Four undefeated teams remain in Division I college basketball, a number that is certain to shrink to zero by March. Everybody loses at least once, even if they shouldn’t. Here are the best upsets of the non-conference portion of year:
5. Nov. 27: Portland over No. 22 Minnesota, 61-56 » The Pilots’ Cinderella run started on Thanksgiving and barely lasted through the weekend, and it may have been more significant for exposing the mistaken favoritism for the Gophers in the early-season national polls. California’s losses were worse — the Bears were No. 13 when they fell Syracuse and Ohio State on consecutive nights.
4. Dec. 3: Texas Tech over No. 12 Washington, 99-92 (OT) » Things ain’t going well for the Pac-10, are they? It all started to unravel when the Huskies went into Lubbock and lost a heartbreaker just days after eking out a squeaker over Montana at home. Once they fell to Georgetown, too, it was curtains for the Pac-10 in the national rankings.
3. Dec. 13: Temple over No. 3 Villanova, 75-65 » Three notes: 1) The Wildcats were ranked too high at the time, and 2) the Owls are legit, except against a team starting with a K and including twins with the last name Morris, and 3) Washington, D.C. stinks for not having its own local series like the Big 5.
2. Dec. 19: USC over No. 9 Tennessee, 77-55 » The season went off a cliff in Knoxville last week, but things were heading south for the Volunteers when they pretended they were an NBA team and took the night off in Los Angeles. Tennessee was outrebounded, 42-17, and was 2 for 22 from three in this defeat.
1. Jan. 4: College of Charleston over No. 9 North Carolina, 82-79 (OT) » When the Tar Heels lost to Syracuse in November, it seemed like a shock, until the rest of the country realized how good the Orange really were. When the Heels surrendered an 11-point second half lead and fell in overtime to the Cougars, it showed that Roy Williams is indeed rebuilding, not reloading.
