ESPN Men's Basketball

It's no secret: 2011-12 was not West Virginia's best year on the basketball court. That's not the same as calling it a bad year: The Mountaineers still managed to eek out a 9-9 record in the Big East, and they still managed to sneak in to the NCAA tournament before losing to Gonzaga in the first round, and there are plenty of teams that wish they could say the same.

Still, 2012 was not the finest hour in Bob Huggins' tenure at WVU, mostly because his team was often so difficult to watch. Aesthetic value only goes so far, sure, but the Mountaineers were such a poor shooting team, and such a mediocre defensive unit, that their games often came down to a) whether Kevin Jones could carry the load and b) which team rebounded its own misses more frequently. These games were scrums, and they were ugly. Even the most loyal West Virginia fan had to occasionally avert her eyes.

So: What does 2012-13 have in store? The Mountaineers, as you already know, are joining the Big 12. Can Huggy's team compete -- or even contend -- in their new-look league?

If not, it will not be for a lack of talent. Huggins loses Jones and senior guard Daryl "Truck" Bryant, his two leading scorers from last year's campaign, to graduation. The loss of the do-everything Jones -- an adept scorer and dominant offensive rebounder and a four-year stalwart at his position -- will require a particularly difficult adjustment. But despite that loss, Huggins is in many ways reloading. And he has transfers to thank for that.

If West Virginia does indeed plan to compete for the Big 12 title in 2012-13, it may well come down to the play of Aaric Murray, a former La Salle forward, and Juwan Staten, a transfer point guard from Dayton. Both bring tons of talent. At 6-foot-10, Murray is a potential NBA prospect; as a sophomore at La Salle, he grabbed 19.0 percent of opponents' misses and recorded a block on 7.6 percent of available possessions. (He also shot 20-of-57 from 3 that season. There is versatility here, too.) Staten, meanwhile, was one of the nation's best assist men in 2011, his freshman season at Dayton, when his 39.8 percent assist rate ranked him No. 10 in the country. Staten took his fair shot of shots that season (304, to be exact), but his pass-first tendencies nonetheless shone through.

West Virginia is also bringing along a crop of 2012 freshmen -- notably Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne, but Aaron Brown, Keaton Miles and Kevin Noreen all received solid minutes in their first seasons -- as well as one ESPNU 100 talent in No. 12-ranked power forward Elijah Macon, a Columbus, Ohio native who did his hooping and schooling at Huntington Prep. Big-bodied and ably bearded forward Deniz Kilicli returns, and hopefully he will play "Country Roads" on his guitar at Midnight Madness again. That was awesome.

Still, the key players to watch are Murray and Staten, and Staten may prove to be the most important; he offers as much promise as trepidation. Staten is the kind of facilitative point guard the Mountaineers have desperately lacked in recent seasons, particularly when Bryant was running the show. (Hinds and Browne both recorded assist rates above 20 this past season, but West Virginia's offense was hardly flowing.) If Staten is content to be that kind of player, and Murray and Kilicli and Huggins' other forwards hit the glass with the usual Hugginsian intensity, then West Virginia is almost guaranteed to improve in 2012-13. But if Staten is still mired in some of the things that precipitated his Dayton transfer in the first place -- bad chemistry with teammates, a bad reputation among his coaches, those sort of things -- the Mountaineers are going to struggle early and often on both ends of the floor.

There are many uncertainties for this team, from two bigtime transfers to a batch of freshmen with a year of experience under their belts, to a freshman power forward that may or may not make an immediate impact. Until Huggins gets his players on the floor in the fall, the best West Virginia fans can do is picture it in their mind's eye. Midnight Madness will be a fascinating experience, no doubt (and not just for Kilicli's strumming). But if all goes well, the team WVU fans see in 2012-13 could be much improved, capable -- at least -- of battling in the top half of its new league in its first Big 12 season.

At the very worst, this team should be more entertaining -- or, you know, less difficult to watch. For a squad with this many questions, the Mountaineers may offer some potentially exciting answers.

PITTSBURGH -- The month of March can be like a great big tub of aloe, here to cure all that ails you, make you forget everything that went wrong in the regular season.

And surely a lot went wrong for Gonzaga this season, or at least by the Zags’ incredibly high standards.

For the first time since 1997, Gonzaga won neither the West Coast Conference regular-season nor tournament titles. Worse, the Zags ceded both to rival Saint Mary’s.

It was not an entirely illogical result, considering this is a Gonzaga team heavily dependent on freshmen at key spots, but a tough pill to swallow nevertheless.

Two weeks later, and suddenly those things seem like ancient history.

Gonzaga, the original mid-major gone big-time, rolled over home favorite West Virginia 77-54, putting together arguably its most complete game of the season.

“We played pretty well against BYU in the [WCC] tournament, too, but yeah, this might have been our best,’’ coach Mark Few said.

The Zags flew 2,000 miles to play this game, compared to the 75-mile bus ride the Mountaineers took from Morgantown.

Somehow West Virginia looked jet-lagged.

The Mountaineers were never in it, trailing by 18 at the break and then merely playing out the clock from there, handing coach Bob Huggins his worst loss in NCAA tournament play since West Virginia's 21-point defeat to Duke in the Final Four in 2010.

