Smizik: Is Pitt Tall Enough?

Recently retired Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Bob Smizik has a nice blog on the P-G's Web site, and one of the latest posts tackles a question many have asked this season: Is Pitt tall enough to make a Final Four run?

The answer, at first glance, is yes -- the amount of height in college hoops is exaggerated: Many teams have frontcourts that look like Pitt's -- 6-6, 6-7 and 6-8.

But the problem is, a lot of teams have guys to come off the bench and earn minutes in the paint. With Gary McGhee moving farther down the bench, as Smizik points out, Pitt doesn't have that body off the bench. And the bigger problem is that none of the wings that coach Jamie Dixon uses are great rebounders, with the exception of Nasir Robinson.

Pitt needs its other lengthy wings to get into the action, namely Gil Brown, Jermaine Dixon and Ashton Gibbs.

Heads Are Rolling, and It's Not the Economy

Dennis Felton should've been fired last year, but Georgia made a miraculous run into the NCAA Tournament after winning the ACC tourney. He's one of two big-name coaches that are out this year; Mark Gottfried was the other.

The SEC is tanking, so it shouldn't surprise people that the first two casualties of the 08-09 season came from that league.

There will probably be more.

But now comes the best part of all of this: Speculating on who will replace the removed coaches.

Apparently Minnesota's Tubby Smith is a hot topic for Alabama. VCU's Anthony Grant isn't really in the running. But Alabama has some cash and a willingness to make a splash. Andy Katz gives us some good insight, too.

I can't really find much speculation on Felton's replacement because that firing was so recent, but don't expect Jim Harrick to walk through that door ...

Another coach who is practically cloaking the sky with the smoke coming off his hot seat is Maryland's Gary Williams. Not only is his team struggling, he's also involved in a tit-for-tat with some school officials. Not good, despite what he says.

And we can fully expect the Arizona job hunt to make the biggest news. I saw in a chat on ESPN.com that Michigan State's Tom Izzo is suddenly the frontrunner. I don't know what to make of that, but we'll have to wait and see, won't we?

Gamble with Keno Starting to Pay Off

Expectations in Rhode Island were high for Providence when the season started. I openly felt that the Friars would sneak up on some people and possibly even break into the top eight of the Big East. They returned four starters and a fifth, Sharaud Curry, who came back from a season-ending injury.

I said Curry would lead an explosive offense capable of hanging 100 on anyone. I said if PC could just defend even a little bit, the Friars wouldn't tank in Big East play like they had in years past and they might even make an NCAA Tournament run.

Outside of my friends who double as rabid Friars fans, no one believed me.

"The league is too tough," they'd say. "There are too many established powers to break in like that."

Well, Georgetown and Notre Dame are 3-5 in the conference, and Syracuse is riding a three-game losing streak, so there are open spots for hot teams.

Enter Providence, which just upended Syracuse, 100-94, last night.

The Friars are 6-2 in the Big East and 14-6 overall, with losses to Northeastern, Baylor, Saint Mary's, BC, Georgetown and Marquette. And each day that goes by, PC's home loss to CAA-leading Northeastern looks better. (No one will argue that it's OK that PC lost that game, but at least Northeastern isn't some mid-level CAA team.)

Now, with an RPI of 66, PC needs to get a few more marquee wins -- Syracuse is the only victory against an RPI Top 50 team, and against the RPI Top 100, PC is just 5-6. But the Friars have plenty more chances, with a ridiculous, yet typical, Big East sked coming up:

-- at UConn, a team waiting in the wings to be No. 1 in the country after Duke's loss last night, on Saturday

-- Villanova, the team that beat No. 3 Pitt last night, on Feb. 4

-- at West Virginia on Feb. 7

-- Two very winnable games at South Florida and at the Dunk against Rutgers

-- at Louisville on Feb. 18

-- Notre Dame on Feb. 21 -- this game will be in 200s with the defense these teams play

-- Pitt on Feb. 24

-- at Rutgers March 1

-- at Villanova on March 5

That's a tough sked. If you forced me to pick the games, I'd take PC over USF, Rutgers twice and Notre Dame, with the home contest against 'Nova being a toss-up, while the rest will be extremely tough to win. But a 10-8 or 11-7 Big East record has to be good enough to get the Friars into the NCAA Tournament, and a win at the conference tourney in the Big Apple would only help.

Lots of offense
The Friars have the offensive firepower to stay with anyone. They dropped 100 on No. 15 Syracuse and 98 on Seton Hall. We know Geoff McDermott is the best passing forward in the league. We know coach Keno Davis's teams will fill it up anywhere, anytime. And we know that if Sharaud Curry can cut down on turnovers and keep getting healthier, PC will have an elite scoring point man.

What you don't know is that Davis has two primetime perimeter players who don't get enough attention: two 6-5 wing players -- Weyinmi Efejuku and Marshon Brooks.

Efejuku has consistenly been a scorer for PC since he arrived on campus. He's a slasher who possesses a similar offensive game to Marquette's Wesley Matthews, another star 6-5 wing. Efejuku has been more consistent this year after clashing with former coach Tim Welsh over the past three years, and that has made a huge difference in PC's offensive attack.

Efejuku has to be more active on the defensive end -- as do all the Friars -- but right now, Efejuku, whether he's facing up or with his back to the tin, is a capable scorer who can torch anyone.

Brooks has emerged as PC's second scorer, even if he only plays a little more than 20 minutes off the bench. I'm pretty sure I've seen Brooks take 3s from Narragansett Bay, but his 21 points against Marquette, 30 against Sacred Heart and 17 against Syracuse last night show that he can stuff a stat sheet.

With Efejuku and Brooks leading the way, PC has a bevy of offensive threats -- Jeff Xavier is dangerous from anywhere on the floor, Curry is lightning quick with a fast release, McDermott can bang underneath and handle point-forward responsibilities, Jonathan Kale and Randall Hanke are serviceable in the paint, and once Brian McKenzie finds his J, he can be a force on the perimeter.

That's a lot of talent for a team no one is talking about.

The problem is, they aren't the most efficient offense, even with all that offensive talent. If you read Ken Pomeroy's scouting report on PC, it's not too promising. None of the four biggest areas of the game are very efficient for the Friars, but they keep winning.

So, PC has to do two things from here on out: Keep winning games that, in theory, it shouldn't be winning and improve its efficiency ratings on both ends of the floor. That means cutting down on turnovers, making (and attempting) more foul shots and getting more stops.

The Big East is a grind-it-out, beat-you-up league where most teams rely on rebounding and defense. Providence is bucking that trend. How long will that last? Who knows, that's why they play the games. But right now, Davis and his Friars have something going, and a few teams are suddenly trying to catch a Providence team no one thought would be rising to the top of the league standings, except the true believers.

Projecting the Field

I won't do seeds until next month, but we can at least look at who is a lock, who should be in and who is on the bubble. We'll go conference by conference.

It's clear right now that six or seven teams have legitimate shots at No. 1 seeds. If Louisville keeps playing the way it's playing, it might have an outside shot at the last top seed, but those losses to UNLV and Western Kentucky really hurt. But for now, we'll include them in the conversation.

Potential 1 seeds: Duke, UConn, Pitt, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, Louisville

You've probably read this elsewhere, but Oklahoma has the best shot at staying up here and not moving. The Sooners' Big 12 schedule is navigable the rest of the way. With 10 league games left, Oklahoma has three tough road games and two difficult home games. The Sooners go to Baylor, Texas and Missouri, and host Kansas and Oklahoma State. Even if Oklahoma loses one or two of those games, I don't see how it would slip out of top-seed status.

The reason behind Oklahoma's sturdy top-seed status right now is that the rest of the teams in contention could easily lose three, four or five more games. That's just how tough the ACC and Big East are this year. You've heard the refrain so many times that I don't have to repeat any more about these two leagues.

So, no one else is safe. But here are the resumes, from best to worst, for a No. 1 seed. Remember, there are four to give out ...

1. Duke: 18-1. RPI: 1; Strength of Schedule: 26; nonconference SOS: 67. Wins against RPI Top 50: at Purdue, Xavier, Davidson, Georgetown. Next big game: tonight, at Wake Forest.

2. Pitt: 18-1. RPI: 3; SOS: 19; nonconference SOS: 177. Wins against RPI Top 50: at Georgetown, Syracuse, at West Virginia. Next big game: tonight, at Villanova.

3. UConn: 18-1. RPI: 6; SOS: 40; nonconference SOS: 201. Wins against RPI Top 50: Miami (Fla.), Wisconsin, at Gonzaga, at West Virginia, Villanova, at Notre Dame. Next big game: Saturday, at Providence.

4. Oklahoma: 20-1. RPI: 12; SOS: 43; nonconference SOS: 141. Wins against RPI Top 50: Davidson, UAB, Purdue, Southern Cal, Utah, at Kansas State, Texas, Baylor, at Oklahoma State.

