NCAA Men's Basketball continues to grant the fans the unexpected and the neutral observers some of the best story lines they could ask for. The Saturday billing of games on Jan. 19, 2013, included action from 18 of the top 25 teams and some interesting upsets that are likely to see a wholesale reshuffle of the poll on Monday.
Opening the evening was the Big East match up between No. 1 Louisville and No. 6 Syracuse. The Orange Men traveled to face the top ranked team, but once again had their number defeating them for the third time in their last four games by the score of 70-68.
Fourth ranked Kansas had to overcome a strong opening performance from Texas in the Big 12 game of the night, but the Jay Hawks proved once again why they remain in the top five and are likely to move up after Louisville's loss.
Arizona were in cruise control against in-state rivals Arizona state as the No. 7 ranked Wildcats had little to worry about against the Sun Devils in their Pac-12 game that saw the visitors improve to 4-1 in conference play.
One of the biggest upsets of the night saw No. 13 Butler upset No. 8 Gonzaga at the buzzer as the Atlantic 10 Bulldogs jumped to 16-2 on the season. The Zags will feel hard done by but will have a chance to make amends against BYU in their next game.
Florida continues to be the dominant force in the SEC as the No. 10 Gators took down the No. 17 Missouri Tigers in a authoritative 52-83 win in Gainsville. Mizzou now have fallen to 2-2 in conference play while the Gators are still undefeated.
The No. 12 Creighton Blue Jays were stunned as the Wichita State Shockers lived up to their namesake defeating their MVC Conference rivals 64-67 at home. With both teams holding a 17-2 record one would wonder how Wichita has not yet had a sniff at the top rankings.
Michigan State have been fighting to get back to the top of the pile in the Big Ten and they went a long way towards that goal by defeating the No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes in East Lansing 56-59. The No. 18 Spartans now face a tough set of games in the next weeks to see just what they are made off.
San Diego State were the next to fall as the No. 15 Aztecs were felled by a 15-2 Wyoming team 45-58 in one of the worst scoring games of the Aztecs recent history.
The No. 16 ranked Kansas State Wildcats remained undefeated in the Big 12 with a 60-69 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in a solid all around team performance.
Notre Dame have been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons this week, but the No. 20 ranked men's basketball team did their school one better by making sure not to be upset by Rutgers in close 66-69 victory.
The Pac-12 had another great match up before the night was over as No. 21 Oregon traveled to No. 24 UCLA in the best game of the Saturday schedule for the West Coast's most influential conference. The Ducks took care of business on the road 76-67 and will look to break the top 20 this week while the Golden Bears are likely to drop out.
In the last two Top 25 games of the weekend Virginia Commonwealth crushed Duquesne 90-63 while Cincinnati upset No. 25 Marquette 69-71 in another thrilling Big East match up.
Sunday sees only two games in the Top 25 as Clemson travel to Raleigh to take on North Carolina State in the ACC and Indiana goes to Northwestern in the Big Ten.
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