College basketball chaos: Four teams in top five lose to unranked opponents in

The first full week of conference play across college basketball has produced a series of shocking outcomes that suggest we’re in store for a tumultuous battle before someone cuts down the nets in Arizona on April 8.

The mayhem began Tuesday night when No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Houston each lost in road games against unranked teams. It continued Wednesday, when No. 3 Kansas and No. 5 Tennessee also fell on the road against unranked teams. No. 4 UConn survived the mayhem with an 80-75 win at Xavier but not without trailing in the second half against the mediocre Musketeers.

It was the first time four top-five teams have lost to unranked opponents in a two-day span, according to CBS Sports Research.

Tough two days

Results Tuesday and Wednesday of the top-five teams in the AP Top 25. 

Collectively, the run of results illustrates a lack of dominance among the supposed top teams in the sport and opens the door for recently downtrodden brands such as Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina to reclaim their place atop the college basketball hierarchy.

The No. 6 Wildcats have won six straight and are off to a 2-0 start in the SEC. The No. 7 Tar Heels have won four straight games, with double-digit victories against No. 9 Oklahoma, Pitt and No. 21 Clemson among them. Duke has won seven straight and appears to be hitting its stride.

None of the three survived past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament last season, and North Carolina didn’t even make the 68-team field. With Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski and counterpart Roy Williams each retiring in recent years and Kentucky coach John Calipari struggling to maintain his former greatness, the blue bloods have been missing from the party.

Kentucky began last season at No. 4 but quickly fell out of the top 10 and never returned. North Carolina began the 2022-23 campaign at No. 1 but left the poll for good by Jan. 2 during a colossally disappointing season. Duke began coach Jon Scheyer’s first season as coach at No. 7 but was out of the top 10 for good by Nov. 28.

But there’s an excellent chance that, come Monday, all three will be in the top 10 simultaneously for the first time since last November. Duke plays Georgia Tech on Saturday, North Carolina hosts Syracuse and Kentucky is at Texas A&M.

Of course, if the last two days have taught us anything it’s that no one is safe this season in college basketball.

Mississippi State entered Wednesday night’s game against the No. 5 Volunteers second among those in the “receiving votes” category of the AP poll and at a respectable No. 34 in the NET. But the Bulldogs did not have a Quad 1 win. That changed as Josh Hubbard and Tolu Smith III combined for 48 points to lead Mississippi State to a 77-72 win over the…