5. Wake Forest: 16-1. RPI: 11; SOS: 137; nonconference SOS: 282. Wins against RPI Top 50: Baylor, at BYU, North Carolina, Clemson. Next big game: tonight, vs. Duke.

6. North Carolina: 17-2. RPI: 2; SOS: 31; nonconference SOS: 128. Wins against RPI Top 50: Kentucky, Notre Dame, at Michigan State, Miami (Fla.), Clemson. Next big game: tonight, at Florida State.

7. Louisville: 15-3. RPI: 7; SOS: 22; nonconference SOS: 160. Wins against RPI Top 50: UAB, Kentucky, at Villanova, Notre Dame, Pitt, at Syracuse. Next big game: Saturday, vs. West Virginia.

So, right now, I'd say the top seeds would be Duke, Pitt, UConn and Oklahoma. And Wake Forest, UNC and Louisville would be some very good No. 2 seeds.

Anyway, who's in and who's out ... Number of bids is in parentheses. If a league only has one team listed, that's the auto bid.

America East (1): Vermont

Atlantic 10 (1): Xavier, Dayton

ACC (6): Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, Boston College

Work to do: Virginia Tech. Bad out-of-conference losses will continue to just kill the Hokies. If they want to get into the Tournament, they need to keep beating the top dogs in the conference.

Miami. The Canes are too inconsistent right now to go either way, but four games in a row against Wake, Duke, UNC, FSU and BC are all good chances to get a marquee win. The problem is, Miami could easily go 1-4 or 0-5 in that stretch, meaning it would be stuck with 7 or 8 conference losses with three league games left.

Atlantic Sun (1): Jacksonville

Big 12 (5): Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Baylor, Missouri

Work to do: Oklahoma State. The Cowboys don't have any bad losses -- all six of them came against RPI Top 50 schools. But they are 2-3 in the league, and they'll need to be 9-7 to get in, just because the Big 12 isn't having it's best year. And also because OK State doesn't have one win against the RPI Top 50. Not one. But Kansas, Texas, Baylor and Kansas State are all still on the sked.

Big East (9): Marquette, Louisville, Pitt, UConn, Syracuse, Georgetown, Villanova, West Virginia, Notre Dame (but still a lot of work to do -- see below)

Work to do: Notre Dame. I've always maintained that the Irish were overrated coming into the season. They don't defend well enough to be an elite team, and they don't get results on the road. Now, they're 3-5 in the league and just 12-7 overall, riding a four-game losing streak. But it's the Big East, and for every lost opportunity, there's a new one right around the corner. You know, like playing at Pitt this Saturday. Plus, ND can get a decent win at UCLA a week from Saturday.

Providence. You know I love the Friars. That's my hometown team. But they still couldn't defend a CYO team. The only bad loss is against Northeastern, but PC has recovered nicely, munching on some cake through the beginning of conference play. The Friars need a big win or two, and Syracuse, UConn, Villanova, West Virginia, Louisville and Pitt are all still on their sked.

Cincinnati. Losing to PC twice doesn't help, but the Bearcats don't really have any bad losses. Still, they only have two good wins: UNLV and UAB, and those aren't hat-hangers. Pretty much everyone good in the Big East is still on their sked.

Big Sky (1): Portland State

Big South (1): VMI

Big Ten (6): Michigan State, Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State

Work to do: Penn State. Not a great RPI, but the Nittany Kittens do have two good wins: Purdue and Northwestern (I can't believe I just typed that). If they keep winning the games they should win, and they squeak out a 9-7 or 10-6 Big Ten record, Penn State might have a shot at sneaking in as a 10, 11 or 12 seed.

Wisconsin. It's an off-year for the Badgers. But the loss to Iowa is really the only bad defeat. So, the Badgers can improve their chances with a solid run to finish the season. They need to finish 8-8 or better to have a legitimate shot.

Big West (1): Long Beach State

Colonial (1): Northeastern

Work to do: VCU. The Rams really have some bad losses, like Delaware and East Carolina, and they only have one good win -- New Mexico. Not exactly the best resume. Their RPI of 60 has to improve. They may need to win the league title to have a shot.

George Mason. You can't lose to Liberty and Hampton and expect to get in as an at-large team. GMU has to win the league.

Conference USA (2): Memphis, UAB

Work to do: Houston. Tough losses to Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Iowa State have Houston in a precarious position. The Cougs' only good win -- UAB -- isn't doing enough for them.

Tulsa. Losses to Tulane and Ohio are bad. The best win on Tulsa's sked is Oral Roberts. Yikes.

Horizon (1): Butler

Ivy (1): Cornell

MAAC (1): Siena

MAC (1): Buffalo

MEAC (1): Morgan State

Missouri Valley (1): Northern Iowa

Mountain West (2): UNLV, BYU

Work to do: Utah. Uh, the Utes lost to Southwest Baptist and Idaho State. But hey, they did beat Gonzaga, LSU and BYU. And they're RPI is a gaudy 28.

San Diego State. Probably shouldn't lose to Wyoming, but SDSU has a few more chances to make a splash in the MWC.

NEC (1): Robert Morris

Ohio Valley (1): Austin Peay

Pac-10 (6): Washington, Cal, UCLA, Arizona State, USC, Stanford

Work to do: Arizona. The Wildcats have to get back to .500 in league play. There aren't any real head-scratcher type of losses, and Gonzaga, Kansas and Houston are nice wins, but 'Zona has to start playing better in conference.

Patriot (1): Holy Cross

SEC (4): Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina

Work to do: LSU. The Tigers are 15-4 overall and 3-1 in the worst power conference. They need to do more, like beat a team inside the RPI Top 50.

Southern (1): Davidson

Southland (1): Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

SWAC (1): Alabama State

Summit (1): North Dakota State

Sun Belt (1): Western Kentucky

West Coast (2): Saint Mary's, Gonzaga

WAC (1): Utah State

My Favorite 10: Great Sitcoms

If you know me, you know that I love sitcoms. The only shows that I watch that aren't sitcoms are sports games and Man vs. Wild. If you were in my room with me from 10:30 to about 1, when I do most of my TV watching before bed, you'd notice that all I watch is Home Improvement. On Mondays, when I work from home, the day doesn't start until 2, when TBS's lineup switches to funny on steroids and brings the laughs.

Now, there aren't really complex definitions for a "sitcom." Wikipedia even includes animated sitcoms, a subgenre of awesomeness. There's also a teen- and family-oriented sitcom, and yes, that has a major impact on the placement of a certain mid-90s show that I really wanted on this list.

After we go through My Favorite 10 sitcoms, I'll make sure to mention some of my least favorites, surely a My Favorite 10: Terrible Sitcoms That I Hate topic later on.

To the countdown:

10. The Simpsons -- I used to watch The Simpsons every night. I don't watch it so much anymore, but I know it's always a solid go-to show when Man vs. Wild isn't on. My family regularly chides one of our own members because he shares an alma mater with Otto, the bus driver. Could the same career be the next step for said family member? There are downsides to The Simpsons, though. Lisa, for one, is the most annoying character in the history of television. And Marge isn't far behind.

9. Scrubs -- Everyone has a Scrubs phase. Whether it's because you have a crush on Elliot, love the antics of Turk and JD, enjoy Perry's always-fun douchebaggery or just can't get enough of the fringe characters like The Todd, Kelso, Ted and the Janitor. I know a few people who actually really hate this show. I'm not entirely sure how they can be trusted, though: Those people like Roseanne and Frasier. So, go figure. The one character I could do without: Carla. God, she is so annoying. Not as bad as Lisa or Marge Simpson, but still pretty bad.

8. Friends -- I know, I know -- tons of guys hate this show. But seriously, what's not to like? Chandler and Joey are funny, and Monica and Rachel are smoking hot. If only we could somehow get rid of Ross and Phoebe ... That would move the show to my top 3. Instead, Phoebe's annoying guitar crap that is never funny and Ross's whiny voice, bad jokes and ridiculous hair constantly bring the show down.

7. The Cosby Show -- Wow. I bet you are shocked. I think I've seen every episode of this show. During the 2004-2005 school year, I'm pretty sure I saw three to five episodes a day. I don't have anything to complain about in this show. I love every character. This is quite simply one of the best shows ever. Unfortunately, because I've seen every episode and it's not a I-can-stand-a-repeat-every-night kind of show, I can't really watch it anymore. God, I love Bill Cosby.

6. Family Guy -- This is another show that I can't really watch anymore because I've seen the episodes too many times. It doesn't have any flaws, either. I can pick and choose which character I want to enjoy each episode. All the fringe guys are hilarious -- Cleveland, Joe, Quagmire, Adam West -- and the main characters are always hilarious. I'm sure everyone thought I'd say I wish Meg was gone, but who would the rest of the crew make fun of if she was gone? Chris?

