ESPN Men's Basketball

It's a question to perplex the greatest minds of our generation. And no, I'm not talking about "What should I have for lunch today?" That's good one, to be sure, and I always struggle with it. But this is something different.

The question is: Why did the NCAA appoint Connecticut athletic director Jeff Hathaway to chair the Division I men's basketball committee beginning in 2012? Or, at least, why did it appoint him now?

Make no mistake, Hathaway is qualified. He was former UConn athletic director Lew Perkins' top lieutenant for years before taking his own head AD position at Colorado State. In 2003, he returned to the Huskies to command an athletics department with 200 employees and a $55 million annual budget, according to the Sports Business Journal. Those are the sorts of credentials you're (presumably) looking for when you're trying to find someone to chair your men's basketball committee.

The only problem with this is that Hathaway has another responsibility at present: Preparing a response to allegations of eight major rules infractions in the Huskies men's hoops program, due next month. Hathaway and company will appear before the NCAA committee on infractions on Oct. 15 and 16. That means Hathaway could be the chair-elect (or whatever) of the men's basketball committee while he is appearing before -- and potentially receiving punishment from -- the committee on infractions. Awk. Ward.

Except it's more than just that. Besides being a strange and no doubt surreal moment for Hathaway, such a circumstance would also make the NCAA look downright silly. It's possible Hathaway had nothing to do with the alleged recruiting violations that took place on his and Jim Calhoun's watch at UConn; Calhoun got an extension amidst the turmoil of the announcement, and if the coach himself isn't likely to be punished, the athletic director has probably kept a safe distance, too.

There's also the potential, cited by many, that Hathaway leaves UConn to take the open Maryland athletic director's position. Hathaway graduated from Maryland and has long been mentioned in connection with the job. If he did leave Connecticut after his appointment to the men's basketball committee, the Big East would appoint its own new representative and the committee would select a chair from the new pool of candidates. This whole conversation would be moot.

Still, the point remains. According to the NCAA, Connecticut incurred eight major violations under Jeff Hathaway. And now it wants that same man to chair its men's basketball committee.

Maybe there's nothing wrong with that. I don't know. But it does seem awfully weird.

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap of the night's best basketball action. Before we jump into today's insanity, here's an abbreviated look back on Tuesday night's almost-quiet affair. Oh, yeah: Try not to make it awkward. Catchphrase!

Seton Hall 109, Providence 106: Note to self: Don't turn off games that feature Seton Hall and Providence, even if one of the teams is up 76-47 with 13:36 left to play. Yes, Seton Hall led the Friars by 29 points with the final quarter or so of the game left, and it didn't really matter: Providence came back anyway, cutting the lead to three on Vincent Council's pull-up jumper with eight seconds remaining. The Pirates then missed two free throws, giving Providence a chance to tie; freshman Duke Mondy launched a bad three that hit the bottom of the rim as time expired. Seton Hall survived. Good thing, too, as the Friars are in desperate need of at least one more win -- tonight vs. Notre Dame could do the trick -- to get themselves off the bad side of the bubble and back, finally, into NCAA tournament consideration.

But anyway, to review: 109-106 after 76-47. Providence's Jamine Peterson scored 38 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Seton Hall's Herb Pope had 27 and 11. Every starter on both teams scored at least 12 points. I want to play pickup basketball with Seton Hall and Providence. That looks like a lot of fun.

Everywhere else, quickly: Butler handled business in the Horizon League final, walloping Wright State 70-45 and completing the ever-rare perfect conference-plus-conference-tournament season. At 20 wins, the Bulldogs also retained the country's longest winning streak ... You've by now read all about UConn's ugly loss yesterday; Matt Norlander summed up the Huskies' season pretty well at The Dagger last night: "Anybody got a theory as to what this team was for the past five months?" I'm still stumped ... The College Basketball Nation blog (say it five times fast) warmly welcomes two more teams to the NCAA tournament: the Oakland Golden Grizzles and the North Texas Mean Green, two tremendous mid-majors with two tremendous mascot names ... In the A-10, Dayton and Rhode Island both preserved their fading tournament hopes with first round wins; Charlotte did not ... and Cincinnati barely squeaked past Rutgers to advance to the second day of the tournament, a day I'm greatly looking forward to.

This is no secret, of course. College basketball coaches make tons of cash. Any time someone argues against these sorts of multi-year, multi-million dollar salaries, coaches respond much like Jim Calhoun did in the UConn coach's famous outburst at an activist reporter in 2009 -- angrily and with justification.

The argument goes like this: Yeah, sure, I make a lot of money. But thanks to all the money I make for my school's athletics and academics budgets, I'm worth it. Now leave me alone. My wife is putting in a second guest house, and I need to shop for bathroom tile. (OK, so that last part may or may not be part of the argument.)

Fair enough. Big-time college hoops coaches do make lots of money for their schools. The claim is worth examining in more detail, though, which Forbes helpfully did yesterday. The conclusion? Even proportional to the revenue they generated, college coaches make way too much cheddar:

By any normal business metric, the top-paid college basketball coaches in the NCAA are the most overpaid leaders in the U.S. Take Kentucky's John Calipari, No. 1 on our pay list. He parlayed a run at the national title with the University of Memphis Wildcats into an eight-year, $32 million deal. It's good money, sure, but it wouldn't be out of place on the trading floor of any top-tier Wall Street firm or in the executive suite of hundreds of multinational businesses.

But measured against the revenue Calipari generates, his take-home looks outsized. Calipari (who left his two prior college programs--Massachusetts and Memphis--in hot water with the NCAA for alleged violations) pulls down 10% or so of the $35 million to $40 million that his program generates for the university (the entire athletic department generates $72 million a year, the school says). The corporate equivalent for Calipari's pay package would be Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people ) handing Steve Ballmer $6 billion a year. The average NBA coach, who works twice as many games as his college counterpart, makes $4 million a year, about 3.5% of an average club's revenue.

In other words, college coaches are paid a huge percentage of the revenue they generate for their schools, much more than your average bigwig CEO, and much more than their counterparts in the NBA. Not a bad gig, right?

