Early upsets abound, but what's their lasting effect?

Gardner-Webb's upset over Kentucky at Rupp Arena in November left even head coach Rick Scruggs in shock. AP

RELATED • MANDEL College football's wild season • GALLERY: Early Upsets in college hoops • GALLERY: Biggest CFB upsets of 2007 • REACT: What were the biggest upsets in '07?

MAILBAG Have questions or feedback? E-mail Luke Winn. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

In the first month of the 25th season after Chaminade's historic upset of No. 1-ranked Virginia, the eye-opening scores came in droves.

Some, like Gardner-Webb's Nov. 7 assault on Kentucky at Rupp Arena, played out live on national TV. Most, like exhibition wins by Division II Grand Valley State (over Michigan State), Findlay (over Ohio State) and Tarleton State (over Baylor), were first disseminated by scrolling news tickers, as text that required highlight-video confirmation before being accepted as fact.

The stories behind those scores were compelling: a tiny Baptist school from a one-stoplight town in Appalachia, upending college basketball's winningest program, in Year One of what was expected to be a prosperous new era under coach Billy Gillispie. Or an overshadowed Division II Michigan school beating Tom Izzo's cross-state juggernaut, and a Grand Valley player admitting the day after the upset that he was wearing Spartans shorts while conducting an interview -- because he had been a longtime MSU fan. But as Baylor coach Scott Drew said after his team's loss to Tarleton State on Nov. 2, "Thank goodness this is basketball and not football, because this game doesn't count where Appalachian State did."

The upsets of 2007 that involved Division II teams all occurred in exhibitions, affecting only reputation and bragging rights. How much, though, will the upsets that occurred on the record matter? Unlike college football, where the season is the playoff and Appalachian State's opening-weekend gut-punch of Michigan damaged the Wolverines' national-title hopes, has Kentucky truly been doomed?

The Wildcats lost out on a trip to New York City for the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic, as well as a couple of RPI-enhancing games against UConn and possibly Memphis, but a strong SEC campaign will still get them into the NCAA tournament. If anything, UK was exposed as a team of which pollsters and fans alike expected too much, too soon -- just like USC (which lost to Mercer on Nov. 10) and NC State (which lost to New Orleans on Nov. 18), who were also throwing five-star freshmen into the fire.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic Sun Conference, whose members (Gardner-Webb, Mercer and Belmont, which beat Cincinnati and Alabama) pulled off four of those shockers, earned respect, but was still ranked 30th out of 31 conferences in the RPI as of Monday. That means that just like every other year, the Atlantic Sun will be a one-bid league in the NCAA tournament. Perhaps Belmont could earn a No. 15 seed rather than a 16, which it was in last year's dance, but that's a long way off.

What's certain is that if Mercer's win over USC had happened in March, the Bears would be considered national Cinderella darlings, while the Trojans would be called underachievers who failed to capitalize on O.J. Mayo's mandated pre-draft season. But in the wake of November upsets, the gains for the victors and the costs for the embarrassed aren't nearly as clear.

It's worthwhile to look back -- not as far back as Chaminade, but at some of the bigger regular-season upsets of this decade -- for perspective on their lasting impact. While 2007 may go down in college football's annals as the Year of the Upset, early surprises have happened with more regularity in basketball.

1 of 3