ESPN Men's Basketball

Editor's note: It's the offseason edition of The Watercooler. Eamonn Brennan and Myron Medcalf talk NBA draft decisions, the preseason's No. 1 team, UCLA's upside and more.

Myron Medcalf: What's up, Eamonn? Feels like we left New Orleans months ago. Not sure how I'm going to handle the upcoming months without games. Withdrawal is setting in. But, it's already time to look forward to next season. How about Indiana? Three Big Ten wins two seasons ago. The Hoosiers will enter next season as a top-three team for sure. Cody Zeller is coming back. Wow, huh?

Eamonn Brennan: My buddy's little brother attends Indiana, and his mom brought back a shirt they're selling on campus that simply says "We're Back." Needless to say, IU fans would be loving this renaissance if they merely had a top-20 team. To go from where they were two and three years ago -- I mean, they were 12-20 in 2010-11; that literally just happened! -- to No. 1 in our very early preseason poll … well, it's remarkable, when you think about it. Such a dramatic turnaround.

MM: Very remarkable. And Zeller is back. I know I mentioned that earlier. But he's a lottery pick if he leaves. I know the NBA draft entry deadline was Sunday, and many storylines were connected to it. But Zeller's decision to stay away from the draft is bigger than any of them in my opinion.

EB: My reaction to Zeller coming back trends far more toward the "meh" side of things. It's not because he's not a great player, an immediate POY candidate and hugely important to the Hoosiers' chances, because obviously he is all those things. But I never thought there was any real threat Zeller would leave for the draft. Even as he jumped up to potential top-10 pick status, the way he's openly enjoyed his first season on campus, the patience his brother displayed at UNC, and the fact that Tyler will be a pro -- there's no rush, in other words -- made it clear that Zeller would be back as a sophomore. Some IU fans are hoping he'll stay all four years. That might be asking too much, but he's back for his sophomore season, and he has an awfully talented team around him.

Let's talk draft. Any decisions that really surprised you?

MM: A few. Maalik Wayns … OK. He's a junior who carried the load for a bad Villanova squad. But he's a projected late second-rounder, and will possibly be undrafted. His teammate, Dominic Cheek, drank the Kool-Aid, too. The whole 'If I jumped off a bridge, would you do it?' is sometimes true. But the biggest surprise is Quincy Miller. He made the right decision to return a few weeks ago. Then he changed his mind. He should be a first-rounder. But with another year, he could be top 10. He's a great example of a young player who would gain a lot by coming back for his sophomore season.

Who surprised you?

EB: Yeah, I thought Miller made the right call initially, because (a) without Perry Jones III there, he would have been the featured scorer on a good Baylor team, (b) he could take on college competition (and not fully grown men) while beefing up that lanky frame in the weight room, and (c) this draft already has how many talented tweener forwards set to go in the first round? Twenty? Thirty?

But when you're projected as a first-round pick, particularly when you're closer to the lottery end of things than the fringe, it never feels like a particularly bad decision to go.

That's kind of the deal with Moe Harkless. I thought Harkless could probably use another year in school for a St. John's team that really had time to congeal, but he looks like he could go in the first round. So you can't fault him for leaving now.

I thought Khris Middleton was one of the real surprises. He could have been a first-rounder last year but stayed. Then he got hurt all season and A&M struggled in its first year under Billy Kennedy. Now Middleton is in the draft, but isn't a likely first-round choice anymore. It will be interesting to see how he tests out and what scouts think if he can get healthy in pre-draft camps, because he's an awfully polished and athletic forward when he's at full speed. He could be a steal. (Which probably means the Spurs will draft him in the second round. Figures.)

MM: True. The Spurs would nurse Middleton back to 100 percent, then use him to fuel some epic playoff run next season. You have to look at the powerhouses, too. Kentucky lost everyone. And yet, Calipari inks a top-two class again. And Anthony Bennett is still available. North Carolina is in a different boat. Still a very talented team, but a major shift from the veteran core the Tar Heels employed last season. On Kentucky … and I know this is a tough thing to assess right now … but should the Wildcats be preseason No. 1 with the talented freshmen who are headed to Lexington next season?

Also, what's the over/under on me adopting the Nerlens Noel box cut?

EB: Oh, you should totally do it. I would put the odds at just slightly more favorable than a UK national title.

