Considering that the college basketball betting season gets underway at the end of the NCAA Football season, it is easy to understand why players looking to get in on the action on the hard court are so quick to jump on the top-ranked teams across the nation. But while the LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State, and Stanford will combine for just three losses all year, it is unlikely that Syracuse, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Louisville will all remain in the top-four in college goops through the entire season. Even though it is still early, upsets should be expected at the college level, especially for teams with a lot of incoming talent in situations where coaches haven’t yet gotten the time to really work in their game plans and teach their squads the way that they would like to see them perform night in and night out. So while the favorite from a given matchup could be more talented, factors such as experience, chemistry, and environment all have to be taken in to consideration.

All three of those factors were present over the weekend when the former No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the unranked Indiana Hoosiers. Despite a combined 37 points between Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Doron Lamb, the Wildcats couldn’t keep pace with the Hoosiers on the road inside of Assembly Hall. A young Kentucky team that has a ton of talent but hasn’t spent a lot of time together was not able to rely on their talent alone as Indiana was able to hit a ton of wide open looks, especially after Terrence Jones got in to some early foul trouble and spent too much time on the bench. Considering that loss, combined with Ohio State also losing their first game of the year with Jared Sullinger out marked the first time since February of 2012 that the top two teams both lost on the same day, it really isn’t that rare of an occurrence on the Betonline basketball listings after all.

That said, it makes sense to take the success of the Syracuse Orange with a grain of salt after they moved to the top of the national rankings with their unblemished record, but their anointment is as much about the teams ahead of them losing as it is about the numbers that they have put up. Just because the Buckeyes and Wildcats both lost last week, that doesn’t mean they are not as good or even better than Syracuse, with the only difference at this point being timing. Playing within the confines of the Carrier Dome has been a boost for the Orange early on, one that they definitely needed in a close win over the Florida Gators, their lone contest to this point against a nationally ranked opponent. With the controversy surrounding the program in the wake of the latest scandal, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the team stumbles over their next couple of games, regardless of where they are ranked. Unlike in college football, college basketball teams will stumble multiple times throughout the course of the season, as even the best teams lose. That means taking every game with a grain of salt regardless of the labels that the pay head bookies put on them, because every game can be different.