For at least two years, starting in 2011, the four biggest basketball programs in Indiana will, once again, have late-fall clash. The Crossroads Classic was announced Monday, pitting Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame and Butler against each other. I'm a honk for all things that convene local teams against each other on an annual basis. Hell, anything resembling a bracket usually gets my adrenaline going. But this isn't a round-robin in a single ... Read More

Though it's Sunday and I should be soaking up the last few weekends of summer, I have to pipe in about the ever-curious situation happening between a newspaper and a university. The Chicago Sun-Times won't back down from its reports that Anthony Davis' family put his recruitment for sale, and it was asking six figures. And now the Davis family will most definitely be trying to attain six figures, or more, ... Read More

The world of recruiting is a scary one to cover. So scary, in some ways, I feel I barely qualify to write about it at this relatively primitive stage of my sportswriting career. I've always loved college basketball but have never dipped into the fetal stages of its development until this summer. A quick scan: The recruits are often shy and new to the concept of the media, ... Read More

No, I don't think the format improved. The NCAA definitely stepped on a landmine with this one. Not a fatal one, but something that altered the format of The Tournament for the worse. An arm was blown off, and now a mutating limb that's unrecognizable is growing in its place. Say hello to the slightly-altered-but-still-familiar NCAA Tournament. For those vested rather intensely in the game of college basketball, Monday was a pretty big ... Read More

Is attempting to prevent coaches from going after freshmen and sophomores a worthwhile endeavor?

When Terrence Jones waited until the last possible hour to make his decision — his second one — about which school he was going to go to, he brought all onlookers and bathed in the applause and jeers all at once. As Gary Parrish aptly pointed out yesterday, Jones didn't run and hide from his decision on the final day. He wanted attention and sought it out on Twitter. His quasi-apoplectic ... Read More

Until all the NBA jobs are fulfilled, it seems John Calipari won't be able to avoid the speculation. He doesn't have much room to complain about his named being tossed about; most of this gossip is fueled by his own doing, whether by his actions in the present or the precedent for waffling he set long ago. The package deal concept is something that was brought into popularity at the college ... Read More

It's starting to seem like he was given the full name of Terrence Jones Saga when he was born, as I can't remember many times when the Jefferson High recruit was referred to without those three words coming in succession. The wishy-washy recruit from Portland originally made his commitment to Washington back on April 30. More than 25,000 people watched on the Internet. Pretty amazing, right? Pretty ludicrous, too. Later ... Read More

Although the deadline date is not the players' doing, the decision is. Whether they stay or go, ultimately, is their choice and their fault if they fail to reach their NBA dream. No one's stopping them from staying another year.

The announcement that 2011 stud Marquis Teague switched allegiances, from Louisville to Kentucky, was the latest blow to the Cards' coach.

In both games a non-BCS school flirted with winning its first national title. In both games a traditional powerhouse — a blueblood, a favorite — was taking on said non-BCS school. In one game, a late lead was choked away. In another, it almost happened. And in one game a shot in the final seconds of regulation created a top-10 all-time March moment. In the other, it almost happened. So which do you take? ... Read More

It's hard to find an organization or corporation that's as willingly obtuse to public perception as the NCAA. If you've already read all you want to read about a bunch of men and women sitting around talking about the possibility of an expanded bracket and what that means to the student-athlete, I will try and be different with my approach. So humor me here. Greg Shaheen, the temporary replacement talking head for ... Read More

From now on I think the committee needs to start seeding Michigan State as a 13 or lower just to make it tougher on Tom Izzo. Yes, the unbelievable streak/fact continues: If you play for Mister March for four years, you are guaranteed a trip to the Final Four. Do you realize how illegal that should be? It's the sixth trip in 12 years for Izzo, who is so gosh darn ... Read More

As if it wasn't clear before this, Butler reaching the Final Four, becoming the first non-major team to do it since Memphis, way back in 2008, is a pretty huge deal. If George Mason was a ceiling-smashing transgression, perhaps the Bulldogs just burned down the parameters regarding all teams from non-BCS conferences. Its youthful coach (many jokes have been and will still be made at Brad Stevens' expense) and mature team ... Read More

Did you notice Syracuse has only been to the Elite Eight two times in 21 years? This is the loss that is, unfortunately, going to stain a terrific season for Syracuse. The team played beyond expectations, were terifically coached and had a bad game against a team that's been allergic to losing since the calendar turned to 2010. But now, though this stat wasn't talked about at all until today, the fact ... Read More

I'm not going rehash all of what you've probably read and talked about in the past 96 hours, but I do want to just bring up a few things that stuck out at it. I'll tell you what I don't give a damn about — but I'll begin this post with! — conference records in The Tournament. This is a talking point for myopic fans that couldn't break down a team ... Read More

How quickly did that Syracuse game get out of hand? The Orange were without Arinze Onuaku all day and sans Rick Jackson for the majority of the first half, effectively only putting four competent Big East players on the floor. Yet this didn't faze SU, as Wesley Johnson Lottery-picked his way to 31 points and gave one of his three most dominant performances of the season to get the Orange ... Read More

One surprise to the Elite Eight and only three double-digit seeds winning in the first round. Bring me a lighter so I can dispose of this thing by 9 p.m. tonight.