5. King of Queens -- I recently took a lot of heat for loving this show. Apparently it fits the formulaic sitcom stereotype -- fat guy and hot wife get into shenanigans every episode. OK, well, the fat guy is hilarious. And his friends are, too. Oh, and throw in the funniest actor of all-time, Jerry Stiller, and you've got comedy gold. I wish I could get rid of Carrie. She isn't that hot after like two seasons and she just becomes obnoxious. Doug and Arthur carry the show, but Carrie's presence is necessary to even make it possible.

4. Saved by the Bell -- Ah yes, the teen sitcom. A teencom. A sitage. Whether it's AC Slater sitting in a chair funny, having a mullet and wearing sleeveless shirts all the time, or Screech working hard to prepare for his role in a self-made porno years later, SBTB has it all. Plus, Jessie Spano is so excited that she just can't hide it -- excited to make an NC-17 excuse to get naked movie. And who doesn't love Kelly Kapowski? I always enjoyed Principal Belding's line: "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?!" I could do without Zack, but that would ruin the show.

3. Home Improvement -- Is Brad's transformation from full-on mullet to a shaved side of the head and pony tail on top? Is it Mark's long trek from being a giant wuss as a little kid to being a freak? Or maybe it's because I can outline every show before it even starts. Whatever it is, I can't stop watching this show. I've always enjoyed it. And I won't stop now. Especially after seeing the Detroit Pistons season tickets episode last night. I can't believe Jill wouldn't let Tim keep the tickets.

2. The Office -- This was a tough decision. Putting The Office second. I love this show. I clear my schedule on Thursdays at 9. I even bought Netflix just to catch up with the episodes that I've missed. My buddy and I are the original fans of this show. We are proud to say we watched it from Day One, the pilot. And we were sold right away. The ultimate reason The Office finished second is because there are some weeks when it seemingly isn't as funny as it could be. And the No. 1 show never has a bad day.

1. Seinfeld -- I love Kramer. I love George. I love Frank Costanza. I love Jerry. I love Elaine. I love Mrs. Costanza. Newman is hilarious. All the other characters are funny, too. I have never seen a bad episode of Seinfeld. The only question I have is: Did they really think that we wouldn't notice how drastically different the second Morty Seinfeld was to the first?

Extensive Honorable Mention: Arrested Development, Everybody Loves Raymond, Third Rock from the Sun, Two and a Half Men, Fresh Prince, Boy Meets World, Family Matters, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, My Boys, South Park, Spin City, That 70s Show, Wings, 30 Rock, the War at Home and the Tracy Morgan Show.

Shows that I'm petitioning Congress to please eliminate forever: Roseanne, Becker, Dharma & Greg, Frasier, Futurama, George Lopez, Just Shoot Me, King of the Hill, Mad About You, The Nanny and Reba.

Homecourt Disadvantage

Notre Dame used to be a Final Four contender and was supposedly unbeatable at home. The Irish were in (almost -- look at No. 20) everybody's conversation of the top teams in the country. When they beat Texas, they were all the rage. Sure, they had a few bumps in the road, losing to then-No. 1 North Carolina and hot-starting Ohio State, but who doesn't when you play relatively tough nonconference schedule?

Then, conference play started.

Suddenly, Notre Dame, a team that was ranked as high as seventh in the nation, has fallen to 12-7 and 3-5 in the Big East. A four-game losing streak will do that to your team. The Irish had to run quite the gauntlet: five ranked teams in 19 days.

at Louisville: L, 87-73 in OT
at Syracuse: L, 93-74
Connecticut: L, 69-61
Marquette: L, 71-64
at Pitt: on Saturday

It's OK to lose to good teams. But Notre Dame really needed a win or two in this stretch. I've been saying for a while that the Irish have been overrated all year, but this is worse than I expected.

Last night, Marquette dutifully took apart Notre Dame's defense and hustled out a 71-64 win at the Joyce Center in South Bend. The Golden Eagles have the look of Villanova circa 2005-06, when the Wildcats ran with four guards for most of the game. Marquette go-to guys down the stretch were Maurice Acker, Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward. That's 5-8, 5-10, 6-3, 6-5 and 6-6.

Not very big.

But, with McNeal leading the way, Marquette worked its way inside. There were a lot of tough, earn-that-wage baskets on putbacks or just strong moves to the basket. There was a lot of slashing. And what Marquette did best was slash and kick. Notre Dame's help defense would collapse around [insert ridiculously athletic Marquette guard here] and then that guard would toss it back out to a corner or wing, where another guard was open for a J.

It was simple, but effective.

On the other end, Notre Dame couldn't quite figure out a way to get its sharpshooter, Kyle McAlarney, the ball. James and others smothered McAlarney, who seemed frustrated that he couldn't get open. So, Notre Dame's offense turned stagnant, playing the "Get the Ball to Gody" strategy just a tad too much.

Don't get me wrong, Harangody was great. He had 29 points and 17 rebounds. But his team shot 36 percent. And when Notre Dame isn't shooting well, it's in deep, deep trouble.

Teams have clearly exposed that. And with Notre Dame's defensive efficiency nothing short of embarrassing, the Irish really don't have anywhere else to go. They have two options: Play better defense, or figure out how to get better offensive possessions. Whatever they pick, it has to be applied immediately, or we could be looking at the Big East's biggest victim of the season.

Elsewhere
-- BracketScience expert Pete Tiernan discovered that the Big Ten has the most successful NCAA Tournament coaches. Followed closely by Big East coaches:

The 11 coaches in the Big Ten have been the biggest overachievers of any set of Big Six conference coaches. Based on the seeding positions of their 62 tourney appearances, the Big Ten coaches should’ve won 83.3 games. They actually won 105 games, which works out to a hefty +.349 PASE—more than a third of a game per dance. Just as importantly, the Big Ten coaches have beaten seed expectations in 35 of their 62 tourney appearances, for a seed overachievement rate (SOAR) of 56.5 percent.

Compare the 11 Big Ten coaches to the 16 Big East coaches, the next best overperforming group. Their +.167 PASE constitutes about a sixth-of-a-game per tourney overachievement—nothing to sneeze at, but nowhere near the solid performance of the Big Ten. What’s more, Big East coaches have overachieved in only 43 of their 98 appearances, for a more unreliable SOAR of 43.9 percent. Granted, Big East coaches have reached the Final Four more than Big Ten coaches (12 to eight) and won more championships (four to two). But in terms of their ability to defy seed expectations, the Big Ten is solidly ahead of the Big East.

-- The worst string of six words in the history of mankind: Next, an hour of George Lopez!

-- Coming later today, my newest Top 10 Favorites. This time, it's awesome sitcoms.

Power Rankings: Don't Look Now But ...

America's Most Hated Team is back on top of college basketball. It may only be a little while, but surely everyone's skin crawled a little bit when Wake Forest lost, leaving the door open for Duke to take over the top spot in the nation.

Wake's loss shows us one thing: Heavy lies the crown. And Duke will have to prove its worth right away -- the Blue Devils go to Wake on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. showdown. Don't worry, the ACC won't give us another marquee matchup for a few weeks to catch our breath ...

Meanwhile, visiting No. 9 Louisville beat No. 8 Syracuse on Sunday in Big East action. No. 4 Pitt took care of business at West Virginia. Seton Hall stunned No. 12 Georgetown. On Saturday, No. 20 Villanova edged out South Florida by nine points. No. 11 Marquette, the conference leaders with Louisville, had its hands full with the league's worst team, DePaul, before winning by nine.

Oh, and UConn snapped Notre Dame's 45-game home winning streak.

But that's just a weekend in the Big East. And the Duke-Wake Forest showdown is just a once-in-a-few-weeks kind of showdown in the ACC. Better call up Dicky V.

To the rankings ...

1. Duke (18-1; previous rank: 2) -- The Blue Devils maimed Maryland on Saturday. By 41. They beat North Carolina State by 17 on Inauguration Day. They beat Georgia Tech by 14. Meanwhile, previously winless-in-conference Seton Hall just beat Georgetown, probably the fourth or fifth team in the Big East. You're right: The ACC isn't top-heavy, but the Big East is. But I digress. Duke has won 10 in a row since losing its only game of the season.

2. UConn (18-1; 3) -- The Huskies, like I said, went into the toughest arena in the Big East and won. They held Notre Dame to 33-percent shooting. That's one of the best offenses in the nation -- 33 percent. That, my friends, is good defense, with a capital picket fence. UConn's "week off" in conference play is this week, when the Huskies go to DePaul, the team that just pushed the Big East's top team right now, then host the Providence Friars, who have asserted themselves as possibly the ninth-best team in the conference.

