Evansville's Upset Win Over No. 1 Kentucky Was Even Bigger Than You Think
By Ryan Phillips | Nov 12 2019
Evansville shocked the college basketball world Tuesday night by upsetting No. 1 Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The Purple Aces pulled out the 67-64 win against John Calipari's loaded Wildcats squad in one of the biggest regular season upsets in the last 25 years. And trust me, it's a much bigger deal than you'd think at first glance.
CBS Sports' Matt Norlander dug this nugget out of the fact heap:
Here’s a wow: Evansville’s win at Kentucky on Tuesday night was the first win by a true mid-major in a road environment against a No. 1-ranked team since 1993. (Long Beach State at Kansas.)
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) November 13, 2019
Yeah, it was the first time a mid-major has beaten the No. 1 team in the country in a true road game since 1993. That game came on January 25, 1993 as Long Beach State took down Kansas 64-49 at Allen Fieldhouse. How long ago was that? Evansville's 45-year-old head coach Walter McCarty was a senior in high school a few months away from enrolling at Kentucky.
Norlander had more:
The "unranked" part here is erroneous, just teams from outside the power structure. Sorry for the initial confusion.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) November 13, 2019
So yeah, Evansville wasn't just a 24.5-point underdog, this upset was much bigger than that.