It's worth noting here that much of this money comes in the form of sponsorships and endorsement deals which the school can then guarantee, and also that it's hard to estimate the revenue from an NCAA tournament appearance, each of which usually spurs hundreds of thousands of dollars in alumni donations that don't factor into these percentage calculations. It's also probably worth noting that for every Pitino or Billy Donovan there are hundreds of assistant coaches and small schools who don't pay their coaches nearly this much. Coaching is very much a feast-or-famine proposition.

Still, though, when college coaches feast, they feast. They feast much more than the players they recruit, who, it can be argued, are the reason college athletics are so exciting and profitable in the first place. Those players receive little more than a scholarship and room and board. Those are nice perks but measured against the millions their mentors make, a scholarship must seem like chump change. That's because it is.

Winners from Saturday

Notre Dame: The Irish gave the selection committee another reason to put them in the dance with yet another road win, this time with Luke Harangody and at Marquette -- a team in the tournament field. The Irish are earning their way into the field.

Duke: The Blue Devils likely earned the fourth No. 1 seed with a hammering of North Carolina on Saturday night. Duke also clinched a share of the ACC regular-season title. The Blue Devils passed the eye test of a team that could get to Indy.

Saint Louis: The Billikens won at Dayton, completing a season sweep of the Flyers and finishing in fourth place in the Atlantic 10. Rick Majerus has done an outstanding job with a club that is void of upperclassmen. The Billikens could be a sleeper to win the A-10 in Atlantic City next week.

Baylor: If you’re looking for a sleeper in the Big 12 tournament, it could be Baylor. The Bears ran away from Texas and looked like a team ready to get busy in the postseason.

Kansas: The Jayhawks may have locked up the No. 1 overall seed after winning at Missouri on Saturday. Kansas got inspired play from its key contributors and once again heads into the conference tournament on a high.

Louisville: The Cardinals had to win two of there games this week and did. Louisville beat Connecticut, then lost at Marquette before beating Syracuse on Saturday. That gave the Cardinals a sweep of Syracuse and a likely bid to the Dance in the final game at Freedom Hall.

Tennessee: The Vols did something Lane Kiffin couldn’t do, taking a 17-0 lead on the road in the SEC. Tennessee lit up Mississippi State and had the look of a team that could be a major factor in an SEC tournament that they'll play in their home state just a few hours away in Nashville.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies didn’t have their second-leading scorer in Dorenzo Hudson, survived a nasty moving screen by Gani Lawal on Malcolm Delaney and gutted out a win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Hokies dismissed any doubt about their candidacy with a win.

Washington: The Huskies kept alive their chances of an at-large berth by winning at Oregon State. That win doesn’t get them in the dance, but a loss would have been crushing.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils are in Joe Lunardi’s bracket and they had to beat UCLA to stay in the field. They did, sweeping the L.A. schools this week. But here’s the deal: ASU and Washington are heading for a showdown in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tourney. Loser is out, winner has a pulse.

Memphis: The Tigers had a great week, winning at UAB and crushing Tulsa at home. The Tigers get the sweep of the Blazers. If you’re looking for a second C-USA team to go along with league champ UTEP, it could be the Tigers. They may get a third shot at UAB in the semifinals.

Maryland: The Terps won at Virginia. Yes, UVA was playing without Sylven Landesberg, who has been suspended for the season due to academics, but the Terps still won a road game. That means Maryland gets a share of the ACC title. That’s an outstanding accomplishment for this squad.

Pitt: The Panthers lost to Indiana early in the year without Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown. Pitt could have lost to Providence at home, but when it mattered most the Panthers have come up huge. They beat Rutgers as expected Saturday but that meant Pitt got the No. 2 seed after beating West Virginia and Villanova at home in February. Jamie Dixon has done a phenomenal job with the Panthers. There is no reason Pitt should be No. 2 in the Big East with what it lost.

Losers from Saturday

Rhode Island: Had a shot to convince the selection committee that it was worthy, but lost at UMass a week after losing at St. Bonaventure. The Rams didn’t beat the top three teams in the A-10 (Xavier, Temple or Richmond). URI must win the conference tournament.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs started a must-win game down 17-0. Mississippi State has blown two chances to win a key home game – to Kentucky and now Tennessee. The Bulldogs didn’t do anything Saturday to convince the selection committee.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets may still get into the field. But they gave the selection committee a reason to pause after losing at home to Virginia Tech, sans Dorenzo Hudson, who was hurt. The Yellow Jackets finished seventh in the ACC and had only one conference road win.

Connecticut: The Huskies had an awful week, losing at Notre Dame and then losing at South Florida on Saturday. The Huskies now probably have to get to the Big East semifinals to crawl back into the conversation.

Dayton: The Flyers were teetering on the bubble before the Billikens bulldozed the Flyers late and stole a win. Dayton now probably has to win the A-10 tournament to get a bid.

Villanova: The ‘Cats may have played themselves out of a No. 2 seed by losing at home to West Virginia. Villanova also fell to the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament. ‘Nova can still make a magnificent run, but it made the journey more difficult.

Kansas State: The Wildcats lost their third home game in the Big 12 by falling to lower-level Iowa State (also lost to Kansas and Oklahoma State). The Wildcats blew a No. 2 seed with the home loss Saturday.

LaSalle: The Explorers were supposed to be a sleeper in the A-10. They won’t even make the tournament in Atlantic City. The Explorers will join winless Fordham in sitting out the conference tourney.

Oklahoma: The disaster season came to a conclusion with a sad effort against Texas A&M. The atmosphere was awful and the Sooners sunk.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels were handed the second-worst loss under Roy Williams. The Tar Heels were embarrassed by Duke and limp into the ACC tournament. It was just awful.

UAB: The Blazers had a huge week with games against UTEP and Memphis. They lost them both and pushed themselves onto the wrong side of the bubble.

Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane got hammered by Memphis and limp into hosting the conference tournament next week. Tulsa was the preseason favorite to win Conference USA.

