Talk about your lost weekends in college basketball. Seven of the top 10 teams in The Associated Press Top 25 for men’s basketball were beaten Saturday, the first time in the poll’s 73-year history that such an event has occurred. That all seven losers were on the road and most were by five points or less underscores both the quality of the opponents and the desperation of the underdogs to make a statement to the selection committee for the NCAA tournament about their worthiness of being included in the Big Dance.
But will all seven losers be treated equally?
How can Kansas, for instance, now be seen as a No. 1 seed after losing at home by 18 points to Kentucky, losing by 10 at No. 10 Baylor on Saturday and losing to unranked Dayton on a neutral court? How can Baylor also be projected as a No. 1 seed when the Bears dropped five of their 11 games from Jan. 11 to Feb. 16, including a loss at Alabama?
In fact, does anyone not remember that it was the Southeastern Conference, not the Big 12, that won the Challenge competition between the two leagues back on Jan. 26? That midseason Saturday produced six wins for the SEC and four for the Big 12. And neither Kansas nor Baylor were winners that day.