Durand Scott and Reggie Johnson (Getty Images)

It's an early November ritual as time-honored as leaves changing color and clocks moving back an hour.

When a major-conference program with high expectations drops an exhibition game to a little-known lower-division program, its fan base inevitably panics and wonders whether the team has been overhyped.

Miami is this year's most notable victim after falling to Division II St. Leo 69-67 Friday night in a exhibition stunner. The Hurricanes are expected to finish in the upper half of the ACC and contend for an NCAA tournament bid in Jim Larranaga's second season, but they fell behind St. Leo by 13 points midway through the second half and couldn't quite climb all the way back from that deficit.

[More NCAA basketball: Big Ten preview: Indiana headlines what should be nation's strongest conference]

The primary question now facing Miami is whether this performance is the start of a trend or just a mere aberration. Larranaga noted that the Hurricanes were lethargic in practice last week and expressed hope this would be the wake-up call they needed, but history suggests an exhibition loss sometimes can be a bad omen.

Here's a look at how a handful of prominent teams who have lost exhibition games the past few years have fared afterward:

2009: LeMoyne 82, No. 25 Syracuse 79
What happened next: This was the ultimate fluke loss. Led by Wesley Johnson, Andy Rautins and Rick Jackson, the Orange won their first 13 games, 24 of their first 25 and rolled to the Big East title. Only an ill-timed injury to center Arinze Onuaku and an upset-minded Butler team prevented Syracuse from making it past the Sweet 16. 

Cody Zeller and Indiana enter the season as Big Ten favorites (US Presswire)

Yahoo! Sports is breaking down each league for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 31 to No. 1. Here's a look at our No. 1 league, the Big Ten.

If a poor non-conference performance coupled with Indiana controlling its own destiny for the Rose Bowl has turned Big Ten football into a punchline, then at least the league figures to avenge those jokes in basketball this winter.

No conference appears to be stronger at the top or deeper in the middle than the Big Ten, which should produce six or seven NCAA bids again this season and boasts eight or nine teams with legitimate hopes of getting there.

For the first time since the days of Bob Knight patrolling the Assembly Hall sidelines in a red sweater, Indiana is the Big Ten's headliner again. The preseason top-ranked Hoosiers bring back All-American candidate Cody Zeller and nearly every other significant player from last year's Sweet 16 team and add one of the nation's best recruiting classes.

Fittingly, it's the players who came to Indiana at the depths of Tom Crean's rebuilding efforts who have led this revitalization. Zeller and high-scoring Christian Watford form one of the nation's best frontcourt duos, Victor Oladipo is an elite perimeter stopper, Jordan Hulls shot 49 percent from behind the arc last year and versatile sixth man Will Sheehey provides scoring off the bench.

Whether Indiana is a national title favorite entering March or merely just one of many contenders will likely depend on how freshman Yogi Ferrell adapts to the role of starting point guard and how much better the Hoosiers defend this season.

[More NCAA basketball: Trevor Mbakwe pledges to refund scholarship if Minnesota misses NCAA tourney]

Trevor Mbakwe (Getty Images)

Even though Minnesota has failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament the past two years, Trevor Mbakwe is certain the Gophers will end that drought this March.

The star forward even went so far as to promise late Saturday night that he will give back his scholarship money from this school year if Minnesota doesn't hear its name called on Selection Sunday in five months.

Mbakwe's willingness to lighten his wallet if his team fails to live up to expectations is very rare but not unheard of in professional or college sports.

In 2o02, the Atlanta Hawks guaranteed season-ticket holders a $125 refund if the team did not make the playoffs, a goal the franchise failed to reach. In 2003, Bob Knight told Texas Tech he wouldn't accept his $250,000 coaching salary after the Red Raiders concluded the regular season with a 16-11 record, seven victories shy of the 23 wins they achieved the previous season.

The most similar offer to Mbakwe's is one made by former Oklahoma star Courney Paris, the daughter of former NFL offensive lineman Bubba Paris. Entering her senior season, Paris pledged to give back her scholarship if the Sooners did not win a championship, but the university did not hold her to the promise when the team lost 61-59 to Louisville in the national semifinals.

