The Daily Paragraph 11/20/2006 (Upset Stomach Edition)PAWTUCKET, R.I. - By November 19, 2005, there had been 16 games in which a school from one of the eight major conferences had been beaten by a school from one of the 23 other D-I conferences*. [*Unnamed Major Program From the Northwest excluded] This year, on that date, there have been 26. This is what we call "progress," friends. Soon enough, college basketball will be an even playing field, where any team can beat any other team on any given night. We're getting there. Savannah State is 5-0. These truly are the days of miracles and wonders. Of course, once true parity is achieved, you won't need this website anymore to keep score. But in the meantime, let's look at some of the giant-killing antics of our favorite mid-majors. Upsets! Old Dominion 75, Georgetown 62 (Sun.) -- This wasn't Villanova 1985, although John Thompson (III) and Patrick Ewing (Jr.) were involved. This was definitely an inside job, as ODU outrebounded GU 31-27 and went to the line eight more times... in the Hoyas' own building! They also only turned the ball over 9.6% of the time. The real surprise for me was that on Friday night at Constant, they gave no indication that this was about to happen. Against Florida Atlantic, they let an overmatched opponent hang around with 3's and finally needed Dahi to bail them out. With Dahi's stilts apparently in good working condition after an injury-plagued year-plus, and the highly mobile Valdas Vasylius (16 points) firing on all cylinders, these guys will have something to say about the CAA race for sure. Winthrop 74, Mississippi State 63 (Sat.) -- MSU makes a habit of losing to low-RPI leagues. Usually it's the Southland (as in recent years' drops to Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana), but the biggest bigs in the Big South will do. For the Eagles, it's a warmup for tonight's game at Coaches vs. Cancer champs Maryland. Fairleigh Dickinson 76, Seton Hall 71 (Sat.) -- After FDU outboards SHU by 11 at the Meadowlands in front of a few fewer than 13 grand, new Seton Hall coach definitely does not feel like the best 17-year old ever. Brown 51, Providence 41 (Sat.) -- This is of local interest, sure, but the Bears pushed Michigan State in East Lansing the other week, then went in for their annual thrashing at the Dunkin' Donuts Center and ate up their Big East hosts like a French Toast Twist.Senior forward Nathan Eads with 16, giving him a season statsheet like a light-switch. Santa Clara 83, Utah 72 (Sat.) -- Give Utah credit, at least the Utes made the trip. But once there, they got a 60% shooting performance dropped on them and a whole lot of Sean Denison. All told, there were no fewer than 13 of these upset-type things over the weekend. Honorable mentions to the MAC's Buffalo for their 60-57 tweaker-squeaker over Miami (Fla.), Portland State's 71-67 surprise over Arizona State, UCSB's 79-76 thriller over UNLV (on 56% shooting), Stony Brook's 59-51 guarantee-buster, and We Are Robert Morris' 73-69 decision over Marshall. And just a few days after Nevada kicked Oregon State around, Hawaii kept the WAC-a-Beaver party going. Mid-Major Baller Of The Week Reggie Williams, Virginia Military Institute
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Last Thursday, the 