Gonzaga did what it wanted on offense, shooting at 56 percent from the floor, and locked down WVU on the other end. Never a good shooting team, the Mountaineers were positively dreadful Thursday, clanking to the tune of 32 percent from the floor and a woeful 3-of-17 from the arc.

“The truth of the matter is, this is really a microcosm of our season,’’ Huggins said. “This is the worst defensive team I’ve had in 30 years. We don’t get the help, we don’t get the loose balls, we don’t do the things we’ve done for years and years and years. A lot of it is because we’re so inept offensively. They get breakouts. We throw the ball around, throw the ball to them. That adds to it.’’

Robert Sacre came to Pittsburgh hoping he would finally get a taste of some Big East beefcake basketball. It never really happened. The Zags doubled Kevin Jones every time he touched the ball and Jones, who does a lot of his damage on the offensive glass, was fairly innocuous. He scored 13 but had just 4 rebounds and, more, only 2 offensive rebounds, as the Zags were able to match the Mountaineers’ effort on the glass, something Few had emphasized all week.

“I just want to go out with a bang,’’ Sacre said. “Coach always says, ‘Play like Rob, have a lot of energy, have passion, have fun.' That’s what I’m trying to do. That’s what the results are.’’

He’ll have another chance on Saturday, against either Ohio State or Loyola, and perhaps a little more of a soothing balm, too.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The big, burly Jack Cooley emerged in the paint to deflect the hopeless Jabarie Hinds' shot, Hinds' sixth miss on a Wednesday night that saw him whiff on eight of his nine attempts inside a hellacious Joyce Center. Eric Atkins ended up with the ball and threw ahead to backcourt mate Jerian Grant, who lifted off from outside the paint, going for what his coach would later term "the jugular."

Grant's monster slam attempt from the left side rimmed out toward the Notre Dame bench, just as his momentum was carrying him that way. Five seconds later, alone with the ball in his hands, Grant swished his fourth and final 3 of the night, pausing in front of his bench to take in the celebration of a lead that never stopped growing.

If ever a sequence summed up the Irish's night, the Irish's past month, amidst this historic stretch, it came in that 12-second sequence midway through the second half of a 71-44 rout of West Virginia. Notre Dame has now won nine straight games, a school record in Big East play, and there's no sign of things slowing down.

The Irish's next stop comes Saturday at Madison Square Garden, and a win there over St. John's will clinch a double-bye for the return trip nearly two weeks later for the Big East tournament.

"I think it's a bonus, just to be able to get in there and play a game and then be back," Grant said. "I think we can get a nice rhythm in there, and it will be good for us when the tournament comes."

Grant's 20 points off 8-for-11 shooting (including 4-of-5 from 3) led the attack for the Irish, who had four players in double-figures. They shot better than 61 percent from the floor, breaking open a two-point game at halftime and holding the Mountaineers to just 16 points in the second half.

"I don't know what the school record for misses is," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said, "but I think if I would have left Jabarie Hinds in tonight he would have had it."

Grant, meanwhile, was a catalyst on both ends of the court. He was active on the perimeter, forcing the Mountaineer guards into bad spots, and capitalized on the other end with a pair of fast-break dunks that jarred the leftover tension from a rugged first half.

"Jerian got some nice dunks tonight, they were pretty impressive," forward Scott Martin said. "But I think what's more important than those is his defensive energy, and the way he bothers people. Him and Eric up top, they frustrate people -- I would not want to bring the ball up against those two. They have a very nice chemistry, the way they hand people off, and they have that unspoken little connection there that's paying dividends for us."

Right now that backcourt and so much more has the Irish 12-3 in the Big East, tied for second place and undefeated in the past 32 days since a Jan. 21 upset over then-undefeated Syracuse. They've been rolling since, wrestling one away in Morgantown two weeks ago, completing a school-record 20-point comeback in an overtime win Saturday at Villanova and playing a nearly perfect second half Wednesday to continue this run.

The last Notre Dame team to win eight in a row in Big East play featured current assistants Harold Swanagan and Martin Ingelsby in 2001, Mike Brey's first season as the Irish's head coach.

"He kind of joked about it, about saying you guys can talk smack to those two," Atkins said of Brey.

For now, Brey will talk to his team about playing at the Garden, an obstacle the three-time conference coach of the year has yet to overcome, never reaching the title game and the accompanying Broadway lights that come with it.

A quick turnaround awaits Monday against Georgetown at the Verizon Center, where the Irish, stinging from the loss of leading scorer Tim Abromaitis, fell to 5-4 in a loss to Maryland nearly three months ago.

But that reminder will be put on hold for a few more days.

"We're a lot different than the team that was in D.C. in that building in December," Brey said, stating the obvious. "That's what I'm gonna talk about Sunday."

Why? Because the man needs his sleep, and if you're an opposing coach in the Big East, Syracuse is the kind of team that keeps you up at night.

Which is essentially what West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said on the Big East conference call this week, via Adam Zagoria:

“I haven’t watched Syracuse yet, for obvious reasons,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins cracked on Thursday’s Big East conference call. “I have a hard enough time sleeping as it is.”

