No. 3 Kansas fell 65-60 to unranked UCF on Wednesday, meaning that for the first time in 20 years, the top three ranked men's teams in the nation all lost to unranked teams in a two-day span. Down 16 at half-time, the team rallied to beat their first ranked opponent since 2020 and their highest-ranked opponent in team history. UCF beat No. 4 UConn in 2012 to set the team's previous benchmark.
"We kept believing, and our guys kept fighting. We got off to a really good start in the game. They have a championship pedigree. A championship program. Great coach. And I feel like guys just kept fighting. We knew we couldn't get it all back in one possession. So what we wanted to do was chip away, chip away. And I thought we did that by halftime, and we carried that momentum into the second half," head coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game.
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Kansas Join Purdue And Houston In Infamous History
However, as mentioned, Kansas is just the latest ranked team to fall to unranked opposition. On Tuesday, the top two teams in college basketball fell to unranked opponents. It was the first time since February 2016 that the top two teams lost on the same day. No. 1 Purdue, riding a seven-game winning streak, was stunned by a high-flying Nebraska team that has started the season 13-3. It was Nebraska's first win over a No. 1-ranked team since 1982. Furthermore, it's the fourth time in the past two seasons that Purdue has fallen to an unranked team. Earlier this season, the Boilermakers were shocked by Northwestern.
Meanwhile, No. 2 Houston entered the day as the last undefeated team in men's college basketball. However, they seemed unable to mount a response to Iowa State, who raced out to a 14-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game. "It was important that we came out and set the tone with the game. We talked about we need to throw the first punch, we need to be the aggressor, we need to be the team that sets the tone," Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said after the game. Iowa improved to 12-3 on the season with the win.
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