A month into the 2023-24 season, 20 undefeated teams (out of 360) remain in Division I after Stanford and George Mason fell from the ranks Sunday. It comes as little surprise to see preseason darlings such as South Carolina and UCLA among the unbeatens. Teams such as NC State and USC, who welcomed high-profile freshmen, have succeeded earlier than might have been expected, but they aren’t huge shocks, either.
The statistic that’s a bit of an eye-opener is that six of these 20 undefeated squads come from one conference, and it’s not one of the conferences that often gets brought up as the best in the country. Not the SEC, the Pac-12 or the Big Ten. In fact, it’s the Big 12 racking up the most wins to start the year.
In addition to Texas and Baylor — which were expected to be the class of this league — Texas Tech, TCU, West Virginia and UCF have avoided defeat to this point. The Longhorns and the Bears boast resume-boosting wins against UConn and Utah. The other four don’t have wins over ranked teams yet, but TCU beating Nebraska, UCF defeating Auburn, and Texas Tech’s win over Rutgers are quality victories to build on. West Virginia gets a chance for a Power 5 prove-it game Monday against Penn State. That quartet hasn’t quite cracked this pollster’s top 25,…
