One of the most frustrating things that happens every year during college basketball betting season is the overreaction when a team at the top loses a single game, and somehow manages to fall several spots as if the fact that they finally lost makes them any less of a team. It is probably one of the biggest reasons why most college enthusiasts cringe at the idea of polls to decide which of the country’s teams are in the top-25, and it is particularly noticeable at the top where there are so few sports betting contests to effect which of the top teams finishes No. 1 as every team is bound to lose eventually.

That a team lost a game should not be as big of a deal as how or why the team lost a game, and to expect a team to go through their entire schedule without a single loss seems more than unreasonable. The best example for this year is the No. 2 Syracuse Orange, which have lost one game all season, a 67-58 defeat at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Big East play. Of the top teams in the country, the Orange clearly have the toughest schedule overall in terms of consistency in a talented Big East conference, yet still they likely won’t get the chance to move back to No. 1 in the rankings even with just one loss because Kentucky has come on strong and beat some better non-conference opponents earlier in the year. Why a team lost and how important that result is should be the factors taken in to consideration beyond the fact that they simply lost, yet not often enough are they even considered before a team drops a couple of spots following a loss as the pay head favorites.