A few nuggets:

• Georgetown coach John Thompson III said late Saturday night that Austin Freeman felt fine after the game, his first since being diagnosed with diabetes. Freeman scored 24 points in the win over Cincinnati. Freeman missed the West Virginia game last Monday. Thompson told me that the Hoyas will continue to monitor Freeman’s blood-sugar level and don’t anticipate any problems going forward this season.

• Notre Dame got Luke Harangody back for the win at Marquette. Harangody played 11 minutes off the bench. Irish coach Mike Brey told me late Saturday night that Harangody will continue to come off the bench this season. He said ‘Gody told him to use him however he wants to ensure the team wins. Brey said the Irish have become mentally tougher in the past few weeks. The Irish were 4-2 without Harangody, beating Pitt and Connecticut at home and winning at Georgetown.

• KVAL-TV reported that Oregon coach Ernie Kent has been fired and that he was told on Feb. 22 by Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti. No one will be surprised if this does occur, but Kent told me in a text late Saturday night that this is the same story he has heard the past four years. Meanwhile, Bellottti sent this statement out late Saturday night after Oregon’s win over Washington State: "Ernie and I have talked, and we will continue to talk through the Pac-10 Tournament."

Saddle Up is our daily preview of the hoops your TV wants you to watch. The big nights are coming faster and more furious than at any point during the season -- I've barely recovered from Saturday -- and Wednesday night is no exception. Here's the rundown.

No. 5 Kansas State at No. 2 Kansas, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN360: This one doesn't need much by way of explanation. The in-state rivalry. The Big 12 title implications. The seeding possibilities. The two-point Kansas win at Bramlage on Jan. 30. A freaky Frank Martin. Sherron Collins' senior night. The packed Allen Fieldhouse crowd.

Yeah, It's safe to say this is going to be a big game. A very, very big game.

Martin's team can secure a shot -- an outside shot, but a shot -- at a share of the Big 12 title if it wins tonight, but that's probably less of a concern for K-State than A) Beating its hated, abusive basketball big brother on the brother's own floor in Collins' last home game and B) Making a case for a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed. A win would without question put Martin's team on the selection committee's top line. First, though, the Wildcats have to figure out a way to do what they do best -- get to the free throw line -- while preventing the Jayhawks from doing the same. Kansas State is one of the best teams in the country at getting to the line. This is the sort of offensive attribute (alongside great outside shooting from Jacob Pullen) that gives the Wildcats hope against anyone, including a Kansas defense designed to keep opponents out of the lane. In the first meeting, Kansas won the battle of the freebies. The Wildcats can't let that happen again.

Oh, and as you've probably noticed, no, tonight's game isn't being televised. It stinks, I know. But look at the bright side: You get to test out ESPN360. It's actually pretty awesome, so don't knock it until you try it. And no, I'm not just saying that because I work here. Promise. Though I would totally say that anyway. I'm completely shameless. Which brings me to my next point: If you can't watch the game, come here for our live chat from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. I'll be here, as will a bunch of your favorite college hoops heads, answering questions and live-blogging throughout the evening. Don't miss it.

No. 4 Duke at No. 23 Maryland, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN: Speaking of big games, well, ahem. This qualifies. It would mean as much in College Park even if the Terrapins didn't have so much riding on the game, for there is little hatred in the country -- in college basketball or elsewhere -- quite like the purely distilled brand Maryland fans brew for all things Duke. And anytime Greivis Vasquez gets this sort of spotlight, you can expect sparks to fly. It's going to be rowdy.

There are more than taunts on the line here, though. With a win, Gary Williams' team could pull even with Duke at 12-3 in the ACC with one game each left to play. It won't be easy. After occasional stumbles, most of them on the road, Duke has quietly morphed into the most efficient offense in the country, and the Devils are finally starting to play the sort of defense that anchored them in last year's campaign. After a 1-4 start on the road, Duke has won its last four away from Cameron. Maryland's is no easy task. But the Terps have been underrated all year, though, and tonight is the perfect opportunity to showcase -- to the tournament committee, especially -- just how far perception lags behind reality.

Everywhere else: While you're futzing around with your laptop -- and totally chatting with us, remember! -- Connecticut and Notre Dame will be slugging it out on ESPN for a spot in the NCAA tournament. Neither team is guaranteed a berth, but both teams can nary afford a loss, and both teams would surely benefit from the win. ... Kentucky will face a test at Georgia, where the pesky Bulldogs have taken down Vanderbilt, Florida, Georgia Tech and Illinois this season. ... Indiana travels to No. 6 Purdue, which should be a nice break from the post-Robbie Hummel meat-grinder Purdue is facing these days. ... Memphis and UAB will duel for bubble considerations. ... Oklahoma State at Texas A&M is an interesting battle between two tourney-worthy Big 12 squads. ... A-10 leader Temple will visit a St. Louis team that has streaked into the tourney-sphere in the last half of the season. ... The fading Demon Deacons have another battle on their hands at Florida State tonight. ... and lowly Fordham, the last team in Division I without a conference win to its name, will try to get that first win over Xavier tonight.

