The first week of December brought some upstart teams back down to Earth, while others got busy hammering nails into their own coffins Bracketology wise.
This week provided a lot of good reminders not to get too excited about any teams so early in the season, especially when it comes to Bracketology. After Thanksgiving weekend, the country became enamored of Michigan to such a degree that the Wolverines were voted all the way into the Top 5 of the national polls after being unranked the previous week.
It was the largest jump in AP College Basketball polling history.
It was also indicative of the kind of knee-jerk reactions that college basketball pundits are keen on. (Myself included.) With seemingly every result, the public’s perception of teams vault and plummet at meteoric rates.
Lost to an unranked team on your home floor? We never liked you, anyway.
Beat a ranked team in a holiday tournament? Welcome to the Top 25.
And that hype train isn’t slowing down.
Something about flipping the calendar to December made every undefeated team look like a serious contender. Hashtags flew fast and furiously, with fans and media members alike clamoring for certain teams to be ranked. People were called cowards.
It’s serious business out there.
DePaul basketball just beat the 12th ranked team in the nation. 9-0. Rank us cowards!!!! #PlayingPossessed
— Akhil Sharma (@AkhilDaRealDeal) December 5, 2019
But as I said at the beginning, this week was a flashing red light telling us all to pump the brakes.
Just about every team is going to have a disappointing loss or two on their resume—even your favorite upstart squad.
So here’s a look at some of the teams that stumbled during Week 5 of the college basketball season, including a look at how one mid-major conference may have lost its shot at getting a second bid in next March’s NCAA Tournament.