Kansas State called this one. Might as well call Michael Beasley Joe Namath.

An upset of No. 2 Kansas on Wednesday – the Jayhawks' first loss of the season – was proclaimed long ago by the Wildcats' star freshman, who had yet to play a game for K-State.

"We're gonna beat KU at home," Beasley said last summer. "We're gonna beat 'em at their house. We're gonna beat 'em in Africa. Wherever we play we're gonna beat 'em."

He's a man of his word.

Wednesday, with No. 22 K-State riding a 24-game home losing streak to their in-state rival, Beasley's crew made good on the promise, thanks to some nifty three-point shooting (12-of-26 from beyond the arc) and a host of offensive rebounds.

Leading the way was Beasley (25 points, 6 boards in 38 minutes) and fellow fab freshman Bill Walker (25 points, 5 boards despite foul trouble). The pair also did their part on defense. They frustrated KU's big men, as Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur never appeared comfortable and combined for just 19 points. (How Jackson takes just 2 shots in 30 minutes is beyond me. He's one of the game's most efficient offensive players, but was never a factor Wednesday.)

If there was any doubt about Beasley, this game answered it. Against a deep, tall Kansas team, he thrived. Beasley didn't force many shots, showed off his inside-outside game (when he wasn't taking it to the basket, he was hitting all four of his three-point attempts) and stayed out of foul trouble despite guarding bigger guys all night. It all reinforced what we all knew: the guy's ridiculously good.

Beasley leads the NCAA in rebounding and is fourth in scoring. I think he and Tyler Hansbrough are the country's two best players. So do others. But this game – and the bazillion SportsCenter highlights sure to follow – should cement Beasley atop that list.

Before the game, Kansas coach Bill Self had this to say about Beasley.

"I thought you would never see a freshman dominate college basketball as Durant did as the unanimous National Player of the Year. Michael [Beasley] has that same opportunity in front of him, if he finishes the season strong, to be the National Player of the Year also."

It's just too bad more people couldn't watch the game. The night's other's Top 25 matchup, Texas vs. Texas A&M, was slotted as Wednesday's Big 12 game. That figures to change with Beasley, like Durant did last year, carving his way into sports highlights as March approaches.

As if having player like Beasley and Walker isn't enough to attract attention, Kansas State is a team worth watching. I've been slow to come around on the Wildcats – as I'm Kansas graduate, it pains me to say as much – but they're good. A month ago, they were thumped by nearly 30 points against Xavier. Yet they've won six straight, have the country's best player, another NBA caliber player in Walker and key role players who all play great defense.

"We're not as dependent on one player anymore," coach Frank Martin said after the game. "Whenever you can beat a team like Kansas, it's a monumental thing."

No kidding. Kansas entered the game as most people's team "playing the best basketball right now," but came away looking like less of a Final Four lock and a team that'll have to play better perimeter defense and get more consistent inside scoring. If nothing else, the Jayhawks got that pesky first loss out of the way.

"We weren't going to run the table," Self said. "As much as I wish we could, that wasn't going to happen. So this could be a good thing for us in the long run. But certainly it stings."

It's Super Bowl media day. A time when nonsensical stories take center stage as the media horde (about 4,000 microphones worth) descends upon 100 or so NFL players a few days before the big game. Few questions actually relate to the game (Tom Brady was asked what his favorite band was, while Michael Strahan sang and Richard Seymour showed off his pedicure.)

On that note, I offer two college basketball stories about incidents off the court, tangentially related to the sport.

First, UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

His Huskies won their fourth straight game on Monday, improved to 15-5 overall and offered further proof they've recovered from a 2006-07 season in which they missed the NCAA Tournament. They've won the last two without suspended guards Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins, who were suspended after alcohol violations, but newspaper reports indicated marijuana also was found in the car.

And that last part got Calhoun going on Monday. He criticized the media for their handling of the case, saying it was merely embarrassing and hurtful to a couple of kids who made a mistake.

Here's the whole quote, courtesy of the News-Times (Danbury, Conn.).

"I would be remiss if I didn't say that if some of you guys worked as hard on (writing about) our team as you are trying to be P.I.'s, it would really help everybody. You're really trying to help some kids and I really appreciate that, what you're trying to do," Calhoun said with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Just want to let you know that. I love kids and kids make mistakes. I'd like to have you working hard on the team and do your (blanking) job instead of trying to hurt younger people because you feel someone's pressuring you. It's really unfortunate, it really is.

"You've done your job, things were reported, and you'll know the information as soon as it comes out. I told you they would not be playing tonight or the next game and I told you this week that something would come out but that's not good enough for you, you've got to go into P.I. (private investigator) mode. If that's what you want, go ahead. Just make sure when you make that call and it doesn't get answered, that you're fooling with my kids. Fool with me now, say I'm a bad coach, I shouldn't discipline. OK? Just so we understand that, just so we all understand each other."

As rants go, it doesn't come close to Calhoun's infamous postgame diatribe after a 2004 loss to Providence. But it raises the question: Should the media be investigating incidents involving teens when the coach has already taken appropriate disciplinary action?

My answer? Of course. As student athletes, they're public figures who are fair game when it comes to breaking the law. Simple as that. It may be embarrassing, but provided the coverage is fair, it's necessary.

Of course, Calhoun is also correct in defending his players. But that's where he and the media just have to disagree.

That's what happened with this next story.

Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, his team slightly above .500 without point guard Ronald Steele, doesn't have a fan in Mobile Press-Register columnist Paul Finebaum, who thinks Gottfried's teams are underperforming.

