Written by Scott Gleeson at USAToday.com
This college basketball season already was wild. Wednesday night was another reminder of that, as three of the top six teams in the USA TODAY SportsCoaches Poll suffered stunning upsets.
It’s mid-February, but the madness has already begun. Here’s a ranking of the best from another unpredictable night:
1. Penn State knocks off No. 6 Iowa
The court storming was completely necessary. The Nittany Lions, a bottom-feeder in the Big Ten, had lost five of six before beating the best team in the conference.
The Hawkeyes have been in the running for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament but this is the exact type of résumé stain that will damage those chances. Now Iowa is tied in the Big Ten standings with Indiana, another team Penn State happened to beat. PSU’s Donovan Jack shot 8-for-9 from the floor in spearheading the 79-75 upset. Part of the reason the result was so shocking: Iowa proved itself to be a much better team in the first matchup on Feb. 3, clobbering the Nittany Lions by 24 points.
2. Texas Tech shocks No. 3 Oklahoma
This upset is important for two reasons. First, because it likely will hurt Oklahoma’s pursuit of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Second, it is a victory that will stick out to the NCAA men’s basketball selection committee like eye candy for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders have been hovering on the bubble, and despite playing extremely well as of late — this is their third consecutive victory against a top-25 team — they need to keep boosting their credentials for an at-large bid.
Texas Tech got a nice boost from its bench in this contest but the continuing theme for Oklahoma is that it’s just not that great of a team when it’s not shooting the ball well from beyond the arc; the Sooners shot 26.1%, far off their nation-leading average of 44.3%. Regardless, it’s shocking to see a Texas Tech or a Kansas State beat a team as offensively potent as Oklahoma.
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