Wasn’t around the computer too much this weekend; the television is another story.

With so much basketball to absorb, here’s 12 things one man took away from Wednesday-Sunday.

1) Upsets happen. Don’t overreact. Much will be/has been made of Louisville, Michigan State and others. Let’s try to avoid the knee-jerk type reaction we see so much with the NFL or college football. Teams lose games. Very, very good teams lose games. Sometimes as many as five in a season. Sure, some games like Western Kentucky over Louisville could affect seeding come March, but it’s doubtful it will affect a team getting in or not. Just on piece of the puzzle.

2) Speaking of upsets, the Big East. A few may rush to dub the behemoth “overrated.” Hardly. We’re just hitting December, so pump the brakes on that notion. And in case you missed it, some of the notable Big East losses: Notre Dame getting slammed by UNC; Louisville losing by double digits to Western Kentucky; Marquette falling by 14 to Dayton; West Virginia losing to Kentucky; and Cincinnati being felled by Florida State, 58-47.

3) Too many tournaments. This is pissing into the wind (now that we’ve hit this many tournaments in the early season, we’re never going back), but I found myself watered down with all the bracket hoopla over the past few days. Did you know there was a “Cancun Challenge”? The only challenge I know related to Cancun is leaving without some sort of illness or virus attached to you.

4) Georgetown will remain relevant. New guy in the middle Greg Monroe could prove to be of much more value this season than Roy Hibbert ever was. Very impressed with the Hoyas.

5) Kentucky wins in Vegas. Defeats of K-State and West Virgina put the Wildcats at 4-2. Small steps, ‘Cats fans, small steps.

6) Oklahoma-Purdue was the best game of the weekend. The NIT Season Tip-Off at MSG was a pretty good four-team summit all around. A little overtime ball Friday night was a treat. If not for some sloppy play by Purdue, it probably wins this game. Instead, it’s a loss and Duke is up next.

7) There are playmakers, then there is James Harden. You may not get a lot of looks at Harden before March, but his play could propel the Sun Devils to a Pac-10 title. He put up 40 last night against UTEP.

8 ) Gonzaga’s defense. The Zags can certainly extend and get in your face now. I didn’t realize it until I took a step back and analyzed the team, but you could make the argument that its starting five could all be drafted to the NBA. You know you’ve heard this before, but here it goes again: This could be the best Gonzaga team under Mark Few. If you missed them this weekend, don’t worry, they’ll be on nationally a few more times before the season’s over.

9) Ira Brown is 26 and used to pitch in the minor leagues. He’s a beast. I love him. Plays for Gonzaga.

10) The 3-point line is having an effect. Guys’ shoes are toeing the line, lanes are opening up, shots seems to be a little too forced in some respects. It’s good for the game, and I love it. What a difference a foot makes.

11) Wake Forest is the best team you don’t know anything about. Names to know: James Johnson, L.D. Williams, Justin Teague, Al-Farouq Aminu. The Deacs won the 76 Classic last night. They could hit 2009 with a 12-0 record (and perhaps a top-10 ranking). Start paying attention.

12) More data to follow. We’ve got the Big 10-ACC, Pac-10-Big XII and SEC-Big East tuneups getting underway this week.

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