College Basketball actions on Wednesday nights have been full of twists and turns especially over the last few weeks. Thursday mornings in college basketball have become what Sundays are during the college football season which has been full of people talking about the strange and bizarre outcomes from the day before. One conference has been directly hit by crazy Wednesday night action and that is what many consider the best conference in America which is the ACC. Last night the trend continued in the unpredictable conference adding to the growing trend that has captivated since the year changed to 2009.

It all started towards the end of January with a battle between ACC schools down in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons had it all flowing smoothly with a perfect 16-0 record. The Demon Deacons had just knocked off No. 3 North Carolina and handed No. 9 Clemson their first loss of the year. The schedule looked to be fairly simple for a few weeks until their next big game against Duke, but then Wednesday night came. Wake Forest suffered the one of their biggest disappointments of the season when they dropped a loss at home to unranked Virginia Tech knocking them off the top spot in America. Unfortunately this was a trend that was about to get pretty familiar in the ACC.

Exactly one week later on Wednesday night, Wake Forest would return home to host the Duke Blue Devils who had inherited the No. 1 ranking in college basketball due to the Demon Deacons upset loss to Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils entered the game as slight favorites, but quickly this Wednesday would be another disappointment for America’s top ranked team. The Blue Devils trailed the majority of the game and were down as much as 11 points in the closing minutes. However, Duke put together a nice spurt in the closing minutes and tied the game at 68-68 with less than a minute to play. With Wake Forest trying to make a inbounds play, the Duke defense fell apart and let James Johnson catch the ball uncontested inside the paint laying it in to beat the Devils and knocking a number 1 ranked team off the top spot for the 2nd straight Wednesday.

The Clemson Tigers were also another team that fell victim on Wednesday night woes. However, unlike other scenarios Clemson fell apart in an entire different way. The Tigers got off to a perfect 16-0 start before Wake Forest handed them the first loss of the season. The Tigers were expected to give a big rebounding effort the following Wednesday night when they traveled to Chapel Hill to battle North Carolina. The Tarheels entered the game as 11 point favorite and the majority of the betting public was all over the Tigers to keep it within the spread. However, Clemson would get flat out embarrassed inside the Dean Dome as they were blown out by 24 points and dropping their 2nd straight game after the impressive start. Once again the unlikely outcome of Wednesday night had the national talk surrounding the ACC.

Enter the very first Wednesday in the month of February which was last night and the strange Wednesday action was about to receive the biggest single night shocker the ACC has had in years. No. 6 Wake Forest got the action started once again with the early game on Wednesday night when they hosted unranked Miami on their home floor in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons were fresh off another upset loss falling to Georgia Tech by a mere 2 points. Wake Forest entered the game with the taste of returning to the national spotlight. The Demon Deacons would get back to the spotlight just not in the way they expected. Miami and Wake Forest battled through the first half of play closely with the Hurricanes getting the 3 point advantage at the break 29-26. However, Wake Forest might as well never come back to the floor for the 2nd half. Miami came out the gates firing on all cylinders and the game quickly got out of hand in the 2nd half as Miami opened with a 25-8 run. The Hurricanes would end up blowing out what many thought was still the best team in the ACC by nearly 30 points 79-52. However, the shocking Wednesday night had just begun.

The No. 3 Duke Blue Devils and No. 10 Clemson Tigers highlighted the 2nd ACC game on Wednesday night in a battle of top ten schools. The Clemson Tigers had lost the previous 21 straight regular season games to the Blue Devils not to mention the Tigers had been receiving non-stop criticism claiming they could not contend with the top teams in the ACC after being beaten by Wake Forest and North Carolina by double digits. The Blue Devils entered the contest as the favorites, but it became apparent quick they were not the favorites on Wednesday night. Clemson dominated on every aspect of the floor and made Duke looked like a mediocre high school team at times. The Tigers full court press and strong defense made the Blue Devils look silly and they constantly turned the ball over. Add to the fact, Duke could not hit a shot from anywhere on the floor and you got one of the biggest Blue Devils losses in over the last two decades. The game has definitely been the talk of the bizarre Wednesday night considering nobody ever expected a Coach K Blue Devil team to ever be beaten the way they were by the Tigers. Now the only question that is left for the ACC is what will next Wednesday night have in store?