• Bob Huggins was not pleased with the officiating in Monday night's loss to Connecticut, so much so that he earned himself an ejection in the final minute -- one of those "I'm sick of this, I'm getting kicked out, which ref do I insult first" coach's decisions you see from time to time. After the game, though, Huggins was less direct: "You saw it. You're allowed to report on it. I'm not," Huggins said when asked about the effect of 46 fouls and 65 free throws -- 42 of them by UConn -- on the way the game played out. "That's a tremendous advantage."
• Northern State coach Don Meyer announced Monday that he will retire after the current season is over. Meyer is the NCAA's all-time wins leader in college basketball for all divisions, followed by former Indiana and Texas Tech coach Bob Knight and current Philadelphia University coach Herb Magee. Magee plans to stick around a little while longer; Jameson Fleming at the Bleacher Report picked Magee's brain and found out why.
• Did BracketBusters work? And just what does "work" mean? The Dagger's Jeff Eisenberg writes: "If the purpose of the Bracket Buster event is to help more mid-major teams play their way into the NCAA tournament, then there's no denying that this year's event was a colossal failure. In addition to Old Dominion and William & Mary, Siena's at large hopes vanished after a blowout loss at Butler and Wichita State's did so as well after falling at Utah State. [...] The solution to this, of course, would be to pit mid-majors against big-name opponents in the BracketBuster event, except few if any teams from the power six conferences would have anything to gain by such a format." Ballin' Is A Habit responds: "The bottom line? No matter who you play, you must win games to make the tournament. Old Dominion, Siena, and Wichita State lost games that would have helped their tournament resume. William & Mary lost a game it should have won. If ODU and Siena had both won, and that win helped the two teams to earn an at-large bid, people would be singing a much different tune about BracketBusters. So until a situation arises in which a team winning their BracketBusters game has a negative effect on their tournament résumé, I think BracketBusters is working just fine."
• Hokies fans are predictably giddy about their team's late-season rise into the NCAA tournament bracket; here's a roundup of Virginia Tech's newfound bracketology love.
• Gasaway's Tuesday Truths. More on this later, but Maryland is much, much better than the RPI folks seem to think. Oh, and here's more Gasaway, this time taking on the Purdue homers who insist on claiming this team is "old-fashioned" and "hard-nosed" (which they are, sort of) while completely ignoring what's made the Boilermakers of 2010 so much better than last season's counterparts: the offense!
• Nebraska is 1-11 in the Big 12 and 13-14 overall, but Nebraska's athletic director isn't putting coach Doc Sadler's head on the chopping block. Rather, he's extending the always-welcome-when-it-seems-sincere vote of confidence, saying Sadler is the "right guy to get this thing done."
• Michigan State's Kalin Lucas was frustrated Saturday. After losing to Ohio State in East Lansing -- and scoring a mere nine points on 3 of 13 shooting -- Lucas decided to pull a LeBron and blow off the postgame media question-and-answer session. On Sunday, Lucas called head coach Tom Izzo to apologize and tell him he felt bad about "leaving his teammates to explain" the loss. On Monday, Lucas joined Izzo at the coach's weekly news conference, where Lucas apologized to the media for ditching out. All things considered, a pretty classy move.
• Doug Gottlieb (Insider) says he's heard Jim Calhoun has five-year contract extension from UConn "on his desk" and that Calhoun should sign it, thereby ignoring folks like me who think now's as good a time as any to experience the joys of retirement.
• SB Nation's Andrew Sharp has some lighthearted fun with Vanderbilt's A.J. Ogilvy, and the many faces of A.J. (Of special note is Ogilvy's hair, which reminds of the kids I used to play club soccer with -- they loved to frost their tips. Like aging 90s country chicks and their relationship to mullets, I have an irrational soft spot for this hairstyle.)
• Speaking of lighthearted fun, let's hope this budding Kent State sideline reporter -- and heir to the "Boom Goes The Dynamite" guy's legacy of student reporter hilarity -- can laugh at himself in the morning.
• Barry Alvarez confirms: The Big Ten is indeed looking for another school, and has hired a research firm to look into 15 potential expansion additions. Not on this list? Texas and Notre Dame.

The 2009-10 season has been the worst one for UConn in years. And now for the bad news: 2010-11 could be even worse.

This spring, Connecticut will lose Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson, as well as senior Gavin Edwards, and that's going to leave a very young, very open starting lineup in Storrs. Jim Calhoun is seeking to remedy that, so he'd like high school stars to know one very important fact: If you want playing time, UConn's your place:

"If you're looking for playing time right away, at UConn, that's going to be available," said Calhoun.

You'd think this would be a pretty normal problem for Calhoun; he graduates stars all the time, and Connecticut always manages to field a nationally elite team. Same old, same old, right?

Not so much, actually. Calhoun missed a large chunk of this season with health issues, and at 67 years old, it's reasonable for recruits to wonder how much longer Calhoun will be at the school. This is a pressing concern:

Roscoe Smith, a 6-8 forward at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, and Cleveland Melvin, a 6-8 forward from Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep, have verbally committed but not signed. Calhoun's health has been a complicating factor for several recruits. Smith, whose team played back-to-back games at the PrimeTime Shootout, conceded that he had "doubts" about his commitment when Calhoun missed seven games for what he later told Smith was high blood pressure.

"The situation with Calhoun is a big factor because that's the main reason why I'm going to UConn," Smith said last Feb. 13 after Oak Hill edged Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, 79-78, on ESPNU. Smith, who has yet to sign his letter of intent, said Calhoun called him that week to notify him he would be back from his medical leave.

"Yes, he called me personally and he called my family," Smith said. "He said he's doing fine. He said he will be coaching the next game. For me and my family, that's a good thing to hear, you know?"

Connecticut has a decision to make. How long do they stand by Calhoun? Can they plausibly phase out the coach that built the Huskies program from scratch, won national titles, and made UConn the sort of place where 15-11 seasons are considered grave disappointments? Can Calhoun come to grips with the fact that maybe it would be a good idea -- both for his own health and for the health of Huskies basketball -- to retire? It's hard to imagine that happening anytime soon. Calhoun clearly still wants to compete. For once, though, that impulse stands to hurt UConn more than help.

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap of last night's best hoops action. Try not to make it awkward.

No. 1 Kansas 59, No. 23 Texas A&M 54: There's a common belief that if teams want to win NCAA titles, they have to learn how to win ugly in the tournament. This is not always true: 2008-09's champs, the North Carolina Tar Heels, were never forced to win ugly in March or April; Tyler Hansbrough & Co. rolled through their six tourney games like they were playing in the Maui Invitational rather than the NCAA tourney. Wouldn't you rather dominate? It keeps things simple. Still, though, it can't hurt a dominant team to get punched in the mouth from time to time, to face a rowdy away crowd on a night when the shots aren't falling and to come away with a victory in a hard-fought, low-scoring slugfest. That's what the Jayhawks did last night.

