You wouldn't think two four-letter words could be so scary. Yet we all know they keep coaches up at night. And, in the teeth of conference play, they are unavoidable:
R-o-a-d g-a-m-e.
Home teams win over 70 percent of the time in college basketball. No major sport has such a pronounced home/road disparity. This is why we don't blink when Michigan State loses at Wisconsin or Cincinnati falls at Temple or Kentucky goes down at Auburn.
Well, maybe a few blink when Kentucky loses at Auburn.