Ranking the 10 Worst Losses So Far in the 2014-15 College Basketball Season

If you're squeamish, or have trouble reading about abject disasters, this isn't the story for you. Same if you happen to be a fan of one of the many college basketball teams that has suffered an embarrassing loss already this season.

We're only four weeks into the 2014-15 season, but already we've reached double-digits when it comes to results where the victors are apt to frame the stat sheets, while the vanquished...well, they'd rather we not talk about it and focus on what they'll be able to accomplish in league play.

Nearly all of these games were scheduled with one thing in mind: an easy victory for the home team (and probably a healthy paycheck for the visitors to use to balance their athletic budget). But that's not how they went, and instead we got results that look great for the winners and really bad for those on the losing end.

Here's our ranking of the 10 worst losses so far in the 2014-15 college basketball season. If you have a sensitive stomach, please turn away.

10. DePaul 87, Stanford 72

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When: Nov. 30

Where: Chicago

This is the only game on our list in which the home team won, but it's still a bad loss. Pretty much any team that loses to DePaul—no matter the locale—shouldn't be too proud of itself.

Stanford reached the Sweet 16 last season, knocking off Kansas along the way, and with a handful of returners from that team were picked to finish fifth in a deep Pac-12 conference. DePaul finished last in the Big East and has won 42 games in the past four seasons.

DePaul is 6-1 this season, but prior to hosting Stanford it had lost by 12 at home to Lehigh. But the visiting Cardinal only made four of 19 three-pointers, with Chasson Randle only hitting one of seven from outside. DePaul shot 54.4 percent and forced 21 turnovers.

That was the last game for Stanford (4-2), which is on a two-week break for final exams before hosting Denver on Saturday.

9. Winthrop 77, Clemson 74

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When: Nov. 17

Where: Clemson, South Carolina

Winthrop had a nice run a few years back when it made nine NCAA tournament appearances in a 12-year span, upsetting Notre Dame in the first round of the 2007 tourney for the Eagles' only NCAA victory. That team was coached by Gregg Marshall, who went on to turn Wichita State into a mid-major power.

Winthrop usually doesn't make many waves during the regular season. It mostly serves as a sacrificial lamb for power programs, like it did on Saturday when it went to Maryland and lost by 20. A similar result was expected when the Eagles played at in-state foe Clemson, where they experienced blowout losses in 2009 and 2011.

Instead, the Eagles led for the final 10 minutes of play and handed Clemson a rare nonconference home loss.

It was a sign of unusual things to come for Clemson, which would go on to lose to Gardner-Webb (in the Virgin Islands) and Rutgers at home. But then on Sunday, it upset No. 18 Arkansas in overtime. Winthrop (3-4) would go on to lose four of five, including to Savannah State and Jacksonville State.

8. Nebraska-Omaha 97, Marquette 89

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When: Nov. 22

Where: Milwaukee

Marquette is expected to have a rebuilding year this season, what with coach Buzz Williams abruptly leaving for Virginia Tech in March and first-time head coach Steve Wojciechowski taking over. The Eagles roster currently has no players taller than 6'6", so some bumps in the road were in store for 2014-15.

But losing to Nebraska-Omaha at home? Nebraska, maybe. Fellow Omaha school Creighton, sure. But a team from the Summit League that's only in its third season of Division I play?

The Mavericks not only won, they more or less had the run of the place, shooting 57.1 percent. Junior Devin Patterson had 26 points and senior C.J. Carter added 25 for the program's first-ever win against a power conference team.

UNO (3-3) has since lost by 13 at Nebraska and 18 at Kansas State. Marquette (4-4) picked up wins over Georgia Tech and Tennessee at the Orlando Classic, where it also lost to Michigan State. It most recently lost by 11 at home to No. 2 Wisconsin.

7. St. Peter's 68, Rutgers 50

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When: Nov. 25

Where: Piscataway, New Jersey

St. Peter was one of the Twelve Apostles, considered the first Pope and a fixture in Christian and Catholic tradition. St. Peter's is a tiny college from Jersey City that has three NCAA tournament appearances in its history and is otherwise lacking much college basketball tradition.

But the Peacocks carved a huge milestone in their lineage with a blowout win at Rutgers last month—the first time they've beat their fellow New Jersey program twice in a row.

St. Peter's was 0-4 coming into the game but led by 12 at halftime and now sits at 3-6 on the season. Rutgers, in its first season in the Big Ten, has had a Jekyll-and-Hyde run through nonconference play so far that includes scoring 26 points in a loss to Virginia. It also beat Vanderbilt and won at Clemson.

6. North Florida 73, Purdue 70

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When: Dec. 6

Where: West Lafayette, Indiana

There are more than a dozen Division I basketball teams in Florida, with the newest addition being North Florida. The Jacksonville-based Ospreys made the transition from Division II between 2005-2009, but they've yet to make the NCAA tournament (and last year's 16-16 record was tied for their best one at the D-I level).

North Florida might have its best team yet this season, though, as it improved to 6-3 with a shocking win at Purdue on Saturday. It had opened the year with a 25-point loss at South Carolina and later fell by two at Northwestern, but guard Dallas Moore rallied North Florida from a seven-point hole with 3:11 left to win for the first time in 12 meetings against Big Ten opponents.

