Dec 10, 2019, 09:56pm
Texas Tech Takes Out No. 1 Louisville In Jimmy V Classic As The No. 1 Jinx Continues
Adam ZagoriaContributor
SportsMoney
I'm a Basketball Insider and tennis writer
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 10: Chris Clarke #44 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts after a ... [+]
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As Chris Beard exited Madison Square Garden after his Texas Tech Red Raiders had just upset No. 1 Louisville at Madison Square Garden, he thrust his fist into the air and let out a rambunctious “Yeah.”
In this predictably unpredictable college basketball season, the Red Raiders became the latest college basketball team to knock off the No. 1 team in the nation, 70-57, in the first game of the Jimmy V Classic. The Red Raiders notched the win even as leading scorer Jahmi'us Ramsey sat on the bench with a hamstring injury.
Louisville became the fourth different No. 1 team to lose and the college basketball season is only six weeks old. Already Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and now Louisville have failed to hold onto the top spot. Only Duke and Louisville have held the top spot for more than one week. The four No. 1s is the most ever before Jan. 1 in the history of the poll, and as many as there were all of last season.
Now No. 2 Kansas or No. 3 Ohio State figures to be the fifth No. 1 come Monday. Meantime, No. 4 and previously unbeaten Maryland fell to surging Penn State, 76-68, while previously unbeaten No. 18 Butler lost at Baylor, 53-52. That dropped the number of unbeaten teams from eight to five in one night.
“At this point I’ve seen enough of college basketball to know that there are a lot of teams that are going to be in the mix,” Beard said after I asked what he has seen so far this season in the college basketball landscape.
“I don’t think there’s one dominant team, there are a lot of good teams,” Beard added. “I’ve seen everybody in the Big 12 and there might be three or four teams that can play in that Final Four. Whether it’s Kentucky, Michigan [State], Duke or now Louisville, I think it just means it’s a great year for college basketball. There’s so many teams worthy.”
Louisville looked like one of those teams when they beat previously unbeaten Michigan by 15 points on Dec. 3 at home. Now they’re just the latest victim of the No. 1 jinx this season.
“We’re going to have grow from this and use it as a lesson learned,” Cardinals coach Chris Mack said.
This college basketball season is more wide open than any in recent memory, and your bracket may take a heavy beating come March.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 10: Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard reacts during the ... [+]
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Texas Tech beating Louisville is hardly a David-over-Goliath upset.
The Red Raiders, after all, did reach the NCAA championship game in April, losing to Virginia. They are once again loaded with experienced players, including Virginia Tech transfer Chris Clarke, who went for 12 rebounds with 7 points and 6 assists. Junior Davide Moretti had 18 points and Terrence Shannon Jr. 13.
Would it surprise anyone if Beard got this outfit deep into March yet again in 2020?
“I do have a lot of confidence in this team,” Beard said. “We get healthy, we keep getting better, I think we can be a good team.”
While this upset was not as gigantic as some of the others, there have already been several head-scratchers.
Raise your hand if you had Vernon Carey Jr. and No. 10 Duke going into East Lansing and beating Cassius Winston and No. 11 Michigan State by 12 in a game that wasn’t that close.
Or if you had Sasha Stefanovic and Purdue clobbering No. 5 and reigning national champion Virginia by 29 points. Twenty-nine.
Or if you had Duane Washington and No. 6 Ohio State venturing to Chapel Hill and wrecking Cole Anthony and No. 7 North Carolina by 25 points. Twenty-five.
Or if you had Penn State being 8-2 or DePaul chiming in at 9-1.
I could go on and on.
The bottom line is this college season is wide open and there’s no telling how it will end.
On this night, Beard wasn’t thinking about proving his team was better than No. 1 or triggering a new No. 1. It was just about winning one game.
“Its’ a 40-minute game, you gotta find a way to win it,” he said, “and tonight we did just that.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamza...ssic-as-the-no-1-jinx-continues/#3718b45c31f9
