Thought about this as soon as UConn was jobbed of a chance at overtime last night. And although we're about three weeks away from the first edition of "Dancing on the Bubble," I did want to bring one small team to your attention. Consider the resume: Nine straight wins after an 0-2 start. The losses came against Connecticut and Harvard. Harvard is no slouch this season. Bill & Mary has a seven-point ... Read More

—UPSET—Cincinnati 71, No. 10 Connecticut 69. It was a bad call and everyone knows it. —UPSET—Virginia 72, No. 24 UAB 63. UAB, apparently, doesn't want to be taken seriously. —UPSET—Illinois 89, No. 25 Northwestern 83 (OT). Hardly an upset. Northwestern will not be making The Tournament. I said it since Coble's injury. That's hardly crystal-ball-like, but I'm a bit surprised so many people are making a push for this. No. 9 North Carolina ... Read More

How do you not love aptly named Dayton Flyers? Chris Wright has the tendency to define filth in the air.

Legion's departure from Illinois seems to be the biggest hardcourt news out of Champagne so far this season. Not a good sign. Sure, Illinois is in the mix for a Tournament berth, but is there one interesting tidbit about this group? Legion's inability to get it going on the court is a bit of a microcosm of this Illini team. Some noticeable potential, sure, but where are the results and/or ... Read More

• Former gang leader is now coaching in hoops and is very much well-liked. {Fanhouse} • Kalin Lucas, which this site is a very big fan of, was asked to sit out practice by Tom Izzo. Izzo apparently has some pretty big issues with the lack of expected leadership Lucas has demonstrated in recent weeks. {Detroit Free Press} • More on this in a bit: Alex Legion is off his second team ... Read More

All six remaining undefeated teams played last night and six survived. One didn't deserve to.

It's gotten pretty gloomy in Bloomington. Maurice Creek was the brightest spot on a team that's probably in Year Two of a four-year rebuilding process. Creek, the freshman from Oxon Hill, Md., went down in IU's 90-42 win over winless Bryant. Driving to put home a layup, Creek landed awkwardly on his left knee and fractured it. (Cringe.) Creek was averaging a freshman-best 17.6 points per game. How Indiana will make up ... Read More

• But it was only the second-largest margin of victory in team history last night. Duke 117, North Carolina Central 28. {WRAL} • Can't say USC is legit just yet, but I really want to. I'll be heading out to L.A. in a few weeks to cover a weekend of hoops at Southern Cal. Mike Gerrity seems to be the truth. {Los Angeles Times} • The Big Ten network is expanding its ... Read More

Kind of depressed my Bears won last night. I want Lovie out of there. No. 9 North Carolina 81, Rutgers 67. Hey, RU looked good in Chapel Hill. But here's the problem: Rutgers played the way it needed to, handed out fouls in the best way possible to keep UNC to a steady jog ... and it still was more than an arm's reach out of winning. Yes, they did get ... Read More

A team gets back in on the conversation after not being in the polls for 40 years.

The crux: African boys are being tempted with false dreams of playing big-time basketball. The success rate — from a college graduation perspective alone — of flying these "recruits" to American shores isn't on the rise. But few people pay attention to the failed attempts. Yes, you know about Manute Bol, Hasheem Thabeet and Dikembe Mutombo. But you don't know of hundreds of other players who have been deported back to ... Read More

• The college basketball aspect of Urban Meyer's shocking resignation that never came to be: Skip Prosser's death made him begin to contemplate coaching. {The Gainesville Sun} • I got love for the ladies, too. Here's a recap on the decade in women's college basketball. {Pittsburgh Tribune} • Oregon Tech, an NAIA school, has a 30-year-old on its roster who is finally getting his chance at playing college ball. {Bend Bulletin} • Father-to-be ... Read More

From Saturday: No. 6 West Virginia 90, Seton Hall (OT) 84. Thank you to both of these teams for giving us a little bit of drama in the wake of Christmas. As you probably know, this game was the only one played Saturday afternoon, and what a game it was. Jeremy Hazell's ridiculous, almost-gave-saving performance was one that shouldn't be overlooked. Sure, he was chucking worse than my brother Chris, but ... Read More

Kill some time before seeing the family and friends by reading a few links. There is not a single college basketball game being played today, by the way. As it should be. • Sorry, you won't be seeing Derrick Roland's horrifying leg injury on this site. No, thank you. I'm good. Wanna keep my food down. But Mark Cuban has offered to help Roland in trying to rehab and recover as ... Read More

If you're one of the few who trickled into today to get a hoops fix, thanks for stopping by. I write for the hoops hungry, and you clearly qualify.

Grab a cup of hot cocoa and reminisce with me, won't you?

• Putting this in my back pocket for a column in January. Jeff Capel called out Willie Warren, in so many words, after Oklahoma's bad loss to UTEP monday night. Warren lacks the ability to be a leader, and that's fine, but the Sooners can't expect to do much this year with that situation. {NewsOK} • I told you about Saint Mary's surprisingly good season first, now let these guys do ... Read More

—UPSET— South Alabama 67, No. 18 Florida 66. Uh ... whoops? Florida, before 2005, lacked the ability to close out a lot of good games. It lost some clunkers, too. You remember how the team chronicaly underachieved. Then Noah and Co. came of age and erased so many hair-pulling memories for Gators fans. Now, it seems Donovan's teams are unable to shake that again. No reason UF should lose to ... Read More