So Gottfried's wife, Elizabeth – in Colleen Bellotti fashion – gave Finebaum a piece of her mind on Saturday.

"(She) was suddenly hovering over me, asking, 'Why do you hate Mark Gottfried? I guess you weren't satisfied getting Mike Shula fired. Now you want to get Mark Gottfried fired,'" Finebaum told the Birmingham News.

Should Elizabeth Gottfried have gotten in Finebaum's face? After all, shouldn't Gottfried have to deal with any media criticism as a coach at the state's premier college?

Sure. A game may not have been the appropriate place to it, but Finebaum is a public figure, just like Gottfried, which makes both of them fair game.

It's like this blog. If any of my opinions infuriate or annoy people, the message boards below where people can respond. (If the response includes profanity, it may not be published, but I'll still read it.) It may not be as upfront as confronting me at a game, but it's still an opportunity for readers to have their say, which is something that doesn't always happen when it comes to reporting stories. We try, but hey, people in the media make mistakes too.

Just make sure we're also held accountable.

As if beating Indiana wasn't enough, Connecticut served notice Monday that it'll be a scary team in March. Figures. Not seeing the Huskies in the Big Dance was one of the few things missing from last year's tournament.

A 69-67 win against a healthy Louisville team should be enough to convince hoops pundits that the Huskies (15-5, 5-3 in Big East) have enough scoring (something missing last year) and depth (the second straight game/win without leading scorer Jerome Dyson and backup Doug Wiggins, who were suspended indefinitely after alcohol violations) to be a Big East contender and a darkhorse NCAA Tournament team.

(Or at least be ranked in the Top 25, for Pete's sake. Not sure why Texas A&M is still in there…but I digress.)

Saturday's win, which UConn coach Jim Calhoun called one of the most rewarding of his career, was a game where all the attention on the Hoosiers' fab freshman, Eric Gordon, and their 17-1 start certainly helped the Huskies. Just the day before they learned Calhoun had suspended Dyson and Wiggins, yet responded with their best game this season.

To follow that up with a win against a solid, ever-improving Louisville team (not many teams get to bring Earl Clark and Derrick Caracter off the bench) shows how invaluable guys like A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien are and especially how much Hasheem Thabeet has improved. (Thabeet's greatest asset never shows up in box scores; at 7-3, he can alter any shots, to say nothing of his three blocks against the Cardinals.)

After all, a guard like Price, who's gone through his share of health and off-court issues, may be the biggest key to the Huskies. He's an underrated scorer who does a little bit of everything; indispensible because of his passing (37.2 ARate, 20^th best overall) and ability to break down opponents off the dribble. Depending on how long Dyson and Wiggins are out (with marijuana involved, it could stretch a few weeks), Price's scoring load will likely increase.

And after watching UConn in back-to-back games, I'm surprised they're not a higher-rated defensive team. Maybe I'm thrown by Thabeet inside and ignoring their perimeter defense. Regardless, they look good.

All of this isn't to omit Louisville, though.

This Courier-Journal article before Monday's game called it a key Big East matchup, which is spot on. The Cardinals (15-6) were beset with injury issues to start the season, but had won 10 of their last 12 games, including wins against West Virginia and Marquette. (Both were at home; winning on the road remains an issue for Rick Pitino's crew.) The Cards play marvelous defense (made easy by having plenty of mobile big men) and continue to improve offensively (if their FTRate were higher, it'd help).

My prevailing thought during Monday's game though? Both teams look like a 6 or 7 seed in the tourney and would be a handful for any 2 or 3 seed. (Oddly enough, that's what Joe Lunardi had both teams entering Monday's game.) Unless UConn or Louisville rip off a big winning streak, the best seed either squad will likely receive is 5, making both a dangerous second-round matchup for a Final Four hopeful.

After all, who wants to face a deep, defensively sound team coached by either Jim Calhoun or Rick Pitino?

What's with Oregon?

It's a simple question, really, though probably not one many people are asking. How does a team that returns four starters from a 29-7 Elite Eight squad appear to be floundering midway through the 2007-08 season?

After an 8-1 start, the Ducks (12-8) have lost four straight, including a game they had against USC on Saturday. A would-be 14-point rally was offset by a putrid overtime period and turned what could have been a nice home victory into a deflating, frustrating outcome.

"It would have been a big win for us since we're on the skids right now," forward Joevan Catron told the Oregonian.

This was just two days after Oregon native Kevin Love came into Eugene and muscled the Bruins to an 80-75 win in front of a rowdy, sometimes insulting crowd. (It was bad enough to have UCLA coach Ben Howland come to his defense.)

Earning a split from the L.A. schools isn't easy, but it's an essential when it comes to holding the home court and building that NCAA résumé, which already includes losses to Nebraska and Oakland (Mich.).

Oregon's the same as it ever was in terms of offense (sixth in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com, but still wretched on defense), but just doesn't have the same urgency it did last season with Aaron Brooks.

Maybe the complacency isn't something the Ducks can overcome, either. This (Eugene) Register-Guard article from last week talks about how the Ducks were looking for moral victories after a loss to Washington State in Pullman and looking forward to holding their home court against UCLA and USC.

Now? They're reeling a little bit.

So, is there anything good to report? A home game against in-state rival Oregon State is on Saturday. The Beavers (6-14, 235 in RPI) are as bad it gets among BCS schools. If there's anything to solve a team's problems, it's giving a rival a good thumping.

But a loss would be unthinkable – and effectively end their NCAA Tournament hopes.

