackson, who went 3-for-3 from deep, the Red Storm made only 5 of 16 3-pointers in their opener. St. John’s probably has enough scoring versatility to get this done at home, but it’ll have to convert from 3 to reach its full potential and make the program’s first Final Four since 1985.

The pick: St. John’s

No. 14 Arkansas at No. 22 Michigan State: Outside of Kentucky, Arkansas is the SEC team with the highest ceiling this season. Acuff and Thomas look like some of John Calipari’s throwback freshman studs, while returners DJ Wagner and Trevon Brazile should keep the floor from falling out (like it did at times last season). I’m never one to doubt Tom Izzo, but the Spartans’ season-opening 80-69 win over Colgate — in which MSU shot just 41.7 percent overall and 28.6 percent from 3 — didn’t exactly soothe concerns about Michigan State’s offense. “It’s a win,” Izzo said postgame. “That’s about the only good thing I’ll say about it.” Message received.

The pick: Arkansas

Oklahoma at No. 21 Gonzaga: It sort of snuck under the radar last week, but Grand Canyon transfer Tyon Grant-Foster earning a court injunction that allows him to play this season takes Gonzaga’s ceiling to a new stratosphere. On the other hand, Porter Moser quietly had an impressive offseason of his own; five Sooners scored in double figures in OU’s opener, including Miami transfer Nijel Pack, St. Joe’s transfer Xzayvier Brown and Notre Dame transfer Tae Davis. I’m an Oklahoma believer and think Moser has another tournament team on his hands, but it’s tough to pick against the Zags at the Kennel, especially with the depth Mark Few has.

The pick: Gonzaga

Washington at Baylor: A sneaky good Sunday game, featuring two tremendous (and underrated) freshmen. Yessoufou should be Scott Drew’s latest one-and-done lottery pick, while Washington freshman Hannes Steinbach — a 6-foot-11 German who led his country to the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup championship game — has first-round talent in his own right. USC transfer Desmond Claude, one of UW’s top imports this offseason, has been sidelined several weeks with a foot injury, but Danny Sprinkle said Claude — who averaged 15.8 points and 4.2 assists at USC last season — may be available Sunday. If he is, give me Washington to pull the upset and establish itself as a trendy Big Ten dark horse.

The pick: Washington