It has been a season of surprises so far in men's college basketball. The top four teams in the preseason AP poll had 13 combined losses entering Wednesday, while the current top five features two teams that weren't even ranked in the preseason top 25.
As marquee neutral-site games and early-season tournaments fade from memory and conference play takes center stage, though, some of the November and December upstarts will begin to fade. It happens every season. Minnesota started last season 10-1 -- before winning just three of its final 19 games. DePaul was initially 9-1, and finished 15-16 overall.