Conference play is now in full swing after a loaded second weekend of January that saw a stunner in the Big Ten, a buzzer-beater in the Southland, and some big-time moving and shaking in the Big Ten and the SEC.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get to the biggest winners and losers from the weekend that was in men\u2019s college hoops.<\/p>\n
There hasn\u2019t been a better or more surprising win this season than the one Wisconsin was able to pull off Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n
Playing as 19.5-point underdogs against a Michigan team that, entering the weekend, ranked as the second-best team of the Ken Pom era (which goes back to 1996-97), the Badgers hit 15 threes and dropped 54 second half points to pull off an absolute stunner over the No. 2 team in the country. The win dramatically bolstered the NCAA Tournament chances for a Wisconsin team that entered the game having already taken five losses.<\/p>\n
Six teams entered the weekend with undefeated records. The Wolverines are the only ones starting this week with a blemishes loss column.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s certainly no cause to panic in Ann Arbor, but Saturday\u2019s loss would have been a little bit easier to digest if Michigan hadn\u2019t also been pushed to the brink by Penn State just four days earlier. Pretty much every metric that tracks college basketball still has the Wolverines ranked as the best team in the sport, but the second week of January was the first time that Dusty May\u2019s squad has looked assailable.<\/p>\n
I know, I know, I know \u2026 \u201cMiami was a university when Florida belonged to Spain.\u201d My older brother went there, so I\u2019m allowed to say it. That\u2019s the way this works.<\/p>\n
The unbeaten Redhawks became the first team to reach 17 wins in 2205-26 with an 87-73 road win over a Toledo team that had been 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference and looked like one of Miami\u2019s biggest obstacles on the road to an undefeated regular season.<\/p>\n
These dudes can absolutely light it up from the outside, and while they\u2019ve certainly become a fun regular season story, the sport needs them on the biggest stage come March.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no shame in losing a conference road game to a likely NCAA Tournament team. There\u2019s at least a little shame in losing a conference road game to a likely NCAA Tournament team by 22.<\/p>\n
Auburn\u2019s Keyshawn Hall scored 32 points and did pretty much whatever he wanted to against Arkansas in a 95-73 win for an Auburn team that had lost four of its last six entering the weekend.<\/p>\n
What did John Calipari tell his team following its first lopsided defeat of the year?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat ain\u2019t us,\u201d Calipari said. \u201cI\u2019m burning the tape. Let\u2019s move on. Get on the bus fast. This stuff happens. We had no chance today \u2026 That wasn\u2019t my team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Illinois won its fifth consecutive game with an impressive road victory over No. 19 Iowa on Sunday. The Illini led by as many as 17 points in the second half before holding on for a 75-69 triumph.<\/p>\n
After losing five straight games to Iowa from 2018-20, Illinois has now won 10 of the last 11 in the series, including five straight, and two in a row on the road in Iowa City. Freshman Keaton Wagler built continued making the case that he\u2019s one of the more underrated members of the vaunted class of 2025, notching 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in the contest. His 7 points in the midst of Iowa\u2019s huge late second half run were the biggest reasons Brad Underwood\u2019s team was able to improve to 4-1 in Big Ten play.<\/p>\n
There are approximately 1 billion ways to polish off a victory when you\u2019re leading by two, have possession of the ball and there are just 0.1 seconds to play. There are maybe, I don\u2019t know, three ways to lose.<\/p>\n
Credit(?) to Chicago State on finding one of those.<\/p>\n
Literally, all the inbounder has to do is hand the ball to a Stonehill player, and Chicago State still wins the game. Taking a timeout in that situation, even if you have 50 of them, is absurd. Just throw the ball in literally anywhere on the court, and the game ends. Instead, the Cougars drop to 2-15 overall in 0-4 in Northeast Conference play.<\/p>\n
Every time it looks like the Cornhuskers might be ready to turn back into a pumpkin they do something that makes you think they might be capable of doing more than just winning the first NCAA Tournament game<\/a> in program history this season.<\/p>\n