Last week, the NCAA announced it was no longer attaching bad — and/or good — grades on the public track records of just the universities. Nope, coaches were going to be stuck with the bill, too. And while coaches don't currently have any direct punishment in relation to the amount of players they help usher up to the podium (meaning they can leave a school and get hired somewhere else ... Read More

On the heels of Northern Iowa's stunning win, CHJ whips out his list machine to crank out the 10 best stunners of all-time. UNI doesn't even sniff the top five. There are so many awesome upsets, it's terrible to omit the 10 or 12 fringe candidates. For your enjoyment and disagreement, just click your mouse.

MIDWEST: UNLV (8) vs. Northern Iowa (9). Will Vegas be slowed down by UNI? I'm normally not a huge fan of these smaller conferences going head to head, but I can't turn away from what the committee has given us this year. This is one of three non-BCS matchups I've featured here. If there's one 8/9 game that's destined to screw you, I think it's this one. Early reaction: I ... Read More

Don't have a lot of time to tackle this because it will all be decided in 12 hours. Purdue bowed out of the running yesterday so it's down to West Virginia and Duke. Before I give you my opinion, here are the resúmés. Ohio State eliminated from this discussion because WVU beat it head to head, and you have to assume that's going to factor into the rankings. Also, OSU ... Read More

As we sit and wait for a number of player-of-the-year awards (the Sporting News has already released its list), here's who was voted on as the best of the best in every conference in America by the league's coaches. A pretty decent wrap-up on who to look for in The Tournament and reason to gripe over a player or two getting snubbed. ACC Player of the Year: Greivis Vasquez, Maryland Freshman of the ... Read More

As a music lover — nay, as a music obsesser — I couldn't leave the other huge passion in my life out of this blog any longer. I did music references into a post for the season preview, if you recall. So, from here on out, until the season ends, I'll be linking up a few songs and relating them to some teams/players/storylines from this season. Your suggestions are welcome: editor@collegehoopsjournal.com. Let's ... Read More

As always, thanks for reading. What's below, I write it as much for you as I do for me. I resolve to get a job that pays me full-time to write about college basketball. I resolve to write at least two columns per week on this site while the season is in session. I hope they engage you. I resolve, for the 28th year in a row, to not sign up for a ... Read More

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

Here's who he had in regard to college basketball. Best game analysts: Jay Bilas, Len Elmore, Fran Fraschilla, Clark Kellogg, Steve Lavin, Bill Raftery. No Gottlieb? Gottlieb's gotta be on that list, Richard. He's the most unafraid voice speaking on college basketball today. It's more impressive that he does it under ESPN's umbrella. Best play-by-play: Dan Shulman. Shulman gets the pick for general play-by-play duties, but his work in college basketball had ... Read More

The Blue Ribbon preview book might as well be claimed as the official bible for all who follow this sport. I let out a girlish, glee-filled yelp when I saw it on my doorstep upon coming home from work about a month ago. Chris Dortch and the staff always do a ridiculous job compiling thorough breakdowns of every single team in the country. In reality, it's all too much information to ... Read More

A peek at the 50 players who are expected to make a run for all the POTY awards come March.

Sporting News gave itself a nice little bump in publicity yesterday when it released its list of the greatest coaches across the sports landscape. The list, which was "selected by a panel of 118 Hall of Famers, championship coaches and other experts" is peppered with many mentors from the men's and women's college game. To be honest, I was pretty shocked Everybody's Motivational Tool, Vince Lombardi, did not take the top honors ... Read More

Sixty-four games later, we've gotta whittle it down to 10. The 2009 Tournament was considered a lightweight in terms of drama and watchability (new word?), but this list wasn't the easiest thing to produce. There were about 15 solid, very watchable and very exciting games.And though most of the games beyond the Sweet 16 were stinkers and there weren't really any big lil'-guy-over-big-boy dramatic endings, don't let that cloud your ... Read More

Three of the five members from the presason All-America team made it through to the end; Luke Harangody and Darren Collison were such underachievers. So here are the top five players in the country, according to the Associated Press' voters. Blake Griffin. No-brainer. Griffin was the only unanimous selection, which speaks to both just how damn good he is and the evenness of play beneath him. Griffing easily averaged a double-double ... Read More

When talk of the big boys begins to get a little dull (and it's usually around this time of year), it's then time to remind everyone there are a couple of teams out there that will cause you to curse at your television, for they are the ones who will doom your bracket. Here are 10 mid-majors to keep your cynical eyes on. Note: I'm omitting Gonzaga, Davidson and Memphis for ... Read More

I've taken some time off due to real-life work recently, but I'm back with vigor! Everyone is mocking everything now, and that's fine, but here's my take on the lottery process. *Let's stop fooling ourselves, by the way. We know zilch about foreign-born basketball products, so although I know this Danilo Gallinari will be drafted in the lottery, I'm not going to pretend I know where he fits or should go. I'm ... Read More

I was doing all of this hunting, keeping tabs on who's going, who's staying and who's on the fence ... then found Chad Ford. Here's what makes this list so comical: 48 players. Forty-eight of the 60 draft spots are being attempting to be spoken for by underclassmen. Throw in the helping of seniors who will be drafted and another five-to-eight foreign guys that will be plucked by someone, and ... Read More

(Updated: April 18) I know this list can get ridiculous, so here's your list of early entrees. The draft declaration deadline is April 27, so I'll update this over the course of the next 11 days. I really hope a bunch of the 50-50 guys come back next year so we can try and keep some of the identity of the game in tact. (Ha. Yeah, right.) Signing with agents: » Michael ... Read More