The NBA Basketball season has passed the halfway point and the long grueling season that the players endure every year is starting to take a toll around the league. This is usually the point in the season where players are constantly getting banged up and this year is no different. Over the past few days there have been a ton of notable injuries and Monday night Orlando Magic’s Jameer Nelson became another victim of the growing trend around the league. Not to mention superstar and New Orleans Hornet’s guard Chris Paul also suffers a crucial injury. Take a look as we break down the recent outbreak of key injuries around the league and give up-dates of their status and which injuries will be most important to their teams.

On Monday night, Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson stole the ball and was fouled and hit the floor and rolled over awkwardly. Nelson hopped up appearing to be in agonizing pain clutching his right shoulder. Latest reports have confirmed that Nelson has a torn right labrum in his shoulder that would definitely put a halt in immediate playing time. Nelson is unsure whether the injury will be season ending as he goes through the process of deciding to take season ending surgery now or try and wait to the end of the season. One thing is for sure that the Magic took a huge blow in amidst of this unfortunate incident. Nelson has been a key component to the Orlando scoring attack this season averaging 17 points per game. Without Nelson, the Magic will have a tough time being the same team considering how much of a threat Nelson posed leading the Magic down the court. Behind back Anthony Johnson the Magic do not have any point guards that will likely step in and be effective meaning Orlando will be facing some challenges in the near future. As for Nelson, he was having one of the best years of his career and now that likely has the possibility of being over. A torn right labrum means that there the shoulder joint becomes very unstable while depending on the case can be quite painful. The extinct of Nelson’s injury will likely be clearer in the coming days.

Another big time injury is that of New Orleans Hornets Chris Paul. Actually the injury is not that big at all as Paul has suffered a minor groin pull and will likely need a few days to get back to 100%. Paul is listed as day to day and his injury will likely be very insignificant in terms of how it affects the Hornets and last year’s MVP candidate to get back healthy. On Saturday night, the Lakers were hit by the injury plague sweeping the league. Center Andrew Bynum went down tearing an MCL which is a medial collateral ligament. The drastic injury is rather serious as Bynum will miss at least 8-12 weeks as the knee attempts to heal. However, MCL injuries are quite peculiar as on many occasions it takes the victim much longer to gain the confidence to go all out outside of the recovery time. The injury definitely was not fortunate for the Lakers, but it will likely not slow down one of the more popular teams in the world. Los Angeles has dealt with injury issues in the past and as long as they have Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol on the floor they are going to be tough to beat.

Other Injury Updates…

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West is still recovering from a broken wrist suffered back in mid January. West is schedule to have his cast removed later this week and will start getting practice time over the next few days. West is likely looking at another week or more to completely get the strength and confidence back into his wrist and will join the Cavs lineup when the time comes. As far as the Cavaliers they have been pretty good without him as they extended their incredible home record to 23 last night, but with West back in the line-up it definitely will not hurt.

Carlos Boozer has been out for some time now with a left knee injury. Boozer had surgery on the knee back in November and his missed 34 straight games. However, the rehabilitation process has been going well and Boozer should return to play in the next 3 weeks. The Jazz have been really hit hard by injuries this season after finishing with a 54-28 record last year that lead to a conference semi-finals meeting with the Lakers. Andrei Kirilenko suffered an ankle injury that required surgery a little more than a week ago and will miss another 3 weeks as expected. The Jazz have really had a disappointing year and if something big does not change they will likely have too many obstacles to overcome.

Tracy McGrady has been battling a sprained left ankle for the Houston Rockets, but is expected to return to play any day.

Chicago Bull’s Drew Gooden has missed 7 straight games battling a groin injury and is expected to miss a few more as he is still not completely healed.

