Here is a look at the teams that were favored to win but lost on Tuesday night.
Yes, Tennessee was on the road playing the Gators on their home court in Gainesville, and yes, Florida is ranked No. 8 in the country, but the Gators did not just defeat the Volunteers; they blow out the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Tennessee, by 30 points.
Florida's defense was amazing, especially in the first half when they limited Tennessee to only 15 first-half points. The Volunteers played better in the second half but were also outscored 39-28 in that half. This was also Tennessee's first loss of the season.
The Volunteers have played well on the road, having defeated Illinois and Louisville. They also defeated three Power 4 conference teams on neutral courts in Virginia, Baylor, and Miami. However, the SEC is arguably the best conference in college basketball, and Florida has not lost on their home court this season, and their only loss was on the road to Kentucky in which they only lost by six points.
Kentucky came into this game ranked No. 6 in the country and coming off of an impressive win over Florida. Even though not ranked, Georgia has had a good season with wins over Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, and St. John's. However, the Wildcats have played a more challenging schedule this season. Kentucky has played Duke, Clemson, Gonzaga, Louisville, Ohio State, and the Gators, as mentioned earlier. So, how did the Wildcats get upset on Tuesday night? Like Tennessee, playing on the road in the SEC season will be difficult this year.
In the first half, the Bulldogs offense dominated, outscoring Kentucky by a margin of 47-34. This season, Georgia has not lost on their home court, and the electric atmosphere created by their home crowd may have taken the Wildcats by surprise. The Bulldogs also had balanced scoring with five players scoring nine or more points and eight players playing 14 or more minutes in this game.
Georgia Freshman Asa Newell continued to play well this season, scoring 12 second-half points to give the Bulldogs a 13-point victory over the Wildcats. It is also worth noting that Georgia lost to Ole Miss on the road by 12 in their last game, but playing at home in the SEC appears to be a huge advantage thus far this season.
One ranked home team that did not win on Tuesday night was the West Virginia Mountaineers. They entered this Big 12 conference matchup ranked No. 21 in the country, having won their last seven games, which ironically included an 83-76 victory over Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd Place Game.
The Wildcats have played arguably one of the most challenging schedules in the country up to this point in the season, having lost five games, but all of those losses were against Power Four conference opponents. Arizona, though, has played well of late, having won their last four games before their contest against West Virginia.
The thought by the Mountaineers may have been that they were playing at home and that because they already defeated the Wildcats earlier this season, they were going to win this game. Arizona had other plans and was up on West Virginia by a score of 39-28 at halftime. The Wildcats continued to play well in the second half, outscoring the Mountaineers by eight. West Virginia was unable to overcome Arizona's KJ Lewis career-high 21 points in this game.
This was not as much of an upset as the other game mentioned on Tuesday night, but it was still an upset as UCLA was playing on their home court, and technically, the Bruins were ranked two spots higher than the Wolverines in the AP Poll. Michigan scored 47 points each half and played well throughout the entire game.
The Wolverines, in large part, won due to the outstanding offensive performance from Vladislav Goldin, who scored a career-high 36 points against the Bruins. At 7-foot-1, he dominated the paint, making 13 of his 18 shot attempts. UCLA, on the other hand, had yet another poor three-point shooting performance, making only two of twenty three-point attempts. The Bruins also shot 67.6% from the free throw line, missing a total of 11 free throws.
The score is a little misleading, as UCLA played better in the second half, and the Wolverines' largest lead was 19, the point amount by which they won, but Michigan showed that they are a team that will contend and possibly win the Big Ten regular-season title.
This was a disappointing game by UCLA, as their last two games mirror their offensive struggles from last season. However, overall, the Bruins have played better offensively this season compared to last and have a somewhat favorable schedule over the next three weeks.