On a night when Sherron Collins scored a mere seven points and committed five turnovers -- and a night when Kansas hit only one 3-pointer in 10 attempts -- Cole Aldrich was the key. Big surprise, right? Aldrich had 12 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, and countless other altered shots in the interior. The Aggies, meanwhile, completely shut down in the last few minutes of the game -- Donald Sloan disappeared, as did the Aggies' offensive rebounds and free throws, while Kansas was able to get to the line at a high (56.5 percent FTR) rate.

After the game, Bill Self said his team won "muddy," and that's about as good an adjective as you can use for what we saw from both teams last night. It was muddy. Self wouldn't want them to wallow in it, but maybe it's good for the Jayhawks to get a little mud on their shoes from time to time.

Connecticut 84, No. 3 Villanova 75: Can someone please explain the Connecticut Huskies? (Wait, that's kind of my job? Oh, right.) Actually, Andy's explanation last night is as good as any: The Huskies pretty clearly have talent, they've just not always played up to it. This team has Kemba Walker, Stanley Robinson and Jerome Dyson in its backcourt, a hyperathletic threesome that should compete with anybody in the country. It also helps that UConn played much the same Monday night as they played in a close loss at Syracuse last week: Walker and Dyson used their strength to get in the lane, refusing to force outside jumpers. The Huskies flew around on their own defensive end, using their one main advantage -- a proficiency at blocking shots -- frequently. And UConn got to the line. They got to the line a lot. Jim Calhoun's team shot 44 free throws to Villanova's 20, a product mostly of athleticism and Villanova's inability to stop anyone on defense.

Oh, and make no mistake: Villanova can't stop anyone on defense. The Wildcats are one of the country's best offenses, but their defensive efficiency numbers aren't pretty: Nova doesn't turn opponents over and doesn't force them into particularly bad shots, which is why they have the No. 66-ranked defense in the country and aren't in Pomeroy's top 10 despite the high level of respect afforded to them nationally. Nova is a good team with flaws, and a suddenly organized and viable UConn team exposed nearly every one of them.

Saddle Up is our daily look at the hoops your TV wants you to watch tonight. It'll thank you later.

No. 1 Kansas at No. 23 Texas A&M, 9 p.m., ESPN: Last week, Kansas went to Texas in what for months preceding seemed as though it would the game of the year. It, um, wasn't. Kansas' deep and talented squad had little problem with a Texas team that's still trying to figure itself out. Texas A&M, meanwhile, is in the ascendancy -- the Aggies have won their last four games and six out of their last seven, and A&M is a perfect 13-0 at home in 2009-10. In many ways, this is Kansas' real Big 12 road test. If the Jayhawks are going to roll through the Big 12 without losing a single game, tonight is likely their biggest obstacle.

How do the two teams stack up? A&M's biggest strength is their ability to get to the free throw line. Much like Kansas State, the only team that shoots more free throws per possession than the Aggies, A&M thrives on getting into the lane, getting easy two-point buckets, and -- failing that -- drawing contact and getting fouled. That is a significantly more difficult task against the Jayhawks than against most teams, because Kansas doesn't allow penetration, and when teams do get past the Jayhawks, they have to contend with Cole Aldrich, arguably the game's most dominating interior defender. We know the Jayhawks' story by now. If you can keep the game close, slow the pace, force them to take outside shots and get them to ignore Aldrich on the offensive end, you can win.

It's very, very, very difficult to do those things to Kansas. But it's not impossible. A&M will get its shot tonight.

Connecticut at No. 3 Villanova, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: This would seem like a pretty straightforward game for Villanova. When Connecticut isn't inconsistent, it's mediocre, and Jim Calhoun's return to the sideline this weekend didn't seem to have much effect on the Huskies. Villanova should win easily, right? Right.

Of course, things are never that simple: It was just yesterday that a mediocre Big East team on the wrong side of the bubble went to a dominant Big East competitor's house and won in front of its crowd of 30,000. That was Louisville, which beat Big East leader Syracuse, and if Villanova didn't think it was capable of losing a random Big East game to a desperate team, yesterday's upset should have warmed them to the possibility. It can happen, and it will be Jay Wright and Scottie Reynolds' job to make sure it doesn't.

Everywhere else: It's a quiet non Big-Monday night tonight; check out our scoreboard to get the full download.

Saddle Up is our daily look at the hoops your TV wants you to watch tonight. Here's Wednesday night's rundown. Special programming note: I'll be flying to Indianapolis tomorrow to participate in the NCAA's mock selection committee, so my blogging may be a little light these next couple of days. I'm sure you'll find a way to persevere.

No. 7 Duke at North Carolina, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN: Given the average college basketball fan's general fatigue with Duke-North Carolina -- everyone likes to complain about the attention these two teams always receive, and not without reason -- you might be struggling to find a reason to care about tonight's game. After all, if North Carolina (13-10, 2-6 in the ACC) is this bad, what's the point? Won't Duke just roll?

Maybe. Maybe not. Duke is certainly a more complete and more polished team than the Tar Heels. Veterans Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler and the rest of Duke's formidable lineup constitute a major advantage over UNC's talented but inexperienced bunch. But it's not that cut and dry. Duke has major flaws, and one of them is that it's just not very good on the road. Let's not forget the Devils' trouncing at Georgetown two weeks ago. Nor should we ignore Duke's loss at NC State two weeks before that. Duke played very few nonconference road games, and it's been punished for it since, going 2-4 on the road in six tries overall. For a team with national title aspirations, Coach K's bunch has a way of looking decidedly average away from Cameron Indoor.

Meanwhile, North Carolina is in a horrific tailspin. What better way to turn the season around after losing six of your last seven than by getting a win at home over your hated rival? What better way to build confidence in your young players than by them proving to themselves they can play with an elite group like Duke? Or maybe the inverse happens: Duke dominates UNC at home in front of a disgusted crowd, and Roy Williams has to figure out how to get his team to recover from its latest disaster -- and how to talk to the media without sounding depressed and apoplectic after the game. The outcome will be high drama, in its own marginal way.

