There's no place like home

There are a few things that we take as complete truths in basketball. Defense wins championships. Length and athleticism equates to tremendous upside potential. Bo Ryan-led teams will compete.

Or, perhaps the most popular, the three-point line is the great equalizer.

But what about home court advantage?

If this week taught us anything, its that road wins, regardless of opponent, are few and far between once we hit conference play. Just take a look at the upsets that occurred this week on a home floor:

• Tennessee beat previously unbeaten and then-No. 1 Kansas.
• Wisconsin beat then-undefeated Purdue.
• Georgia Tech beat Duke
• Notre Dame beat West Virginia.
  
• Missouri beat Kansas State.
• Arizona and Arizona State beat Washington.
• Maryland beat Florida State.
• Seton Hall beat Cincinnati
• Marquette beat Georgetown
• San Diego State beat New Mexico
• Charleston beat UNC
• Western Kentucky beat Mississippi State

When you consider other results - like Georgetown making a huge comeback at home against UConn or Rhode Island and Detroit taking Temple and Butler, respectively, to overtime at home - and my point is only legitimized.

Tennessee fans have been known to dress up as Bruce Pearl at games.
(photo credit: NBC)

Now, this isn't a groundbreaking discovery. Everyone knows that winning on the road, especially in league play, is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Its why the committee weighs road wins so heavily come tournament time.

But when was the last time you remember a week like this?

Three of the top five, six of the top 10, and ten of the top 25 teams in the country lost games on the road this week to teams that were unranked or ranked below them.

Which begs the question: why is winning on the road so difficult?

The theories nearly outnumber the road losses: it is easier to shoot in a gym where you are used to the sight lines and the rims; the sign-wielding, costume-donning, insult-spewing student sections are backing you, not taunting you; a raucous crowd supporting a team energizes the kids, helping a team make a comeback and weather rough stretches; travel takes its toll on the visiting player's legs - your own bed is better than a hotel room; TV's broadcasting schedules take teams out of their routine.

Or it could just simply be the mindset that you must protect your home court. A loss on the road, no matter the opponent, is deemed acceptable, while losing at home is a cardinal sin. UNC losing to the College of Charleston on the road won't have a huge effect on the Heel's status come Selection Sunday, but a loss at home against the Cougars may cost the Heels a seed or two.

True or not, that is the perception, isn't it? And regardless of its legitimacy, isn't perception all that matters anyway? If the Purdue Boilermakers believe that a road loss carries fewer consequences than a home loss, wouldn't it be feasible that they could be more complacent playing Wisconsin at Wisconsin than playing West Virginia in Mackey Arena?

Whatever the case may be, it is a trend that this writer does not want to see end. Barring a collapse in league play, Kansas is going to be a #1 seed. But seeing them lose at Tennessee makes for great television.