Yes indeed, Donovan's Gators had their first big win in a while, topping # 2 Michigan State 77-72 last night. Earving Walker hit a 3 to put them up for good at 72-71 with 1:56 left, and they held on to celebrate as if they'd just won their 3rd championship. Congrats to them, yet calm down, Gators - not only is it November, not March, but the Spartans pretty much gave you the game by playing like crap. It's not often that Izzo's boys have 23 turnovers, or go 2 of 10 from deep. However, it's still a nice W, and at 5-0 these guys might find themselves ranked next week. Without a doubt there will be changes in the rankings upcoming - not unexpected, as ranks this early mean damn little - as this game was not the only "upset" over the last few days:
On Wednesday San Diego beat # 25 Oklahoma 76-64, and on Thursday the Sooners channelled the Terps by taking their second L in a row from Houston 100-93. Don't expect to see either of those teams in the top 25 come Monday, brothers. There were no other upsets on 11/25, though # 5 Kentucky had to outscore Stanford 10-2 in OT to steal one 73-65. Other Wednesday scores include:
# 1 Kansas 89 - Oakland 59
# 7 Duke 64 - Arizona State 53 = Likely too close for Coach K's angina.
# 13 U.Conn 81 - LSU 55
# 24 Vanderbilt 84 - Arizona 72 = Guess that high for the boys from the desert didn't last long.
On Thanksgiving, while you people were watching 3 turkeys of football games, there was some great action going on 'way up the dial:
# 8 West Virginia 85 - Long Beach State 62 = OK, maybe not here.
# 22 Minnesota 82 - # 12 Butler 73 = But here.
# 15 Michigan 83 - Creighton 76 (OT) = And here, where the Logans outscored the Jays 14-7 in OT to survive a scare.
Texas A&M 69 - # 19 Clemson 60 = And here, where the Tigers disappointed their fans, again.
Then yesterday:
# 1 Kansas 112 - Tenn.Tech 75 = Zzzzzzzzzz.
# 7 Duke 68 - # 13 U.Conn 59 = Get the feeling Coaches K and C don't much like each other?
# 8 West Virginia 73 - Texas A&M 66 = A good win, seeing how well A&M been playing early, but not impressive.
# 9 Tenn 86 - Charleston 69 = Hit the snooze button again.
# 10 Syracuse 85 - Columbia 60 = And again.
# 12 Butler 69 - UCLA 67 = Is this a bounceback win, or just a bullet dodged? I vote bullet.
Marquette 79 - # 15 Michigan 65 = Well, the Wolverines didn't survive this scare.
# 19 Clemson 87 - Long Beach St. 79 = Yeah, and so?
Utah 60 - # 20 Illinois 58 = Got the feeling yet that this wasn't a good long weekend for the Big 10?
Portland 61 - # 22 Minnesota 56 = How about now?
Northwestern 72 - # 23 Notre Dame 58 = Northwestern? Say bye-bye to the Irish.
Yeah, the top 25 will be shaken up like a sockful of marbles, and it's hard to tell who'll fall where, but you know damn well who'll fall out that hole in the toe.
Today you can catch:
# 2 Michigan State vs. U. Mass
# 4 Villanova vs. LaSalle
# 6 Purdue vs. Central Michigan = This one's almost over now - if it wasn't before it started.
# 16 Louisville vs. UNLV
# 17 Ohio St. vs. St.Francis (PA) =
# 18 Georgetown vs. Lafayette = This one's pretty much done too.
# 20 Illinois vs. Bradley
# 23 Notre Dame vs. St.Louis
# 25 Okla. vs. Nicholls St.
On Sunday:
# 3 Texas vs. Rice
# 8 West Va. vs. Portland
# 11 UNC vs. Nevada
# 12 Butler vs. # 19 Clemson = Both teams need this one.
# 14 Washington vs. Montana
# 15 Michigan vs. Alabama
# 22 Minnesota vs. Texas A&M = A spot in the 25 may rest on this game.
Enjoy.