I think we can go ahead and assume Huggy Bear is fudging the truth just a bit here; it's impossible to imagine he hasn't at least snuck a glance at the buzzsaw that is the Syracuse Orange so far this season. A casual glimpse, perhaps. A few highlights on ESPN. Or, more likely, at least one intensive tape session. Huggins does not strike one as the kind of coach who would prefer to do his best ostrich routine rather than gain some knowledge of one of the main threats to his own team's sustained Big East success. It just doesn't seem very likely.

Still, I suppose it's not entirely implausible. After all, Huggins has plenty of other things to worry about, including the continued improvement of his own team, which has looked better and better as the season has progressed, and which most recently beat Georgetown by 12 and gave Connecticut a serious run on the road. The good news for Huggins: He has plenty of time to prepare for Jim Boeheim's incredibly deep, talented team; WVU doesn't face Syracuse until the end of the month, on Jan. 28.

The other good news? That's the only time WVU will play Syracuse in the regular season in 2012. Perhaps that can aid Huggy's sleep deprivation. It certainly can't hurt.

After No. 1, good luck figuring out the rest of the Big East. But I'll give it a shot ...

1. Syracuse: Instead of giving pause to how good the Orange is, Syracuse’s survival win against Marquette only enforced just why Jim Boeheim’s team is the best in the country. The Orange needed to be tested and was, giving up most of a 23-point lead. Yet Cuse dug in to gut out the win.
2. Georgetown: West Virginia put the breaks on the Hoyas’ 11-game winning streak, exposing Georgetown’s defensive flaws with its inside-outside power. To be determined: Was it just a bad night in a tough environment for the Hoyas? Upcoming games against Cincinnati and at St. John’s will at least partially answer that.
3. West Virginia: In Kevin Jones, Bob Huggins has the current frontrunner for conference player of the year honors. Mix in Truck Bryant, who's playing the best basketball of his career, and you have a good recipe for success for a young WVU team that is finding its stride at just the right time.
4. Seton Hall: Do the Pirates belong in the top tier of the league? Hard to say, but they're playing like it. Embarrassed by the pounding they took from Syracuse, the Pirates have been relentless since, winning their last three by an average of 13 points per game.
5. Marquette: The Golden Eagles are the kings of almost. They almost beat Georgetown on the road and almost dethroned Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Except almost doesn’t count. Marquette is tricky to rank. This is clearly a good team, and one that will be a tough out in the tournament, but it needs to get the wins to prove it.
6. Cincinnati: The Bearcats’ seven-game win streak came to an end on a buzzer-beating putback from Moe Harkless and St. John’s. Cincinnati is a good team but with that home loss to Presbyterian still on its resume, it doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room for bad losses. A big game against Georgetown is upcoming.
7. Connecticut: With or without their coach, the Huskies aren’t particularly fond of New Jersey. UConn lost to Seton Hall while Jim Calhoun finished out his NCAA suspension and fell to Rutgers with him back on the bench. Turnovers are becoming a problem for the Huskies -- Shabazz Napier had five against the Hall and UConn had 20 against Rutgers. They have a critical game against West Virginia on Monday.
8. Notre Dame: No one is better at adjusting on the fly and squeezing everything out of reconstructed rosters than Mike Brey. When Tim Abromaitis’ season ended with a torn ACL, it seemed the Irish’s season was lost as well. Instead, Brey has conjured up a team that is in the mix in the Big East, especially with its double overtime win at Louisville.
9. Louisville: The Cardinals are hard to figure. Solid defensively with gritty players, they are abysmal offensively. Those struggles have led to a mini-skid, with Louisville losing three of its last four.
10. St. John’s: Moe Harkless and D’Angelo Harrison give the Red Storm a bright future. The immediate present will be harder to predict for a young team still trying to make do without its head coach.
11. South Florida: Progress comes in increments in Tampa and the Bulls' win at Villanova, only their seventh league road win in seven seasons, is progress. The catch: continuing it. USF has to become a consistently tough team on the road to really show improvement.
12. DePaul: Reality is starting to seep in for the Blue Demons. After winning five in a row, they’ve lost two of their last three. Shoddy defense -- Villanova shot 63 percent -- negated what could have been another win after DePaul forced 28 turnovers.
13. Rutgers: Maybe the Scarlet Knights should play top-10 teams all the time. The young Knights pulled off another stunner by toppling Connecticut, a game that showed (again) the promise of Mike Rice’s young team. Now Rutgers needs to exhibit that promise more often.
14. Villanova: That a win over DePaul provided a sigh of relief tells you how desperate the Wildcats were to taste victory. Villanova put an end to a three-game conference slide by beating the Blue Demons. Whether it was a win over an easy opponent or signs of legitimate improvement will be determined quickly. The Cats host No. 1 Syracuse on Wednesday.
15. Pittsburgh: Just when you thought a bizarre season couldn’t get weirder, the Panthers lost at DePaul. Pitt is reeling through an inexplicable four-game losing streak in what is quickly becoming a lost season.
16. Providence: The hurts are likely to keep coming for Ed Cooley in his rebuilding process. The Friars' next three opponents: Louisville, Syracuse and Marquette.