Kobe Bryant has been known for outstanding performances of the past and for his ability to take control over in games over the best the NBA has to offer. Last night was not any different as Bryant lit up the scoreboards again posting a 61 point performance in Madison Square Garden. The Los Angeles Lakers had a solid night as they held of a New York Knicks team who had won 6 of their last 7 by a score of 126-117. Lakers power forward Pau Gasol had an excellent night in a double-double performance knocking down 31 points and pulling down 14 boards. However, it was Bryant that stole the spotlight as he dropped 60 plus points for the 5th time in his career.

Kobe Bryant is no stranger to huge performances as he quite possibly is the best scorer of the modern era. Of course Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points back in 1962 is a feat that will likely never be broken considering how evolved and competitive the NBA has become. However, Bryant has made a few runs and big performances that rank as high as Wilt’s 100 point performance. Last night, the Lakers franchise player posted 50 or more points for the 25th time in his career. The performance took place in the historic and majestic Madison Square Garden where Kobe surpassed Michael Jordan as the highest scoring game ever for an opponent ever at the Garden. The 61 points also ranked 1st all time at Madison Square Garden for any player as Bryant edged out Bernard King’s 60 points back in 1984.

Kobe’s 25 50 point games ranks 3rd all-time behind Wilt Chamberlain who had 118 50 point nights back before there was a shot clock and the great Michael Jordan who posted 31 50 point games. The miraculous night still fell short of Kobe Bryant’s career best when he drained 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January of 2006. Bryant performance last night was led by a 61% shooting performance from the floor (19-31), 50% shooting from behind the arc (3-6), and Bryant capped all of it off by not missing a single free throw in 20 attempts from the stripe. The performance along with the 31 points from Pau Gasol marked the highest scoring game all-season by two teammates as they nearly got to the century mark between the two as they ended up with 92 points combined.

The Lakers win moved them to a 38-9 record on the year that ranks the 2nd best in the NBA. Los Angeles has now won their last 3 games including the last 6 of 7. The game was the 3rd of six straight road games. Los Angeles will now get one night off before two hectic back to back games with Toronto and the highly anticipated showdown with the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. The Celtics own the best record in the NBA at 40-9 barely ahead of the Lakers and the showdown will represent last year’s Finals re-match and also represents the two best teams in the NBA at this point in the season. The Lakers won the first meeting this season inside the Staples Center when Bryant led the team with 27 points as they took down the Celtics 92-83. However, the Celtics will likely be in better position to get some revenge this time around. Boston not only will host the meeting which is huge considering Boston owns a 24-2 home record after sporting the best home record in the league last season at 34-6 in the NBA. The Celtics will also get the slight advantage heading into the contest considering they will be on a little fresher legs as the Lakers battle the Raptors on Wednesday night. However, Bryant has a tendency to have some of his biggest nights on the biggest stages and the Lakers will look for him to have another big performance when they travel to Boston on Thursday.

Last night’s Super Bowl lived up to the hype and expectations that it received while providing for the second year in a row on of the best games of the year in the NFL’s biggest game. Everyone remembers Eli Manning and the Giants upsetting the undefeated New England Patriots last year in a close grudge match. However, this year epic battle was also among the ranks of one of the best Super Bowl’s in recent history. The NFL could not be happier with how their Championship game has been played over the last two seasons. Perhaps the NCAA would get these types of caliber championship games if they would ever finally go to a playoff system, but that is another subject for another time. Last night Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald played the underdog role that made a valiant effort at a 13 point comeback only to see Pittsburgh make another game winning drive in the final seconds of the game something they did quite a bit this season. Santonio Holmes may have got the MVP Award last night, but big Ben Roethlisberger had one of the best nights he has had all season and the Steelers offense was the group to breakthrough and get the job done rather than the defense. There was a lot we learned last night as we take a look back on the NFL’s biggest night.