When it comes to Player of the Year, it looks like it'll come down to Tyler Hansbrough vs. the fab freshmen. I just can't decide just how many freshmen he's contending against…

North Carolina's star junior forward, who leads ACC team in points (22.0) and rebounds (10.1), is a lock for All-America honors and a Player of the Year finalist. It's a little remarkable that a guy who's been an All-American his first two seasons has been ever better as a junior as there's usually some kind of letdown.

Yet Hansbrough, one of the nation's most relentless players, hasn't disappointed. And when a player can fulfill or exceed expectations on a team as good as the Heels (19-1), well, it wins you a lot of awards.

Then again, most upperclassmen don't have to deal with a freshmen class like this.

The obvious and biggest contender is Kansas State's Michael Beasley. The do-it-all forward is just as impressive as Texas' Kevin Durant was last season when Durant swept every major postseason award. He's fourth in the nation in points (24.8), leads in rebounds (12.6), which is a point less than Durant and 1.5 boards better.

Beasley's even better when it comes to efficiency, leading the nation in overall efficiency on bbstate.com and is 11^th on offense according to kenpom.com. Boosting Beasley even more has been K-State's recent play. The Wildcats (13-4) are 8-1 since Dec. 4, including wins against Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Cal. Beasley has been consistent (a double-double in all but two games) and pretty much unstoppable even though teams have keyed on him all season.

If K-State makes the NCAA Tournament, Beasley's numbers may be too impressive to ignore. But he'll need a few marquee games to really implant himself on the national scene, something Durant did midway through last season. (Wednesday against Kansas would be a good start.)

Still, Beasley's far from the only freshman to consider.

UCLA's Kevin Love and Indiana's Eric Gordon are the two most likely to steal Beasley's freshmen spotlight (Gordon and Beasley both made Seth Davis' midseason All-America team, though.) Both play crucial roles on Final Four contenders, but in different ways.

Love occupies the middle, rebounds anything and everything and is an underrated offensive player (he's just behind Hansbrough in average efficiency), yet his greatest asset may be allowing UCLA (17-2) to match up against any team inside, something the Bruins lacked the last few seasons.

Gordon scores more, but is just as valuable to his team, which started the season watching Gordon with the ball, but has developed into one of the nation's best offensive forces. The Hoosiers (17-1) also have another All-America candidate in senior forward D.J. White, but Gordon's scoring tends to swing the attention his way.

After those two, Kentucky's Patrick Patterson and Vandy's A.J. Ogilvy are SEC player of the year candidates (Florida Nick Calathes right behind), while Pitt's DeJuan Blair and Syracuse's Donte Green are just as notable in the Big East. And Love has Pac-10 competition from ASU's James Harden and Arizona's Jerryd Bayless. All six have been fabulous, as has Memphis' Derrick Rose. (To say nothing of High Point's AZ Reid, who goes for 23.7 and 11.6 a game. He and Davidson's Stephen Curry have been both been great, but are unlikely to garner any of the big awards.)

That's nine freshmen to mull over, which means pretty much every major conference (except the ACC) could have a freshman as its player of the year. (Texas' D.J. Augustin would be a worthy Big 12 PoY, though.)

But, if everything continues as is, it'll probably come down to Hansbrough and Beasley. They've been the two most impressive overall players this season, filling up box scores and helping their teams to big seasons. Without any individual standouts on Memphis, Kansas or Duke, it could be a two-horse race.

If that happens, it probably favors Hansbrough. He'll garner more votes than Beasley because he plays for UNC, one of the sport's marquee teams and one of its elite for 2007-08. Unless the Heels start losing, expect sentiment to swing Hansbrough's way. Is that fair? Probably not. But I'm guessing that's what'll happen.

Tuesday was the Kentucky we expected to see this season. It always should've been a tough, defensively sound team with flashes of brilliance, despite a young roster led by a new coach.

But until a win against No. 3 Tennessee it was unclear if we'd see this Kentucky team this year. But UK seems to have figured it out. A double-overtime win against Vandy (the Commodores' first loss) and close road losses at Miss State and Florida (combined records 29-8) gave the 'Cats a big boost for when the SEC's powerhouse team for the 2007-08 season came into Lexington (along with a Vols' no-no during warm-ups).

So what to make of Kentucky now? And Tennessee, for that matter?

Let's start with the Vols.

Tennessee remains a NCAA title contender thanks to its depth, aggressive defense and excellent offense, even if Chris Lofton still hasn't quite found his shooting touch. (His 22-point, 7-for-14 outing vs. Kentucky could be the place to start, though.)

If nothing else, the Vols remain a key March team because they don't turn the ball over and force tons of turnovers on defense. That usually translates into an opponent that digs itself a big hole – unless it owns the boards like UK did Tuesday.

And it's that rebounding, or lack thereof, that remains their biggest detriment. When you start three players shorter than 6-3, it creates matchup problems and makes it easier for taller teams to hit the offensive glass, where Vols are among nation's worst teams.

And the Wildcats? They still have a shot at the NCAA Tournament, thanks to a star freshmen and two tough seniors.

Patrick Patterson continued to state his case for national freshman of the year and SEC player of the year. In the Year of the Freshmen (Part II), he's every bit as important to his team as Kevin Love is to UCLA or Eric Gordon is to Indiana. Make that more so.

Seniors Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford have gone from hated to essential, though it'll be interesting to see how an ailing Crawford handles the rest of the season. If he misses any games or becomes ineffective, sophomore Derek Jasper could become awfully important awfully quick.

But enough rambling about that – what about UK in the Big Dance?