1. Bob Huggins won his 700th career game when the Mountaineers knocked off Missouri State in overtime in Las Vegas on Thursday night. He is as much a character as there has been in college basketball, and truly a unique individual. But he is also a survivor -- literally after suffering a heart attack -- and of course through countless battles with an image issue and an administration at Cincinnati. Yet, Huggins continues to persevere, hopping from Kansas State for a year to his alma mater at West Virginia. His Final Four run two years ago was a justifiably climatic event. Huggins has been one of the more underrated game coaches throughout the past two-plus decades. He has been a winner wherever he walks the sideline. He is as independent as any coach has been in the profession. And the record win total is quite an accomplishment.

2. Georgetown swept two games from Memphis this season, a scheduling quirk with the Maui Invitational and a regularly-scheduled home game. But know this: John Thompson III thrives when there are lower expectations, while Memphis has had to deal with too much preseason hype and has not been able to win one of its high-profile games. The Hoyas are one of the surprises this season, and if this trend continues they will be a major factor to finish in the top three of the Big East. Memphis is headed for a fight for C-USA’s title after it was predicted to win in a walk.

3. Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun has to take his NCAA-mandated three-game suspension beginning with the next three Big East games (at South Florida Dec. 28, St. John’s Dec. 31 and at Seton Hall Jan. 3). Associate head coach George Blaney will be the one standing in his place on the bench. But with the expectation within the program that assistant Kevin Ollie may be Calhoun’s replacement in the future it would be interesting to see Ollie given a chance to be the interim head coach to see how he handles game stress and situations.

Most of the nonconference tournaments that have taken place during the past six weeks have been underwhelming. Just look at the list of winners from various events: Dayton (Old Spice Classic), Saint Louis (76 Classic), Harvard (Battle 4 Atlantis) and Northwestern (Charleston Classic).

Yikes.

Even though it will be played in a round-robin format, the Las Vegas Classic has the potential to buck the trend and be one of the more entertaining non-league events of the season. Seventh-ranked Baylor is the most talented team in the field by far, but Scott Drew knows good and well that his squad will be challenged.

Baylor and St. Mary's -- whom the Bears defeated in the Sweet 16 in 2010 -- will face off tonight, as will West Virginia and Missouri State. Friday's games feature Baylor versus West Virginia and St. Mary's versus Missouri State.

Here's a closer look at each of the four teams:

Baylor

Where they stand: The Bears are one of the country's seven remaining unbeaten teams. They have a pair of future NBA lottery picks in forwards Perry Jones III and Quincy Miller. Although they traditionally play poorly away from home, Baylor has two huge road victories this season, against Northwestern and BYU. Not many teams in the country are as athletic, long and deep as the Bears.

Key player: Jones shocked the college basketball world by returning to school for his sophomore year instead of turning pro. The 6-foot-11 phenom had 28 points in Saturday's victory at BYU.

Key stat: For all of their size and length, the Bears have been terrible on the boards. They were outrebounded 41-26 by BYU, a sign that they need to get tougher in the paint.

Best-case scenario: Baylor does what it should and dominates St. Mary's and West Virginia, which would give the Bears loads of momentum heading into Wednesday's game against a strong Mississippi State squad in Dallas.

Worst-case scenario: A tough, physical West Virginia squad bullies the Bears on the boards en route to a Friday upset in Sin City.

St. Mary's

Where they stand: The Gaels are 10-1 and have won eight consecutive games since a Nov. 23 loss to Denver. St. Mary's, whose best victory is against Northern Iowa, should contend for the West Coast Conference title once again.

Key player: Point guard Matthew Dellavedova is one of the best players in the country at his position. The seasoned junior from Australia averages 14.1 points and 6.2 assists per game.

Key stat: Not many squads in the country play "team basketball" quite like the Gaels. St. Mary's averages 18 assists per game -- a mark that ranks ninth nationally. Three players (Dellavedova, Rob Jones and Stephen Holt) average 2.8 assists or more.

Best-case scenario: St. Mary's catches an overconfident Baylor off-guard and avenges its blowout 2010 NCAA tournament loss to the Bears. One night later, the Gaels defeat Missouri State to finish 2-0 in the Las Vegas Classic.

Worst-case scenario: Randy Bennett's squad gets embarrassed by the Bears on Thursday, and the loss carries over into Friday's game against Missouri State. A pair of defeats could damage the Gaels' confidence just before the start of WCC play.

Missouri State

Where they stand: The Bears, 7-3, are expected to contend for the Missouri Valley Conference title along with Wichita State, Creighton and Indiana State. Their losses are to Oral Roberts, New Mexico and Oklahoma State.

Key player: Kyle Weems is a 6-6 senior forward who averages team highs in both points (14.6) and rebounds (7.5). But he's shooting just 40 percent from the field and only 29 percent from 3-point range.

Key stat: Senior guard Michael Bizoukas, who played his first three seasons at DePaul, is averaging 6.2 assists for a team that takes pride in sharing the ball.

Best-case scenario: Missouri State adds a victory over a BCS conference school to its résumé by upsetting West Virginia tonight. Such a win could pay huge dividends on Selection Sunday.

Worst-case scenario: The Bears lose to St. Mary's by double digits Friday. They need to show that they can hang with the country's top mid-majors.

