College basketball scores: Upsets reign supreme on opening night

Every program in the country had at least seven months to prepare for the first game of the new season as college basketball tipped off on Friday night. For several power conference teams, that simply wasn’t enough time.

We’ll start with Wisconsin, who began its game against Western Illinois by raising a banner to commemorate the school’s second straight trip to the Final Four last season. As Nigel Hayes went off for 17 points in the first half, it looked like the Badgers would have no problem rolling in their opener. Then Wisconsin went ice cold in the second half, Western Illinois kept making tough shots, and before you knew it, the first ranked team of the season had been upset as Bronson Koenig’s last second attempt rimmed out.

Leathernecks 69, Badgers 67.

Fear not, Badgers: you got some company.

N.C. State’s opener with William & Mary wasn’t even competitive: the team from the CAA took it to the one from the ACC and turned the game into a blowout by halftime. William & Mary took a 16-point lead into the break and came away with a 85-68 road win over the Wolfpack.

It should be noted that William & Mary is no slouch: this is a team returning four starters from last year’s CAA regular season champion. Don’t be surprised if you hear from the Tribe again a few months from now.

Illinois fans might have figured this could be a rough year after an offseason defined by injuries, but few would have expected them to get run out of the gym by Northern Florida in the opener. Northern Florida connected on 17 threes (to just five for the Illini) to knock off Illinois 93-81.

Elsewhere: Georgia lost in overtime to a Chattanooga team it had beaten by 31 -- thirty one! -- in each of the last two seasons, Arizona State fell to Big Sky powerhouse Sacramento State and Marquette got beat by Belmont.

Oh, and at about 1:30 a.m. on the East coast:

Not everyone came into Friday night unprepared ...

Bill Walton was ostensibly in China to call the Texas vs. Washington game, but he wasn’t really interested in college basketball. Instead, Walton spent the broadcast talking about everything else:

Our friend Jacob Price collected some great videos of Walton rambling about whatever he felt like throughout the night, and we have a recap here. Up to and including Taylor Swift:

Some people were convinced!

Washington ruined Shaka Smart’s debut by beating Texas 77-71, in case you were wondering, Bill.

Part of the reason opening night is always so much fun is because it’s our first chance to see the latest crop of stud freshmen on a college court. This year’s 5-stars didn’t disappoint.

Here are some other notable performances from top recruits:

Jamal Murray: 19 points, eight assists and three steals in Kentucky’s win over Albany.

Skal Labissiere: Nine points, five rebounds, four blocks for Kentucky.

Brandon Ingram: 15 points (on 5-of-16 shooting and 1-of-9 from three) and five rebounds as Duke beat Siena.

Jaylen Brown: 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting in Cal’s win over Rice.

Henry Ellenson: 21 points and 16 rebounds in Marquette’s loss to Belmont.

We’re just warning you.