Kenpom.com has Kentucky projected to a 15-14 record, but all except one are essentially toss-ups. Winning the next four is likely, making the 'Cats 12-9 with eight games remaining. If they hold court at Rupp, then grab road wins at LSU and South Carolina (asking a lot as it's Dave Odom's home finale), that's an 18-11 mark entering the SEC Tournament. From there, anything's possible. Their RPI could reach the 40s and they'd have their share of marquee wins.

Does the seeding committee overlook losses to Gardner-Webb and San Diego and put UK in? Close call, but it's certainly possible. Kentucky doesn't have much room for error.

It's times like these when Rick Majerus probably wishes he were still an ESPN analyst.

Majerus, in his first year at Saint Louis University, had a tough start to the year when his Billikens bricked their way into the NCAA record book during a 46-20 loss to George Washington. (For more on that putrid performance, click here.)

Yet Saint Louis, which had struggled in recent years and was enjoying a decent start to its season, was still a team that could make a run at a postseason berth and Majerus was a coach who was relishing his returning to coaching, even if it was with a bad team.

Then came Grant Wahl's S.L. Price's illuminating Sports Illustrated article.

It featured a foul-mouthed, physical Majerus who wasn't afraid of getting naked in front of his team, nor did he lack for results. He came off as a bit of mad genius who was wrapped up in winning, but not afraid of anything, either.

Now he's in trouble with a Roman Catholic Archbishop. Majerus, who works for a Catholic school, said in an interview Saturday that he's pro-choice, which prompted Raymond Burke to ask the school to take "appropriate action" toward the coach.

Yikes. I'm guessing Majerus would be happy for another 20-point outing to take the heat off…

Conference play always has its share of upsets.

The Big East has had its share lately, whether it's Cincinnati (9-9 overall, 4-2 in league play) beating two Top 25 teams in a week or UConn improving to 3-3 in conference standings after upsetting Marquette.

But I'm amazed by the Big 12's weekend.

Discount Kansas' close road win against Missouri. The Jayhawks (18-0) may be one of two remaining D-I teams (along with Memphis) and among the nation's elite offensive and defensive teams, but they always have trouble against Mizzou when the Tigers are remotely decent. That's not the odd part.

Why would that be strange when you have these things to choose from?

• Texas, the nation's most efficient offensive team, starts slow against Colorado (8-8) and needs a monster second half to win 69-67. The Buffs have beaten two teams with winning records this season and don't do anything well. Yet, they nearly stunned a Top 20 team on the road.
• Iowa State's home victory against Oklahoma State wasn't confusing, but the Cyclones' season has been. After a 3-4 start (which included an overtime win over Oregon State, perhaps the worst team in the six BCS conferences), Iowa State has gone 9-2, with wins against Purdue and Missouri. Yet, they're still projected to have a losing record this season.
• Oklahoma, without its star freshman and best player in Blake Griffin, holds court against Texas Tech, fresh off Bob Knight's 900^th career win, a blowout of Final Four hopeful Texas A&M. Yet the Sooners show they may be OK until Griffin returns, whenever that may be. Who knew Jeff Capel could already outcoach Knight?
• Baylor, the poster school for surprises this season, ended a 25-game road losing streak with a win at Nebraska, one of the more difficult road venues in the Big 12. The Bears (15-2, 3-0) are gearing up for a rough stretch starting Wednesday at Texas A&M, but when it's the Aggies, not the Bears, who are coming in on a losing streak, things are slightly strange.
• Make that awfully strange. I have no clue what to make of Texas A&M.

The Aggies (15-3, 1-2) should be considered a Final Four caliber team. But back-to-back road losses should raise plenty of eyebrows when it comes to how the Aggies handle themselves outside of College Station. They remain a deep, experienced team with a beast in the middle in freshman DeAndre Jordan.

But losing to K-State, a team that relies on two NBA-talent players (and would probably be terrible without Michael Beasley), isn't acceptable when you're trying to get to San Antonio.

A&M's losses and Texas' close call make me wonder just how good the conference actually is. According to the RPI, it's fourth. According to kenpom.com's ratings, it's second, just behind the Pac-10. Yet Texas and Oklahoma are the only teams that have SOS in the top 25 (Kansas, Texas Tech and Missouri are close.) Has the league fattened itself on inferior competition?

It usually seems that way in March. The Big 12 is the only BCS school without an NCAA Tournament title (its last member to win the Big Dance was Kansas in 1988 when it was a Big 8 member) and it hasn't had a team in the Final Four since 2004.

Last year, none of their four tournament teams played up to their seed. In 2006, only one of the Big 12's four teams played after the first weekend. In 2005, just two of their six teams did.

Mostly, I'm just ranting after a weekend where I expected more consistency out of the conference's "elite" teams. But it's worth wondering as March nears and Kansas becomes a tempting pick in NCAA Tournament brackets. Will the Jayhawks be tested enough by then?

It's been nearly two months since Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo ended up in my mailbox together. Glad I finally get to see them on the same court Saturday.

And the way Love gets opposing big men into foul trouble, maybe Mayo will even end up guarding him.

As a West Coast resident, I had USC-UCLA as my Sports Illustrated college basketball cover this season, which was a result of the nation's most hyped recruit landing in the same city as the sport's most storied program. Not a bad angle.

It's just too bad Mayo's Trojans haven't been in the same league as Love's Bruins. But by season's end, that could change -- IF a couple things work out.

