I spent a good chunk of the day on the road yesterday, which looks to have been a bad decision, as yesterday was one of the craziest days I can remember.
If this was football, we'd talk about teams national championship hopes being dashed after big losses. But this is basketball and we do things the right way.
In the two games I saw yesterday, Miami topped Florida Atlantic in the opener of the Orange Bowl Classic, 87-69, in a game that was so exciting I headed to the concession stand to get dinner after the second half under 4 timeout.
The nightcap was far more exciting, as Richmond defeated their second SEC opponent of the season, knocking off no. 13 Florida, 56-53. Kevin Anderson made four free throws in the dying minutes to give the Spiders the win, but David Gonzalvez was named the game's MOP, thanks to a 16 point, 5 board performance. Alex Tyus led the way for the Gators. He was UF's only double figure scorer, managing 15 and 5 rebounds.
The Gators weren't the only ranked team to be upset, though.
- In perhaps the most stunning score of the day, USC pounded no. 9 Tennessee , 77-55.
- Old Dominion won at no. 11 Georgetown, 61-57.
- Wichita State stunned no. 16 Texas Tech, 85-83.
Others had close calls.
- No. 6 West Virginia barely survived a trip to Cleveland State, 80-78.
- Creighton gave no. 19 New Mexico a battle, but the Lobos prevailed, 66-61.
- No. 21 Butler beat Xavier, 69-68, after one of the most controversial replay reviews ever (more).
But it wasn't all struggles for the top 25.
- Michigan fell at no. 1 Kansas in the Green Game, 75-64.
- No. 2 Texas put on quite a show in their 103-90 win over 10th-ranked North Carolina.
- No. 3 Kentucky pulled away from Austin Peay in the second half to earn a 90-69 win.
- No. 4 Purdue beat Ball State, 69-49, in the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis.
- No. 5 Syracuse defeated St. Bonaventure, 85-72, thanks to a strong second half.
- No. 7 Duke outclassed no. 15 Gonzaga in New York, 76-41.
- No. 8 Villanova had no trouble with Fordham, winning 96-58.
- IPFW was no match for no. 12 Michigan State. Sparty prevailed 80-58.
- No. 17 Kansas State had no trouble with Alabama, winning 87-74 in Mobile.
- No. 18 Ohio State struggled at times against Delaware State, but the Buckeyes still won 60-44.
- No. 20 Mississippi got an easy win, slamming soon-to-be-Division III Centenary, 108-64.
- No. 23 Texas A&M routed The Citadel, 71-50.
- No. 24 Washington demolished Portland, 89-54.
- No. 25 Cincinnati snapped their two-game losing streak with a 80-52 win over Lipscomb.
After the jump, I'll take a look at some of Saturday's non-top 25 scores and look ahead to Sunday's TV slate, which features an ACC doubleheader.
In Saturday's other action, there were four upsets of note outside the top 25.
- Massachusetts stunned Memphis on a buzzer beater, 73-72.
- Georgia beat Illinois in suburban Duluth, 70-67.
- Temple knocked off their second straight Big East opponent. The Owls won at Seton Hall, 71-65.
- South Carolina fell at Wofford, 68-61.
Elsewhere
- The Gamecocks' archrivals, Clemson, had no problem with their in-state oppositon, pounding the College of Charleston, 94-55.
- Denver picked up their second straight Sun Belt win, knocking off Louisiana-Monroe, 87-65.
- Illinois State won at Utah in the MWC/MVC Challenge, 73-63.
- Iowa knocked off in-state rival Drake, 71-67.
- IUPUI picked up a good win, as they beat Duquesne, 74-69.
- Louisville routed Western Kentucky, 102-75.
- Mississippi State won at Houston, 70-64.
- Notre Dame knocked off reeling UCLA, 84-73.
- Northern Colorado threw the ball away when they had a chance to beat Oklahoma. The Sooners survived 80-79.
- Northwestern sent the Pac 10 to another loss, beating Stanford, 70-62.
- San Diego State couldn't pull off the Cactus State sweep. They fell at Arizona State, 55-52.
- UAB blasted South Alabama, 72-54.
- VCU survived their trip to Tulane, 78-77.
- Ken Bone's Washington State squad had no trouble with his old team, Portland State, in Kennewick. The Cougars won 93-69.
If you don't see your team's score, click on any of the score links. You'll find a rundown of all of Saturday's action on the right side of the screen.
For more on Saturday's action, visit the main SB Nation site and Searching for Billy Edelin.
Sunday's action is highlighted by the Holiday Festival semifinals in New York and an evening ACC doubleheader. All times are p.m. Eastern.
- Holiday Festival Semifinals: Cornell vs. Davidson (MSG/FCS Atlantic, 12) and Hofstra at St. John's (MSG/FCS Atlantic, 2:30)
- UCF at No. 14 Connecticut (BIg East/Full Court, 1)
- Sam Houston at Auburn (SEC on CSS/Full Court, 2)
- Bradley at Iowa State (Full Court, 2)
- Texas-Arlington at Baylor (FS Southwest/Full Court, 3)
- Florida State at No. 22 Georgia Tech (FSN/Comcast SportsNet, 5:30): This will be the first chance for many to see Tech's star freshman Derrick Favors.
- NC State at Wake Forest (FSN/Comcast SportsNet, 7:45): The Wolfpack are actually 8-1, but a trip to Winston-Salem will be a major test for them. They did win at Marquette last Saturday, however. They also just beat Elon by 3. Wake beat the Phoenix by 40 just four days earlier.