When James Johnson accepted an assistant's position at Clemson it wasn't big news to those outside of Virginia Tech. It only became a story a week later when he was able to back out of that hiring and in to the head coaching gig for the Hokies. Little did people know that several months later Johnson would be doing one of the most impressive coaching jobs in the country.

He could be sitting on Brad Brownell's bench, and no one would be thinking twice about it. Instead, he's brought optimism and hope to Blacksburg.

The early knock was that Tech hadn't played anyone. And that's true. They began 5-0 without once playing a team inside of Ken Pomeroy's top 200. And a couple of those games were uncomfortably close.

Not since the New Jersey Institute of Technology did it in the 2007-2008 season has a team managed to run the table on losses, but there's been at least one one-win team every season since then. NJIT also makes that list which includes Bryant, Marist, Centenary (R.I.P) and Towson (thanks, UNC-Wilmington).

So, with 13 winless teams remaining, it's time to start asking that question: Which teams have the best chance of losing every game they'll play this season?

I found three, and I ranked them by likelihood of complete failure.

It's been four years since the ACC won the ACC - Big Ten Challenge (after winning the first 10). In that time, nine of the twelve head coaching positions have turned over. So at least the good news for ACC fans is that the league is in flux. It's on its way back. Just not yet.

The Big Ten needs a 6-6 split to retain the title. After night one they have a 4-2 lead, meaning that the ACC needs to win five of six tonight to win.

When last we checked Chicago college hoops was in a state of transition. Among the Chicagoland area's six Division-I programs, five have welcomed new coaches since 2010, and none of the six had been especially dominant for at least the past five seasons. Now, for the first time since 2009, none of those six schools has a rookie coach at the helm, and all of them are dealing with heightened expectations.

I devised an entertaining method for checking in on how things are going: Pick an all-Chicago team and mix in some commentary.

Welcome to the 14th ACC - Big Ten Challenge. The ACC made a mockery of the event early on, winning the first ten. But since then the Big Ten has won three straight, including last year's 8-4 massacre.

I sat down with Andy Bottoms at Midwest Sports Fans and talked through all 12 games. That podcast can be found here.

Jeff Eisenberg at the Dagger predicts an 8-4 win for the Big Ten.

It's that time of year, folks. Voters are casting their ballots for the AP Poll, and some of them are absolutely apeshit.

This week it's Elton Alexander, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

As a reminder to those who are inevitable going to spam my twitter account with outrage that your guy isn't on this list - this has nothing to do with who I think are the top freshmen in the nation. It's all based on what they've done on the court, to date. And no, one great game on national tv does not qualify your guy.

1. Anthony Bennett, UNLV (last week: not enough games to qualify)

Talk about consistency - Anthony Bennett's career is now four games old, and he's scored 22, 12, 22 and 22 points. The only real knock so far is his 3-10 from beyond the arc, which isn't terrible, but considering he's making 63% of his 2s - get inside young man. He's averaging 8.2 boards a game, and gets to the line eight times a game, knocking down 78% of his freebies.

2. Alex Poythress, Kentucky (lw: 2)

Poythress has now made at least 75% of his attempts from the floor in three of five games. This week he had 20 and 8 against Morehead State (including 8-8 from the line), and 22 and 9 against Long Island. For the year he's averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 boards, and has made 70% of his 2s.

3. Jahii Carson, Arizona State (lw: not enough games to qualify)

If not for turnover issues, this kid could easily be sitting atop this list. He's made 46% of his 3s, he gets to the line 9.8 times a game (!), and he leads his team in scoring (21 ppg) and assists (5 apg). In their loss to Creighton he had 30 points (on just 17 shots), 7 assists and 4 steals.

1. Senior Dylan Royer was one of the best shooters in the nation last year, making 47% of his threes, which is right at his career average of 46%. Against UCLA he made 6-10 shots, all from beyond the arc. His previous career high for threes was five, which he did in back-to-back games last year on only 12 attempts.

2. The Mustangs had eight steals on the night, which accounted for nine of the UCLA turnovers. On the season they generate a steal on 12% of opponents possessions, which is 89th nationally (of 347 teams).

In John Groce's first season, Illinois has the fanbase excited with a perfect start and an impressive win against Butler. Today, back home, Illinois was a heavy favorite against Gardner Webb (who is ranked No. 187 at KenPom). But they needed a three and a stop to escape. The video:

One of the great pleasures of college basketball is getting to watch players develop throughout their careers. I love the talent of the one-and-done guys. I love the microcosm of a career taking place over a single November to March stretch. But gimme the four-year guys. Those are the most interesting.

Had Mason Plumlee jumped to the NBA after his juinor season (or before) we'd always remember him as a talented cog on a talented team. His peak production came as a junior where he averaged 11.1 points and 9.2 rebounds. Solid, but not exactly All-American stuff (he was 3rd team All ACC).