UNC Knocked Off Preseason Pedestal Second Time in Last Five Campaigns

December 24th, 2015 - 9:15

Did you know John Calipari was the victorious coach the first three times a #1 team was defeated in the month of November? Calipari achieved the feat with Massachusetts three straight seasons including against Kentucky in 1995-96. Two years ago, he received a taste of his own early-season medicine when UK bowed against Michigan State.

Of course, seasons didn't start earlier in November until a couple of decades ago. The only #1 schools to lose earlier than North Carolina this season at Northern Iowa were Connecticut (70-68 against Iowa in 1999) and Kentucky in 2013-14 (78-74 against MSU on neutral court). Following is a chronological look at the unlucky 13 times when nationally top-ranked teams were knocked off their lofty perch in November since AP national rankings were introduced in the late 1940s:

Season Date Ranked No. 1 Score Upsetting Team Opponent's Coach
1993-94 11-24-93 North Carolina 91-86 in OT Massachusetts at New York John Calipari
1994-95 11-25-94 Arkansas 104-80 Massachusetts at Springfield, MA, in Tip-Off Classic John Calipari
1995-96 11-28-95 Kentucky 92-82 Massachusetts at Auburn Hills, MI John Calipari
1996-97 11-26-96 Cincinnati 71-69 Xavier Skip Prosser
1997-98 11-26-97 Arizona 95-87 Duke at Hawaii in Maui Invitational Mike Krzyzewski
1998-99 11-28-98 Duke 77-75 Cincinnati at Anchorage in Great Alaska Shootout final Bob Huggins
1999-00 11-11-99 Connecticut 70-68 Iowa at New York Steve Alford
2000-01 11-25-00 Arizona 72-69 Purdue at Indianapolis Gene Keady
2003-04 11-26-03 Connecticut 77-61 Georgia Tech at New York Paul Hewitt
2006-07 11-26-06 Florida 82-80 in OT Kansas at Las Vegas Bill Self
2011-12 11-26-11 North Carolina 90-80 at UNLV Dave Rice
2013-14 11-12-13 Kentucky 78-74 Michigan State on neutral court in Chicago Tom Izzo
2015-16 11-21-15 North Carolina 71-67 at Northern Iowa Ben Jacobson