The first thing we learned is that the Pittsburgh offense is not too shabby. The Steelers had some bright moments on the ground and even more success through the air. Santonio Holmes come up with two big grabs late in the game, including the game winning touchdown with less than a minute to go in the game pulled down in the back of the end zone while somehow keeping two feet inbounds. The touchdown reception was definitely the biggest play of the game and a true testimony of skills. For Roethlisberger, it was just another game winning drive that the Steelers accomplished so often in the latter part of the year against teams like Dallas and Baltimore. However, this game winner will be remembered forever. The Steelers defense got them to the Super Bowl, but it was the offense that really made the difference last night for Pittsburgh.

The Hall of Fame answer may not have been decided last night, but I guarantee you that Kurt Warner lead two Hall of Fame type drives at the end of the game to give Arizona the lead with under 3 minutes to go. Sure Larry Fitzgerald made big plays, but Warner delivered the ball in tight spots time and time again. Some believed that Warner needed to win that game last night to really seal his faith into the Hall. However, the veteran put on another brilliant display in the NFL’s Championship Game. Warner went 31 for 43 (72%), 377 yards, and 3 touchdowns. The 377 yards will rank 2nd all-time behind his 414 yard performance in the 2000 Super Bowl meaning Warner now has the 3 highest passing performances in Super Bowl history in only 3 Super Bowl appearances. That should definitely aid in his cause, yet some will still question his longevity in the league. One thing that people should not forget though is that this guy still is not done. He will be back this year throwing to the same talented group of receivers given they can keep Anquan Boldin in town. Warner best chance at winning a Super Bowl most likely was last night, but as we have learned you can not count him out ever. Arizona will return a strong offense next year, and if their defense can play the way they did throughout the post season this team’s future is bright.

Larry Fitzgerald is amazing if you did not catch on to this fact throughout the playoffs you must not have been watching. Fitzgerald posted yet another 100+ yard performance last night shattering the postseason record while amassing 546 yards in the playoffs with 7 touchdowns. Without Fitzgerald, there is no telling how ineffective the Arizona offense could be. This special wide receiver is a playmaker that can change games in the blink of an eye. Fitzgerald pulled down a beautiful touchdown early in the 4th to close the lead to 6, then caught a pass over the middle and left 3 Steelers like they were standing still for 64 yards to put the Cardinals on top in the closing minutes. If you are new to the name Larry Fitzgerald, he has been making amazing plays since his days at Pittsburgh just go look at some of his youtube highlights. Arizona has a golden treasure in this young talent and it will be very fun to watch him over the next few years especially if Anquan Boldin stays with the team despite some early reports saying he will not.

The last thing we did not learn last night may have been the most important. The final play on offense for Arizona concluded with force fumble that ended up in the Steelers hands or at least that is what was called. Looking at the replay it clearly looked like the football was in Warner’s hands as it was going forward. Now he may not have had control of the ball, but the ball was definitely in contact with his hand as his arm motioned forward. However, there was never an official review in the biggest moment of the game. Sure Warner would have had to throw a hail mary on the next play and pray for a miracle, but still the NFL should have never let Pittsburgh kneel on the ball before taking an extra look. Just a bizarre situation considering how well and how often the replays of have been used in the National Football League over the last few seasons. While it most likely would not have changed the outcome on the game, they took all possibility out when they did not review the play. Instead, the Pittsburgh Steelers are now the first team to win 6 Super Bowl’s in NFL history and that will do nothing but add fire to the beloved Steeler nation.

Let me know what you think readers. Should the play have been reviewed? Fumble or incomplete pass?

Everyone knows Superbowl Sunday is the single biggest betting event every year. The sportsbooks around the nation offer unlimited amounts of unusual and exciting bets for the Superbowl considering the extremely large amount of bettors eagerly anticipating a final chance to win some money to close out the football season. This year you can bet on anything from how long it will take Jennifer Hudson to sing the national anthem to who will win the coin toss. If you looking for some ways to win some money on some other aspects of the game consider a few of these prop betting picks we have established.

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Team to receive the opening kickoff?

