Duke moved back into the top 20 at No. 18 in a week of carnage that saw six top-10 teams lose Saturday.
Big 12 madness
The Big 12 is considered one of the deeper leagues in college basketball, but most pundits thought that it had a clear upper tier composed of No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Kansas and No. 7 West Virginia. Baylor and Kansas met on Tuesday in a battle that many predicted could decide who would win the league. Kansas triumphed at home 73-68 behind 23 points from star freshman Josh Jackson and staked its claim toward its 13th straight league title.
However, Saturday proved to be a day of chaos as all three of the top tier teams fell at home. Baylor lost to Kansas State at home 56-54 after Manu Lecomte missed a potential go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds left and Johnathan Motley missed two shots in the closing seconds that could have tied the score. The two losses dropped Baylor to No. 6 in the new poll.
Kansas lost to Iowa State 92-89 in overtime to snap a 54-game home winning streak, as player of the year contender Frank Mason’s 32 points were not enough to overcome a Cyclone team that made 18 3-pointers and shot better than 50 percent from beyond the arc. This was only Bill Self’s 10th loss at Allen Fieldhouse in 14 seasons, but the Jayhawks remained at No. 3 in the rankings, benefitting from the chaos surrounding them.
To complete the trifecta of upsets, West Virginia fell to Oklahoma State 82-75. The Cowboys used 62.5 percent shooting from the field and a 61.5 percent clip from 3-point territory to overcome 18 turnovers forced by the Mountaineers' press. West Virginia dropped to No. 13 as a result of the loss.
Day of Upsets
Saturday featured several other road upsets, including a couple of surprise blowouts. No. 5 Arizona had to travel up to Eugene, Ore., to take on No. 13 Oregon. This game featured the two teams at the top of the Pac-12 standings and was the most anticipated game of the weekend, but it rapidly turned into a rout. Oregon led 38-18 at halftime and coasted from there to an 85-58 win to end the Wildcats’ 15-game winning streak. The Ducks rose all the way to No. 5 and Arizona fell to No. 9 in the new poll.
No. 4 Kentucky also had a tough test on the road, traveling to play No. 24 Florida. That game ended much the same way as the earlier contest between Arizona and Oregon. The return of point guard De’Aaron Fox was not enough to stop the Wildcats from losing 88-66 to the Gators. Kentucky has now lost three of its last four games and fell to No. 15 in the rankings, and Florida rose to No. 17.
No. 9 Virginia faced Syracuse for the first time since its collapse down the stretch in the Elite Eight last year sent the Orange to the Final Four. Saturday showed that Virginia has still not exorcised the demons from that loss, as the Cavaliers blew a 12-point halftime lead and lost 66-62. The win would have been Syracuse coach Jim Boehiem’s 1,000th win, but he had to vacate 101 wins in 2015 due to NCAA rules violations. Virginia dropped to No. 12 in this week’s rankings but will get a shot at a depleted fourth-ranked Louisville team Monday night.
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