An Upset In The College Basketball World

The evening went as most do when Top 25 basketball teams continue tuning up for the start of their conference schedule. They pay some small school a generous stipend to visit and take a beating.

That is why winless Coppin State would visit No. 10 West Virginia and emerge with a 77-38 battering and even more winless (0-12). And why South Carolina Upstate would take on No. 25 Creighton and lose 116-62. Or Evansville would go to Durham, N.C. and swallow a 104-40 beatdown from No. 4 Duke.

They do it to get paid. But they do it for one other reason – Wofford College.

The Woffords (actually the Terriers) strolled into Chapel Hill, N.C., and – in the season of miracles – upset No. 5 North Carolina 79-75 in the Tar Heels’ final non-conference game. UNC had won 23 straight at home, and now it will have to start a new streak. Fletcher Magee led the Terriers with 27 points for their first-ever win against a Top 25 team.

Wofford led by as many as 13 in the second half, saw the lead shrink to one and then survived those final desperate minutes for the upset.

Sometimes the little guy actually does win, against the odds. Sometimes the little dog goes into the big dog’s yard and emerges unscathed, victorious and overcome with emotion.

As Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde tweeted: “Tonight we’re all Terriers.”

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman