Temple Knocks Off No. 1 Houston in Historic Fashion

Down goes No. 1, again. For the fourth time in 11 weeks, college basketball’s top-ranked team has been upset. Kur Jongkuch pinned a Houston shot off the backboard with less than five seconds remaining to help Temple take down Houston 56-55 on the Cougs’ homecourt.

It’s the second time this season Houston has lost the No. 1 spot, falling at home to Alabama in December. The top spot in tomorrow’s AP Poll will either go to the Crimson Tide or Purdue after Kansas took back-to-back losses this week. TCU dismantled the Jayhawks by 26 on Saturday. According to ESPN Stats & Info, this is the first time in AP Poll history both of the top two teams lost at home in a two-day span.

Houston was a 19-point favorite. It’s the biggest upset of a top-ranked team since Duke lost at Cameron Indoor as a 27.5-point favorite in 2019.

Temple pulled off the upset without a ton of theatrics against Kelvin Sampson’s grit and grind defense. Zach Hicks (12 points) and Damian Dunn (16 points off the bench) were the only Owls to score in double figures. Temple was held to just 31.1% from the floor. It’s the lowest shooting percentage by a team to knock off No. 1 since Loyola-Chicago shot 27.4% and beat Cincinnati 60-58 in overtime of the 1963 National Championship.

College Basketball’s Top Teams aren’t Scary

This year when March Madness rolls around, analysts will roll out the same old trope, “This year’s NCAA Tournament is wide open.” That’s typically not true. Sure, upsets happen early, but the the best of the best typically rise to the top for the biggest games in later rounds. This year’s NCAA Tournament might actually be wide open.

The teams you will see on the highest seed lines have more quality wins than most, but none look like world beaters, not even Zach Edey and Purdue. All of the traditional powers — Kentucky, Duke, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Kansas, Michigan State — aren’t in familiar tip-top shape. If you scan further down the AP Poll, you’ll find Kansas State, TCU, Charleston, Clemson, FAU and Rutgers. Do any of those teams have the chops to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament? Maybe, but nobody reading this article would be scared if Kentucky got matched up with one of those teams early. It’s going to be a wild sprint to the postseason. Buckle up, BBN.