Syracuse Basketball: Opponent Watch (Nov. 18)

The men's college basketball season is in full gear, and as the No. 23-ranked Syracuse Orange prepare for Thursday's 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden, here's a look at what has been going on around the nation and the Atlantic Coast Conference as it relates to the Orange.

Feel free to comment below about your early-season college hoops observations.

Non-Conference Foes:

California Golden Bears (2-0): Defeated Alcorn St. Braves and Kennesaw St. Owls to open the season. Junior guard Tyrone Wallace is the team's leading scorer averaging 20 point per game. Sophomore guard Jordan Mathews netted 18 points in each of Cal's two victories.

No. 10 Texas Longhorns (2-0): Won their first two games by nearly identical scores. Season opener defeated North Dakota St. Bison, 85-50, then knocked off Alcorn St., 85-53. Sophomore guard Isaiah Taylor is averaging 15 points per game, while freshman forward Myles Turner is combining for 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Iowa Hawkeyes (2-0): Knocked off the Hampton Pirates, 90-56, and North Dakota St., 87-56, already this season. Senior forward Aaron White is the team's top scorer averaging 14.5 ppg, while senior center Gabriel Olaseni, a native of London, is second-best on the team with 13.0 ppg.

No. 24 Michigan Wolverines (2-0): Sophomore guard Zak Irvin averaged 22 points in the Wolverines first two victories–Hillsdale (92-68) and Bucknell (77-53). Irvin is 7-for-11 behind the 3-point arc.

St. John's Red Storm (2-0): D'Angelo Harrison dropped 31 points Monday on visiting Franklin Pierce in a 94-81 victory. St. John's knocked off N.J.I.T., 77-58, in its season-opener.

Villanova Wildcasts (2-0): The Wildcats easily defeated Lehigh (77-66) and Maryland Eastern Shore (81-44) in their first two games. Tyler Ennis' brother, Dylan, is leading 'Nova with 14.5 ppg, while, yes, Ryan Arciaiaono and JayVaughn Pinkston are still around.

ACC Foes:

Miami Hurricanes (2-0): The Canes' are off to a blistering 2-0 start. Behind Kansas State transfer Angel Rodriguez's 24 points, which included a game-winning 3-pointer with 24 second left, Miami upset the No. 7-ranked Florida Gators on the road, 69-67, on Monday. The shocking victory followed up a season-opening win over Howard, which featured Texas transfer Sheldon McClelan scoring 11 of his 19 points in the games first 15 minutes.

No 4 Duke Blue Devils (2-0): Mike Krzyzewski's squad takes on the No. 19 Michigan St. Spartans tonight in the finale of the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats and No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks will tip things off at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

During the Blue Devils undefeated start, Quinn Cook became the 64th Duke player to surpass the 1,000-point mark.

No. 6 North Carolina Tar Heels (2-0): Junior forward J.P. Tokoto (10 assists) and sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks (21 points and 12 rebounds) led the way for UNC in its Sunday night victory over Robert Morris. The Tar Heels knocked off North Carolina Central in its season-opener.

No. 7 Louisville Cardinals (2-0): Behind Montrezl Harrell's game-high 30 points the Cardinals defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 81-68, last Friday in Puerto Rico. Harrell's performance helped him earn ACC Player of the Week honors.

Virginia Cavaliers (2-0): The defending regular-season ACC champions won its home opener, 67-39, over Norfolk State on Sunday. Virginia opened its season with a victory at James Madison University.

Florida State Seminoles (1-0): Aaron Thomas netted 14 points in FSU lone game of the season–81-66 victory over visiting Manhattan on Saturday.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-0): Quinton Stephen's nailed six 3-pointers in a career-best effort of 22 points last Friday to help GT knock off rival Georgia.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-0): Junior Zach Auguste netted a career-best 20 points Sunday to help the Irish defeat Navy. The victory followed up a season-opening win against Binghmaton.

N.C. State Wolfpack (2-0): Guard Anthony Barber poured in a career-high 25 points in N.C. State's 93-58 victory over Jackson State on Friday. Backcourtmate Trevor Lacey netted 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the team's season-opening win. On Tuesday, the Wolfpack defeated Hofstra.

Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0): New head coach Buzz Williams earned victory No. 1 with his new program, as VT used 15 points each from freshman Justin Bibbs and redshirt freshman Malik Muller to defeat Maryland-Eastern Shore, 71-46.

Boston College Eagles (1-1): The Eagles followed up their season-opening victory against New Hampshire with a loss to the UMass Minutemen, 71-62, on Sunday. Junior Olivier Hanlan netted 17 and 18 points in the two contests.

Pittsburg Panthers (2-0): Sophomore forward Michael Young paced the Panthers Sunday in their big win over Samford on Sunday. The victory followed up Friday night's season-opening win over the Niagara Purple Eagles. Pitt will play its next few games in Hawaii.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-0): Devin Thomas' double-double (25 points and 13 rebounds) helped Wake defeat UNC Asheville, 80-69, last Friday. The victory was the first first new head coach Danny Manning.

Clemson Tigers (1-1): After opening up their season with a easy victory over Florida A&M on Friday, the Tigers fell to Winthrop on Monday, 77-74. Junior Landry Nnoko posted career high's in scoring with 15 and 19 points, respectively.

Games To Watch:

Tonight at 7 p.m. (ESPN)–No. 5 Kansas at No. 1 Kentucky

Tonight at 9 p.m. (ESPN)–No. 19 Michigan State at No. 4 Duke

Thursday at 7 p.m. (ESPN 2)–No. 10 Texas Vs. Iowa

Thursday at 6 p.m. (Big Ten Network)–No. 24 Michigan Vs. Detroit

Sunday at Noon (ESPNU)–Florida State at UMass

Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)–Notre Dame at Providence

Next Monday at 7 pm. (ESPN2)–No. 12 Villanova at No. 15 VCU

Next Monday at 9 p.m. (N/A)–Oregon at No. 24 Michigan