ESPN Men's Basketball

1. N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said the emotional meltdown at Duke on Thursday did have a dramatic effect on the Wolfpack getting run out of the RBC Center by Florida State two days later. “We were running in mud, lethargic and disappointing,’’ Gottfried said. “For those 30 minutes at Duke we were as good as anybody in the country.’’ Tuesday night against North Carolina may be N.C. State's last chance to impress the selection committee. But Gottfried does make a strong point that three months ago you would not say "N.C. State" and "NCAA tournament" in the same sentence.

2. Central Florida’s NCAA issues haven’t received the same national attention that UConn’s did a year ago. But the Knights should be given similar treatment. Like Jim Calhoun, coach Donnie Jones sat out for three league games. On Monday the school released its response to the NCAA in advance of the April COI hearing. The most significant self-imposed hit was to vacate the past three seasons of wins in men’s basketball -- including Jones’ first season at the school last year. Scholarship and recruiting restrictions were also handed out. Jones is fortunate that UCF is keeping him on the job since he hadn’t built up much leverage before this investigation began.

3. Steve Lavin's announcement on Twitter that he’s cancer free after fall prostate surgery is tremendous news for him, his family and notably wife Mary, St. John’s, the Big East and college basketball. Lavin has been good for the game. He is unique with his ability to take over a room and his presence was much needed to make St. John’s relevant. He has recruited well, but now he has to get healthy to be back on the sideline and continue to lead a Red Storm resurgence. The Big East desperately needs St. John’s to matter in the upcoming years without West Virginia, Syracuse and Pitt.

1. Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said late Saturday night after the Seminoles crushed North Carolina that he wanted to wait to see how his team responded this week before fully judging its potential. Well, the Seminoles beat Maryland by 14 at home Tuesday night. Not bad. Duke is next in Cameron on Saturday.

2. Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman is still idle as he waits and waits for the administration to see if he’ll be reinstated after South Carolina State president George Cooper alleged that Bozeman struck Bears player Larry Bastfield. The Bears are 1-2 with Bozeman off the bench (he can’t conduct practice, either). The Bears host North Carolina A&T on Saturday.

3. Marshall coach Tom Herrion said Central Florida’s Isaiah Sykes did hit him in the sternum and that is what forced him to fall back on the bench and then stumble to the floor before he regained composure during the Herd’s win over UCF on Saturday. The bizarre video shows Sykes appearing to come into contact with Herrion as Sykes is running down the sideline in front of the Herd bench. Sykes received a flagrant 1 foul. Conference USA spokesperson Courtney Morrison-Archer said the league reviewed the incident and the officials made the correct call and no additional penalties are forthcoming.

1. Former Penn State men’s basketball coach, Nittany Lions’ alumnus and current Navy coach Ed DeChellis echoed many when he called the charges of sexual abuse by former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky “disgusting.’’ DeChellis said Wednesday night after president Graham Spanier and legendary football coach Joe Paterno were fired by the board of trustees, “I don’t think the board had a choice. They needed to start the healing process. I feel for Joe.’’ DeChellis chose to leave Penn State after last season for the Naval Academy. DeChellis said that Navy had a chance of playing in the Carrier Classic in an undercard game Friday but the previous coach turned down the offer. DeChellis said he would love to get into the game in the future (and playing Air Force would make sense). But organizers did want to make sure one game worked, let alone doing a doubleheader.

2. Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said in a text message late Wednesday night that he’s getting better in his ongoing fight with Parkinson’s disease. Kennedy wasn’t on the court for the Aggies’ win over Liberty on Wednesday night, but he was around, and did visit with the players in the locker room. Kennedy said in a text message that he did watch the game, but he’s not sure yet if he’ll be strong enough to coach the Aggies next week in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Kennedy has been on a medical leave since practice started last month. Steve Lavin, who was coming off prostate cancer surgery, returned to St. John’s Wednesday night. The Red Storm and Aggies are in the 2K tournament next week with Arizona and Mississippi State.

3. Central Florida coach Donnie Jones had the Knights ranked a year ago after upsetting Florida in his first season. But by the time the Knights got to Conference USA, the slide started. And it hasn’t stopped. The Knights are on the verge of possibly joining the Big East, but they better get their house in order first. Jones was suspended for three C-USA games and athletic director Keith Tribble resigned amid recruiting violations announced in football and men’s basketball. This comes on the heels of UCF suspending five players for an exhibition game. Jones left Marshall for UCF because of the hidden gem label given to the Orlando school. But UCF can’t make significant strides if it is embroiled with the NCAA or dealing with any other off-court issues. There has consistently been a failed attempt at consistency.

