Jan. 22, 2006

What a wild and wacky Saturday as college basketball went through shockers all over the place! Going into the day there were three unbeatens left, but by the end of the night, none of the zeros in their loss column were intact.

First it was Pittsburgh falling to St. John's at Madison Square Garden. It was a special day as the Red Storm honored a number of past legends, including coach Louie Carnesecca, Chris Mullin. Mark Jackson and Walter Berry, among others. I was amazed that less than 7,000 fans showed up at college basketball's Mecca, and they missed a great performance from Lamont Hamilton (24 points, eight rebounds).

Coach Norm Roberts has done a great job rebuilding the St. John's program and the win over Jamie Dixon's Panthers shows it is going in the right direction. Pittsburgh fought back from a 14-0 early deficit and led in the final minutes before the Red Storm closed on an 8-2 run to pull off the upset.

Then came shocker No. 2. North Dakota State went into Madison and stunned Bo Ryan's Wisconsin Badgers 62-55. The Bison were 10-9 entering the contest, and coming off a loss to Utah Valley State. For its troubles, North Dakota State got a $35,000 payday and a bus ride back to Fargo after the game.

Wisconsin was 67-3 at home under Ryan prior to the stunner. It was really struggle city for Alando Tucker, who made just 2-of-18 shots from the floor. The Badgers finished the game shooting 22 percent from the field, and you certainly won't win many with those kind of numbers, baby!

Then came the Dukies, falling at the MCI Center against John Thompson III's hungry Hoyas of Georgetown. The trio of Brandon Bowman, Jeff Green and Ashanti Cook played well, while Shelden Williams struggled and finished with just four points.

You can't fault J.J. Redick, who put on another classic show with a career high-tying 41 points. In the end, Georgetown played brilliant basketball, with 24 assists on 32 made baskets.

Finally, Florida fell from the unbeatens in a nailbiter, a real Maalox Masher down at Tennessee. The Vols got a late basket by Dane Bradshaw to take the lead en route to an 80-76 win. Billy Donovan has done a masterful job all season, with four sophomore starters.

Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Duke and Florida will all bounce back. Connecticut is the new No. 1 after beating Louisville. Jim Calhoun's club struggled at times against a fired-up Cardinal team. When all was said and done, the Huskies had too much firepower and escaped Freedom Hall with a W!

Shocker Saturday was good for college basketball. It shows the parity in the sport and creates excitement galore. March Madness is not that far away and with so many good teams, we should have a great NCAA Tournament this season.

Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979. Send a question for Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.