Steelers +145
Cardinals -175

This bet is as simple as it gets. Arizona always wants the ball when they win the coin flip so they can put their high power offense on the field. The Arizona offense leads the team and definitely not the defense which gave up nearly 27 points on the board every game this season. The Cardinals offense will be eager to get on the field if they win the toss and possibly make some big plays early and not allow the Pittsburgh defense to dominate like they have all season. Pittsburgh on the other hand is definitely going to put their defense on the field if they win the toss. The Steelers have the best defense in the NFL and they will definitely want to shut down the Arizona offense right off the bat to make a statement. The Steelers defense ranks first in 3 of 4 major defensive categories and 2nd in the other major category which is rushing defense. The Steelers will definitely be trying to prove early that they can shutdown the Cardinals offense and control the pace of the game. Throw some extra money on this prop if you have the chance. The odds may not be favorable to making a big win, but this is a certain winner.

Pick: Arizona -175

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Will there be a score in the first 7:30 of the first quarter?

Yes -170
No +140

I know a lot of people are jumping on the over total for the game due to the fact both offenses have performed really well through the playoffs and many are anticipating for their to be a good bit of points scored. However while that may or may not happen, teams less likely come out of the gates with a bang on offense in the Superbowl. A lot of times the defenses control the first minutes of the games and the play calling is a bit conservative until the tempo picks up. Going back to the first prop bet, I believe Arizona gets the ball and will attempt to move it up the field through the air. I like to think Pittsburgh defense will at least win the first battle against the Arizona offense on the field. Predicting that the Pittsburgh offense will then take over and then move the ball rather slowly as they usually do with a good bit of running plays with a pass thrown in here and there. The first few minutes usually fly by and believe it will again. Place a wager that there will not be any points scored in the opening minutes on this game and get some good odds as well.

Pick: No +140

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First team to be penalized for pass interference?

Steelers -140
Cardinals +110

This is a bet like other prop bets that are simply by the trend of the game. Arizona will be throwing the ball all over the field while Pittsburgh will throw the ball more sparingly. Expecting that the Steelers get many more chances to make a pass interference and the difficulty they may have covering the Arizona receivers I would place my money on Pittsburgh. Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin have been unstoppable all year long with over 25 combined touchdowns grabs. Fitzgerald caught 3 touchdown passes in the first half of the NFL Championship and has also broken a postseason record with 419 receiving yards. It is safe to say that the Pittsburgh defense will have a tough task in trying to control these playmakers that lead one of the best air attacks in the NFL. Not to mention how the NFL has gotten fairly absurd with their pass interference calls over the last few years. It seems like the defender is to a big disadvantage with the rules and the first touch they make on a receiver the yellow flag flies. Again the odds may not be what you would like on a winning bet, but follow the likelihood of what will happen and place this wager with Pittsburgh.

Pick: Pittsburgh -140

The 2009 Super Bowl is a mere two days away as the world awaits one of the biggest sporting spectacles on the planet. The Super Bowl has always been the most popular and widely watched game in sports. This year’s battle promises to draw some more dramatic excitement as the Arizona Cardinals are in search for their first ever Super Bowl victory while the Pittsburgh Steelers will be trying to break an NFL record with their 6th Super Bowl win. Not only does this game cap off a great season for the winner, but it will also define the eternal career of quarterback Kurt Warner. One of the growing debates leading into this year’s spectacle has been the possibility and chances that veteran QB Kurt Warner will make the Hall of Fame. Warner has definitely received a bigger fan base through his performance during the playoffs this year where he has epitomized what it takes to be a leader of an NFL football team. Clearly this debate does not have an answer with many people believing Warner will make it into the Hall of Fame and many believing he will be left out. One thing that is for sure is this year’s Super Bowl may be the final audition that concretes the Warner legacy forever.