This might not be vintage UNC-Duke. You won't confuse tonight's lineups with anything you'll see on ESPN Classic. But sleep on it at your own peril. For reasons different than the past, this rivalry might surprise you yet.

Connecticut at No. 3 Syracuse, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: Speaking of intrigue, or a lack thereof ... ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present UConn-Cuse 2010! These two teams have taken opposite trajectories to end up where they are today. Syracuse was seen as a marginal Top 25 team at the beginning of the season; the Orange has morphed into one of the few viable challengers to Kansas' putative crown. UConn was a top 15 team to begin the year, and has morphed into a Jim Calhoun-less shell of its former self -- dominant shot-blockers on the defensive end (where the Huskies are No. 1 in the country for the ninth year in a row) and barely average at almost everything else. Jim Calhoun is being mentioned for coach of the year awards. Jim Calhoun is still on a leave of absence with no return date imminent.

It's hard to spin those conditions into something positive, even for me, and I'm positive (to a fault, admittedly) about any and all college basketball on my television. It's college hoops! It's awesome in and of itself! We get to watch basketball! Hooray for basketball! But it's hard not to feel the same sinking feeling many will have about Duke-UNC, and that many had about Kansas-Texas -- this game should be so much better. It's up to UConn to prove us wrong. (In the Carrier Dome. Against a dominant 2-3 zone. With a team that can't shoot. Um, good luck, I guess?)

No. 19 New Mexico at No. 25 UNLV, 11 p.m. ET: It would be criminal to focus on the above games and not give what could be tonight's best, most important matchup some love. New Mexico at UNLV is tonight's only game featuring two top 25 teams, and that's not the only reason to watch. Whoever wins tonight takes over first place in the Mountain West, where three teams (these two, plus BYU) are vying for NCAA tournament bids. Plus it features a matchup between the conference's two best wing players, New Mexico's Darington Hobson and UNLV's Tre'Von Willis. New Mexico rarely turns the ball over; UNLV thrives on forcing steals. New Mexico loves to get to the free throw line; UNLV never allows its opponents that luxury. Stay up past your bedtime, East Coasters. You don't want to miss the game of the night.

Everywhere else: Ohio State will visit Bloomington, where the Hoosiers have been a tough out all year. But tough enough to keep Evan Turner Line Watch from showing up in the morning? Doubtful. ... Northern Iowa will go on the road to play a pesky Drake squad, which wants this win forever, man (sorry). ... Georgia Tech has lost its last two games on the road and will try to avoid a third at Miami. ... Florida goes to Columbia, where a banged-up Devan Downey should be in the lineup. ... Northwestern's game at Iowa is a must-win for the Wildcats' tournament chances. ... and a pair of important A-10 battles -- Charlotte at Dayton; Richmond at Rhode Island ... will go down.

• The Michigan State fans at The Only Colors have a major beef with Big Ten referee Ed Hightower, who spent a solid 30 seconds yelling face-to-face with Tom Izzo after a questionable traveling call on Raymar Morgan Tuesday night. They probably have a point: If Izzo is being so unruly that you need to make a statement, a technical usually does the trick. Yelling face-to-face tends to waver more on the "look at me" side.
• In any case, more relevant to last night's game is this TOC post from a few days ago, which dissects the reasons why Michigan State was ranked so high -- No. 5 in the coach's poll, for example -- and yet isn't particularly well-liked by the Pomeroys of the world.
• While we're in Big Ten recap mode, let's throw it over to UMHoops' Dylan, who gives mournful voice to Michigan hoops fans the world over this morning: "The last month or so has been littered with games where Michigan reminds you how good they could have been. In this one, Michigan reminded us how bad they really are."
• Big 12 Hoops takes a look at the conference's teams that have a shot at winning the national title. This post probably could have just been titled "Kansas." Instead it includes Missouri and Baylor and Oklahoma State and other obvious stretches. But hey, you gotta keep things lively, right?
• Rider's Ryan Thompson is doing his best to make the MAAC more than a one-Siena league.
• There's a legitimate chance both the UConn Huskies and the North Carolina Tar Heels will be playing in the NIT this season. After you take a deep breath and recover from that SHOCKING TRUTH, be reminded that while the average college basketball fan might not be pleased about this development, the NIT's organizers are, like, super-stoked, bro.
• Mike Miller argues that Duke is still, by all measures, an elite program. Whether or not it's still fun to beat them is a different story.
• One team in the Pomeroy top 20 that everyone might be sleeping on? Ohio State. Here's why.
• Keep The Bench Warm plays around with the idea of a Big Ten expansion, and what that means for the future of the conference. Why, it means everything! Or nothing! Your specific freakout level is up to you.

As always, follow me on Twitter to send me links and tips for Afternoon Linkage. Happy Wednesday!

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap of the night's best basketball action. Try not to make it awkward.

No. 10 Texas 72, Oklahoma State 60: There's a reason Jordan Hamilton arrived in Austin ranked in most recruiting scouts' top 10. Before Monday night, Texas fans were wondering why. Monday night, they got their answer. Hamilton went off for 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting -- including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc -- to lead the Longhorns to a 12-point win in a tough environment on the road. Hamilton was supposed to be the fresh-legs foil to Texas uber-freshman Avery Bradley. Until Monday night, that hadn't happened, and Texas coach Rick Barnes was almost as frustrated with Hamilton as Texas' fans, which is why Hamilton sat for 38 minutes in Texas' loss to Baylor Saturday. Monday night was a statement -- to his coaches, to his teammates, and to Texas fans: Hi. I'm Jordan Hamilton. I can score. You should be aware. We're aware now, Jordan. We hear you loud and clear.

Hamilton picked a good time to figure things out. Texas desperately needed a win, any win, and a win over a tough Oklahoma State team on the road will do just fine. Texas was efficient on offense, didn't turn the ball over, and rebounded enough of its misses to stay one step ahead of a pesky Cowboys front line. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn good. Given the past two weeks' results, I have a feeling Texas will take it.