3. Pitt (18-1; 4) -- So, Pitt, one of our Heavy Lies the Crown victims who lost early in their top ranking, is right back into form. The Panthers annihilated Syracuse on Monday and then traveled to an extremely tough gym, WVU Coliseum, and crushed West Virginia, the team that had just beaten Georgetown by 17 ... in Washington. A pair of convincing wins for Pitt had me tempted to jump them past Duke and UConn, but the Panthers are just fine at 3. And you'll probably notice a theme here, but Pitt now plays at Villanova on Wednesday before hosting Notre Dame on Saturday. Just another week in the Big East. It's exactly like the NCAA Tournament some (most?) weeks.

4. Wake Forest (16-1; 1) -- Wake lost a tough game at home, but there's no time to relax. The Deacs get Duke on Wednesday. And they may want to rectify the whole 1:2 assist-to-turnover ratio they had against Virginia Tech. Oh, and they might not want to let Duke shoot 50 percent. But Wake is at home, and probably pretty mad that it lost to an NIT team, so I think we might see another No. 1 go down on Wednesday.

5. Oklahoma (19-1; 5) -- Baylor is pretty good, and Oklahoma swatted them on Saturday. The Sooners have won seven in a row since losing at Arkansas. Now they have a big rivalry game at Oklahoma State on Wednesday. I don't really see anybody tripping up Oklahoma in the Big 12 if the Sooners play their best, so we'll just be on upset alert the rest of the season, erring on the side of the Sooners.

6. UNC (17-2; 6) -- Hey, it's a good game in the ACC that doesn't just include Duke, UNC and Wake. The Tar Heels go to Tallahassee for a tough game at Florida State on Wednesday. They should win, but FSU is looking for a nice marquee win. Is this one it?

7. Louisville (15-3; 10) -- A few teams lost, and the Cards kept moving, beating Syracuse by 10 on the road. Louisville hit its stride after losing to UNLV, and it hasn't looked back. South Florida and West Virginia are on tap this week, all before UConn on Feb. 2. Mark your calendars.

8. Marquette (17-2; 9) -- Louisville leap-frogged the Golden Eagles because Marquette has really feasted on the mid-table Big East schools. The Cardinals' wins at Syracuse and at home against Pitt and Notre Dame were impressive. Now, Marquette has a shot to make a splash with a game against Georgetown. But the Golden Eagles are lucky: They really should be OK until they go to Georgetown, host UConn, travel to Louisville then Pitt and then return home to play Syracuse to round out the season. Marquette might be 12-1 in the Big East by then.

9. Michigan State (17-3; 7) -- Oops. The Spartans lost a weird game to Northwestern on Wednesday. That's a pretty bad loss. But they responded with a resounding defeat of Ohio State. We'll call the Northwestern game a blip.

10. Syracuse (17-4; 8) -- I'm not going to drop Syracuse too much because Orange lost two in a row to Final Four teams. Not exactly a terrible week. Plus, I still like 'Cuse's win against Notre Dame. The Orange need to rebound, though, and get at least one marquee win against a good Big East team. They go to UConn on Feb. 11. Mark that date, too.

11. Clemson (17-2; 11) -- The Tigers don't belong with Duke, Wake and UNC. But they don't belong with Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech, either. They really belong with the 6-9 best Big East teams. Are you picking up what I'm putting down?

12. Arizona State (16-3; 12) -- Doesn't Arizona State remind you of the 3 seed that loses by like 20 to a 6 or 11 seed in the second round? Write that previous sentence down somewhere.

13. Xavier (17-2; 17) -- The Musketeers are zooming up my power rankings after I saw them in action against LSU. I know LSU isn't very tough -- although it might just be the best team in the SEC West -- but Xavier closed out well. Very well. And if you can hit your foul shots, get some stops and make big shots in tough games, you are well suited for the Tournament.

14. Texas (14-4; 16) -- The Longhorns go to Baylor tomorrow night. They'll need to lock down the very good Baylor offense and try to control tempo. If Texas gets that win, it's in good shape. Baylor is a tough team, despite its crumbling at the hands of Oklahoma. This game will be a good indicator of who, along with Kansas, will be the main challenger to the Sooners.

15. Butler (18-1; 15) -- I can't move the Bulldogs higher because the Horizon League schedule isn't very daunting. But we know Butler can compete with anyone, anywhere. That's why we give 'em respect. They've earned it.

16. Washington (15-4; NR) -- The Huskies are 6-1 in the Pac-10, and they've won four in a row, including an 11-point win against UCLA on Sunday. A five-point win against USC was nice, too. I'm not sure Washington will stay this high in the power rankings, but the Huskies have a legitimate argument for a Tournament berth right now, and I think they'll get one come March.

17. UCLA (15-4; 13) -- The Bruins struggled at Washington State and escaped with a win. I liked that win, though. I saw that game, and it's never easy to score against Wazzou, a team I've seen play live twice and on TV many, many times. They defend you very well. For UCLA to get that win, it took a lot. So, we'll keep them in the power rankings despite Washington's big win on Sunday.

18. Kentucky (15-4; NR) -- The Wildcats deserve to be in here. They've won five straight since losing a tough one to Louisville. I really think this is the team to beat in the SEC. Jodie Meeks (duh) is pretty hard to cover.

19. Illinois (17-3; 20) -- The Illini play Minnesota on Thursday. That game has Big Ten title implications and tournament seeding implications. Expect a gritty, low-scoring, really boring game. But it's a big one, and these teams will be tough outs in the NCAAs.

20. St. Mary's (18-1; 19) -- The Gaels didn't do anything wrong that caused them to drop, I just needed to get UK and Washington into the rankings, and those teams might be better than Saint Mary's. But there's a huge showdown that you really should watch this week: Gonzaga hosts St. Mary's on Thursday at 11. It's good TV before bed. Enjoy.

And a new addition ...

Teams on the brink: Villanova, Minnesota, Georgetown, Purdue, Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Memphis, Florida, Utah State, West Virginia, Providence, Florida State, Kansas

Saturday Roundup

Don't look now, but Washington is the No. 1 team in the Pac-10. The Huskies are 6-1 in the league and 15-4 overall. And Lorenzo Romar's guys got a big win yesterday, an 86-75 home win against UCLA. It's hard to score 86 points on UCLA.

Washington goes on the road for its next four games: at Arizona, at Arizona State, at Cal, at Stanford. Let's withhold judgment until that part of the schedule is done ...

Elsewhere
-- Duke beat Maryland, 85-44. Maryland is supposed to be one of the better non-Sweet 16 contenders in the ACC. I don't think Pitt would ever beat a team like Cincinnati by 40. Ever. Just sayin'.

-- And more evidence of the Big East's toughness: Villanova wins at South Florida, 70-61; Marquette, on its home floor, beats the worst team in the Big East, DePaul, 79-70.

-- Illinois keeps getting big wins. The Illini got a nice win against a down Wisconsin, but it's still a good one.

-- Oklahoma is the real deal. As if there was any doubt, right? The Sooners crushed Baylor, 95-76.

-- UConn and Notre Dame butted heads in South Bend. UConn snapped Notre Dame's 45-game home winning streak. The Huskies held ND to 33 percent shooting. This game serves as notice: If the Irish struggle shooting, don't expect them to do anything. I think this ND team is ripe for an early exit in March.

-- Aaaaand Xavier got a nice win at LSU. I watched that one. Xavier has the poise at the end of games to finish them. I liked how the Musketeers made their foul shots and played good defense as LSU rushed its possessions.

Let's Hear From You

This is a basketball blog, and we have our first big-time basketball-playing president.

But that's not the point. My brother has an idea for a movie called "There's Something About Barry," a movie about Barack Obama. Theme and genre are not known, but we want to hear from you.

Who should play Barack Obama?

How about his wife, Michelle?

What about Joe and Jill Biden?

Hillary and Bill Clinton?

John McCain?

Obama's basketball-playing friends: Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, Oregon State basketball coach and first brother-in-law Craig Robinson, former Duke player Reggie Love

(Of course the UNC Tar Heels will play themselves)

George W. Bush

Let's hear some suggestions, people.

Projecting the Field

The Godfather of RPI, Jerry Palm, has his projecting the field feature up at CBS Sportsline. I like his because, like he says, it's how he thinks the field will shape out, not how it is right now.

What's Better: the ACC or Big East?

The Sporting News's Mike DeCourcy actually tried to settle the ongoing debate once and for all with this, a piece describing the obvious reasons why the ACC is sooo much better than the Big East. Now, other people are chiming in.

So, DeCourcy breaks it down for us -- the ACC has more wins against other power conferences, a better overall win percentage, nine wins against the Big East, more star power (don't know how you could ever gauge that) and just two teams near the .500 mark.

DeCourcy then gives us the Big East side -- fewer wins against other power conferences, a lower win percentage, six wins against the ACC, less star power and four teams in the .500 range or below.