(The magazine's other hoops preview covers, highlighting the game's "most heated rivalries," included Indiana-Illinois, Memphis-Tennessee, Louisville-Marquette, Texas-Texas A&M, Florida-Kentucky and Georgetown-Syracuse. For those not keeping score, The Cardinals handled the Eagles Thursday night, while Gordon led his Hoosiers to a road win over the Illini earlier last Saturday. Florida and Kentucky play Saturday, while the Hoyas and Orange face off Monday. Kudes to SI for this version of a real "rivalry week." As for me, I'll be nervous about another rivalry when Kansas travels to Missouri on Saturday. The last time KU started a season like this, their perfect start ended in Columbia. But ANYWAY.)

USC is young in terms of class stature, playing predominantly three freshmen (Mayo, Angelo Johnson and Davon Jefferson) and three sophomores (Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis), but that doesn't mean the Trojans are inexperienced. Everyone on the roster plays year-round and has seen competition like this before in AAU tourneys and such. They're just unpolished playing together.

(After all, plenty of college teams deal with young rosters today. Kevin Durant was one of four freshmen playing big roles for Texas last season, and Florida's title run began when four starters were sophomores.)  

At 10-6, the Trojans have had plenty of downs (season-opening loss to Mercer, 1-3 start in Pac-10 play), but have some decent ups, too, with wins against Oklahoma, Southern Illinois and on the road at South Carolina. They're actually a great defensive team (12^th in the Pomeroy ratings for adjusted defensive efficiency), which should keep them in games.

They're also not that young. Mayo, turned 20 in November, and Jefferson is 21.

Their biggest problem is where Mayo should, but hasn't been able to help the most – on offense. The Trojans' shot selection makes me cringe, they shoot too many threes and don't hit the offensive boards. Those three things make it tough for a team to be consistent offensively.

USC could get it together, though. The Pac-10 is tough, but after playing UCLA Saturday and a trip to the Oregon schools next week, seven of the Trojans' final 11 games are at home. With a few résumé building wins, the Trojans could get back to the Sweet 16.

UCLA, on the other, looks Final Four bound, yet again. Without Florida around, the Bruins should be thinking national championship – and that's because of Love.

He's not the nation's best freshman – Indiana's Eric Gordon gets my vote, though it's tough to ignore K-State's Michael Beasley and the impact of Kentucky's Patrick Patterson, who could save the Wildcats' season – but he's probably the most important because he makes UCLA a tougher, more physical team than ever before. Hard to believe, but it's true.

According to kenpom.com, the Bruins (16-1) are just as good defensively as in the past two seasons. (Click here, here and here to compare.) Yet their offensive and rebounding is vastly improved. Most of that credit goes to Love (and super sophomore Russell Westbrook, their most explosive player).

Few players rebound with Love's efficiency (16^th in OR%, 10^th in DR%) while being as offensively efficient. I've never been impressed with his athleticism, but his footwork and technique is as good as most NBA players. He reminds of me of what Carlos Boozer has become for the Jazz – powerful, reliable and no wasted effort.

All of that makes Love a nightmare to guard. Stanford's Lopez twins both fouled out trying to guard Love during UCLA's Jan. 5 win. Both have about 3 inches on Love, but that didn't help. Love finished with a routine line, 15 points, 7 rebounds, but disrupting another team's front line like that is invaluable.

UCLA's as scary as ever. The Bruins are disciplined, focused and talented. USC could be like that, IF the offense improves, Gibson hits the boards a little harder, Mayo becomes more disciplined and Jefferson more consistent.

Yeah, I know, that's a lot of ifs. The Trojans will have to settle for just being close.

I hope Tubby Smith has enjoyed Minnesota's surprising start. The next 10 days could be rough.

Smith's squad must be considered one of the season's good stories. The Gophers won just three conference games last season and finished 9-22 overall, their lowest win total in 39 seasons. But their 12-3 start (with an admittedly easy schedule, ranked 185^th on kenpom.com) is noteworthy for that fact these were the same players from last year's thud when they lost to Montana, Arkansas-Little Rock and beat Southeastern Louisiana by two points.

Does that put most of the blame on the fired Dan Monson and his replacement, Jim Molinari? Probably. After all, Minnesota seniors Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson are all capable players.

Still, some, maybe most credit is due to Smith. After all, the guy can coach a little bit (even though I'm probably viewed as a Smith apologist). The Gophers play great defense (always a Smith trademark) with plenty of turnovers and blocked shots and are even decent offensively. And defense is always the great equalizer in college hoops and the mark of a motivated coach.

But, we'll see just how good Smith's crew really is starting Thursday night against No. 10 Indiana. The Hoosiers are one of the Big Ten's top offensive teams (just behind Michigan State, which grinded its way to a 65-59 win against the Gophers on Jan. 5) and present inside (D.J. White) and outside (Eric Gordon) scoring threats.

Playing at home will certainly help Minnesota, as will having Tollackson muscle up on White inside. Not sure that'll be enough though. The Gophers get to follow that with another home game, this one a rematch against Michigan State, then traveling to Ohio State on Feb. 26.

That's three teams ranked among the top 27 in kenpom.com's ratings. That's a tall order for anybody.

The Gophers are far from the only team finally being tested, though.

No. 10 Texas A&M laid a huge egg on Wednesday at Texas Tech, turning the ball over 20 times and shooting just 34 percent from the field (.777 PPP) in a 68-53 loss. (The game was also known as Bob Knight's 900^th career victory. Nice milestone, but I'm more interested on what happened to A&M.)

The Aggies (15-2) entered the game 22^nd in RPI and 10^th in the Pomeroy ratings. They're great offensively, decent on defense and don't run everything through one player like last year. So WTF? Well, they've been boosting those stats against patsies.

