Big East basketball program suffers major upset while freshmen and senior stud shine

The second night of Big East basketball was nearly as good as the first -- except for one legendary program.

No coach's seat was hotter coming into the season than Villanova's Kyle Neptune after posting a 35-33 record in his first two seasons with the Wildcats and failing to make the NCAA Tournament in either season.

With basically an entirely new roster with the exception of stud center Eric Dixon, Villanova challenged themselves early with three games on opening week and that strategy backfired already after the 'Cats fell on Wednesday night at home to Columbia, 90-80.

Villanova never led inside the final 13 minutes and were vastly outplayed by the team picked to finish fifth in the Ivy League. The Wildcats showed to have not much of a bench and when Dixon isn't scoring, things looked ugly.

It's as critical of a season for Villanova that the program has seen in a long time. Once the crown jewel of the league has now turned into a team that many expect to finish in the bottom third of the conference. Right now, it looks like it could get late early on the Main Line.

It was a great night for big men in the Big East because along with 33 points from Eric Dixon, Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner proved that he was worthy of being named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year with 49 points in the Bluejays' 99-86 win over UTRGV.

Kalkbrenner was 20-of-22 from the floor and added 11 rebounds. It was the most points for a Creighton player since 1967 and he fell two points shy of the program record.

Creighton came with an onslaught late after only leading by five points, 87-82, with 2:50 remaining but its defense still needs some work before it plays in much more competitive non-conference games later in November.

From a senior star to freshmen stars, two of the league's most exciting rookies finally got their first taste of college basketball and for UConn's Liam McNeeley, it looks like he could be a key piece in the Huskies attempt to 3-peat.

The Montverde Academy (Fla.) sharpshooter was in the starting lineup despite battling injuries throughout the preseason and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds while proving to be a perfect weapon in Dan Hurley's offense next to junior star Alex Karaban.

UConn won't be tested until Thanksgiving week when it heads to the Maui Invitational.

Thomas Sorber has expectations around him that he will get Georgetown out of the Big East basement and while the result felt similar for the Hoyas -- a too close for comfort victory over a mid-major -- it was easy to tell that this program had more talent on the floor.

Sorber finished his night with 20 points and 13 rebounds depsite only making 5-of-13 field goals.

Shooting and defense are still questions around this Georgetown team but the most important aspect for the program is to win these games -- no matter how it looks. The non-conference schedule is not overly difficult for the Hoyas, but that's exactly what this team needs in order to get wins and gain confidence for league play.

All 11 teams in the conference will be in action between Thursday and Sunday and games will continue around the league until Thursday, November 14.