Recapping Saturday's wild college hoops results
By Tess QuinlanJan 9, 2011, 11:39 AM EST
Saturday would've been a notable day in college hoops if all we had was Connecticut's thrilling 82-81 win against Texas and the remarkable 100-97 triple-overtime win by UAB over UTEP.
Instead, we got a truly memorable one. Seven ranked teams lost to unranked ones – and some of those losses were genuinely perplexing. Colorado over Missouri? Penn State beating Michigan State?
Rob Dauster did a recap of tee early upsets, including Mizzou, MSU, Georgetown's loss to West Virginia and K-State falling to Oklahoma State.
So here's a quick rundown of the other ranked upsets.
Georgia 77, No. 10 Kentucky 70: Gary Parrish called this one, which is to say it might not qualify as an upset given that the Bulldogs were at home, have two NBA-caliber players in Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie and were a respectable 11-2 entering the game. Still, the Wildcats (12-3) were 10-point favorites via kenpom.com because of their vastly more efficient offense and defense. Let's split the difference and call this one what it was: A nice win for the home team.
Houston 76, No. 18 Central Florida 71: Time to drop UCF from the unbeaten ranks. After starting the season 14-0, the Knights faltered badly right away. They trailed 1-2 just minutes into the game and 36-21 at half. They're still the team to beat in C-USA, but this opens the door for UAB, UTEP and even Memphis.
South Carolina 83, Vanderbilt 75, OT: Vandy's defense vanished in the second half. Four Gamecocks hit double figures, erased a 12-point deficit and forced OT. By then, Vandy's offense had vanished as well. Counting OT, the Commodores scored just six points in the game's final nine minutes.
Bonus results! One upset and one head-scratcher.
Wyoming 67, New Mexico 66: The Cowboys are fighting with Utah and Air Force to be the MWC's worst team, but they're good for one conference upset a season, and always at home. (It's usually against SDSU.) This year, the Lobos fell short at the AA after Francisco Cruz sank an 8-footer at the buzzer. New Mexico's NCAA tourney hopes get no help from this loss.
Then there's Auburn. The Tigers scored just six points in the first half against LSU, somehow ripped off 49 in the second and still lost, 62-55.
Like I said, memorable. What else would we expect on a day when the 7-9 Seahawks beat the defending Super Bowl champion Saints?
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