It's Monday morning, so it's time for me to let you know what's been on my mind the past week. It's going to be mostly basketball, with a football thought or two mixed in.
BASKETBALL THOUGHTS
1. Does Mizzou have the best single win in college basketball this season?
Beating the No. 5 team on their home court soon after that team demolished the No. 1 team on that same floor is impressive, without question.
But is it the best win around the country this season?
We can start by looking at the NET rankings going into the matchup, Mizzou was No. 34 and Florida was No. 5. A 29-spot difference isn't the biggest upset that's happened this season, it's not even the biggest of Missouri's season, the Border War was a bigger split, but that big of a difference on the higher teams home floor is a different thing.
Taking a look back at teams ranking in the top-5 and that game that pushed them out, kansas was the top-ranked team until it lost to both Creighton and Mizzou in back-to-back games. But both of those losses came on the road and kansas has since dropped games against West Virginia and Iowa State to make the Tigers' win look a little less impressive.
UConn was No. 2 when it got swept at the Maui Invitational, but those were neutral-site wins for Memphis, Colorado and Dayton. Though Dayton just running UConn (85-67) is pretty impressive. But again, UConn just isn't one of the best teams in the country anymore.
Gonzaga was third when it started losing, but a tournament loss to West Virginia, an almost-neutral site game (played in Seattle, which is about a four-hour drive from Gonzaga) to Kentucky, then a neutral-site loss to UConn.
There's of course, Florida running top-ranked Tennessee, but that was on Florida's court. No. 2 Iowa State lost to West Virginia on Saturday, but at West Virginia.
The Mountaineers were also No. 32 in the NET rankings to Iowa State's No. 5, so also not quite as large of a disparity as Mizzou's win.
There have been teams that beat higher-ranked squads, including the Tigers earlier this year, and it's entirely possible I've missed a big one or two, but I think the Tigers beating Florida at Florida is currently the most impressive win in college basketball. Let alone the most resume-boosting for a Tiger team that was on the bubble and is now looking at an 8-seed or higher in most current bracketologies (CBS has them as a 6, ESPN has them at an 8).
2. So that brings up the question of expectations.
I wrote a column after the Florida win about the changing expectations throughout this season (you can read that here if you haven't), but I think it's time to really start looking at what Tiger fans should be expecting - not just hoping for - from the rest of this season.