Well, you know I disagree with all that baloney.

First of all, the ACC only has three legitimate Final Four contenders (Duke, UNC and Wake Forest) and a pretender in orange (Clemson). By my count, that's 25 percent of the conference that is actually good, and 8 percent of that is going to lose in the first round to a 13 seed -- looking at you, Clemson. That is, if Clemson doesn't go 7-9 in the conference like we're all expecting.

After that, there's no one good in the ACC. Florida State? Bubble team. Maryland? Garbage. Virginia Tech? Enjoy the NIT, guys. Boston College? 0-1 against Harvard. Miami? Only one good win. NC State, Virginia and Georgia Tech? Putrid.

That's four bids in a 12-team conference. So, 33 percent of the conference is good. And you want to tell me the "whole league is tough," Coach K? Are you serious? I'm sure Syracuse would love to play the only good teams in its conference four times and spread those games out over the next two months. Instead, the Orange played at Georgetown, hosted Notre Dame, went to Pittsburgh, return home for Louisville, go to bubble team Providence, then play West Virginia, at Villanova, at UConn, Georgetown, then Villanova again.

And that's without cushy officiating and fouls called whenever Coach K would like.

Don't get me wrong. I think the ACC is probably the second-best conference around. But I don't think it's even close when these two leagues are compared.

The Big East has six Final Four contenders. Seriously. Count 'em: UConn, Pitt, Louisville, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Marquette. That's without mentioning Georgetown, another team fully capable of surprising some higher seeds and making a run. So, that's 37 percent of the league, with the chance to go to 44 percent, that is a legitimate Final Four contender.

I think nine or 10 Big East teams will have arguments to get into the Tournament. I'm including West Virginia and Villanova as eight and nine, and thinking Cincinnati, Providence or Seton Hall could help their own causes, but will all end up in the NIT, like Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland and possibly Florida State. By my count, that's 50 to 56 percent of the league. In a 12-team league, that's six or seven Tournament teams. Right now, the ACC only has five (assuming Miami makes the Tournament as an 8-11 seed).

And all this garbage about the ACC being 9-6 against the Big East -- there's only two remotely good games on that list: Duke-Georgetown at Cameron Arena, UNC-Notre Dame in Hawaii and UConn-Miami in the Virgin Islands.

So, Duke, which lost to Michigan (which just lost by 15 to Penn State. Penn State!!!), beat the sixth- or seventh-best team in the Big East at home. UNC, which lost to Boston College (which lost by 12 to Harvard. Harvard!!!), beat Notre Dame, probably the fourth- or fifth-best team in the Big East in November. And UConn, which lost to a Sweet 16 team Georgetown, beat Miami by 13 at a neutral site.

Wow, that's conclusive.

Oh, and the star power argument? Are you serious?

Here are the ACC stars: Tyler Hansbrough, Coach K, Roy Williams, Gerald Henderson, Jack McClinton, Kyle Singler, Jeff Teague, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, KC Rivers and ... anyone else? Not really.

Here are the Big East stars: Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim, Hasheem Thabeet, Luke Harangody, DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Terrence Williams, Samardo Samuels, Earl Clark, AJ Price, Jeff Adrien, Jerome Dyson, Levance Fields, Scottie Reynolds, DaJuan Summers, Kyle McAlarney, Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, Paul Harris, Bob Huggins, Jamie Dixon, Jay Wright ... God, this list is long.

All I'm saying is there isn't enough fair evidence to prove one way or another. You can clearly make good arguments on both sides. And it's all purely subjective. DeCourcy got to pick and choose pre-2009 stuff that will iron itself out in the NCAA Tournament.

Let's wait until March, when we can fully expect to see Duke, UNC and Wake Forest make it to the second weekend (unfortunately, Clemson will have already lost to Siena and Miami will have lost to a Big East team), where they'll have to play UConn, Pitt, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Syracuse and probably either West Virginia or Villanova.

Let's see how the ACC does then. In the meantime, why can't we just relax and enjoy both conferences for what they are?

(After all, one is a no-defense, run-and-gun league with ticky-tack fouls, primadona players and one good game every few weeks or so; the other is a physically demanding, rigorous conference with the most athletic and rugged players in the nation, a flair for the dramatic and great games almost every night. But I digress.)

Need Any More Proof?

I've said it before and I'll say it again here: Pitt is good this year because its offense is one of the best in the nation.

Yeah, offense.

The most efficient offense in the nation belongs to ... your 2008-2009 Panthers.

The defense will always be there. That No. 21 ranking for defensive efficiency will rise. And as long as Jamie Dixon is coaching Pitt, the Panthers will never leave the top 25 in defensive efficiency. The rebounding will be great every year, too, no matter how large or small the lineup is.

But the reason Pitt is good this year is that its offense -- stocked with the best creator in the nation Levance Fields, an inside-outside nightmare in Sam Young and the best big man in the Big East DeJuan Blair -- has the tools to score from anywhere, in the halfcourt or transition. Sure, the Panthers struggle from 3 from time to time, but they've got the bench and the starting talent to work around that by getting easy baskets and second chances.

And if they start hitting foul shots at a better rate, the Panthers will be primed to break the Sweet 16 curse.

Heck, maybe even an Elite 8 curse, too.

New Draft Declaration Rule Is Unfair

There's a lot of discussion each year about new rules that the NCAA makes pertaining to recruiting. Last year, text messaging players became illegal. This year, attending April weekend tournaments has been banned, and ACC coaches are pushing for another major rule change: Players must declare for the NBA Draft by the day before the spring signing period, which is April 15.

Now, the rule as it stands now allows players to wait until early June, just before the Draft, to make a final decision. If ACC coaches get their way, players will have about a week if their team makes the Final Four.

ACC coaches argue that players holding out to decide hurts the coaches' recruiting. Not knowing whether or not a player is going or staying leaves a potential spot on their roster in lingo. And it leaves a coach at a disadvantage with a recruit because the coach may not end up with a scholarship to give. Plus, coaches say, there's plenty of time to think about the decision during the season.

From the player's perspective, it's just as difficult. Seth Davis makes some good points in his column on Tuesday, which is linked for you in the first paragraph. Many players who are in the position to decide whether to stay or go don't necessarily have it easy. There's a ton of pressure on the players to bolt for the bucks.

People seem to forget that a lot of college athletes like college. I mean, who wouldn't? They have accomodations for everything, from one-on-one tutoring to meal stipends that end up lining their pockets. They get free stuff. They have layers upon layers of nets to make sure they don't slip through the cracks. They play 30-plus game schedules in front of crazy fans on national television. They go to parties and drink for free, all while being treated like celebrities on campus.

What's not to like?

But more importantly, and Davis makes this point very well in his column, the pre-Draft camps and individual workouts are a great way to measure where a player fits in the upcoming Draft. Scouts and NBA teams are never happy with just in-season reports. They want to see a player in person. In the flesh. Jumping. Sprinting. Shooting. All that stuff. You can't get that kind of in-depth scouting when, on any given night, a guy is playing with at least seven or eight players who will never make the NBA.

This rule would be wrong. It's not fair to the players. I've heard some rumblings of a loophole, where players would say they're staying at school, then declare for the Draft right before the deadline. Surely that loophole would be closed if the ACC coaches get their way.

Coaches and schools are already allowed to refuse release from scholarships for kids who want to transfer. They're already in control of a player's every move while he's at school. How is it fair to give coaches and schools control of a kid's future? And if it's about money, give me a break. A coach makes money off a kid while he's at school. Let the kid make money off himself when he's good and ready, and enjoy the kid while he provides his services to the school.

Elsewhere
-- Speaking of recruiting, how's this for fun news? Give us five years and babies will start verbally committing to schools before leaving the womb.

-- Can you believe a CNN.com headline said, "Obamas juggle Inaugural balls"?

-- Remember John McCain?

-- Big games tonight: Villanova at UConn on ESPN at 7; Clemson tries to break its 53-game winless streak at North Carolina at 9 on ESPN; and Arizona and Arizona State battle for state supremacy at 9:30.

Morning Update

It's a crazy morning here in Washington, so I'll give you some reading material and get out of the way.

Here's my Great Debate over at MVN.com. It's about which team is the best in the ACC. I play devil's advocate in this Great Debates.

Dana O'Neil at ESPN.com writes about Syracuse's crazy-tough schedule.

SI.com's Andy Glockner, formerly of ESPN.com, analyzes your NCAA Tournament bubble.

Luke Winn's a good read at SI.com.

A link to hoops galore.

Have at it.

Back on Track

Pitt lost a lot on Saturday: an undefeated record and a No. 1 ranking. But the Panthers didn't lose their confidence.

