Early College Hoops Upsets: What is the cause?
| 8
|
by Wrmjr
We all know that Gardner-Webb took it to Kentucky 84-68 in Kentucky's home opener. Though this is the first upset of the season that counts, there have been two other upsets that are even more baffling. Ohio State list an exhibition game to Findlay 70-68 and a few days earlier, Michigan State lost to Division II Grand Valley State 85-82 in double OT! Now Ohio State wasn't ranked in the pre-season polls, though they were usually in the "Others receiving votes" category. Kentucky, though, was 22nd and Michigan State was 8th. How can the #8 school in the country lose to a Division II school? How can Kentucky lose a home opener?
I'm sure we're all thinking App State in football, and that may be an apt comparison. To me, the real question is what is the cause of these unprecedented upsets? Ohio State could look to the losses in players from last year (Oden's are big shoes to fill). Kentucky could claim it's a new coach that hasn't gotten his team together yet. But Michigan State is loaded! They have a good coach in Tom Izzo and they didn't lose anyone significant from last year.
So what do you think is the cause for this spate of upsets?
There are also decent players going to these lower-ranked schools who didn't go to bigger programs for whatever reason, and if your main scorer(s) on Powerhouse State goes cold but that other guy at Where U is hot, they're in for a rough night.
Michigan State wasn't such a shocker because they were trailing much of last year's game against this team, too. And this year, Drew Nietzel didn't score through 27 minutes of that Grand Valley State game. These small schools know what a big win means to their program. I think in the end they just want it more.