Best Unranked Teams

These teams aren't ranked, but have a shot to sneak in the back end of the AP Top 25 after No. 24 Marquette and No. 23 Memphis both lost tough games against good opponents.

Memphis will be back in eventually, but the Tigers need to take better, smarter shots, and hope that Tyreke Evans improves as a decision-maker.

Marquette has the talent to win a lot of games at home, but it's starting to look like this batch of Golden Eagles -- ya know, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Maurice Acker, Lazar Heyward and the most overrated player in the history of college basketball, Dominic James -- can't be counted on to win road games.

So, without any more posturing ...

1. Michigan -- The Wolverines are the easy choice because they are No. 26 in the AP rankings. But John Beilein (above) has his kids winning games they should and competing in the tough ones. If anyone is surprised by Beilein's getting results, you are crazy. Kentucky has to be kicking itself right now.

2. Miami -- The 'Canes get a chance to totally redeem themselves with an early conference donnybrook with No. 25 Clemson, which has zoomed to a 10-0 record. It's not like two losses against No. 2 UConn and No. 17 Ohio State are all that bad anyway ...

3. BYU -- The Cougars are 10-0 and have a marquee matchup at No. 20 Arizona State on Saturday and a home game against No. 10 Wake Forest on Jan. 3. Those two games will test BYU, and prepare it for the Tournament, where you should expect to see the Cougars.

4. Saint Mary's -- I don't see how one loss against a good UTEP team on a neutral floor has knocked the Gaels this far down the rankings, but the fightin' Patty Millses will be back. Trust me. We mentioned Saint Mary's earlier today because it has a big matchup with Oregon tonight. A game at Southern Illinois follows on Saturday, but after that, Saint Mary's will only have two more chances to beat any big-name teams -- and both of those changes are against No. 8 Gonzaga.

5. Minnesota -- I'm not sold on Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers yet, and neither are the AP voters, who gave the 'Sota two votes in last week's poll. But Minnesota is 9-0, and three of its next five games are against currently ranked teams -- No. 9 Louisville (in Arizona) and home against No. 17 Ohio State and No. 19 Michigan State. With the two calkwalks in between the big games, I think Minnesota will have a tough time doing better than 2-3.

6. Temple -- Riding the high of one upset isn't enough. And the 5-3 record isn't that great, either -- although losses to tougher-than-expected Buffalo, great shut-you-down D and Miami (Ohio) and Clemson aren't bad. But the Owls play at Kansas on Saturday and against Villanova Dec. 29.

Weekend Preview

Because I'm away for the weekend, let's run over some of the best games ahead, starting with tonight ...

Games of the Week(end):

St. Joe's vs. No. 15 Villanova (Thursday at 8): Last year, St. Joe's put a hurtin' on the 'Cats. Villanova has the upper hand this year, but Scottie Reynolds has to be a bigger factor if 'Nova wants to go anywhere. And if Tuesday's performance against Texas was any indiciation, Reynolds has a lot of work ahead.

Iowa at Iowa State (Friday at 8:05): This one's not on TV, but a good-old in-state rivalry never disappoints, even if this one lost its relevance about three years ago.

Long Beach State at No. 13 Syracuse (Saturday at noon): It will be interesting to see if Syracuse is distracted by the whole Eric-Devendorf-hitting-a-girl-in-the-face controversy. He'll be on the floor Saturday.

Butler at No. 21 Ohio State (Saturday at noon): Ohio State made its case for being ranked; now it's Butler's turn. We know the Buckeyes are gritty and talented. Butler has a chance to get a really high-quality win on the road.

No. 8 Tennessee at Temple (Saturday at noon on ESPN): The first of many tough games ahead for the Vols. This will test their mettle.

No. 17 Memphis at No. 19 Georgetown (Saturday at 2 p.m. on CBS): Both teams are scrapping to get recognized, but these are two clubs nobody will want to play come March. Or January, for that matter.

UMass at No. 25 Kansas (Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN): Kansas should win this game, but UMass needs to cut down on its turnovers to start competing better with big-name clubs like KU. This would be a nice place to start for the Minutemen.

Indiana at Kentucky (Saturday at 4 p.m. on CBS): Just for the names, not for the hoops.

Utah at No. 5 Oklahoma (Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2): The Sooners should win this contest, but the Utes have a nice team.

UMBC at No. 3 Pitt (Saturday at 7 p.m.): Cause it's been too long for the Panthers.

No. 10 Xavier at Cincinnati (Saturday at 8 on ESPN 2): The Musketeers are legit, we know that much. But how far has Cincinnati come this season? Good wins against UAB and at UNLV look nice, but a loss to Florida State catches my eye.

No. 4 Gonzaga at Arizona (Sunday at 6): Jordan Hill is starting to be a major player for the 'Cats, but Gonzaga is clearly at Top 5 team that is starting to really jell. They ran over Wazzou (at Wazzou, no less) on Wednesday.