Back in the comforts of their own stadium, the Panthers handed Syracuse its second conference loss with a dominant second half. The two clubs, both of which you should expect to see for the second weekend in March, were closely matched for the first half, but Pitt pulled away after the break thanks to Sam Young's 19 second-half points.

I'm starting to detect a trend in the Big East: There isn't a clear-and-away favorite. And there won't be. Pitt emerged early after Georgetown went on the road and beat UConn. But then Pitt went on the road and lost to a very good Louisville. Then, Notre Dame goes and loses to St. John's on the road and after a few weeks of conference play, the Irish are 3-3. Heck, Louisville (4-0) and Marquette (5-0) are on top of the league. And I can't see Marquette, with its glaring weaknesses down low, or Louisville, with its rollercoaster inconsistency, staying .

(It's the same with the ACC, where Wake Forest, Duke and UNC are all pretty much equal. You could say the advantage in the early-going is Wake's because the Deacs are No. 1 and they beat UNC, but they haven't played Duke yet. And it's only January.)

So, we get Villanova at UConn on Wednesday. We've got WVU at Georgetown on Thursday. Oh, and then Saturday, UConn travels to South Bend for a tangle with the Irish.

What a conference.

Power Rankings: Wake Takes the Top Spot

Well, a lot happened this weekend. So, the power rankings will be very different from last week's.

Let's not waste any time:

1. Wake Forest (16-0; previous rank: 2) - Well, the Deacs hammered Clemson at Clemson, so not only are they the only undefeated team left in America, they are also the clear frontrunners in the ACC after beating UNC. If Wake beats Duke on January 28, then it has a strong argument for 1 seed before February even starts.

2. Duke (16-1; 3) - The Blue Devils don't really have an inside presence to write home about, but Gerald Henderson keeps filling it up and Duke is getting stronger without much attention. Plus, the Dukies handled Georgetown at home on Saturday, a solid win.

3. UConn (16-1; 4) - The Huskies are right back where they were at the beginning of the season: sitting behind an ACC team. But UConn is cruising along in the Big East, albeit against the bottom half of the conference, and will face two difficult tests this week: Wednesday against Villanova and at Notre Dame on Saturday.

4. Pitt (16-1; 1) - I knew the going would be rough in Louisville, where the Panthers lost their first game of the season to a scrappy and rising Louisville club. But Pitt isn't going to have any time to dwell on it -- the Panthers host Syracuse tonight at 7 on ESPN.

5. Oklahoma (17-1; 6) - The Sooners jump UNC in the rankings after beating two very good Big 12 teams to claim clear top-dog status in the conference. Oklahoma creamed Texas by 15 and topped Texas A&M on its home floor, enough to move Blake Griffin and company past the preseason favorites. Baylor on Saturday will be a tough one for 'Homa.

6. UNC (16-2; 5) - UNC had a nice win this week, too, annihilating a decent Miami team in Chapel Hill. But beating Texas and Texas A&M is better than beating Miami and Virginia. Wednesday night will give UNC its only test of the week -- a home game against Clemson.

7. Michigan State (15-2; 8) - The Spartans got a huge home win against an up-and-coming Illinois team on Saturday, and it looks like MSU is hitting its stride. You know, the stride everyone expected them to hit back in October. Northwestern is Sparty's only opponent this week, but there's a chance it could be tougher than it sounds -- NW pushed Purdue last Thursday and then beat Minnesota on Sunday.

8. Syracuse (17-2; 7) - Syracuse got crushed at Georgetown, then turned around and beat the hell out of Notre Dame at home. Notre Dame is atrocious on the road, but beating the Irish by 19 is still impressive. And get this: 'Cuse went to Georgetown, came home for Notre Dame last week, now the Orange go to Pittsburgh and then host Louisville. It gets better: at Providence, home against West Virginia, at Villanova, at UConn, then Georgetown and Villanova at home. That's Syracuse's schedule over the next month or so.

9. Marquette (16-2; 11) - Nos. 9, 10, 12, 13 and 14 of last week's power rankings lost this past week. So, Marquette, which was No. 11, reaps the benefits, jumping to No. 9. But the jump isn't without merit. The Golden Eagles beat a tough Providence team on the road. It won't be a tough week for Buzz Williams's gents -- they're only game is at DePaul on Saturday.

10. Louisville (13-3; 19) - Face it, Louisville is good. Look at this top 10: five Big East teams. Is it legit? Yeah, absolutely. These teams can all play with the best of the best. I've heard so many ACC-is-better-than-Big-East-because-of-the-top-three-ACC-teams arguments that I want to puke. Georgetown, Villanova, Notre Dame and West Virginia make it nine teams that I don't see getting much lower than 7 or 8 seeds in the Tournament. The ACC has Wake, Duke, UNC and Clemson. That's it. Try winning every night against Tournament-quality teams. You don't get nights off in the Big East.

11. Clemson (16-1; 10) - I won't drop Clemson too much just because losing to Wake Forest is not that bad. Obviously. Wednesday night's trip to North Carolina will give the Tigers their newest chance to break the winless streak in Chapel Hill. It takes a lot to break misfortune. Do the Tigers have it in 'em, or are they solidly the fourth-best team in the ACC?

12. Arizona State (15-3; 15) - Yeah, the Sun Devils played terribly at USC and lost, but then they made up for it by playing a lot better and beating UCLA on its home floor. Because so many teams lost this week, moving ASU up after a split wasn't so hard.

13. UCLA (14-3; 9) - The Bruins won big against Arizona but couldn't hang on against Arizona State at the end of the week. UCLA does the Washington tour this week, and it won't be easy.

14. Georgetown (12-4; NR) - A two-game losing streak dropped the Hoyas out of the top 20, but a dominating home win against Syracuse got them back into the rankings. Duke rocked Georgetown on Saturday, but it's OK -- this is a relatively young Hoyas team, and playing at Cameron isn't easy.

15. Butler (16-1; 16) - The Horizon League isn't necessarily the toughest competition. OK, it's not even close. Still, the job 32-year-old Brad Stevens has done at Butler after losing both Mike Green and AJ Graves has been nothing short of amazing. Butler will turn someone's hair gray in March.

16.Texas (13-4; 12) - OK, the Longhorns were crushed by Oklahoma, but it's still clear that they're the next-best team in the Big 12. Saturday's game against Texas A&M will be fun.

17. Xavier (15-2; NR) - Xavier got a nice win at URI last week. A trip to LSU on Saturday gives the Musketeers a chance to get another out-of-conference road win, but unfortunately, LSU has completely fallen apart, so it may not carry as much weight. These guys are good, though.

18. Villanova (14-3; NR) - The Wildcats killed a tougher-than-you'd-think St. John's team yesterday. 'Nova goes to UConn Wednesday. That will be a major test. Scottie Reynolds has to score 70.

19. St. Mary's (17-1; 20) - St. Mary's won two games this week by an average of 37.5 points. I mean, it's the WCC, but still, that's impressive in conference play.

20. Illinois (15-3; NR) - It's time to show the Fightin' Illini some respect. They've got some quality wins against Missouri, at Purdue and Michigan. Solid.

Here Comes Louisville ...

It's Louisville's turn to take a shot at No. 1 tomorrow when it hosts your No. 1 Pitt Panthers at Freedom Hall.

I hate to say it, but Pitt might be ready for a good whooping. We all know how the Panthers operate -- start fast, go undefeated into January, win a few tough games, then get blown out by a really good team.

Louisville might be that team. The Cardinals are hitting their stride at the right time -- as usual -- and seem primed for a showdown with Pitt.

I'm not saying it's going to happen. But you heard that it could here first.

Predictions for the weekend
-- There will not be another emergency landing in the Hudson River this weekend.

-- The Cardinals beat the Eagles. I'll call it 31-24.

-- The Ravens beat the Steelers, 20-13.

-- I receive some form of angry comment from at least one of my Pittsburgh/Philadelphia friends.

-- I will sleep 12 hours into Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

-- Inauguration proceedings will not be that bad.

-- Paul Blart: Mall Cop will be awesome.

-- And I will eat at least half a box of Lucky Charms.

Some of these predictions I can control. Others I cannot.

Anyway, check out the work I've been doing lately over at MVN.

Projecting the Field

College hoops sage Jerry Palm has his "Projecting the Field" posted on CBS.

Quick Update

It's been a busy morning here at J. Greer.

I just finished up Q&A sessions with former Florida star Andrew DeClercq, who played 10 years in the NBA, and Jay Williams, 2002 player of the year and '01 national champ from Duke.

Here are the links to both: DeClercq and Williams.

Elsewhere
-- Syracuse got handled last night by Georgetown. Handled.

-- Your No. 1 Pitt Panthers held off South Florida at home.

-- Illinois destroyed Michigan.

-- Wake crushed BC.

-- Aaaand Texas A&M got a marquee win.

