Upsets in College Basketball are Becoming Commonplace
This has been a season of upsets. Yes, they are happening right and left in men’s college basketball, so when Texas took the court and defeated the No. 6 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers not many basketball pundits were surprised.
The line of upsets started on the first day of the season, when Western Illinois beat Wisconsin out of the gate.
Texas was not the only upset on Wednesday, as Nebraska upset Michigan State to cap off the latest upsets, with many more in between Western Illinois and Nebraska,
The one thing that has made college basketball so extraordinary, the upset, is now becoming ordinary business.
Each week another upset that is said to “stun†fans or “surprise everyone†is becoming more and commonplace. Some are even questioning if they can be called upsets any longer.
Take a look at this week.
On Monday, Oklahoma sat atop the rankings but lost to Iowa State. Then on Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Cowboys defeated Kansas and Georgetown, who lost over the weekend to Villanova, defeated Xavier who had routed Villanova earlier this season.
On Wednesday, Nebraska stunned Michigan State and in the process gave the Spartans their third straight loss.
An hour later, it was Texas that knocked off West Virginia after arriving to the arena only 45 minutes before game time due to inclement weather.
Two other teams won but barely. Baylor was taken to overtime by Kansas State before winning and Villanova almost lost in the final seconds to Seton Hall but held on.
Over just the last 10 days, teams in the top 25 have lost 22 times and the conference schedules are just beginning to heat up.
A fifth team will likely be No. 1 on Monday when the polls are released. It will likely be current No. 2 North Carolina, which began the year in that spot. However, that could change if Virginia Tech has anything to say about, as the Hokies are North Carolina’s next opponent this weekend.
Michigan State and Duke, two of the Final Four teams from last year are each riding a three-game losing skid. Kentucky, which did not lose until the national semifinals last season, was beaten last Saturday by Auburn.
The one consistent team through all this is SMU as the Mustangs have yet to be upset. However, SMU is ineligible for postseason play.
Just this week’s crazy finishes is enough to convince anyone who doubted that college basketball was worth following.