A&M lost to the last good team it played, a 78-67 defeat at Arizona. Since then, it's won eight games, five of which were against RPI teams 200+. The Big 12 schedule should tell use even more about the Aggies and if Wednesday was more than just one miserable outing.

Two A-10 NCAA hopefuls also had interesting, but slightly less disturbing setbacks Wednesday. Dayton lost 82-71 at UMass, the Flyers' first loss since Nov. 17, while Temple hammered No. 20 Xavier, 78-59.

The defenses? UMass is one of the nation's under-the-radar teams (28^th in RPI, but 85^th from Pomeroy, mostly because the defense stinks and the offense isn't that good), which pushes the pace and will make teams struggle against its style. As for Temple … well … the Owls aren't good. It reminds me of Xavier's bewildering loss to ASU earlier this season. Sounds like Sean Miller will have do some more yelling.

And what about those Sun Devils, coming off a win against rival Arizona? Herb Sendek's squad is 13-2 and hasn't lost since Dec. 2.

That's going to change really soon. Games at Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC loom, all by Feb. 2. Throw in a home game against Washington State on Jan. 26 and it turns into a brutal six-game stretch. Such is life when you stack the early schedule with walkovers.

Guess Pitt missed the memo about writing off this season.

For the last few weeks, the Panthers have heard about how tough their season will be without starters Mike Cook and Levance Fields. But a 69-60 win against No. 5 Georgetown should silence any remaining doubters and reestablish Pitt as a Final Four contender.

It's amazing what a few weeks, a good coach and lots of talent will do.

The background? The Panthers had one of the season's marquee wins in December, a 65-64 overtime win against Duke (still the Devils' only loss). But the Panthers lost Cook, a three-year starter, for the season after he tore his ACL in OT vs. Duke.

Losing a guy like Cook – the team's fourth-leading scorer, a good defender and a team leader – always hurts, especially when it comes to intangibles. I'm a big believer that when losing players like Cook, it's much harder for a team to replace all the little things they do. Finding a scoring replacement is far easier.

So when the Panthers lost Fields, their point guard and go-to guy in the clutch, until the end of February, the bandwagon emptied real quick.

On the surface, writing off Pitt as a national title contender made some sense. Few teams can handle losing two double-digit scorers, let alone the guy who runs the offense. But some called the Panthers an NIT as a result (an extreme view that was later thought better of). That kind of reaction is always tempting to make, but is a prime example of why immediate reaction can come back to hurt pundits. (Consider it a job peril. And enough to make me think twice about writing this.)

After a close loss to Big East rival Villanova, Pitt changed its mental approach. Close losses do that. The Panthers may have lost their QB, but remained one of the nation's toughest and better rebounding teams, which boded well for their conference schedule.

Good thing, too. The Big East isn't the bruising league it used to be (that's now the Big Ten/ Pac-10), but it still has its fair share of physical, defensive-oriented teams. So Pitt turned to capable senior guard Keith Benjamin (averaging more than 16 points as a starter) and expected more out of regular starters Sam Young, Ronald Ramon and fab freshman DeJuan Blair.

A road win against South Florida (where Benjamin talked about people writing them off) and holding court against Seton Hall only helped to prepare the Panthers for the Hoyas, who had won four of the last five games against their Big East rival.

Yet, even today, there was more talk about Pitt possibly "still aiming for an NCAA bid."

Which, bluntly put, was crazy talk. Even before beating Georgetown.

According to kenpom.com, Pitt had a 47 percent chance of beating the Hoyas (a 65-64 loss was predicted), along with a projected record of 23-8 (11-7 in the Big East). Joe Lunardi had the Panthers as a No. 5 seed, to say nothing of their No. 15 ranking in the AP poll or their offensive rebounding prowess.

Pitt's a deep, talented, physical team. Even without Fields and Cook, they're a Sweet 16 team (just like last year), perhaps even worthy of the Final Four. Just ask the Hoyas.

These guys are good.

North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas. Three undefeated teams, all loaded with future NBA players and carrying Final Four expectations and title aspirations.

It's funny, too. They've been this good all season.

This was the preseason AP poll.

1. North Carolina (29)   0-0     1,728
2. UCLA (24)      0-0     1,710
3. Memphis (18) 0-0     1,680
4. Kansas                    0-0     1,568

The fifth was Georgetown, which received the only other first-place vote and was the only other team to garner more than 1,500 points. These were supposedly the elite teams.

And after 11 weeks, little has changed. When the rankings come out Monday, those will be the top 5 teams again. UCLA, after taking apart previously unbeaten Washington State, is as good as ever (with Kevin Love, maybe even better than the last two seasons). The Hoyas aren't as imposing, but a win against Pitt tonight will improve their public perception even more.

But it goes back to those unbeaten teams. Just when will they lose? Ever?

According to kenpom.com, North Carolina (17-0) will be the first. The Heels have a 2.51 percent chance of winning the rest of their games, which makes sense.

The ACC is once again atop the RPI, elevating the Heels' schedule to a tougher level than Kansas' or Memphis'. UNC just dismantled N.C. State, but nothing's guaranteed during a team's conference schedule. The Heels needed OT to escape at Clemson, and trips to Miami, FSU, Virginia and B.C. remain, not to mention two games against Duke.

Kansas (16-0) has a slightly higher chance of not losing – 13.67 percent. After facing Oklahoma and Missouri this week (Tigers get to play KU at home, never an easy place to play and where I picked the Jayhawks to lose back in December), they don't face the real meat of their Big 12 schedule until February. (Playing at K-State on Jan. 30 doesn't count. KU hasn't lost in Manhattan since 1983.)