Louisville 82, Connecticut 69: I'm not one to whine about college basketball games and the entertainment therein -- if the brutally long offseason has taught me anything, it's to appreciate whatever hoops you have while you have it -- but I'm tempted to make an exception here. Why? Because not only could this game have been one of the best of the season had either of these teams lived up to advance billing, but it could have at least been close, right? At least both teams were similar, yes? Not so much: Louisville is much better per possession than UConn, but doesn't have the wins to show for it, and last night proved why. The only intriguing question here is whether Louisville figured out how to play defense, or if UConn was just that cold from the field. If it's the latter, oh well. If it's the former, maybe the Cardinals have enough to make a run at the tournament after all.

Saddle Up is our daily look at the hoops your TV wants you to watch. Here's Monday night's rundown.

No. 10 Texas at Oklahoma State, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN: The Longhorns are in a Texas-sized tailspin. There's no other way to put it. A team that started 17-0 and went promptly to No. 1 has now lost three of its last four (and nearly four of its last five, given the Jan. 16 home overtime win over Texas A&M). The two most recent losses are especially egregious, as Connecticut keeps proving its relative mediocrity and Baylor, despite its rising trajectory, shouldn't be able to compete with the uber-talented Longhorns in Austin. It's enough to send anyone into a Thomas Frank-esque search for answers. What happened? The answer has to do with free throws -- the Longhorns are ranked No. 332 in free throw percentage and it continues to kill them in close games -- and a rotation that has gradually dwindled from 12 to seven or eight. The Longhorns were once one of the deepest teams in the country. That advantage is gone.

Still, though, there is no questioning Texas' talent. Any lineup that features an active Dexter Pittman, a player of the year candidate in Damion James, and the fresh brilliance of Avery Bradley is a lineup that ought to easily handle the Baylors of the world, especially at home. For reference, see Kansas' win over Baylor in Lawrence. That's how elite teams perform in their own building. Texas hasn't.

If the college basketball season is one long tourney proving ground, February is its summit. Tonight is Texas' start: Get a solid win in Stillwater -- no easy feat -- and begin rebuilding what was, just a few weeks ago, considered an elite team. This Texas team is too talented to quaver like this. The time to prove it is now.

Connecticut at Louisville, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: There's always at least one game a season that looks awesome on the schedule before the season begins, and completely disappoints by the time game day actually rolls around. Ladies and gentlemen, 2009-10's winner: UConn and Louisville!

Both teams are talented, and both teams could have had better years, but Louisville has the bigger gripe: The Cardinals are a bad defensive team but not a particularly bad team all around, and Louisville's close, controversy-tinged losses to Seton Hall and West Virginia (the latter of which came on Saturday and will likely earn Rick Pitino a fine) are two games that, if reversed, would make its résumé much more attractive. (Which is not to mention the team's overtime loss at Pitt a few weeks ago; that's another one.) Louisville's record looks pretty mediocre; its efficiency stats, at least where offense is concerned, speak to something better.

Connecticut, on the other hand, has just been mediocre and inconsistent all year. The Huskies have been without coach Jim Calhoun, but UConn wasn't playing particularly well before Calhoun took his leave, and hung around the Top 25 until today for two reasons: 1) It says "UConn" on its uniforms and 2) UConn beat Texas at home last Saturday. That's it. UConn is No. 43 in Pomeroy's rankings, it's 13-8 and 3-5 in the Big East, and if it wasn't for their uncanny ability to block shots, the Huskies would be almost as bad on defense (where they're No. 33 in the country) as they are on offense (No. 72).

That doesn't mean tonight's game won't be entertaining. It will be. Both of these teams can play, and the Huskies' high-flying Stanley Robinson is particularly entertaining. But it won't mean as much as it should, and that fact, like both teams, is more than slightly disappointing.

Everywhere else: Big Monday dominates the slate tonight; the rest of the action is of the miscellaneous mid-major variety. Get the full download here.

Want to sneak something in the Afternoon Links? Follow me on Twitter and send me your stuff. Off we go:

• Storming The Floor came up with a fantastic idea yesterday. Since SEC commissioner (Who else hears Heath Ledger's Joker snarling "coMISSioner" in their head every time they read that word? Anyone? Just me?) Mike Slive seems hell-bent on punishing South Carolina for a perfectly legitimate, joyous court storm, and seems intent on collecting $25,000 from the Gamecocks in doing so, how about this? How about we send that $25,000 to Haiti? How about we make it count? The country is still in shambles after a devastating earthquake, but it sounds like aid and relief efforts are helping to stem the tide somewhat, and every little bit helps. Plus, South Carolina students were more than willing to hand over the money to the athletics program to offset their joy, and really, does the SEC need another $25,000 in its coffers? Storming The Floor's Eric is asking you to tweet "send SC's fine to #Haiti' to @SEC_Hoops, and tell 'em @STFHoops sent ya." Sounds like a plan to me.
• Speaking of court storming, Chris Dobbertean claims last night's Providence-UConn game was the moment court storming officially jumped the shark. I hate to say this, but we're way past that point. The shark was leapfrogged long ago. (Can you leapfrog a shark? Someone should totally try.) When you've got Indiana racing onto the court after a home win over Minnesota and UCLA fans trying to break onto their home floor after a buzzer-beater win over Washington, storming the court no longer means what it used to. I'm over it. Fans are over it. Let's call the whole "getting mad every time a school has a dumb court-storm" thing off. The subsequent complaining is almost as bad as the act itself.
• A familiar lad named Andy Katz zeroes in on Mike Davis, who is leading the UAB Blazers to their best season under his tenure and a possible at-large bid even if they don't end up winning the C-USA tourney.
• Former DePaul star Tyrone Corbin, now an assistant with the Utah Jazz, says he's interested in the DePaul job. Chris Lowery and Craig Robinson still seem like much better choices, but life is full of wonderful options, am I right?
• The Basketball Prospectus boys go back and forth on the subject of Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe's future: Will he go pro this year? Should he? If Bledsoe keeps climbing into the lottery, it's hard to argue he shouldn't, but a John Wall-less year in the driver's seat of John Calipari's Porsche sounds like a surefire way to boost your draft stock.
• On why Evan Turner's insanely quick recovery from a broken back -- it's hard to keep in mind that Turner literally broke his freaking back earlier this season -- has saved the Ohio State Buckeyes from surefire mediocrity. It wasn't too damaging to Turner's draft stock, either. Meanwhile, here's a non-Eamonn argument for why Turner deserves player of the year honors.
• Ahead of tonight's interesting Wisconsin-Purdue matchup, Rush The Court checks in on the Big Ten and finds Michigan State in the driver's seat. What else is new?
• Speaking of Michigan State, Kalin Lucas is hearing the finest plaudits a Michigan State point guard can hear. What? No, they're not comparing him to Magic Johnson. I suppose I should have thought of that. No, Mateen Cleaves! They're comparing him to Mateen Cleaves. I guess Magic Johnson would have been better, but you get the point.
• Calipari and Texas coach Rick Barnes discussed the perils of gaining the No. 1 seed only to lose it shortly thereafter. I can't imagine this conversation lasted all that long. "It's bummer, right bro?" "Yep. Totally, bro. Total bummer." ... "Uh, so what else is up? Wife and kids good?"
• Joel Branstrom, the high school coach who hit the half-court shot with a blindfold on -- he was being pranked by his students, who'd promised him Final Four tickets if he made it; they were going to pretend the shot went in and were foiled when it, you know, actually went in -- will end up getting those Final Four tickets after all. Let that be a lesson to you kids: Overpromise and underdeliver, and as long as you have a fun viral video clip, you can achieve anything.
• Which is a bigger rivalry: Syracuse-Georgetown or Connecticut-Syracuse?