West Virginia

Overview: Bob Huggins' squad is 8-2, with the setbacks coming against Kent State (on Nov. 15) and Mississippi State (Dec. 3). The Mountaineers lost two of their top four scorers (Casey Mitchell and John Flowers) from last year's squad, but they're still a team that could finish in the top half of the Big East.

Key player: Kevin Jones is having the best season of an already successful career. The senior forward is averaging 20.8 points and 11.3 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the field.

Key stat: West Virginia has been atrocious from long range. The Mountaineers are connecting on just 31 percent of their 3-point attempts.

Best-case scenario: The Mountaineers jump back into the national spotlight by handing Baylor its first loss of the season Friday. The victory would give West Virginia loads of momentum entering its Big East opener against Villanova on Dec. 28.

Worst-case scenario: Jones gets into foul trouble and the Mountaineers lose to Missouri State on Thursday. Such a defeat could keep West Virginia out of the NCAA tournament.

Here's my attempt at ranking the Big East teams one month into the season:

1. Syracuse: Amid distractions and the dismissal of their associate head coach, the Orange have done nothing to undermine their top-five national ranking. Syracuse won its first seven games by an average of 26 points and then survived a slugfest against Florida. SU's defense has been particularly strong, while its offense is a little less reliable.

2. Marquette: Buzz Williams’ chronically underappreciated Golden Eagles ought to get their due soon. They’re undefeated, with notches against in-state rival Wisconsin and a good Washington team in New York. Darius Johnson-Odom is good enough to make the early short list for Big East Player of the Year.

3. Louisville: For those who thought Rick Pitino did a masterful job last season, we give you the first month of 2011-12. Pitino has had to hodgepodge together a team amid a myriad of injuries and has yet to lose a game. Louisville has quality wins against a good Long Beach State team and Vanderbilt, and, with everyone finally getting healthy, should only get better as the schedule gets tougher.

4. Connecticut: Rare is the season when beating Harvard signals that UConn is starting to find its way, but the Crimson is that good. Thursday night’s win doesn’t answer all the questions, but certainly for a Huskies team still trying to add new parts -- and satisfy old ones in the form of Alex Oriakhi -- it's a good step. Connecticut is good and will be better as the season progresses, but as the loss to UCF and the near-loss to Florida State prove, there will be growing pains.

5. Georgetown: The Hoyas count as a pleasant surprise in the Big East. After losing Chris Wright and Austin Freeman, no one knew quite what to expect. But Jason Clark has stepped into the leadership role in the backcourt, Hollis Thompson and the emerging Henry Sims have solidified the frontcourt, and Georgetown is 7-1 with quality wins against Memphis and Alabama and only a close loss to Kansas.

6. Pittsburgh: The Panthers will be tough to honestly judge for the next month as they play without Trevon Woodall. That sort of fits right in with Pitt anyway. This is a good team, but one that is a bit confounding. The loss to Long Beach State at the Pete ranks as the biggest head-scratcher, but there's also a sense that Pitt hasn’t quite found its groove just yet.

7. West Virginia: Bob Huggins’ work in progress is starting to progress. The Mountaineers took it on the chin against Mississippi State, but rebounded with a mighty impressive double-overtime win against a previously unbeaten Kansas State team in front of thousands of purple people in Wichita. Who this team is now and who it will be come March will likely be decidedly different.

8. Seton Hall: Herb Pope is playing out of his mind -- averaging an impressive double-double of 21.4 points and 11 boards -- and the Pirates are enjoying the benefits. Seton Hall has not played a murderers' row, for sure, but has won its winnable games with authority. Their lone loss, to Northwestern, isn’t diabolical.

9. Cincinnati: This perplexing Bearcats team could provide answers quickly. Cincinnati plays at Xavier on Saturday. In the meantime, we have only a confusing résumé to go by, which is why the Bearcats are in the middle of the pack. This is a talented and veteran team, so how to explain home losses to Presbyterian and Marshall? Yes, the Thundering Herd is a good team, but Cincy ought to be better.

10. Providence: No one will confuse the Friars’ 7-2 record for a sign of a Top 25 team in the making -- this team has feasted on winnable games early. But there’s no point in knocking that approach either. Ed Cooley is trying to change the culture at PC and in order to do that, he’s first got to change the confidence. Reality will come in the form of Georgetown and Syracuse in back-to-back games to end 2011 and start 2012.

11. Villanova: Jay Wright keeps tinkering and hasn’t found the right combination yet. There is talent on the Wildcats’ roster, but it’s not working together or working well. A team many thought would make the finals at the 76 Classic instead dropped games to Saint Louis and Santa Clara. The Wildcats are going to have to get smarter and better fast to be competitive in the conference.

12. Notre Dame: The Irish’s power rankings ought to come with an asterisk. Without Tim Abromaitis, this isn’t the same team. But as coaches like to say, you can only play the hand you’re dealt, and right now the Irish can’t even bluff well. Notre Dame has lost badly to the two ranked opponents it's faced (Missouri by 29 and Gonzaga by 20). In order to survive, Mike Brey may have to pull out the walk-the-ball-up-the-court method he used after Luke Harangody was injured.