[More NCAA basketball: The most celebrated technical foul in college hoops (video)]

Sean Kilpatrick (Getty Images)

When Mick Cronin blindsided Sean Kilpatrick with the idea of redshirting as a freshman, the Cincinnati guard admits he didn't want to do it.

Kilpatrick scored nearly 30 points per game during his four years at New York's White Plains High School. Never once had he considered voluntarily sitting out his first year of college.

"I still remember the day like it was yesterday," Kilpatrick said. "I was like, 'What? You want me to redshirt? Are you crazy?' I felt as if I was ready, but Coach Cronin said, 'SK, trust me.' And when he said that, I told him I'd go with what he was saying. If I didn't trust him, I wouldn't have been here."

All the times Kilpatrick had to watch games in street clothes from the bench or explain to friends back home why he wasn't playing have turned out to be worthwhile now that he's entering his fourth year in the program. The 6-4 junior has emerged as one of the Big East's top scoring guards, a transformation he credits partially to the year he spent working relentlessly in practice and in the weight room because he could only sit and watch during games.

He treated every practice that year like a game, a mentality he has kept because he saw how quickly he improved because of it. He became more patient and less turnover-prone from observing Cincinnati's wings from the bench and realizing the importance of picking one's spots rather than bull-rushing to the rim at every opportunity. And he improved his oft-criticized perimeter shooting stroke by watching film of Ray Allen and staying after practices or games to take hundreds of extra shots while emulating Allen's high release.

[More NCAA basketball: Big Ten preview: Indiana headlines what should be nation's strongest conference]

Had Kilpatrick played as a true freshman, he'd probably have logged only a handful of minutes per game behind freshman phenom Lance Stephenson and veterans Rashad Bishop and Deonta Vaughn. Instead he still has two years of eligibility remaining after leading Cincinnati in scoring at 14.3 points per game last season, shooting a solid 37.8 percent from behind the arc and helping the Bearcats to their first Sweet 16 since 2001.

Michael Carter-Williams (Getty Images)

The Dagger's Big East preview continues with a look at the conference's 15 most intriguing non-conference matchups next season.

1. Louisville at Kentucky, Dec. 29

Comment: One of college basketball's fiercest rivalries will again feature two of the sport's top teams. Louisville will be out for revenge after its comeback bid fell short in last year's Final Four meeting, but the Kentucky team the Cards face only returns one player who even played in that game.

2. Syracuse vs. San Diego State, Nov. 9 (San Diego)

Comment: It took a game on a historic aircraft carrier to lure Jim Boeheim out of the greater New York area for a non-conference matchup. The outdoor setting could play to the Orange's favor, however, because the two-three zone typically forces teams to shoot from the perimeter and San Diego State's jump shots may not be as accurate as usual in the ocean breeze.

3. Louisville at Battle 4 Atlantis, Nov. 22-24

Comment: Will concerns about Louisville's suspect outside shooting prevent the Cardinals from living up to their No. 2 preseason ranking? Here's the first good barometer. A win over Northern Iowa in the opening round will earn Louisville a semifinal date against either Missouri or Stanford. Looming on the other side of the bracket are Duke, Memphis, VCU and Minnesota.

4. Kentucky at Notre Dame, Nov. 29

Comment: Even though Kentucky won't be visiting top-ranked Indiana this winter due to the stubbornness of the two head coaches, the Wildcats will travel to one of the Hoosier State's other elite teams. They'll meet Notre Dame in the Big East-SEC Challenge, an intriguing matchup since this will be the young Wildcats' first true road game and first taste of a slowdown, patient offense like the Irish run.

Jamal Fenton (getty images)Had New Mexico guard Jamal Fenton known an Albuquerque hotel was giving him a $250 discount on the ballroom he was renting for his 21st birthday, he insists he wouldn't have accepted it.