Something I didn’t think I would see: Providence ahead of Connecticut in the Big East standings. PC is 4-4, UConn is 3-4.

How about this quote from PC coach Keno Davis: “We can beat anybody in the country. We have enough talent, but we have to play extremely hard.’’ I’m not sure I’m buying that proclamation, but it’s good to know Davis has that much confidence in his crew.

UConn’s win over Texas was as impressive a W as we’ve seen this season. But I knew if Connecticut was an elite team the Huskies had to win a game on the road that they’re supposed to -- and they didn’t. It’s odd looking at the Big East standings and seeing UConn ranked No. 19 yet in 11th place in the league.

• Not sure there was as impressive a road performance in the SEC (save Kentucky winning at Florida) as Vanderbilt’s win at Tennessee. The Commodores got spirited production out of Jermaine Beal (25 points) and held the Vols to 6-of-20 on 3s. Vandy goes into Kentucky on Saturday with a chance to actually build a two-game lead on the Cats. Huh?

• No one should fault BYU for losing at New Mexico, 76-72. The Pit is and will be one of the toughest places in the country to play, and I can tell you from years covering the Lobos that there is no opponent that gets the place as amped as the Cougars. BYU remains the MWC favorite even with the loss to the Lobos. But UNM desperately needed the win to stay in the race.

• Memphis coach Josh Pastner picked up a quality road W by winning at Marshall to keep the Tigers in the C-USA league race.

• Villanova’s 18-1 record and 8-0 mark in the Big East after beating Notre Dame is as impressive as any in the country. But the Wildcats' schedule is back-loaded with road games at Syracuse, Georgetown and West Virginia that will be tough to tackle.

• In a 95-83 win over Texas Tech, Texas coach Rick Barnes did shorten his bench as promised. Barnes went with primarily eight players with Alexis Wangmene and Jai Lucas only getting a few minutes. The primary bench players were Gary Johnson, Jordan Hamilton and J’Covan Brown. It helped that Dogus Balbay wasn’t in foul trouble.

• Duke won again at Cameron. I just don’t see the Blue Devils losing at home. So that’s eight ACC wins right there. The Devils have already won at Clemson. So that’s nine. Pick up at least two road wins out of BC, Miami or Virginia (don’t see UNC or Maryland) and the Blue Devils will likely win the league with 11 wins. That’s unless Maryland decides to string together a bunch of road wins.

• It’s hard to call out must-wins, but Illinois desperately needed to beat Penn State on the road to move to 5-3 in the league. The Illini are in the soft portion of the schedule that they must dominate.

• Florida is winning the games it should at home now with a 79-63 win over Georgia to move to 4-2 and move closer to an NCAA berth after two NIT years.

• Drexel snuffed out Northeastern’s win streak at 11 (which was the third-longest in the country) with an impressive 61-48 win on the road.

• Hard to generate buzz for William & Mary now after the Tribe lost to James Madison by a deuce to fall to 6-4 in the CAA.

• Hard not to cheer for Oklahoma State to beat Texas A&M on Wednesday, the ninth anniversary of the tragic plane crash that killed 10 people associated with the program. OSU beat the Aggies to move ahead of them in the standings at 4-2 (A&M is 3-3).

• Impressive that Oklahoma beat Iowa State with Willie Warren and Tony Crocker sitting out due to sprained right ankles. What a night for freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin, who had 38 points and 6 assists. Iowa State’s NCAA season is over with a 1-4 mark in the Big 12. Too much ground to make up at this juncture.

• What has happened to LSU’s offense? The Tigers led Alabama at the break, but scored just 13 points in the second half. Tasmin Mitchell and Bo Spencer were a combined 4-of-18 in the 57-38 loss at Alabama. The defending SEC champs are now 0-6 in league play.

• Believe it or not, Hofstra’s Charles Jenkins had an eight-point play in the Pride's 93-54 win over UNC Wilmington. He scored on a layup and was fouled. But it was ruled an intentional foul and then Wilmington’s Benny Moss got a technical for arguing. Jenkins hit all four free throws (two for the intentional and two for the technical) and then Hofstra got the ball because of the intentional foul and Jenkins scored off the inbound pass with a floater. In five seconds, the score went from 26-9 to 34-9. Wow.