13. DePaul: The Blue Demons’ struggles don’t appear to be easing anytime soon. DePaul played well in losses to its two toughest early opponents -- Minnesota and Ole Miss -- but almosts don’t count in basketball. There is still much work for Oliver Purnell to do and little time to do it in. DePaul kicks off the Big East season against Syracuse and Pitt.

14. St. John’s: Credit the Red Storm for playing a tough schedule. Unfortunately, right now the young team has nothing to show for it. St. John’s has lost to the three ranked teams it’s faced, but what is more damning is that it lost to Northeastern and Detroit as well. Steve Lavin is still recovering from cancer surgery, and Nurideen Lindsey just decided to transfer out. Not a fun season so far for the Johnnies.

15. South Florida: Times remain tough for Stan Heath in Tampa, where the promise of talent has never delivered victories. The Bulls this season are 5-4, but don’t let the record fool you. USF’s losses are either to bad teams (Penn State) or really bad losses to good teams -- a 23-point beating from VCU followed by a 28-point blowout to Kansas. The pressure is on Heath right now.

16. Rutgers: There are more questions than answers right now for the Scarlet Knights, who have lost four of their past five, including two in a row to LSU and Princeton. Most troubling, Rutgers hasn’t broken the 60-point mark in any of those games and is averaging just 66 points on the season.

When a coach leaves a program, it's natural for fans to feel resentment. Marquette fans should be thrilled with the state of their program under coach Buzz Williams, and they are, but they aren't shy about expressing their distaste for former coach Tom Crean and the circumstances under which he left the Golden Eagles for Indiana three years ago.

A similar dynamic exists at Kansas State. When former coach Bob Huggins took over the program in 2006, it was seen as K-State's chance to become nationally relevant in basketball for the first time in years. Then, after just one season, Huggins left to take his dream job at West Virginia (in his hometown of Morgantown, W. Va., no less). Kansas State fans were not pleased, and understandably so.

Since then, though, Huggins's former assistant and current head coach Frank Martin has had more than his fair share of success -- he's 100-43 in four years, and the Wildcats have been to the NCAA tournament in three of those years, culminating in the 2010 Elite Eight squad led by star guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. Martin's hard-charging, menacing demeanor has infected Kansas State's program in the best ways; he's the main reason we all call Bramlage Coliseum the "Octagon of Doom." Huggins is a very successful coach, sure, but all in all, Kansas State fans did pretty well in the transfer.

On Thursday night, Huggins will take on his former team when West Virginia faces Kansas State (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Huggins told the Kansas City Star he isn't sure what kind of reception he's going to get -- but he doesn't know why K-State fans would be upset with him, anyway:

“They ought to be happy I left,” Huggins said in a phone interview. “Frank has done an unbelievable job. From coaching to recruiting, he’s done a phenomenal job. [...] Some people were upset. That was the initial reaction.”

As far as Huggins is concerned, Kansas State could be far worse off than it is now. After all, he says, he could have brought his former assistants, including Martin, to West Virginia with him:

“Let’s be honest. I left behind Frank, Dalonte, Brad [Underwood] and Andy [Assaley]. I could have taken them,” Huggins said. “I could have probably taken the players, too. It was the right thing to do. Kansas State was great to me. I loved the people there.

“I would never have left Kansas State for any place other than here. This was my last opportunity to come home and be around my family. I didn’t do it when I had the opportunity the first time. You know how hindsight is 20-20. I should have."

K-State fans may not like the image Huggins is presenting here, casting himself as the oh-so-benevolent former coach who graciously allowed his assistants to stay at Kansas State and not leave with him. That's maybe just a tiny bit insulting.

But that's Huggy Bear. The underlying sentiment is dead on: Huggins had a rare chance to take the job he'd always wanted. He'd missed on it before. He didn't want to do that again. And he probably knew, given the way his tenure at Cincinnati ended (after a no-contest plea to a charge of driving under the influence), that he had to seize such an opportunity as quickly as possible.

In a way, maybe, everyone won. Huggins got to go home. K-State got to redefine its program under a famously intense and thus-far-successful coach in his own right. If the Wildcats had faded into Bolivian (courtesy of Mike Tyson, never forget) after Huggins' departure, that would be one thing. But in fact the exact opposite has happened.

Of course, that won't keep the local boo-birds at bay tonight. (Nor should it. That wouldn't be very much fun!) But Huggins's point is well taken.

When West Virginia lost to Division II Northern Kentucky in an exhibition last week, at least two Mountaineer players called the defeat "embarrassing," with coach Bob Huggins unhappy afterward as well, according to West Virginia Illustrated.

"I could use a couple other words to describe it," said Huggins. "But I probably shouldn't for the family newspapers that you guys write for."

But Huggins' postgame emotions apparently didn't stop him from approaching the Northern Kentucky coaching staff with a nice gesture, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

"Come here," the driver said to NKU assistant Kevin Schappell.

A couple of minutes later, Schappell came back to tell [head coach Dave] Bezold and the other assistants the driver wanted them to come with him.

It turns out the driver was West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who wanted to take the NKU staff to dinner. Schappell was a graduate assistant at West Virginia from 2007-10, and former West Virginia point guard Darris Nichols, who played for Huggins, also is an NKU assistant.