One of the pessimistic clouds that have overshadowed Warner’s career is that many believe he has not been as consistent enough as a top quarterback to receive the ultimate nomination into Canton, Ohio. Warner became an Arena Football League quarterback in 1995 after not being able to get a spot with an NFL team. Warner did not even enter the NFL until 3 years later at the age of 28. However, one year later Kurt Warner would take the role behind center for the St. Louis Rams and complete one of the biggest breakout stories in NFL history. The 1999 season really put the star quarterback on the map as he completed 65% of his passes on the season, for 4,353 yards, and an amazing 41 touchdowns. The 41 touchdowns became a Rams all-time record while placing 5th on the single season all-time list. Warner received his first MVP and led the St. Louis Rams to their first ever Super Bowl victory and also won the Super Bowl MVP becoming the 6th person ever to win both MVP titles in the same year. Over the next two years Warner will still have a good bit of success throwing 57 touchdowns and racking up an outstanding 4,830 yards through the air in 2001. The yardage total of 4,830 ranked 3rd all-time and led to Kurt Warner receiving his 2nd MVP award in 3 years while leading the Rams to another Super Bowl appearance. The Rams lost a close game to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, but Warner still amassed over 365 yards the 2nd most in Super Bowl history behind his 414 yard performance in Super Bowl XXXIV.

Warner seemed to be on the fast track as one of the NFL’s all-time greats at the quarterback position despite his late entrance into the NFL. However, the following years were anything but expected. In 2002, Warner broke a finger on his throwing hand after a 0-3 start and despite making a comeback effort only played in two more games the rest of the season. Warner got the starting role back in the 2003 season opener, but after fumbling 6 times in the opener against the New York Giants his season was over before it begun. Marc Bulger took over the QB position for the Rams and Warner was left on the sidelines for the rest of the season and was releases by the Rams at the end of the year in 2004. During the off-season, Warner found a home with the New York Giants. However, this fit could be seen long before it happened that it was not going to work. Warner had become popular behind explosive offensive attacks and the New York Giants offense was more balanced power attack. Not to mention the Giants had already signed their future franchise quarterback in rookie Eli Manning. Warner got the Giants off to a 5-2 start before going through 2 straight poor performances that resulted in losses and Eli Manning would take over behind center. Following the season, Warner signed a one year contract with the Arizona Cardinal in a move similar to the St. Louis situation where a talented receiving core based around a west coast offense was in search of quarterback to give them a spark.

During the beginning of the Arizona campaign in 2005, Warner battled injuries in the midst of mediocre performances and finally partially tore his MCL at the end of the season. The popular belief quickly became that Kurt Warner’s days of a starting quarterback in the NFL were over and that he may even retire. However Warner got off to a fairly good start in 2006, but shared time with Matt Lienart who many thought was the future for the Cardinals. Leinart got the nod going into the 2007 season, but after some poor performances Warner would have to come of the bench and give Arizona a much needed confidence boost. Warner ended the 2007 season with a rather effective impression falling one touchdown short of a franchise record with 27 TDs for the season along with 3,417 yards as well. Warner got the start entering this season and it quickly became apparent that all the pieces of the Arizona offense had finally got glued together. Arizona sported one of the most potent passing attacks in the NFL and Warner led the assault by amassing over 4,583 yards and a franchise record 30 touchdowns. Warner’s ability to direct the talented Arizona offense down the stretch this season has become eerie similar to that of his performance with the St. Louis Rams. Despite the year’s of underachieving, Warner has the opportunity to grab his 2nd Super Bowl ring and become the first ever quarterback to win the first franchise Super Bowl with two different teams. If Warner can lead the Cardinals into another postseason upset, the years from 2002-2006 will likely be forgotten forever.

The debate is so popular because the argument is legitimate from both sides. Many people may argue how can a guy receive the Hall of Fame talk when he spent nearly half his career battling for a starting position? However, looking at the statistics side of the argument Warner would likely be a lock. After all how can you turn down someone who has the second highest completion percentage all time at 66%, 3 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Lombardi Trophy, a Super Bowl MVP, and 2 NFL MVP awards? Warner also has a few more notable statistics including the highest passing yards per game average in NFL history at 261, the highest percentage of 300 yard games at 45%, and is tied with Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger for the most games with a perfect passing rating. However, the sad thing is that without this year’s breakout Warner might not be in any of the Hall of Fame talk. Still his performance down the stretch has been noticed by everybody in America and truly spectacular to watch. It is safe to say if he can pull off another underdog type feat and win his 2nd Super Bowl then the 37 year old can make retirement reservations for Canton, Ohio, but for now let the debate rage on.