Five observations from this past week:

1. National title favorite? Try favorites. For much of November and December, the Duke Blue Devils were rightfully considered the lone true national title favorite, a steamroller of talent trailed by a handful of solid but flawed, potential contenders. That dynamic has changed. We don't have any new details on the status of Kyrie Irving's toe, but this week Coach K said Irving would be out "for a long time" and that his players were in the process of becoming a "different team." Couple that ominous-sounding diagnosis with the recent performances of teams like Ohio State and Kansas -- two loaded teams with star freshmen of their own -- and it's clear Duke is no longer head and shoulders above the rest of the field.

2. Something's wrong with Kansas State's offense. The Wildcats entered the season ranked No. 3 nationally and riding the kind of optimistic wave that tends to wash aside legitimate personnel concerns. When you have so much, why worry about what's missing? Alas, at this point in the season -- on the heels of a 44-point stinker in a loss to Florida on Saturday -- the Wildcats could be missing former point guard Denis Clemente more than anyone would have imagined. K-State has a couple of offensive issues to deal with. One is Jacob Pullen's shooting. The other is free throw rate. Last season, Kansas State had the fourth-highest free throw rate in the country. This season, the Wildcats are ranked No. 108 in the country in the stat. It's hard to tease out how much of this is a function of Clemente's absence -- certainly Pullen got more open looks from 3-point range with Clemente pushing the pace and getting into the lane -- and how much is just a slow start by Frank Martin's team thus far. One way or the other, though, the Wildcats have to find a way to get to the line more often. Until they do, that preseason optimism will continue to wane.

3. Michigan will stay out of the Big Ten cellar. The Wolverines aren’t exactly setting the world ablaze, but they’re significantly better than the doom and gloom that preceded this season. On Saturday, the Wolverines thoroughly handled the same Oakland team that took Michigan State to the wire and upset Tennessee last week. Michigan’s only other “quality” win came at Clemson, but no matter: It’s clear from their performance so far that the Wolverines will be plenty competitive in the middle of the Big Ten this season. Michigan’s offense isn’t great, but the defense is the 17th-best in the country, according to Pomeroy, and sophomore guard Darius Morris boasts the second-best assist rate in the country (48.4 percent). Michigan’s best-case might be a No. 7 spot in the Big Ten and a fringe bubble case by season’s end, but whatever. Compared to where this program seemed to be this offseason, as long as Michigan isn’t fending off Iowa, Indiana and Penn State for last-place Big Ten honors, everything else is gravy.

4. Central Florida is an NCAA tournament team. If the tournament started today, you’d have to include UCF in your tournament bracket. The Knights can claim dominion over the Sunshine State after wins over South Florida, Florida and Miami, the last of which came Saturday in Sunshine, Fla. The UF win looks especially impressive after the Gators’ win over Kansas State later at the Orange Bowl Classic. And now that UCF is past those in-state tests, and has few likely nonconference challenges left before league play begins, it can focus on what now looks like a totally realistic Conference USA title campaign. Before this season, the Knights were interesting only because they had the spawn of Michael Jordan on their team. Thanks in large part to the play of Marcus Jordan, this team is worth your attention for competitive reasons, too.

5. Kendall Marshall needs more minutes. Point guard play was one of the main contributors to North Carolina's troubles last season. It has reared its ugly head in 2010-11, too. Only this season, Roy Williams has a ready-made remedy on his bench. That remedy’s name is Marshall, who was brilliant in limited action in the Tar Heels’ loss to Texas Saturday. He has an intuitive feel for the game, can penetrate against the quickest of defenders, and finds UNC’s lanky big men better than either Dexter Strickland or Larry Drew II. (Marshall’s 41.8 percent assist rate would place him among the top 15 in the stat nationally if he had enough possessions to qualify for Pomeroy’s list.) Strickland and Drew II have improved, but Marshall is the driver Williams’ up-tempo offense needs. Now all Roy has to do is give him the keys.

The $35,000 Marcus Jordan tweet refuses to go away.

Last week, UCF sophomore Marcus Jordan apologized for posting a tweet that said he and his brother Jeffrey had a "stupid" night at Haze, a Las Vegas nightclub, where Jordan said they spent "35k." It was a silly mistake -- Jordan is 19, and thus isn't allowed to spend any amount of money in a Las Vegas club. Nor should he have been publicizing his family's excess, because that's just kind of lame.