"It felt like a scene from 'The Godfather,'" said Bezold. "It was awkward at first. I didn't really know coach Huggins that much when he was at UC, and we had just beaten them, but he was great. We just discussed the game a little bit, and he told me how big of a win it was and not to underestimate that, but he also said that good feeling stops in the next practice. He used it as teachable moment for me."

Huggins has plenty of issues to be concerned about with his own team. The Mountaineers are young, inexperienced and getting used to a faster style of play. Deniz Kilicli had missed the NKU game with a knee injury. His players were embarrassed after losing 77-74 on a last-second shot to a Division II team that hadn't beaten a Division I squad since 1984.

But Huggins still found time to make it a special night for some young assistant coaches and Bezold while they were celebrating a big win.

West Virginia junior forward Deniz Kilicli is temporarily out of a home after escaping uninjured from a fire in his apartment building Thursday, according to the Dominion Post.

"I had just come back from class and was in the bathroom when all this was happening," Kilicli said. "I smelled smoke, but I figured it was something little."

Shortly after fire crews arrived and made sure everyone was out of the building, Kilicli realized his was wrong. "Then I saw it, and it was huge," he said. "The whole side of the building was on fire." Kilicli worried about his signature Zakk Wylde and Slash guitars. He estimated their worth at nearly $10,000 total.

"No one got hurt and my guitars are safe," Kilicli said. "That's all I really care about."

The electrical fire provided an unwelcome jolt as well as a significant inconvenience to one of the Mountaineers' top returning players. Kilicli, who averaged 6.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last season, told the paper he would reach out to coach Bob Huggins for assistance because he was unhappy about the potential emergency housing option available to him that was farther away from school.

"It is a big problem for me," Kilicli told the paper. "I have no car, and being within walking distance of my classes and campus is important."

The 6-foot-9 Kilicli is a native of Turkey, and his college experience hasn't always been smooth sailing. The NCAA suspended him for 20 games as a freshman after determining he had violated an amateurism rule by previously playing for a Turkish team that included a professional player.

And now, shortly before the start of official practices, Kilicli has another issue to deal with.

Joe Mazzulla, who helped lead West Virginia to a 2010 Final Four appearance, will begin his career as a Division II assistant coach after recently completing his eligibility, according to West Virginia Illustrated.

Former WVU Guard Joe Mazzulla was recently hired as an assistant coach for the Glenville State men's basketball team.

Mazzulla had an opportunity shortly after his senior season to become an assistant coach at Nova Southeastern, but turned it down for the potential opportunity to play professional basketball overseas. Mazzulla did not find any good overseas opportunities and decided to get his coaching career started.

It couldn't have been easy for Mazzulla to give up his playing career. Back in April when he had received the offer to coach at Nova Southeastern in Florida, he appeared not quite ready to hang 'em up just yet.

But now he's moved on to another stage and joined ranks with the coaching community. For someone who overcame injuries and early struggles and established himself as a solid player at a successful program, his experience should be invaluable.

To get an idea for how far Mazzulla has come, Rick Reilly had this during the Final Four run:

This is a kid who, last February, thought his basketball days were over. He was about to have radical shoulder surgery that doctors said no hoops career had ever survived.

Mazzulla came to him on that day with tears in his eyes. "Coach, you think I'll ever play again?" And [Bob] Huggins took him by the shoulders, looked him in the eyes and said, "Well, you're always talking about you being the best soccer player in the state of Rhode Island; you can always go play soccer. You don't need arms for that."

The rest is history. Now Mazzulla might at times have to channel his inner Huggins to get through to a new generation of players. Coming from a guy who played on college basketball's biggest stage, they'd better listen.

College basketball teams aren't usually able to scrimmage one another during preseason tours, but the NCAA is making an exception for Illinois and West Virginia when they travel to Italy next month.

The two teams are scheduled to face off Aug. 17 in a 20-minute exhibition game in appreciation of the United States Armed Forces and their families stationed at the Aviano Air Force Base near Venice, the Mountaineers announced today.

According to Stars and Stripes, each team will be taking on military teams for 10 minutes each before the main scrimmage. The college players will also perform in a dunk show, and a basketball clinic for children will be held on the base.

What an exhibition it'll be for the troops who'll get to see two NCAA tournament teams from last season square off , with some of them getting the opportunity to test their skills against the players.

From The News-Gazette:

The idea came about when Bruce Weber, Bob Huggins and Nels Hawkinson, the executive director of Basketball Travelers, brainstormed on how to incorporate American troops on their respective basketball tours. It turned out that UI and WVU would be in the same city on the same day. Weber and Huggins were all about the opportunity. Weber said it will expose his players to life on a military base and see what our troops experience on a daily basis.

West Virginia will get to show off its newcomers and fast-paced style of play while Illinois will get a head start as well. It's a win-win for all involved.

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the Aviano Air Base and thank the great men and women who are serving there," Weber said in a statement. "Our players will get a firsthand look at the hard work and dedicated service they are providing for our freedom. We can never thank them enough for what they are doing for us, but our visit and the youth clinic and scrimmages should provide a fun and rewarding experience for everyone. We are pleased that the NCAA has approved the request for our team to partner with West Virginia while overseas for this special event, which I believe has never been done before."