A trip to Texas on Feb. 11 is a serious obstacle, as is the March 8 regular-season finale at Texas A&M. But the odds of the Jayhawks rolling into College Station 30-0 is remote.

That brings us to Memphis, which has a 47.3 percent chance of being unbeaten, according to kenpom.com. (Hard to believe it's that low considering the Tigers are 29-1 in the regular-season against C-USA the last two seasons, but it's true that conference games are never a gimme AND games against Tennessee and Gonzaga remain. Pomeroy wrote a separate piece on the Tigers' chances of going undefeated on basketballprospectus.com, where he says there's a 10 percent chance of a 40-0 season.)

ANYWAY, if these powerhouses continue their great starts, we may have three teams undefeated heading into February. Maybe even two unbeaten teams when March rolls around (which last happened in 2004 when St. Joe's and Stanford pulled that trick). At that point, the inevitable question will arise: Is a loss before the NCAA Tournament a good thing?

Seth Davis says no, mostly because it helps with it would relive any added pressure that comes with trying to win the NCAA Tournament. (So what if no undefeated team has won the title since 1976.; no 1-loss team has either, and there have been 18 of those.) I side with Pomeroy – forget that. Go for history.

If there's anything we should learn from other sports and apply here, take a page from the New England Patriots' perfect run. No one sets out to lose a game, but a shot at making history and being one of the only unbeaten national champions is worth the added "stress" of entering the NCAA Tournament without a loss.

If you can make history, you do it. You don't worry about how stressful it might be.

This is when the writer's strike really hurts. In less than two weeks, we've seen three new records for scoring futility. [Insert raunchy joke here.]

Where's Judd Apatow when a guy needs him? Even if he can't write a joke, he could probably make a shot for Rick Majerus. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, it was Pennsylvania setting a record for fewest points in a half (6) during a 60-30 loss to Florida Gulf Coast. The Quakers missed every shot in the first 13:15 of the first half, breaking Central Michigan's record set two years ago against Miami (Ohio). Not since the advent of the shot clock had a team had such trouble scoring.

Nine days later, Savannah State to put on a real (ugly) show.

The Tigers, 12-18 last season, 2-28 the year before and winless in 2004-05, know something about not scoring. But an 85-25 loss to Kansas State was bad even for them.

Savannah State was outscored 48-4 in the second half, making just 1-of-23 field goal attempts. That's a 4.3 shooting percentage.  It got so bad, some K-State fans yelled "mercy bucket," according to the AP story.

So how does it get any worse? When your opponent has as many blocked shots and steals combined as you do points – and you're the team with the better record. That's the truly amazing part in Saint Louis' 46-20 loss to George Washington on Thursday.

Sure, the Billikens missed 23 consecutive shots. Yeah, they trailed 23-7 at halftime and set the modern record for fewest points in a game.

But this was the A-10 opener for both teams. Neither could've expected an outcome like this.

"Sometimes you miss," Majerus said after the game. "We are a team that has some issues. That is why we are practicing (Friday). We did miss some good shots, yes. Anyone can look at us and see we don't have height, we don't have depth."

Maybe, but this is the same team that beat Southern Illinois in mid-December. The Billikens (9-6) were considered to be part of the A-10 revival, thanks to Majerus' coaching. The Colonials (4-6) hadn't beaten a team ranked among the RPI's top 200 teams all season.

To put it bluntly, this was like nothing we've ever seen before.

Consider:

• Penn was 4-7, while was Florida Gulf Coast 3-9 entering their game. Both teams were capable of bad night, which is what the Quakers had.
• K-State is an NCAA caliber team that played well at home and had an opponent struggle beyond what one would expect.
• Even when Air Force held Colorado College (a D-III school) to six points last season, we could even expect a result like that because of the league differential.

The Billikens, meanwhile, put on a performance everyone would like to forget.

Their offensive efficiency for this game was 37.5 on 53 possessions. Their previous low this season was 61.4 in a 61-40 loss to Kent State. Their eFG% was 15.6, half of their previous low, also against Kent State. Both were also worse than Savannah State against K-State.

Ken Pomeroy could confirm this, but it looks like the Billikens put on one of the top five worst offensive displays in history.

The good news? Thank God for the shot clock.

North Carolina trailed Duke 7-0 at halftime during a 1979 loss (Dean Smith's four corners offense never worked better.) Arkansas State once lost 75-6 to Kentucky in 1945, while Temple lost 11-6 to Tennessee in 1973.

11-6. That's not even a good football game.

Everyone loves a big story. And few things are bigger than Kenny George, the tallest player in NCAA history.

A 7-foot-7 junior at UNC-Asheville, George has been a curiosity for most of his college career. Recruited out of Chicago, George sat out two years with injuries (ruptured knee caps; earned a medical redshirt), averaged 5.5 points and 2.0 blocks a game (in about 10 minutes playing time) last season, but has played a bigger role this year.

Much bigger. Few players this season have improved as much as George.

He leads the nation in blocks (5.4), grabs 9.8 boards a game, makes 70 percent of his shots (dunks are easy when you don't have to jump) has more than doubled his scoring average (12.8) and his minutes played (22.2). The Bulldogs (11-3) are 7-1 when George scores in double figures. But it's the minutes played stat that is most important for a guy George's size.

When it comes to BIG players – anyone taller than 7-5 – they're usually beanpoles who just block shots like Manute Bol or so ungainly and uncoordinated like Gheorghe Muresan that they're just a curiosity. That's why someone like Yao Ming has been such a boon for the Houston Rockets. He may be the NBA's slowest player, but he's skilled and handles his bulk like someone three or four inches shorter would.