But it turns out the tweet could be more serious than a mere nish-nish from Michael and Juanita Jordan. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vegas Confidential column, the Nevada Gaming Control Board is now investigating the matter. At issue, of course, is whether the underage Jordan was drinking and gambling:

The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Friday confirmed it is involved. At issue is whether Marcus Jordan, 19, was drinking alcohol or gambling. Gaming Control board member Randall Sayre said MGM Resorts International is in the early stages of an inquiry to see "where the system broke down."

Sayre said the board was quickly informed of the matter by MGM, the parent company of CityCenter.

Whether or not that inquiry will yield any consequences for Marcus Jordan is unclear. But it is another reminder that tweeting your activities -- especially when those activities are illegal, and especially when you're the newsworthy son of basketball's greatest and most famous player ever -- is not a particularly wise idea.

Somebody is going to see it. That's the first rule of Twitter -- if you're a celebrity (or even just a regular dude) and you post something offensive, questionable or otherwise noteworthy, even if you only intend for your friends and followers to read it, it will become a thing. Tweet accordingly.

UCF sophomore Marcus Jordan -- son of Michael Jordan, naturally -- learned that lesson this week, when he told his Twitter followers that his time at Haze Nightclub in Las Vegas was "stupid" because he spent "35k." Marcus, being under 21, should probably not have been in a nightclub in the first place. Nor is it particularly polite to flaunt your wealth in public. Best to leave that to the "Real Housewives of OH MY GOD TURN THIS SHOW OFF NOW." Ahem.

Anyway, a few days later, Marcus has acknowledged the tweet was a mistake, and older brother Jeffrey says he's used to doing "damage control" when Marcus gets a little too outgoing for his own good. His parents weren't too pleased, either. From Fox's Jeff Goodman:

"I didn’t mean it the way it came across," Marcus Jordan said. "My family and friends know the type of person I am."

However, the tweet did prompt a phone call from both Michael Jordan and his ex-wife, Juanita.

"I had conversations with both my parents," Marcus said.

As for his allowance?

"I’m still good," he laughed.

If there weren't thousands of dollars and a mega-famous basketball legend involved, this would sound a lot like my own family dynamic. My brother always got away with everything. Celebrities: They're just like us!

Central Florida? Where? Why?

Those are the three questions most asked of Michael Jordan's youngest son, Marcus Jordan, when the No. 59-ranked shooting guard in the class of 2009 decided to play his college basketball as a UCF Knight last year. The answers were simple, actually: UCF was a place Jordan could step in right away and play plenty of minutes, as opposed to using his name recognition to get a spot at a larger school where he wouldn't play as much and wouldn't have the chance to build gaudy stats in the early part of his college career.

Marcus' older brother Jeffrey took a different tact when he first chose his college, playing as a walk-on at Illinois. Jeff Jordan eventually earned a scholarship, quit the team last summer, came back for the 2009-10 season, and then decided to leave Illinois altogether last week.

Guess where he's going to transfer? Yep: Central Florida. You could ask the same questions -- why Central Florida? -- of Jeffrey, but they're even simpler to explain than during Marcus' decision period. His brother's already there. Apparently, he likes the school. Yadda, yadda, yadda, Jeffrey Jordan's a UCF Knight. That easy.

Jeffrey will play his final year of college eligibility as a walk-on. His brother will be a sophomore. According to my calculations, that means the UCF Knights will have the two spawn of the single greatest basketball player of all-time playing for them at the same time. This sounds more awesome than it actually is, of course -- neither Jeffrey nor Marcus has shown much in the way of being an impact player at the college level -- but still, if you're a UCF fan, that's kind of awesome, right?

Former New Mexico State and Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus interviewed with Auburn Tuesday night about its coaching vacancy, a source told ESPN.com.

Theus and University of North Texas coach Johnny Jones are considered prime candidates for the job, but are not the only names being bandied about. UTEP head coach Tony Barbee is also considered a very serious candidate.

Theus also is a possibility at Central Florida, as is former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried and others. Gottfried has had his name come up in connection to the jobs at Houston and Charlotte as well.

DePaul has also been mentioned as a potential landing place for Theus, but there has been a rotating array of names there. The biggest: UCLA's Ben Howland, rumored to be offered a whopping, multiyear deal.

Editor's note: Early Wednesday evening, Howland responded to ESPN.com with the following: "I am the coach at UCLA. I will never leave UCLA and will stay at UCLA as long as they will have me."