Instead, Fenton accepted the ballroom at the reduced rate of $500 rather than $750 last April, landing him in hot water with the NCAA.

The NCAA suspended Fenton last week for three games for a minor violation of NCAA rules, but the reason for the penalty was not initially disclosed. In response to an open records request filed by the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico then released documents to the local media revealing the birthday party was the culprit.

"If I would have known the real price, I still would have got it because money wasn't the issue," Fenton said in one of the documents released to the Journal. "I had no idea I was getting a good price on the ballroom because this was my first time ever throwing a party in a ballroom and the price she gave me already sounded like a lot."

[More NCAA basketball: The most celebrated technical foul in college hoops (video)]

A sales representative at the hotel corroborated Fenton's claim that he did not ask for a discount but confirmed the hotel lowered the price for the ballroom because it was a New Mexico student-athlete seeking to rent it. That's an automatic penalty in the eyes of the NCAA because it's an extra benefit a typical student would not receive.

By NCAA rules, any extra benefit from $100 to $300 requires a three-game suspension, a harsh penalty considering the offense, yet at least one the organization has been consistent about enforcing. Fenton also had to pay the money back to a charity of his choice.

Louisville returns the core of last year's Final Four team (Getty Images)

Yahoo! Sports is breaking down each league for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 31 to No. 1. Here's a look at our No. 2 league, the Big East.

Take one more wistful glance at the Big East as we know it. It won't be quite as formidable after this season.

The impending departure of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame coupled with the loss of West Virginia certainly won't kill the Big East, but it will weaken both the brand and the product in what has been the nation's best basketball league more often than not recently. The hits could keep on coming for the Big East, too, if Connecticut or Louisville find a stronger football conference willing to invite them aboard.

Despite all the impending upheaval, this season in the Big East holds just as much promise as any of the past few years. Louisville returns the core of last year's Final Four team, Syracuse has the young talent to reload rather than rebuild and Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Georgetown all have the potential to contend in the conference and make deep runs in March.

The favorite is Louisville because of the Cardinals' deep, talented roster headlined by playmaking point guard Peyton Siva, interior scorer and rebounder Chane Behanan and shot-blocking center Gorgui Dieng. This year's Cardinals again probably won't have a player who averages more than 12 or 13 points per game, but they'll go 10 or 11 deep and play the relentless pressure defense that has become Rick Pitino's trademark.

For all the well-deserved optimism about Louisville's chances of winning the Big East and contending for a national championship, the Cardinals do have some flaws. They lack proven perimeter shooters with Kyle Kuric gone and Mike Marra lost for the season due to injury. They also need Siva to perform with the steadiness and consistency he showed during the NCAA tournament rather than during the regular season when an ankle injury contributed to turnovers and unreliable shooting.

A meaningless exhibition game between powerhouse Indiana and NAIA Indiana Wesleyan did produce one meaningful storyline.

Maurice Creek, who has played just 18 games since December 2009 as a result of three severe injuries, shed his warmups and checked into the game early in the first half to a standing ovation and the sound of the Indiana student section chanting his name. Creek then unexpectedly showed his battered legs still have some spring left in them, scoring a team-high 12 points in 15 minutes as Indiana pulled away for an 86-57 win.

There were times during the game when the magnitude of the moment appeared to hit Creek. Even after the game, he was still emotional, especially when talking with reporters about the warm reception the crowd gave him.

"It was a great, great, great reaction," Creek said during the postgame press conference. "Standing ovation? That's big time. That's love. I can't do nothing but thank them. I appreciate everyone who stood up for me."

[Related: More on Indiana basketball at Peegs.com]

Creek is still a long way from carving out a spot in top-ranked Indiana's rotation once the season starts, but just returning to the team is an accomplishment after what he has endured the past few years.

In December 2009, Creek fractured his left kneecap, costing him the rest of his freshman season. Then in January 2011, Creek suffered a stress fracture in the patella of his other knee, ending his season early once again. And worst of all, Creek tore his left Achilles walking upstairs to his apartment in October 2011 days before the start of practice last season.