Here's a list of the tallest players in basketball history (heights are in centimeters). Usually, 7-4 is the height threshold for an athletic, useful player. That includes guys like Ralph Sampson or Rik Smits (though Smits wasn't in Sampson's class). They could run, play defense and hit shots instead of lumbering around the court. Sometimes really tall is too tall.

So when players taller than 7-4 show any kind of skill, it's intriguing to coaches and scouts, which is why a guy like Shawn Bradley always comes up when talking about really tall players. (Let alone the difficulty in finding clothes that fit or not being able to drive a car.)

Bradley (7-foot-5) caught endless flak for what he wasn't (a dominant center), but he was surprisingly mobile for his size and was a terror on defense while at BYU. As a freshman, led the NCAA in blocks in 1991, averaging 5.21 a game and was the No. 2 overall pick that season. He never thrived in the NBA, but did stick around for 12 seasons.

ANYWAY, the point is that Bradley was mobile enough that he wasn't a liability on the court resulting in nearly 30 minutes a game to start his NBA career. George, now that he's healthy, has been able to stay on the court resulting in easy baskets and an imposing defensive presence for the Bulldogs.

He's already hit a huge shot for UNC-Ashville this season, a dunk that helped seal a win against South Carolina last weekend. If you missed UNC-Asheville's loss to North Carolina on Wednesday, it was a trip. George intimidated the Heels, passed well out double teams and, of course, had no trouble dunking.

(Though he did get dunked on by Tyler Hansbrough, which was quite a sight. Maybe the 6-9 Hansbrough had recurring nightmares of first seeing George last year. "Not until I got up real close was I like 'Wow!'" Hansbrough told The News & Observer.)

George will likely return for his senior season (he's slated for the last pick in the 2009 draft by nbadraft.net), where I hope he continues to improve. After all, who doesn't want to see a story like this continue?

Enjoyed a week off to celebrate the holidays – and a sweet win for Kansas in the Orange Bowl. Not ready to anoint the Jayhawks as the latest football/basketball power, but it was a sweet present, nonetheless.

However, the week left me behind the curve on conference play beginning, so I'll offer up some of the best looks at college basketball's second season.

The Big 12 has been better than expected, writes our own expert, Ken Davis. Sure, we all knew Kansas would be a title contender (and after a thrashing of Boston College on Saturday, the Jayhawks earned some serious props for their play thus far. Then again, BC lost to Robert on Monday. Hold off on that title talk.), but Texas, Oklahoma and A&M are all capable of reaching the Elite Eight.

There's a rundown of all six BCS conferences from FOX Sports' Jeff Goodman, who points out the Cal Bears should be a darkhorse teams coming out of the Pac-10. If that's true, it'll be because of their offense, which rates among the Top 10 on kenpom.com's adjusted efficiency. Between Ryan Anderson, DeVon Hardin and Patrick Christopher, Cal has the size and skill to hang with most teams. Defense, though…

Speaking of Pomeroy, he and John Gasaway cover a lot of ground in their latest back and forth. My favorite aspect? Tubby Smith. His Gophers have lost two straight, but opened plenty of eyes after a close loss to Michigan State on Saturday. They may squeek into the NCAA Tournament this season with the same personnel that was 9-22 last season.

Smith's old school? After a start most 'Cats fans will have nightmares about the rest of their lives, Billy Gillispie's been trying to stay positive. It'll be tough. Kentucky will be pushed to finish above .500, which, as Jerry Tipton points out, isn't good for the SEC as a whole.

We're down to six unbeaten teams (after UNC escaped by the skin of its teeth on Sunday night). Here's a comprehensive rundown of the schools and what could derail their perfect starts. Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy says one of those, Vandy, gets its chance to silence all doubters on Jan. 17 at Tennessee. (That's if the Commodores get by Kentucky…)

When it comes to mid-major analysis, always turn to Kyle Whelliston. His rundown of non-BCS schools who could be contenders is good reading, but his Boubacars on the midmajority.com are essential reading. Insight, wit and statistics all in one package.

Finally, here's one for everybody thinking ahead to their brackets.

SI.com's Luke Winn compared the teams in the Top 25 to adjusted efficiency ratings on kenpom.com, which he's done for the last two seasons. (When we should've known teams like Alabama and Oklahoma State might not have been as good as their rankings.)

Important findings to consider:

But there's one issue I have with Winn's elite teams. Those three may be ranked among the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency, but that doesn't mean his tier 2 and tier 3 teams aren't as dominant. More than a dozen teams have at least a 30-point margin between their AdjO and AdjD. Last year, UCLA's margin was 32.8 and they were as dominant as any team in the country.

Also, Kansas and Duke have the highest margin between their AdjO and AdjD, but the strength of schedule for both teams is around 100. Meanwhile, a team like Arizona is 9-4, has the 3^rd toughest schedule in the country, and still ranks among the elite offensive teams in the country. Memphis, Xavier and Texas have played top 25 schedules, and are dynamite in adjusted efficiency.

It's one thing to statistically judge teams, but not considering the quality of their opponents is foolish. (Which was the downfall of Oklahoma State and Clemson last year.)

Check out this week's Top 25, and specifically, the top teams in it. Washington State, Georgetown and Indiana all have strengths of schedule in the 200s. Ole Miss is close at 186.

If you're looking for some teams who may be overrated, they would be a good place to start. Watch them closely during conference play.