The 2022–23 men’s college basketball season started off with 363 undefeated Division I teams. But now, a little over 40 days into the schedule, there are only five unbeaten squads remaining: No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 UConn, No. 15 Mississippi State, Utah State and New Mexico. Below, we predict when each team will spoil their perfect record and suffer their first loss of the year. (Spoiler alert: It’s happening sooner than you think.)
Mississippi State: Dec. 28, vs. Alabama
The Mississippi State undefeated ride has been a fun one, but the team isn’t getting any favors with the opening games on its SEC schedule. Assuming the Bulldogs beat Drake on Tuesday to close nonconference play at 12–0, they host Alabama and then travel to Tennessee to kick off league play. The Crimson Tide are coming off a rough loss to Gonzaga, in which they scored 90 but gave up 100 in a shootout. But the Zags’ offense and Mississippi State’s offense are worlds apart, and this matchup will be a battle of tempo, with Bama trying to speed things up and the Bulldogs trying to slow things down. The bet here is that the Tide will be a little too much offensively.
