Shock Saturday on the hardwood.

It happens sooner or later in the college hoops season, that one day or week where we see upset after upset after upset.

It didn’t take long for conference play to get going for that to happen, as seven top-25 teams were upset on Saturday, and eight total lost, with Duke beating Clemson.

Three top-10 teams lost, with the biggest of them being #1 UNC going down 82-80 at home to a Maryland team that had come in only 10-7 and not really scaring the pants off of anyone heading into the Dean Dome.

That one was actually one of the least surprising of the upsets, because the Tar Heels had cut it close a couple of times recently, needing a late three to knock off Clemson in OT a couple of weeks ago, and only edged Georgia Tech by one point earlier in the week.

As offensively sound as UNC is, with 80 or more points in 17 of their 19 games and boasting one of the highest-scoring teams in the country, the same can’t be said defensively, at least not lately, giving up 88 to Clemson, 81 to UNC-Asheville, and then 82 to GT and Maryland.

USC dropped their first three conference games, but their at-large hopes are looking a whole lot better after two wins in a row, with their 72-63 ‘road’ upset of archrival UCLA giving them the marquee win - and some huge momentum and confidence - they need to get back into NCAA tourney contention.

Texas A&M didn’t look like a top 10 team this week, getting whipped in consecutive road games at Texas Tech (68-53 on Wed.) and Kansas St. (75-54 on Sat.). Four words for first-year coach Mark Turgeon, that he may be quite aware of with these two humbling defeats - It’s the Big 12!

The rest of the upsets, with the exception of Arizona St.’s 15-point loss at Stanford, which isn’t as much of an upset as it is a reality check of sorts for the Sun Devils. ASU had won their first four Pac-10 games (including wins over Oregon and Arizona) and were on their way to a fifth straight win, with a 10-point halftime lead over the Cardinal, until Stanford outscored them 47-22 in the second half for a 67-52 win.

The rest of the upsets: Cincinnati 62, Pitt 59; Auburn 80, Ole Miss 77; and N.C. State 79, Miami 77 (OT).

It wasn’t really a good week overall for a lot of the top teams, as 15 top-25 teams lost this week (Georgetown, Butler, Marquette, Dayton, Vanderbilt, Xavier, and Rhode Island were the others). As for the three ranked A-10 teams going down, well, I told you the A-10 was deep!

So, the new rankings will look quite a bit different, especially at the top, where Memphis will be the new #1, Kansas the new #2, and Tennessee likely the new #3 in the AP poll, and possibly Duke occupying that spot in the Coaches’ Poll.

Which upset am I happiest about? Well, that one’s a no-brainer! Ole Miss’ loss to Auburn gives Mississippi State - winners of eight in a row, and four in a row to start SEC play - a two-game lead atop the SEC West standings.

The two tangle in Starkville next week, so if you’re able to catch it (it’ll be on FSN, I believe), do so, because it should be a good one.