Khalif Battle couldn’t believe how frank he was.

He had merely stepped back and made three-pointers on Gonzaga’s previous two possessions, but here he was alone in the corner with no defender within 5 feet of him after Baylor lost him in transition.

The three-point shot, which Battle celebrated with a smile and a shrug, epitomized a Gonzaga victory that turned out to be much easier than expected. The Zags notched their biggest victory ever against a top-10 opponent with a 101-63 season opener against eighth-seeded Baylor on Monday night at Spokane Arena.

Gonzaga’s lead reached double digits midway through the first half and reached 19 points at halftime. The lead continued to grow in the second half as the sixth-seeded Zags defended with maximum effort, willingly shared the ball and created open look after open look.

The top 10 matchup between Gonzaga and Baylor was a rematch of the 2021 national championship game, which the Bears won convincingly. This win does little to avenge the painful loss to the Zags, but it does raise the question of whether 2024-25 could finally be Gonzaga’s year.

With six rotation players returning and high-scoring transfers Battle and Michael Ajayi and Khalif Battle now on the team, Gonzaga should score points much more easily than it did a year ago. Guard Nolan Hickman (17 points) and forward Graham Ike (15 points) were two of five Gonzaga players in double figures on Monday night. The Zags shot 57.1% from the field and over 40% from beyond the arc.

The biggest question for Gonzaga is whether its defense will improve. Gonzaga’s defensive efficiency has fallen outside the top 50 nationally over the past two seasons, but the Zags’ ability to stay in front of the ball against Baylor was a huge step forward.

Gonzaga’s dominant victory makes the Zags the biggest winners of men’s college basketball’s opening night. Here’s a look at some of the other winners and losers from the night, which featured 19 of the 25 AP Top 25 teams competing:

Loser: SEC

For a conference hailed as one of the best conferences in college basketball entering the season, the SEC had a rough opening night. All four teams of the league lost against opponents not in the rankings.

It was bad enough that South Carolina suffered a surprising home loss to North Florida and Missouri blew a 10-point halftime lead against Memphis. Then Texas A&M came up late at UCF, and Texas squandered a record-setting 29-point performance from freshman Tre Johnson in a loss to Ohio State.

To make matters worse for the SEC, college basketball’s four other power conferences have largely avoided disaster. Teams from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 were combined by a combined 48-1 mark on Monday, with Baylor’s only loss coming against Gonzaga.

Better days are likely ahead for the SEC this season, so the Big 12’s social media team jumped into action while it had the opportunity.

Winner: Montverde Academy

It’s easy to see why Montverde Academy went 33-0 last season to capture its eighth national title. Three of the Florida prep school’s best players made statements in their college debuts Monday night.

Starring, as always, was Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft and the most hyped prospect entering college basketball in more than a decade. The 6-foot-10 Duke freshman showcased his signature stat-sheet-filling versatility in his highly anticipated collegiate debut in a 96-62 rout against Maine.

Early in the first half, Flagg was Duke’s top playmaker, drawing in defenders before pinpointing passes to open teammates. Later in the game Flagg became more aggressive and consistently went downhill as he looked for his own shot. While he finished the match with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, this dunk became his most unforgettable moment.

Of course, Flagg wasn’t the only five-star player to play for Montverde last season. Maryland’s center Derik Queen made his debut with a masterpiece of 22 points and 20 rebounds in the match where Manhattan had difficulty. And Georgia big man Asa Newell tied Dominique Wilkins’ record for most points in his first game with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in a narrow victory over Tennessee Tech.

The most impressive part? There is another former Montverde star yet to arrive. Five-star recruit Liam McNeeley will make his UConn debut as soon as he recovers from a calf strain.

Loser: Rims at Breslin Center

Thoughts and prayers are with those rims after Michigan State’s Coen Carr did this.

And this.

And it’s close to that.

Carr is the best dunker in college basketball. Rims, you have been warned.

Winner: Louisville

In two terrible seasons under Kenny Payne, Louisville became a laughing stock. One of college basketball’s most tradition-rich programs posted a 12-52 record. Fans who went to the trouble of coming to KFC Yum! The center watched the Cardinals lose to teams like Bellarmine, Wright State, Appalachian State and Chattanooga.

The revamped, revamped Louisville team that new coach Pat Kelsey unveiled Monday night looked nothing like the Payne-era Cardinals. Kelsey brought joy back to the Louisville program with a 93-45 victory over Morehead State.

Yes, it was just a game. Yes, it was an opponent who was expected to finish fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference. Still, this was supposed to be a relief for Louisville fans, given the program’s dismal recent history.

Loser: St. Louis

The opening game of Josh Schertz’s tenure in Saint Louis couldn’t have gone any worse. The Billikens held off an 85-78 loss to underrated Santa Clara on Monday afternoon at the Field of 68 Showcase. They may also be without bespectacled star Robbie Avila for a few weeks after the Indiana State transfer injured his right ankle late in the second half.

Avila collapsed under the basket in the fourth with Saint Louis and needed help getting to the locker room. He then returned to the Billikens bench with his ankle wrapped in ice. Schertz told reporters after the game that the injury was similar to the right ankle sprain that sidelined Avila during the preseason.

Schertz told the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. “It doesn’t look great.” He later added: “There’s a possibility we’ll be without it for a while.”

Winner: DePaul

Jacob Meyer made Southern Indiana pay for not making three-pointers. The DePaul guard hit a three-pointer from the right wing with 1.7 seconds left in regulation, giving the Blue Demons an 80-78 victory in overtime.

Loser: DePaul

That was KenPom’s preseason No. 336 team, Southern Indiana, a third-year Division I program that went 8-24 the year before. The fact that DePaul needs an improbable shot to survive this game is not an encouraging sign for Chris Holtmann’s first season.