I ask this everyday: Does anyone want to be ranked and stay ranked?

How to Beat Syracuse, Georgetown

It's Basketball Night in Washington. Syracuse and Georgetown are set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. tonight on ESPN 2.

Get your popcorn ready.

Let's break the matchup down:

How to beat Syracuse's 2-3 zone
Beating a 2-3 zone requires a pretty simple formula, but against better teams, executing the plan is the hard part. But for the sake of tonight's game, let's talk about beating a 2-3 as if it is, in fact, easy.

Spread the floor. The key to beating any defense is spreading the floor, but it especially helps against a 2-3. Exhausting a 2-3 zone requires lots of ball movement and off-the-ball screens -- two things Georgetown does extremely well. Big men have to flash to the high post a lot to give the guards a chance to get the ball into the middle of the zone to collapse the defenders, who have to recoil to their positions on the floor to limit backdoor cuts and defend the big man. The other way to collapse a zone is to rotate the ball to the defense's weak side and then penetrate, forcing the defenders to quickly return to their assigned areas and leave shooters open all over the floor. It's all about catching the defense out of position and forcing it to recover rapidly. Teams get to the foul line that way, and they find open shooters and cutters that way.

Georgetown's Chris Wright, Jessie Sapp and Austin Freeman are all decent slashers, and it helps that they -- plus DaJuan Summers -- can all shoot the 3. That gives Georgetown options -- the Hoyas can spread the floor, swing the ball and penetrate, then look for open shooters, or they can rotate the ball, flash big fellas like Summers and Greg Monroe to the high post, move the ball through them, and spot open shooters and cutters.

The problem with this plan -- and a major reason why I like Syracuse tonight -- is that Georgetown can penetrate and kick all it wants, but its shooters are struggling of late. Freeman, Sapp and Wright are shooting just 22 percent from 3 in the past three games. If the Hoyas go cold tonight, it won't be pretty. Not just because cold shooting hurts, but I don't see Georgetown doing very well on the boards. The Hoyas are one of the poorer rebounding teams in the Big East.

Attack the glass. The one major problem with a 2-3 zone is that when it is extended, offensive players can sneak into gaps and snatch offensive rebounds. If a shot comes from the outside, the weak-side wing defender is most likely higher up in the lane toward the middle of the floor. That leaves the backdoor open for a crashing rebounder.

The strong-side defender is also probably out defending the wing or trying to close out the shooter, that leaves another gap for an offensive rebounder on the strong side and forces the middle defender in the 2-3 to deal with at least two guys crashing the glass.

What Syracuse does very well, though, is rebound. Obviously Jim Boeheim has figured out a way to make his teams rebound well despite the obvious issues with a 2-3 zone. Paul Harris, who's only about 6-5, is an exceptional rebounder. In fact, he leads the team with close to nine rebounds a game. To have an asset like that, especially on the weak-side block of that zone, is a great way to avoid giving up too many offensive rebounds.

Another way to overcome the problems of a 2-3 is to overplay your positions, i.e. hustle and quickly recover. Syracuse's guards can move quickly and operate well within their positions in the zone. Closing out shooters and boxing them out is something Syracuse does well. That's why the Orange are plus-five in rebounding advantage and their opponents shoot just 39 percent.

How to manage Georgetown's unique pace
Georgetown is one of the most frustrating teams in the nation to defend. The Hoyas move extremely well off the ball on offense, and their patience and ability to use the entire shot clock often catches even the most elite defenses napping. But they also play very meticulous defense.

The Hoyas have the nation's 14th-most efficient D. Georgetown's opponents shoot just 37 percent. In case you didn't notice, that pits two very good defensive teams against one another tonight.

Syracuse has to do what Pitt did in its 70-54 undressing of the Hoyas more than week ago:

1. Cut off the baseline and Georgetown's backdoor cuts, which the Hoyas will try to use against Syracuse's weak-side defenders.

2. Punish Georgetown on the glass. The 2-3 zone, like I said above, is susceptible to big offensive rebounding nights for good offensive rebounding teams. Georgetown is not a good rebounding team, period. That takes care of a big problem that Syracuse will have against dominant rebounding teams like Pitt and UConn. In fact, that's how Syracuse will get a lot of its points -- putbacks and second-chance points after the first shot, in the paint, against a condensed man-to-man defense.

3. Push the tempo when possible. Jonny Flynn, much like Pitt's Levance Fields and Notre Dame's Tory Jackson, loves to push the pace and run the fast break. Flynn floats to a wing outlet or creates space in the middle of the floor to catch an outlet pass after a defensive rebound. Because he is such a dynamic scorer himself, Flynn causes mayhem running the break. He has elite scoring options on the wings in guys like Harris, Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins and bone-crunching trailers like Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson. But his ability to pull up and shoot a 3, foul-line jumper or floater, plus his flair for the slash and jam, makes him extremely tough to handle.

Hopefully this guide will help you through the game tonight. Syracuse will try to shut off the backdoor valves of the Hoyas "Princeton on Steroids" offense and control the glass on both ends of the floor. The Orange will also really want to push the tempo and run whenever given the chance.

Georgetown wants to spread Syracuse's 2-3 zone and shred it with ball movement, elusive cuts and solid screens, all while dictating a deliberate and slower pace. If the Hoyas get going early from 3-point range, this game will be very exciting. But if they struggle, and Syracuse does its thing, this could be similarly as ugly as Pitt's win in D.C. two weekends ago.

Basketball Fans: A Quick Lesson

The goal of an official is not to call 10 fouls for Team X and 10 fouls for Team Y. That's a common misconception fans have held presumably since the beginning of basketball.

If you've been to a basketball game, you've heard a fan shout, "They only have three fouls; we have seven! What the &*%$!"

So, what that means, good fan, is that the other team hasn't fouled your guys as much as your guys have fouled them. Instead of worrying about the foul tally, watch the game and boo if there's a perceived foul that isn't called (or is called -- against your team).

Referees are human. Usually, anyway. They will call a foul if they see one. It's their judgment. They don't look up at the scoreboard and say, "Gee, we've called 10 fouls on those guys and only four of the other guys. Let me even that out."

That's not how it works. A foul is a foul. If a ref sees it, they'll call it. If they don't, a coach (or player) is chewing their ear off for missing it, and they'll probably hook your team up with a sweet makeup call at some point.

I understand that half the purpose of going to a game is to take your anger out on the referee, especially if your club is losing. So, scream all you want. But in the back of your head, just remember that there is a reason the ref isn't calling fouls evenly one way or another. It's because they aren't keeping a tally.

They call it like they see it.

And that's all you should ask for.

It Was Fun While It Lasted

Pitt's LeSean McCoy is going to the Draft. Here's the e-mail I just got explaining his decision. Beware, it's a PR release, so take the "Hail to Pitt" stuff with a grain of salt.

Statement from LeSean McCoy on Declaring for NFL Draft:

“When I signed with Pitt out of prep school, I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew in my heart that God had given me a second chance. As a result of a season-ending injury my senior year, I learned a humbling lesson. Nothing is promised to us and it can all be taken away in a moment.

“During my two years at Pitt, I have received an overwhelming amount of love and acceptance, starting from my first visit to the university all the way through the end of this season. I have been treated with respect, class and consideration. For that I am incredibly grateful.

“Recently there has been a lot of speculation regarding my decision to either stay in school or enter the NFL Draft. I have frequently played both choices in my mind. I have considered my alternatives — and I have prayed. I have made my final decision and will forego my junior season at the University of Pittsburgh to enter the NFL Draft.

“I will always cherish the opportunity Pitt has given me. I wore number 25 with pride and tried to represent my coaches, teammates, staff and Panther fans with class. I would like to thank everyone involved with the Pitt football program for a wonderful two years in Pittsburgh.

“On a personal note to Coach Wannstedt: Thank you for your support, guidance and counsel. I take a part of you with me. Although I will be wearing a new jersey next season, I will forever be a Pitt Panther.

“One of my goals in coming here was to help my teammates and coaches bring Pitt back to its rightful place among the prominent teams in college football. We made big strides in that journey, and I believe Coach Wannstedt, the coaching staff and my teammates will continue that upward climb next season and into the future.

“Hail to Pitt!”

Dave Wannstedt Statement on LeSean McCoy:

“Four years ago I had the opportunity to watch a recruiting tape of a Harrisburg kid named LeSean McCoy. His tremendous talent was evident from the very first viewing and I said to our staff ‘We have to get him to Pitt.’

“Of course, LeSean did end up at Pitt, a decision that has been a wonderful benefit to him, our football program and university.

“When you have exceptionally gifted players, you realize the NFL can be a reality sooner rather than later. Certainly that is the case with LeSean and we worked to make sure he had all the information needed to make the best decision about his pro prospects.