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- During last week's EYBL Peach Jam, ESPN.com surveyed 15 head coaches on a range of topics. Here are their responses on a topic involving their fellow coaches.

There are five seconds left in a tie game. Your opponent has the ball. What coach would you most worry about diagramming the last play?

Rick Barnes, Texas: Dean Smith. “No question. He was a great situation guy.’’

Mark Fox, Georgia: “It’s the guy with the best players. I don’t care what the play is.’’

Darrin Horn, South Carolina: “It’s about the players, not the pen. Whoever has the best players wins.’’

Ben Howland, UCLA: Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim or Jim Calhoun. “Those three guys have been through just about every situation you can imagine.’’

Bob Huggins, West Virginia: Rick Pitino. “I think he’s a pretty good coach but I also think he inspires confidence in his players and that’s so important in those end-game situations.’’

Tom Izzo, Michigan State: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s been doing this a long time and his track record speaks for itself. Plus he can say, ‘Eenie, meenie, miney mo and pick the guy who will beat you.’’

Kerry Keating, Santa Clara: Eric Reveno. “He went to Stanford. He has three degrees. One of them has to help him come up with a good endgame play.’’

Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph’s: The tree of Thad Matta. “Matta, Sean Miller, Chris Mack. They have so many plays that they can cover just about anything.’’

Fran McCaffery, Iowa: Tom Izzo. “He runs really good late-game stuff. You have to be concise with your switching and your trapping.’’

Josh Pastner, Memphis: John Calipari. “In those situations you have to be quick with your thinking and he really is. He grabs the board and draws up something immediately. It’s a gift, really.’’ Pastner also named Jeff Van Gundy.

Rick Pitino, Louisville: Dean Smith. “He was a great timeout guy. He lived for that. Plus he had great players. Who do you want, Jordan or Worthy to beat you?”

Mark Turgeon, Maryland: John Beilein. “He’s a terrific X's and O's guy.’’

Bruce Weber, Illinois: Kevin Stallings. “I coached with him and I know how good he is. I always say he’s an offensive genius.’’

Roy Williams, North Carolina: Dean Smith. “We practiced it every day. There was nothing we could face that he hadn’t practiced, so when it happened you were ready.’’

Jay Wright, Villanova: John Beilein. “I know he lives and dies by the 3 but he’d also have an option, a guy driving to the rim. He wouldn’t go to a player but to a play.’’

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- During last week's EYBL Peach Jam, ESPN.com surveyed 15 head coaches on a range of topics. Here are their responses on a topic involving their fellow coaches.

Who is the smartest coach in college basketball right now?

Rick Barnes, Texas: “I don’t know if I can name one guy.’’

Mark Fox, Georgia: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s on a different level than everyone else. Conceptually, philosophically he’s just ahead of everyone else.’’

Darrin Horn, South Carolina: Tom Izzo. “His consistency and to do what he’s done at a place that isn’t Kansas or UCLA, with 50 years of amazing tradition, that’s just incredible.’’

Ben Howland, UCLA: Brad Stevens and Jamie Dixon. “He looks pretty darned smart to do what he’s done. And Jamie’s winning percentage at Pittsburgh is incredible.’’

Bob Huggins, West Virginia: John Calipari. “I cannot understand how he can have all these things going on and still be as good as he is. Who can do that? To be involved in all he’s involved in, that’s incredible. I don’t think anyone realizes what a great job he’s done the past two years basically starting over with a new team. And he’ll do it again this year and still be good.’’

Tom Izzo, Michigan State: Mark Fox. “I watch what he’s been able to do with his program and I’m really impressed. His demeanor, the way he runs his program and handles his players. I think he’s a really great young coach.’’

Kerry Keating, Santa Clara: Jim Calhoun. “Whoever won the last championship has to be the smartest guy because he figured it out. We are all only as good and as smart as our last game. Plus, Coach Calhoun was smart enough to recruit Kemba.’’

Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph’s: Jim Boeheim. “I don’t think people appreciate how well he knows the game. You could ask him the top freshmen right now and he could tell you. He really studies the game.’’

Fran McCaffery, Iowa: John Calipari. “He’s so innovative, off and on the court.’’

Josh Pastner, Memphis: Mike Krzyzewski. “He takes everyone’s best shot every night and he never wavers. The teams that they’re supposed to beat by a large margin, they beat by a large margin. To be up like that all the time just speaks volumes to the level of motivation he gives that team.’’

Rick Pitino, Louisville: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s the most experienced and no matter what the situation, he never panics.’’

Mark Turgeon, Maryland: Kevin Stallings. “He’s a very intelligent guy and an excellent coach.’’

Bruce Weber, Illinois: Tom Izzo and Roy Williams. “They both run competitive programs. They recruit kids that graduate. They win championships and they have good reputations.’’

Roy Williams, North Carolina: Mike Montgomery and Mike Krzyzewski. “I think Mike Montgomery is pretty darned sharp and I have no problem saying that I think Mike Krzyzewski is, too.’’

Jay Wright, Villanova: Mike Krzyzewski. “He’s got it all. He’s a great X’s and O’s coach. He has the personality. He’s a great motivator and he develops his players.’’