Another Resume-Builder

Add Duke to the list of upsets. Michigan is certainly piling up some nice NCAA Tournament-caliber wins in the nonconference schedule. A win against Duke gives the Wolverines two (UCLA being the other).

Could Michigan challenge for third in the Big Ten? We'll see.

Elsewhere
-- God, of all the teams I wanted to see in the BCS title game, Florida is not even close to being one of them. The only good thing to ever come out of Florida is Erin Andrews.

-- Notre Dame lost to Ohio State. The Buckeyes are snatching up some nice wins early this year, too.

Why We Watch

We watch college hoops for a reason, and last night provided us with more than a few ...

No. 8 Notre Dame topped No. 7 Texas in a thriller, 81-80.

No. 17 Florida escaped with a win against Washington, 86-84.

And No. 22 Kansas lost to Syracuse, 89-81, in overtime.

Let's break these games down ...

-- Notre Dame cemented its status as a Final Four contender with a gritty, exciting win against Texas. The Longhorns didn't really lose much in terms of reputation or respect, just dropped the game.

-- Jon Brockman had a chance to tie the game for Washington in the waning moments, but his shot rimmed out off the glass. This would have been a huge win for Washington; instead, it's another disappointing loss. It's hard to come away with positives from KC after two really rough losses.

-- And the Syracuse-Kansas game was the game of the night. We had Sherron Collins and Jonny Flynn going toe to toe, runs catapulting one team into the lead before the other team roared back, and an extra five minutes to enjoy the competition. The CBE Classic turned out to be a pretty good tournament, and these guys have a lot to do with that.

Quote of the day: "I had a few too many Wheaties on it." -- Washington's Jon Brockman, after missing the would-be tying putback with less than five seconds to play in Washington's 86-84 loss to Florida.

Blockbuster Tuesday

No. 6 Texas and No. 8 Notre Dame meet tonight at 7 p.m. in the Maui Invitational. This game could turn into a track meet, given the athletic talent of Texas and Notre Dame's ability to fill it up in a hurry.

Still, the Longhorns' have a little bit more of a defensive bent than Notre Dame, and the Irish are one of the less physical teams in the Big East. It'll be fun seeing who adapts to the other more, but I think Texas might be the better team.

Best matchup: It has to be Tory Jackson vs. AJ Abrams. I've seen Jackson play a few times, and he is one of the fastest players I've ever watched in person (fastest being Darren Collison). Abrams is the most important player on Texas. Both are fast, but I give the slight edge to Abrams in terms of overall ability. In this game, this matchup might be the best indicator of who is winning.

Penn State at Penn ... just kidding.

A quietly good matchup in Dayton: Mercer at Dayton. Mercer surprised Alabama and Auburn and almost beat Georgia Tech (lost in OT), so expect the Bears to challenge a good Dayton team at UD Arena. This is the beginning of a really tough stretch for the Flyers, who host Mercer tonight, then play Auburn and No. 15 Marquette on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in the Chicago 'burbs. If Dayton is working on its Tournament resume, going at least 2-1 in this three-game period will help a lot. Undefeated will go a long way come March.

Florida-Washington in Maui. Florida needs to recover after its loss to Syracuse; Washington has less than 24 hours to change its ways. I like Florida, but this is secretly an important game for both teams.

UNC-Oregon. We know who will win this game, but if the Ducks can at least have a solid showing, it can only help, confidence-wise. Oregon has the talent, but does it have the guts?

Kansas-Syracuse for the CBE Classic title. Kansas is the favorite, but Syracuse looked good against Florida, not that that surprises anyone. But if the Orange can win again here, expect them in the Top 25 on Monday. And a win here will also quiet the always-rowdy critics in March, who always shellack Jim Boeheim for his scheduling.

Swallowed by the Beast

Jonny Flynn and the Syracuse Orange upset No. 17 Florida last night, 89-83. Wow. The second-best SEC team against the seventh-best Big East team. Keep watching Big East teams for more signs of dominance the rest of the year.

Or I could just give you some now ...

No. 2 UConn 76, No. 25 Wisconsin 57

No. 8 Notre Dame 88, Indiana 50

Oh, and Cincinnati and St. John's won, too, but those are just icing on the cake. Plus, who's really counting anyway?

Let's play good loss/bad loss
-- There is never really such a thing as a "good loss," but there are losses that, if close and against a good team, mean a little bit more than a bad loss to a bad team or a blowout loss to anybody. Yesterday provided a full plate of games to pick from:

Terrible loss: Jacksonville State 75, UMass 74. If UMass was hoping to surprise people in the A-10 and make a run as an at-large team, starting 1-3 and losing to Jacksonville State at home usually won't help.

Disappointing but not terrible loss: Syracuse 89, No. 17 Florida 83 (see above)

Tough home loss: UNLV 80, UTEP 67. UNLV is good, but UTEP had a chance to get a quality home win and build up its resume leading into C-USA play. If the Miners want to challenge Memphis for the conference title and stake a claim as a second or third bid out of the C-USA, a win in a game like this always helps.

Bad loss against a good team: Kansas 73, Washington 54. If Washington (or Worshington if your Bob Knight) wants to find its way out of basketball purgatory, it needs to come closer to good teams and win a few of them. More importantly, if Lorenzo Romar wants to keep his job after this season, the Huskies need to do better against quality teams. First step, don't shoot so many 3s if you aren't making them. Just a suggestion.

Awful loss: Yale 53, Oregon State 52. Craig Robinson is off to a very rough 0-3 start. Losing to Howard is tough. Losing to Yale is probably worse.

Embarrassing blowout: Oregon 82, Alabama 59. Not only is Alabama 1-2, with this blowout loss at home and a loss to Mercer ... at home ... but the Crimson Tide suddenly look like one of the worst teams in the SEC, which is terrible because some floated the idea of them being an at-large bid or a bubble team come March. At this point, they might still be a reach bubble team ... for the NIT.

Upset Watch

Not saying it will happen, but Duke will have its hands full with Rhode Island today. Luckily for Coach K and company, the game's at Cameron.

Li'l Rhody can fill it up, though. The Rams will either shrink against a very good team with a very hostile home crowd, or stand tall and make it a ball game.

--Oh, and as of right now, Western Michigan is losing to Southern Illinois ... Edwardsville. Yikes.

--A good game will quietly take place in Omaha today: New Mexico-Creighton. Creighton is the Missouri Valley favorites. Steve Alford has a decent team out west that has a rough road ahead of it in the Mountain West, but should at least be competitive.

--Also, a few other good games on Sunday: Bradley-Florida, VMI-Virginia, Temple-Clemson, UW-Milwaukee-Iowa State.

Rainy Saturday Quick Hits

That man up top -- the Godfather of Basketball, Rick Pitino -- is not walking through that door in Lexington. (He's walking through another door a few hours away, actually, coaching a team that', dare I say, good.) And you have to wonder if anyone in Kentucky basketball world is wishing Rick was ambling into Rupp Arena, because the Wildcats got off to another terrible start, this time losing to VMI, 111-103.

Not even kidding. VMI.

-- Does this really surprise you? Have you seen Nick Calathes? Plus, he plays for Florida, so it figures.

-- UNC topped Penn, 86-71, today. I know you were holding your breath.

-- Really? Davidson dropped 107 points?

-- Pitt took care of business, so did UConn, Texas, Purdue, Oklahoma and Arizona State. Buzz Williams is 1-0 at Marquette. Florida, Wake and 'Nova got off on the right track, too.

-- Just wondering: Is VMI a bubble team now? Kentucky certainly is.