Unpredictable college basketball season took an unexpected turn Saturday when seven of the top 10 teams were defeated.
All six top teams, including Arizona, Kentucky, Auburn, Purdue and Kansas, lost, marking the first time since the AP poll era (1948-1949) that they have lost simultaneously. No. No.
Only No. 7 Duke, No. 10 Baylor won the game, beating the fifth-ranked Jayhawks. No. 8 Villanova escaped the carnage by default; the Wildcats won’t play again until Tuesday.
While the upper echelon was being smashed, the AP Top 25 teams that played Saturday won.
“In all my years, I have never seen a day of hoops like this,” tweeted ESPN analyst Dick Vitale. Vitale is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and cannot be reached on the airwaves.
It shouldn’t be surprising that this college basketball season has been so chaotic.
Three stints at No. 1 have been held by Gonzaga. 1, which lasted six weeks, including two of the previous. Baylor spent five weeks at No. 1, Auburn had a three week run, and Duke briefly made the top-ranked list.
That’s not all. All season, the AP Top 25 was a mess with teams trading places just like short track NASCAR racing.
On Monday, poll voters will need to make tough decisions. The same will happen for the NCAA Tournament selection panel in two weeks.
After a Baylor loss of 80 to 70, Kansas coach Bill Self stated that they didn’t receive any help in their league. However, on a national scale, they got huge help today thanks to the teams we’re playing with for the higher seeds. “So I would say, we won’t drop much, if anything, I don’t think.”
The top-tier chaos began with Michigan State’s win over No. 4 Purdue, East Lansing (Michigan). Although the Spartans lost five of their six games to fall out of the AP Top 25 rankings, they defeated the Boilermakers to earn coach Tom Izzo his 662nd win. This is Indiana’s Bob Knight’s record for most wins at a Big Ten school.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman directed the Muss Bus in the right direction at just the right moment. The 18th-ranked Razorbacks won one of their biggest wins this season, defeating No. 6 Kentucky 75-73. Arkansas, which made it to the Elite Eight last season has won 13 out of 14 and will likely jump in Monday’s poll.
No. 17 Tennessee was next. The Thompson-Boling Arena proved to be a horror zone for visiting teams. They went on a 17-2 win streak to defeat No. 3 Auburn 67-62. This season, the Vols are 15-0 at Home.
TCU overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat No. 9 Texas Tech beat 69-66 to increase its NCAA Tournament hopes.
Colorado moved up to No. 2 after Baylor’s victory over Kansas. 2 Arizona to win 79-63. This was the Wildcats’ worst loss in three seasons and it was against the Buffaloes’ highest-ranked opponent.
No. No. The Gaels ran the same type of run as the Zags, scoring 16 consecutive points to win a 67-57 victory. This sent fans from Moraga, California, rushing onto the floor.
Coach Mark Few of Gonzaga said, “It’s kinda life in late February or early March especially on the road.”
Madness has already begun. March could become maniacal.