“LeSean ultimately has decided to enter the draft. While he had said earlier he would be returning to Pitt, I think during the past two weeks he finally had an opportunity to reflect on his opportunities. I know firsthand how enticing the NFL can be for young men, both financially and from the standpoint of realizing a lifelong dream of playing pro football. I told LeSean he would always have our support and we wish him only the very, very best.”

Hometown Hope

Those of you who know me know that I was born in Lexington, Ky., which is where I had my first glass of water. And, as you know, there's something in the water in Lexington that makes you crazy for hoops.

(It doesn't help that I moved to another hoops-crazy town -- Amherst, Mass. -- after my family left Lexington, but I digress.)

That said, I know what it means for Kentucky to be good. And if Jodie Meeks keeps scoring 54 points a game, the Wildcats are golden. Meeks is the man of the day in the college hoops world. And who can blame the media for fawning? Dude hit 10 3s to help UK destroy No. 24 Tennessee ... in Knoxville.

Kentucky is now 13-4, 2-0 in the conference and suddenly the team to beat in the SEC. And Meeks is a major reason why the Wildcats are clawing back to relevance. With 26 points, four boards, two assists and 1.5 steals a game, Meeks has some nice numbers.

And his team isn't half bad, either. Kentucky struggled out of the gates, losing its first two games to VMI (gulp) and at North Carolina. After a heartbreaking loss to a re-emerging Louisville, Kentucky has won its two opening SEC contests against Vandy and at Tennessee. In a down conference, Kentucky has to be thinking it can really make some waves.

With Meeks (and lottery pick-to-be Patrick Patterson) leading the way, Billy Gillispie's club is looking a lot like a Tournament team these days. Fifty-four points against a ranked team always helps, too.

Elsewhere
-- Big East Showdown of the Week: Syracuse at Georgetown. Not only is this a major rivalry between these two schools, but it also features yet another pair of ranked Big East teams battling. I say it in every post and I'll say it again here: The Big East seems like it has two ranked teams locking horns almost every night.

Who do I like? Well, Syracuse. I think Chris Wright will have a lot of trouble dealing with Jonny Flynn, Greg Monroe can be neutralized by Arinze Onuaku and the rest of the matchups seem to favor Syracuse, too.

Like I said, it's a rivalry game -- and it's at the Verizon Center in D.C., but Syracuse has more talent and a slightly deeper roster. Georgetown is good, don't get me wrong, but I think Syracuse might be the third-best team in the Big East behind Pitt and UConn. And there isn't much of a gap between those three teams.

-- Kansas City will be relevant again with Scott Pioli making personnel decisions.

-- My favorite little guy Dave Meggett is in some trouble. I have to say I'm really disappointed.

-- With Leo Lyons suspended for an uncertain period of time, Mizzou has to find a new scorer. Without him, don't expect the Tigers to keep up their fast start. But it was just a driving violation, so Lyons should be back sometime soon, I would think.

-- Pennsylvania has hopes of a Turnpike Tussle.

-- And I really don't know to react to this.

My Favorite 10: Terrible Quarterbacks

For the foreseeable future, i.e. when I feel like it, I'll be listing my Favorite 10 of something. With Inauguration Day a week from now, what better time to introduce something new than now? I have no set timeline for the future Favorite 10s. Maybe we'll save 'em for rainy days ("But basketball is played indoors through March," you might say; save it, wise guy).

Here is the maiden Favorite 10. And it's Favorite 10: Terrible Football Players

10. Tim Couch -- A friend of mine from Cleveland once told me that Browns fans cheered when Couch went down with an injury. But the best way to decipher if you are terrible is just how terrible your (better) replacement is. In this case, Couch was replaced by Kelly Holcomb, known for his famous middle name, "F-in," as in Kelly "F-in" Holcomb.

9. Ryan Leaf -- In his third game as a pro QB, Leaf was 1 for 15 for 4 yards. And he fumbled three times. Ya gotta love reading stuff like this about a player. Apparently he lied about a hand injury to go play golf. Isn't that fun? This has to be the kicker to it all -- he got fired at West Texas A&M. Not only does that place exist, but it fired Ryan leaf. Fired him! I actually don't like Leaf at all. Dude seems like a jerk. But it's hilarious to hear what crazy things he's up to.

8. Jeff Blake -- My brother would be furious if I didn't include Jeff "Fumbles" Blake in my Favorite 10 Terrible Quarterbacks. Blake played for seven teams in 13 seasons, and wasn't really terrible, but he did average just less than one fumble a game in 1999. And he was on the Bungles, so every drop back was an adventure.

7. David Carr -- He was the first pick for the expansion franchise. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. David Carr. No. 1 pick in the Draft. He's had the wonderful honor of leading the NFL in fumbles not once but twice. Humorously enough, he was the stopgap for the Giants if Eli Manning injured himself. I bet Giants fans are happy that day didn't come this year.

6. Jake Plummer -- He actually was OK for the Broncos, but for the sake of the Top 10, we'll say the Arizona Cardinals Jake Plummer. Jake the Snake averaged a cool 19 picks a year in his six seasons in Phoenix. But it was his ability to rollout, cross his fingers and flip a dying quayle into the wind that really tugs my heart.

5. Chris Weinke -- He had a great last name, but that's not why I love this guy. And the fact that he was 89 when he finally got to the NFL isn't why, either. It's because in his only year as a starter in the NFL, Weinke orchestrated a great Panthers season, helping the young franchise to a 1-14 record, thanks in part to his 30 turnovers. He also has a son named Rex, which is widely known to be my favorite first name.

4. Brooks Bollinger -- When Chad Pennington went down with a hangnail -- and Jay Fiedler left with too big of a brain to be a football player -- Bollinger got the reins of the Jets offense. And Herm Edwards did all he could to not pass the ball. Bollinger looked like he was gonna cry every time he screwed up -- which was often -- and your heart went out to him. But boy, was he terrible.

3. Quincy Carter -- God, I love me some Quincy Carter (and some me). Anyone who quarterbacks a team called the Shreveport-Bossier Battle Wings is great as far as I'm concerned.

2. Rex Grossman -- Man, this was tough leaving Sexy Rexy at second. Is there anyone you'd trust less with the game on the line? Or any kind of lead? Or trying to come back from a deficit? Or tossing the remote to you from across the living room? I bet Rex's wife asks him to pass the salt all the time at dinner, and it almost always gets picked off.

1. Joey Harrington. Is it because he's 30 and still goes by Joey? Is it because he's been on four teams in six seasons? Or is it because he was supposedly so bad at reading defenses when he was on the Lions that their center had to do it for the team? Whatever it is, I don't care. Joey Harrington is still my favorite terrible quarterback. Maybe it's because he's a piano virtuoso.

Standing Tall ... For Now

Well, Joe Lunardi still thinks Pitt is it. At least for now.

But this week will be the first test for the Panthers, and there are plenty more to come.

And I'm not talking about a showdown tomorrow with USF, although I'm sure it'll be fun for Sam Young and his old pal Chris Howard to meet on the hardwood.

I'm talking about Saturday's showdown with Louisville ... in Louisville. Did you see the Cardinals last night? Sure, Notre Dame gave Pitino's crew all it could handle, but Louisville looked great in OT, winning by 14. And the home crowd really spurred the Cardinals on.

Just wait until Saturday.

Once the point guard position is solved, Louisville will quickly return to elite status. But for now, as long as Terrence Williams is posting triple-double kind of numbers, I think Louisville will be just fine.

Notre Dame sure thinks so.

So as much as it has been fun for Pitt and its fans so far, last night showed how difficult a test it's going to be to hold on to the undefeated record and top ranking. Not that anyone would look past South Florida ...

Elsewhere
-- Last night, I was all about the statement game. In that case, I was referring to Louisville's win against Notre Dame. Today, I'm referring to Oklahoma's clobbering of Texas.

-- Max Good is a name I saw a lot growing up in Rhode Island. He was a very successful coach at Bryant College in the Ocean State. Now, he's taking over Loyola Marymount in L.A. Movin' on up, I'd say.

-- Did "Tool Time" go off-air once "Home Improvement" did, or did Tim and Al stick around for more?

-- Speaking of "Home Improvement," my buddy and I have solved the show's extremely easy formula for each 22-minute episode. In no particular order but in the show somewhere ... an episode of "Tool Time" where Tim makes jokes about Al's mother and then Tim gets hurt or does something stupid; Tim making fun of Jill for being a woman; Tim working on something, either a car or an appliance in the house; Brad and Randy making fun of Mark (who wouldn't, right?); Tim and Jill fighting; Tim seeking Wilson's advice; Tim mangling Wilson's advice in the process of the great dilemma being solved; everyone's happy.

Did I miss anything?

-- This is a nice dunk.

-- If you have any desire to laugh, read the Trillion Man March.

-- And this is always fun.