College Hoops Early Upsets

Tarleton State over Baylor

Nov. 2 in Waco, Texas 95-85 (exhibition) Using a lineup that featured four Division I transfers -- including former New Mexico starter Jeffrey Henfield, who had 28 points, and ex-St. John's starter Avery Patterson (pictured), who had 23 -- Division II Tarleton knocked off the Bears on their home court. Afterward, Baylor coach Scott Drew told the Waco Tribune, "Thank goodness this is basketball and not football, because this game doesn't count where Appalachian State did."

Grand Valley State over Michigan State

Nov. 2 in East Lansing, Mich. 85-82 (2 OT) (exhibition) The Spartans, who were ranked No. 8 in the preseason AP poll, suffered an early blow to their reputation by dropping an exhibition in at a sold-out Breslin Center. L.J. Kilgore, the Lakers senior who held MSU star Drew Neitzel (pictured) to 3-of-15 shooting, said, "You could just see everybody in the crowd's mouths wide open. Like, 'Wow, Michigan State just got beat by this Division II basketball team.'"

Findlay over Ohio State

Nov. 6 in Columbus, Ohio 70-68 (exhibition) The Buckeyes were the second Big Ten team to fall victim to the D-II curse, losing to Findlay -- a more talented squad from Spartan-killer Grand Valley State's conference. OSU has been less than perfect since, going into long cold spells in losses to Texas A&M and Butler.

Gardner-Webb over Kentucky

Nov. 7 in Lexington, Ky. 84-68 Billy Gillispie's second game as Kentucky's head coach was a nightmare -- and it still ranks as the biggest upset of 2007-08. The 'Cats lost out on a trip to New York for the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic by falling to Gardner-Webb at Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs had gone 9-21 the previous season and were picked to finish in the bottom half of the Atlantic Sun conference.

Belmont over Cincinnati

Nov. 9 in Cincinnati 86-75 The Bruins were in the 2007 NCAA tournament and the Bearcats were not -- but Belmont was not expected to knock Mick Cronin's club out in the first round of its own tournament, the Peggy Cronin Classic. Belmont caught Gardner-Webb fever, shooting 52 percent from the field to ruin Cincy's home opener.

Mercer over USC

Nov. 10 in Los Angeles 96-81 Three days after Gardner-Webb stunned Kentucky, and a day after Belmont upended Cincinnati, another Atlantic Sun team knocked off USC on its home floor. "The Kentucky result was on our mind," USC's Taj Gibson said afterwards. "We knew this was a dangerous team." Apparently the Trojans didn't realize just how dangerous Mercer was; they were without point guard Daniel Hackett, but still allowed the Bears to shoot 59 percent in the first half and take a 21-point lead.

Miami (Ohio) over Xavier

Nov. 13 in Oxford, Ohio 59-57 Before the Musketeers handed Indiana its first loss of the season, they were upended by the RedHawks, who look like the early favorite to win the MAC. With his team down by one and six seconds remaining, Michael Bramos was fouled on a three-point attempt. He hit all three shots, then blocked Xavier's final attempt to seal the win.

Siena over Stanford

Nov. 17 in Albany, N.Y. 79-67 This was a rematch from the 1989 NCAA tournament, when the 14th-seeded Saints upset the third-seeded Cardinal. This time the result was the same. Stanford was ranked No. 20 at the time, but was without star center Brook Lopez, who had been ruled academically ineligible for the first semester.

New Orleans over N.C. State

Nov. 18 in Raleigh, N.C. 65-63 UNO, which plays its home games in a 1,200-seat P.E. building as a result of Hurricane Katrina damage to Lakefront Arena, could be one of the improbable success stories of '07-08. The Privateers' road win at then-No. 21 N.C. State looks as if it may be a springboard to a run at a Sun Belt Conference title.

St. Mary's over Oregon

Nov. 20 in Moraga, Calif. 99-87 The Ducks were ranked No. 11 when they rolled into Moraga, where they met an unranked Gaels squad that just might challenge Gonzaga for the West Coast Conference title. Unheralded Australian freshman point guard Patrick Mills scored a school-record 37 points in the win, upstaging Oregon's vaunted backcourt duo of Tajaun Porter and Bryce Taylor.

BYU over Louisville

Nov. 23 in Las Vegas 78-76 The Las Vegas Invitational's intended title-game matchup of two top-10 teams -- the sixth-ranked Cards and No. 1 North Carolina -- was ruined by the Cougars. Forward Trent Plaisted had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Brazilian import Jonathan Tavernari hit five threes en route to a 29-point night.

Brown over Northwestern

Nov. 24 in Evanston, Ill. 73-67 NU coach Bill Carmody, who has yet to get the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament since coming over from Princeton, lost to Ivy Leaguer Brown on Thanksgiving weekend at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU was without its leading scorer, Kevin Coble, who returned home to Phoenix to be with his ailing mother.

Harvard over Michigan

Dec. 1 in Cambridge 62-51 Brown wasn't the only Ivy League team to pull off an upset against the Big Ten: First-year Crimson coach Tommy Amaker got sweet revenge against the school that fired him following the 2006-07 season, beating John Beilein's Wolverines. Students in the sellout crowd chanted "We Got Tommy" -- as well as "Appalachian State" at Michigan.

George Mason over Kansas State

Nov 22 in Orlando, Fla. 87-77 Thanks to some early foul trouble for super-frosh Michael Beasley, George Mason grabbed the lead at 7:53 left in the first half and didn't relinquish it for the rest of the game. Beasley came back to score 30 points, but Mason topped that with five scorers in double figures.

Stephen F. Austin over Oklahoma

Dec. 8 in Norman 66-62 For just the second time in 60 games, Oklahoma dropped a non-conference matchup at home -- this one to the small school in Nacogdoches, Texas. With 2.4 seconds remaining and Stephen F. Austin clinging to a a two-point lead, Lumberjacks' junior Josh Alexander knocked down two free throws to seal the win. "Our guys have really bought into the theory that if they play hard on defense, we can compete with these schools from major conferences," Lumberjacks' coach Danny Kaspar said.

Sam Houston State over Texas Tech

Nov 14 in Huntsville, Texas 56-54 Backed by Shamir McDaniel's 18 points, Sam Houston State secured its second win over Texas Tech during the Bobby Knight era (the first was in 2002). Knight's press conference after the game lasted two minutes -- he summed the game up saying, "Those kids played their [butts] off defensively and they hit a couple of big shots when they had to and they beat us."

UAB over Kentucky

Dec 15 in Louisville 79-76 UAB coach Mike Davis baffled Kentucky with a 1-3-1 defense as the Blazers pulled off an upset on what was supposed to be a neutral floor in Louisville. UAB's offense looked anything but confused as Robert Vaden's scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Blazers to a three-point victory.

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