For Purdue (6-2), the loss sapped the momentum of consecutive wins over Missouri and BYU in Maui and against previously unbeaten North Carolina State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

5. Missouri-Kansas City 69, Missouri 61

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When: Nov. 14

Where: Columbia, Missouri

Missouri had somewhat of a surprise coaching opening during the offseason when Frank Haith left to go to Tulsa, but the Tigers went the lineage route by bringing in former assistant Kim Anderson as his replacement. Though his roster would be a bit thin this season, the early slate was supposed to be one that would allow Anderson and Mizzou to build confidence.

Missouri-Kansas City and star Martez Harrison thought otherwise.

Harrison dropped in 26 points in the opening-night win—its first against a power conference team since 2003—while Missouri gave its new coach a very embarrassing welcome.

UMKC has since lost six of eight, beating only Division II schools Missouri S&T and William Jewell. Mizzou is 4-4, but its other losses were to Arizona, Purdue and Oklahoma.

4. Charleston Southern 66, Ole Miss 65 (OT)

When: Nov. 14

Where: Oxford, Mississippi

The first night of the 2014-15 season didn't have many marquee matchups, with most of the power conference schools playing at home against teams they figured to wipe the floor with. Most opponents obliged with this request, glad to take a hefty paycheck and be on their way.

But Ole Miss wasn't so lucky with opening foe Charleston Southern, a Big South school whose one and only NCAA tournament appearance came in 1997. The Buccaneers' nonconference schedule also featured guarantee games at Florida State, North Carolina State and Colorado State—similar to last season when they lost at New Mexico, Baylor and Alabama en route to a 13-18 record.

This time, though, Charleston Southern came to play, leading by 12 at halftime before host Ole Miss forced overtime. The Rebels had a one-point lead with 59 seconds left in OT and had a chance to keep that lead before committing a turnover with eight seconds left.

That led to an amazing final play, with Charleston Southern's Saah Nimley driving and missing a layup with two seconds left only to see Cedrick Bowen slam the putback home at the buzzer.

3. Eastern Washington 88, Indiana 86

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When: Nov. 24

Where: Bloomington, Indiana

Indiana had a down year last season, not making any postseason tournaments and putting Tom Cream's job in peril heading into 2014-15. A promising recruiting class was expected to give the Hoosiers a boost, while a very favorable early schedule would allow for growth.

The first four games went as hoped—with a victory over SMU of particular merit—but then the Hoosiers ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Eastern Washington. The Big Sky school ended Indiana's 43-game nonconference home win streak by shooting 51.6 percent.

It was the Eagles' first win in 14 tries against the Big Ten. If they make it into the NCAA tournament, the victory will likely help raise them a line or two in terms of seeding. It's entirely possible, as Eastern Washington features a trio of standout mid-major players in guards Drew Brandon and Tyler Harvey and forward Venky Jois.

Eastern Washington is currently 7-1, with upcoming games at unbeaten Washington and one-loss California. Indiana hasn't lost since and is sitting at 7-1, but on Tuesday it faces Louisville in the Jimmy V Classic in New York.

2. University of the Sciences 54, Drexel 52

When: Dec. 4

Where: Philadelphia

Drexel made three straight NCAA tournament appearances in the mid-1990s, reaching the second round in 1996, but the Dragons haven't been dancing since. Odds are they're not going to this season, since teams that lose at home to Division II programs tend not to end up being too successful.

Having started the season 0-4, Drexel had looked like it was turning a corner by winning its last two (including by 23 against a solid Southern Mississippi team) heading into what should have been a glorified scrimmage against University of the Sciences.

University of the Sciences did have a better record at 5-2, but the Devils' previous win had come against Pittsburgh-Johnstown after losing to Indiana (Pennsylvania). They didn't play like a D-II school, though, with Garrett Kerr scoring 27 points and the awesomely named Sho DaSilva (whose brother, Flo DaSilva, is also on the team) chipped in 15.

Kerr hit the game winner (a three-pointer) with two seconds left.

1. NJIT 72, Michigan 70

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When: Dec. 6

Where: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Coming off an emotional 68-65 win over Syracuse in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Michigan had a 6-1 record and figured to see its No. 17 national ranking on the rise when the next poll came out. The weekend's game against NJIT was basically an afterthought, one of many such contests that power teams litter their home schedules with in between the big clashes.

It was the first time NJIT—the only independent team in Division I—had ever played against a ranked team, so surely the Highlanders would be too wide-eyed to put up much of a fight, right?

"Honestly, this wasn't in my game plan," coach Jim Engles told the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "Coming into the season, I sort of penciled this one in as an 'L.' I have to readjust my whole process here, as to, 'We just beat Michigan. I don't know, maybe we should be in the Top 25.'"

Damon Lynn's 20 points paced the win for NJIT (3-5), which already had lost twice this season to Division I newcomer Massachusetts-Lowell.

Caris LeVert had 32 points for Michigan, making 11 of 18 shots and six of eight from three-point range. However, the rest of Michigan made 12 of 36 field goals and 5 of 16 from outside. So instead of seeing their ranking go up, the Wolverines may end up out of the Top 25.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.