CBB Upset Alert, Week 4: Why Creighton and Arkansas need to be careful

One of the highlights of the college basketball season is here with Feast Week underway. The best MTEs are set to be played in the lead up to and during the Thanksgiving holiday, which features a ton of top teams squaring off against one another on neutral floors.

Those conditions are ripe for upsets, and we already had one on Monday when No. 2 UCONN was shocked by Memphis at the Maui Invitational in a highly controversial overtime thriller. The upset comes after a slew of upsets in Week 3, including Purdue's defeat at Marquette (which was called in this space last week) shook up the AP Top 25 entering Week 4.

Which ranked squads find themselves in danger of leaving Feast Week with a damaging loss? Read on to find out which college basketball teams need to be on upset alert over the holidays.

3 College Basketball Teams That Need To Be On Upset Alert During Feast Week

No. 21 Creighton

The Bluejays were an upset victim over the weekend, shockingly losing at home to an unranked Nebraska team that was projected to finish in the bottom half of the Big Ten this season. While most would think that an upset of that caliber would put Creighton on high alert already, they are in danger once again with their participation in the inaugural Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

The opening draw for Creighton in the Power Tournament is an early tip-off against San Diego State, a rugged defensive team with plenty of experience. The Aztecs have already played a strong opponent than the Bluejays have faced this season, with their last game being a loss against No. 3 Gonzaga, and that experience should have them ready to take on a wounded Creighton squad.

The neutral site experience should favor the Aztecs, whose fans will be more likely to make the trip to the MGM Grand Garden Arena than Creighton's will. If the shots aren't falling for Creighton the deck could be stacked against them in a potential upset scenario.

No. 19 Arkansas

John Calipari's first season at Arkansas has gotten off to a solid start with a 5-1 record, but a closer look at their schedule shows a paper tiger. All five of the Razorbacks' wins have come at home against mid-major teams while their lone test against a top program saw them lose at a neutral site by five to Baylor, leaving questions as to whether Arkansas is ready to beat a top team away from Fayetteville.

Thanksgiving Day provides an opportunity for the Razorbacks to do just that as they are participating in CBS' Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase against Illinois on a neutral floor at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. This matchup is very dangerous for Arkansas as the Fighting Illini are more than capable of winning a shootout with them as they enter the contest averaging 89 points per game.

Illinois has blown out five mid-majors this year and put forward a strong effort in a de facto road game against Alabama last week, losing 100-87 to fall out of the Top 25. The eye test certainly favors the Fighting Illini, especially on a neutral floor, so it wouldn't be a shock for Arkansas to fall flat on Turkey Day.

No. 23 Ole Miss

Trying to make sense of the early AP Top 25 polls is a fool's errand since a lot of voters haven't gotten a good feel of teams yet, often elevating a team into the poll that has a gaudy record and hasn't proven anything yet. The latest team to fit that mold is Ole Miss, which entered the poll at No. 23 this week thanks to a perfect 5-0 record but has some questionable results mixed into its season, including a concerning home win over Grambling by just a bucket.

The Rebels fly out West for a Thanksgiving Day showdown with Big 12 foe BYU in the Rady's Children's Invitational and they are in store for a shootout. The Cougars feature one of the nation's most prolific offenses, averaging 91 points per game (good for tenth in the nation) while shooting just under 36 percent from three-point range as a team.

This kind of matchup is a bad one for the Rebels, who haven't seen the kind of high-octane offense that the Cougars possess yet this season. If the threes are falling for BYU this could end up being a very difficult task for Ole Miss to score a neutral site win, especially when they have a much further trip than the Cougars do.