That’s Debatable: Upset Weekend

Posted by rtmsf on January 12th, 2010

Each week RTC will posit a That’s Debatable question or topic that is relevant to the world of college basketball.  Sometimes whimsical, sometimes serious, we’ll post the thoughts from our core editing crew (in 200 words or less), but we’ll also be expanding to include our contributors and correspondents as appropriate throughout the season.  We also invite you, the readers, to join us as we mull over some of the questions facing the game today.  Feel free to send us your takes and/or leave them in the comments below.

This Week’s Topic: It was Upset Weekend in college basketball, as more than half the ranked teams took a loss.  What was your favorite part of the weekend?

nvr1983 – editor/contributor

Without question the best part of the weekend was watching depleted Tennessee “shock the world” on Sunday afternoon against #1 Kansas while most of the country was focused in on the awful NFL wildcard games (ok, the Green Bay-Buzzsaw game was pretty entertaining). Although Tennessee has managed to continue to disgrace itself (first Lane Kiffin’s football players now Bruce Pearl’s carful of idiots) the university can take some pride in Bruce Pearl’s six scholarship players and the handful of walk-ons that did suit up and play. While the upset showed us some of Kansas’s weaknesses that most people saw in their narrow victory at home over Cornell, the game was more important for what it showed us about the Volunteers, which may be an appropriate name for a team using so many walk-ons. Right now there might not be a more difficult to read team in the nation. And isn’t that part of what we love about college sports?

john stevens – editor/contributor

Are you kidding me with this?  My favorite part of the weekend?  Did you not read about how I met Ashley Judd while on my assignment in Lexington for Kentucky/Georgia?  Please.  The woman shook my hand, looked me straight in the eye and spoke to me.  What, you expected me to write something about Tennessee/Kansas?  Get over yourself.  Fine, if you need more of a basketball answer, for me the best part of Upset Weekend was playing the waiting game.  Weekends like the one we just had occur once or maybe twice in a season.  One of the coolest things about it is wondering what the next upset’s going to be as you move through the day.  After a couple of early ones, you start wondering if you might have a true Upset Weekend on your hands, and then it happens.  Teams just start falling, one after the other, in exciting games that often have incredible finishes.  The trend spreads across the country like a virus and, as the upsets get bigger, the phone calls and text messages and tweets from friends and fellow hoop-lovers really start cranking up.  That’s why this version of Upset Weekend was special: it ended with the biggest surprise of them all, with everyone watching.  Hmmm.  I wonder if Ashley enjoyed Upset Weekend…

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