With South Carolina’s 16-10 defeat of No. 4 Ole Miss, eight times in the last year an unranked team has pulled off an impressive defeat of a team ranked among the USA Today Coaches Top 25 under the lights of Thursday night’s ESPN College Football Primetime presented by Applebee’s.

Ironically, South Carolina was the victim in the first of the eight upsets, a 24-17 loss to upstart Vanderbilt in September 2008 while the Gamecocks were ranked No. 24. On Sept. 25, 2008, the unranked Beavers of Oregon State topped then-No. 1 USC in Corvallis in perhaps the most stunning Thursday upset. In all but one of the eight - Pitt’s win over No. 10 USF - the ranked team was the away team.

2008

Sep 4                 Vanderbilt 24, No. 24 South Carolina 17

Sep 18               Colorado 17, No. 21 W. Virginia 14 (OT)

Sep 25               Oregon State 27, No. 1 USC 21

Oct 2                  Pittsburgh 26, No. 10 South Florida 21

Oct 30                Cincinnati 24, No. 23 South Florida 10

Nov 6                 Virginia Tech 23, No. 23 Maryland 13

Nov 20               Georgia Tech 41, No. 23 Miami (Fla.) 23

2009

Sep 24               South Carolina 16, No. 4 Ole Miss 10

ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer, who, along with play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler and fellow analyst Craig James, was in the booth for each of the Thursday night upsets, said at the time that the Oregon State victory was one of the most exciting games he has witnessed.

“We always say at ESPN every week that every game can change the season,” Palmer said. “A lot of our Thursday games have helped define seasons. It’s ‘Upset Thursday.’ It’s exciting to be part of that, knowing Thursday’s matchups are games that shape the college football landscape.”

This item from the SportsCenter research team about ESPN’s closely-contested, nail-biting Monday Night Football games to date:

                                   Lead Changes  Ties   Final    Margin Final Score
Bills at Patriots            1                                 1           1              Pats 25-24
Chargers at Raiders    3                                 2          4              Chargers 24-20
Colts at Dolphins         2                                 4          4              Colts 27-23

The largest margin in any of the three games so far is 11 points, which the Patriots erased in a span of 1:16 late in the 4th quarter in week 1. The Patriots, Chargers and Colts have combined to win the first three MNF games of the season by a total of 9 points. Never before have the first three games of MNF been decided by a cumulative total in single digits:

Smallest Combined Margin of Victory in First 3 MNF games of a season:
2009 - 9
2000 - 12
1991 - 14
1976 - 15
1997 - 16
1988 - 16

This week, ESPN’s Baseball Tonight presented a “Web Gem” to the 300th different Major Leaguer this season.  The milestone was reached last night (Sept. 16) when New York Yankees pitcher Chad Gaudin reached behind his back to snag a ground ball and rob Toronto’s Aaron Hill of a hit.

On the season, there is a close race at the top of the Web Gem leader board between Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman (45 points) and Arizona’s Mark Reynolds (43).  Points are presented to players based on the rank of their Web Gem during each night’s show.  Zimmerman leads all players with 15 Web Gems this year.

Baseball Tonight’s Web Gem Awards Show - reviewing many of the top defensive plays of the season - will air Monday, October 26, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Kimbo Slice and Battlin' Beadle

MMA star Kimbo Slice was a guest on Thursday’s edition of SportsNation, and wasted no time getting to the shop talk.

Slice’s thoughts on his friend Shaquille O’Neal in the MMA: “Shaq would dominate. He has the height, the reach, he’s an athlete, he has everything going for him. He has what it takes to be the ultimate fighter.”

On how long it would take him to train SportsNation co-host Colin Cowherd to fight in the MMA: “Ten years, give or take.”

Slice teaches Michelle the rear naked choke move, guaranteed to quiet down Colin.

On whether he’s ever intimidated (after Colin admitted, “I think your beard could beat me up.”): “I walk into the room with the intention on looking for the biggest or the baddest guy.”

And, saving the best for last, Slice demonstrated for Michelle Beadle a move she could use to put Colin to sleep.

To commemorate Freddie Mercury’s birthday, ESPN will present a “We are the Champions” tribute Saturday, Sept. 5, from 12-8 p.m. ET.  Mercury was the front man for the band Queen, which is known in sports circles for the hit song “We are the Champions.” Mercury, who would have been 63 years old on Saturday, passed away in 1991.

To honor his birthday and the song that is often played in sports venues, ESPN Classic will replay great championship moments such as: the 2001 World Series Game 7, when Luis Gonzales hit a game-winning home run to give the Arizona Diamondbacks their first world title; the 1988 NBA Finals Game 6, in which Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz for his sixth title; and The Rumble in the Jungle, when Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman to win the heavyweight championship.

It’s on. Or, as Ashton Kutcher says, “It has been broughten.”

The “drama drama” continued Tuesday. But first, a little background:

On Monday’s SportsNation (4-5 p.m. ET, ESPNEWS for next two weeks; midnight, weekdays, ESPN2), Colin Cowherd called out Kutcher for being an actor who’s trying to be a fantasy football authority. Kutcher hosts a live, 30-minute fantasy football show on Ustream.

Kutcher was watching SportsNation when Colin called him out, and immediately repsonded via @aplusk, his Twitter account that boasts more than 3 million followers. Kutcher and @SportsNation went back and forth for a bit, and each challenged the other to come on (See Monday’s Water Cooler post for the transcript of Monday’s Twitter exchange.)

Tuesday, SportsNation showed the clip from Kutcher’s Ustream show in which Kutcher reacts to Colin calling him a “Drama Dweeb.” Kutcher then challenged Colin to “bring it.” The two could be heading for a Fantasy Football Frackas, as both shows want the respective interloper to come on and keep talking smack — and maybe a little bit of football.