Mile High Mids

A Red Line Upset for Chase’s birthday?

Today, Denver junior star Chase Hallam turns 21. As a birthday present, how about a Red Line Upset over Conference USA foe Southern Miss?

Tip-off is 7:00 PM at Magness Arena. Official preview and game notes here. I am planning to attend — my first @800GP game — but won’t be arriving until around halftime, due to daddy/husband duties on the home front.

Anyway, my live blog will appear below. Below that, some “Red Line Upset” background information.

A “Red Line Upset,” for those unfamiliar with the language of the Mid-Majority cult community, technically has nothing to do with whether a game is an “upset” in a traditional sense (although RLUs are usually “true” upsets as well). “Red Line Upset” simply means a victory by a team below the financial Red Line (i.e., a mid-major) over a team above the Red Line (i.e., a member of a BCS league, the Mountain West or Conference USA).

It’s all about the Benjamins: the financially flush folks above the Red Line defeat their disadvantaged brethren roughly 90% of the time. #OccupyTheRedLine!

Thus, although Denver is actually listed by Vegas as a 3-point favorite over Southern Miss at Magness Arena tonight, a win by the Pioneers would nevertheless be a Red Line Upset — a rarity for Joe Scott’s squad.

In fairness, Denver has limited chances to pull off RLUs, as they only have a handful of games against above-the-Red-Line teams each year. Last season, for instance, they played (and lost) three such games: at Oregon, vs. Colorado State, and at Wyoming.

This season, they have at least five RLU chances: tonight vs. USM, November 26 at Cal (a Top 25 team), December 17 vs. Boise State (newly above the Red Line this year), December 19 vs. Wyoming, and January 11 at Colorado State. I say “at least five” since, of course, they could get more RLU chances if they reach postseason play.

The Pioneers haven’t achieved a Red Line Upset since November 25, 2009, when they beat Wyoming 80-77 at Magness Arena. They’ve had two other RLUs under Joe Scott: 66-55 over Colorado State on 12/20/08, and 76-65 over Wyoming on 11/13/07.

Denver hasn’t beaten a non-Front Range above-the-Red-Line team (i.e., someone other than Wyoming, CSU or Air Force) since November 19, 2005, when they won 44-30 in a neutral-site game over… Southern Miss, the very team they’re hosting tonight.