OK, folks, have a nice weekend.

Turkey and Hoops

The Maui Invitational tips off today in ... Maui. Here are the first-round matchups:

St. Joe's vs. No. 7 Texas
Indiana vs. No. 8 Notre Dame
Chaminade vs. No. 1 North Carolina
Oregon vs. Alabama

Here's how the bracket looks.

There's a good chance we'll see Notre Dame-Texas on Tuesday and North Carolina-Notre Dame/Texas on Wednesday. Those four hours of hoops will be enjoyable to say the least. It could determine how seriously we take Notre Dame and/or Texas early in the season.

Another big tourney tips off today, too
The CBE Classic in KC kicks back into action tonight with two semifinal matchups: No. 18 Florida-Syracuse and Washington-No. 24 Kansas. I don't think it's too crazy to say at least three of those teams are probably Tournament teams. The question is, like we asked above, how serious are thes guys?

Elsewhere
-- No. 2 UConn took care of business against No. 17 Miami, 76-63. I was right about Jack McClinton -- he had 27 points and five boards -- but the Huskies never trailed and led by as many as 15.

-- Little Rhody had another nice performance Sunday, topping VCU, a major CAA contender and probable bubble team, in the battle of the Rams.

-- Xavier beat No. 13 Memphis, 63-58. Xavier has wins against Missouri, Virginia Tech and Memphis now. Not a bad way to start building that resume.

-- Missouri beat No. 19 USC, 83-72. That's two tough losses for USC early in the season. Luckily for USC, it looks like the Trojans still might be at least the second or third best team in the Pac-10.

-- The Big East is good. Even its cellar-dwellers get results.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jack McClinton

If you haven't heard of Jack McClinton yet, you will after Sunday night's showdown between No. 17 Miami and No. 2 Connecticut. McClinton can fill it up in a hurry. At 6-1, he's not overly imposing from the wing, but the all-ACC guard can leave his mark on a contest with his long-range sniping.

His coach, Frank Haith, calls him the "heart and soul" of Miami. He's the little engine who can. And he will, if you don't lock him up. Dude shot 43 percent from 3 last year. He gets to the line, too, where he shot 92 percent last year.

But enough about last year, McClinton and his 'Canes are ready to push the Dukies and Carolina for the ACC title this year. The best way to enter the national spotlight at this juncture in the season is extremely simple: Beat UConn.

McClinton is Miami's ticket to the big time. And the first chance to earn some shine is topping the Huskies, which certainly isn't an easy task.

Other games to watch
-- Xavier and No. 13 Memphis do battle in Puerto Rico. The finals of the Tip-Off.

-- I smell a trap game.

-- I noticed ESPN the Magazine got a lot of complaints about Hasheem Thabeet after his short Q&A in its November 17 issue. Thabeet, when asked who the toughest big man in college basketball is, said, "Nobody's better than me, only more experienced. I played Luke Harangody and he was not tough ... "

I agree: Harangody is not that tough. I'll go out on a limb -- I have never seen someone complain to the referees more than Harangody does in a game, except for maybe me circa 2000 (trust me, it was a lot). I won't question his numbers; the kid is talented. He works hard. But he works the refs harder. If he is near the ball and he doesn't score, it's automatically someone else's fault. Just sayin', but maybe Thabeet is on to something ...

Parting thought: I can't believe a BCS bowl will have Cincinnati in it. Yikes.

Top Recruit Picks Memphis

A little late on this ...

Unfortunately for Memphis, Xavier Henry does not arrive until next summer, way after the Tigers need him. This year's Memphis backcourt couldn't put a basketball in the ocean from 15 feet or farther.

Red Scare ... or Not

Pitt took care of Miami (Ohio) last night, 82-53. The first half was close; second half wasn't.

Like I said yesterday, the Panthers need Little Fella Levance Fields to ignite them, and he did in a major way. The 5-10 senior had his first career double-double: 12 points, 12 assists.

Jermaine Dixon and Sam Young each had 14. Big Fella Blair and Tyrell Biggs had 10. Call it a team effort.

This is a nice win for the Panthers. Miami (Ohio) gave UCLA all it could handle a few days ago before falling, 64-59. This time, the Redhawks were bludgeoned by a similarly styled team.

Next up for Pitt: Akron. Friday at 7.

Elsewhere
-- It's only a rivalry because there's a BCS bid (potentially) at stake.

-- Memphis and UMass were terrible last night, but the Tigers slowly but surely crunched the Minutemen, 80-58. It was fun to see Derek Kellogg and Coach Cal across the floor from one another.

-- Pete Newell, a legend, died Monday. Any true hoops fan should read more about him.

-- It's kind of weird seeing outlets report on their own news, but I guess we can all breathe easy now that Fox is out of the running for any future BCS games. Seriously, the less Joe Buck, the better.