How’s that popular saying go? Another one bites the dust, or at least another top ranked team that is. The Duke Blue Devils become yet another victim of the growing trend of number 1 ranked teams to fall in the opening month of 2009. The Blue Devils and Wake Forest ACC classic highlighted what turned out to be the second straight wild Wednesday in the last two weeks. Here is a recap of the night and how some of big games turned out.

#4 Wake Forest 70 – #1 Duke 68

Wake Forest controlled this game from the start making plays all over the court. The Demon Deacons highlights probably flooded the top 10 plays of the night with an outstanding put back slam, a between the legs pass followed by a dunk, and also an inbounds pass with less than 3 seconds to go that lead to James Johnson making the winning shot. Yes the Demon Deacons responded nicely after last week’s upset loss to Virginia Tech that knocked them out of the number 1 ranking. Wake Forest controlled the majority of this game. However, Duke did show that they are a very strong team as they made a valiant comeback effort. Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson may have been the only two Blue Devils on the floor last night or at least that is the only names that were heard considering the rest of the team must have still been back at Cameron last night. Still Duke closed what was an 11 points gap late in the second half to tie the game with 14 seconds to play after a great shot by Gerald Henderson who scored 20 points on the night. Unfortunately Duke poorly covered the inbounds pass to Johnson and perhaps turned it up a notch a tad to late. The Blue Devils become the 3rd team in 3 weeks to get knocked off the number 1 ranking only two days after earning the top spot.

#3 Pittsburgh 57 – #21 Villanova 67

The Pittsburgh Panthers were the 2nd upset victim of the night to 21 ranked Villanova. Early on in the game the Panthers were quick out of the gates and even jumped to a 10 point lead. However, junior guard Reggie Redding came on strong as the game progressed knocking down 18 points and the Wildcats took over. Villanova capitalized off a poor shooting performance from Pittsburgh to grab their first victory over a top 25 opponent this season despite 4 attempts before. Pittsburgh shot a disappointing 41% from the floor and an embarrassing 3-16 (18%) from behind the arc. Not to mention the Pittsburgh starting lineup only accounted for a total of 36 points the entire night. The loss marked the Panthers 2 loss in the last 4 games while dropping them further down in the Big East standings. Considering Marquette and Louisville is still undefeated in conference play, the Panthers can not afford any more defeats or they can say goodbye to Big East regular season title hopes. With the no. 1 and no. 3 teams both losing on Wednesday night you expect their to be some shake up in the rankings amidst the Top 5 as Connecticut will likely take over the top spot.

#6 North Carolina 80 – Florida State 77

The Tarheels barely escaped becoming the 3rd top 10 team to be upset on Wednesday night. By saying barely escaped is a mere understatement, considering North Carolina trailed in the final moments of the game. If you saw the Duke and Wake Forest ending where James Johnson hit the game winning lay-in with less than 3 seconds to go, you still only saw the second best finish of the night. In another ACC classic type game, North Carolina and Florida State battled back and forth over the closing minutes of the game. In a game where former Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough was held to a season low 8 points, teammates Danny Green and Ty Lawson picked up the slack. Toney Douglas drained 32 points for the Seminoles as they appeared they would get the victory with as they led by 3 under a minute and a half to go in the game. However, Danny Green came up with a huge steal for North Carolina taking it the length of the court and getting the bucket and the foul that eventually led to the game being tied at 77-77. Florida State had a chance to win, but somehow let the shot clock expire with 3.2 seconds to go after a Hansbrough block. Ty Lawson grabbed the inbounds play and sprinted up the court and delivering a floating three pointer that sailed through the net with the buzzer blaring in the background. At first it appeared, the shot came out to late but that did not stop the Tarheels from celebrating. Shortly after, the shot was confirmed legit as the Tarheels escaped Tallahassee capping yet another action filled Wednesday. In case you missed the ending, have a look…