I am torn on the Indiana-Kentucky preseason No. 1 thing, because it's easy to forget the talent Indiana has arriving in Yogi Ferrell (a true athletic point guard who is exactly what they need) and even Hanner Perea, who comes with ready-made NBA athleticism (another thing the Hoosiers really need) at the 4 spot.

But Kentucky is reloading, no question, and if there's one thing we know about John Calipari, it's that he's the best in the country at getting new, young teams to come together as actual teams very early in the process. But this is not the 2012 Wildcats. Nerlens Noel is going to be a beast, but he's not Anthony Davis. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the heart and soul of that national title team, is nowhere to be found next season. I will be fascinated to see what this team looks like in November and December.

I have Louisville at No. 3 -- I think Chane Behanan is going to have a star-making breakout sophomore season.

My biggest preseason-ranking question revolves around the UCLA Bruins. Assuming Kyle Anderson's hand ligament injury is long since healed by the time the season starts, is that a top-five team?

MM: Oh man … I mean, I'm trying to erase memories of last season. That "talent." That preseason ranking … That collapse. But if we're going to give Kentucky No. 1 status (potential) based solely on the status of its recruiting class, I think you have to give UCLA the same consideration. Tony Parker helped the Bruins grab a No. 1 class ranking on ESPN.com. We know talented freshmen can win national titles.

So I say they're top 10. Can't go top five yet because the returning guys were so inconsistent. Since we're talking about teams that are hard to assess … Thoughts on Ohio State? Is that a top-five squad with Deshaun Thomas leading the way now?

EB: It's hard to know what to do with UCLA, because unlike Kentucky, we've yet to see Ben Howland take a star-studded recruiting class and turn it into a contender. In fact, last time he had a great class, things pretty much fell apart.

And yeah, I like Thomas as the star scorer. I think that's his perfect role. The question is whether he can be a leader on both ends of the floor, whether he'll devote himself to a total game, rather than being happy scoring a ton of points every night. Because he will shoot -- and score -- a lot.

The biggest question re: OSU is Amir Williams. I thought he was going to get a lot more run as a freshman, so Jared Sullinger could do his whole "hey, I'm a versatile, skinny power forward now, check out this 15-foot jumper!" routine in 2012. Instead, Sullinger gained all that weight back by the end of the season; he was basically playing the exact same position he played as a freshman, and Williams spent most of his time on the bench.

He has to take over in the middle right away, and Shannon Scott needs to have a big sophomore season as a combo 2-guard alongside Aaron Craft. If Craft and Scott can figure it out, I think that's OSU's most talented and dynamic lineup, and an awfully good one.

MM: The bottom line is that we have a lot to look forward to next season. Many question marks remain, but I like the intrigue. Plus, some talented players are back. C.J. Leslie could make NC State a top-10 team. Jeff Withey was the most dominant interior defender in the NCAA tourney. He's back. The Big Ten is stacked. The Pac-12 might matter again.

I know it's early, but I'm pumped about the 2012-13 campaign. Not sure how I'll last until November without it. Maybe I'll watch this LeBron guy in the NBA playoffs.

EB: My two-point is as follows:

1. Watch as much of the NBA playoffs as humanly possible (I love the NBA playoffs).
2. Watch the new Rihanna video as much as possible. No, RiRi, where have you been all my life?

MM: Rihanna and the NBA playoffs … the perfect elixir. Good times as always, Eamonn. Until next time … or the next big development.

EB: We'll talk that talk. Until then, Myron.

1. Villanova put out a news release that junior guard Maalik Wayns will enter his name into the 2012 NBA draft. The Wildcats said he won't hire an agent and that Wayns will keep open the option for returning for his senior season. But a new NCAA rule, originally proposed by the ACC, eliminates the testing process. All underclassmen have to make up their minds by April 10. Do you really think there will be any workouts or real "testing of the draft process" in the next three weeks? No. Players like Wayns can seek out advice and figure their draft status without having to go through the charade of declaring. Either you're in the draft or you're not this year. There is no middle ground anymore.

2. I saw St. Bonaventure at BWI Wednesday. I was heading to Albuquerque, the Bonnies were connecting to Nashville. St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said the cost of the NCAA charter was going to be $50,000 for the teams' traveling party so they declined. Meanwhile, Schmidt couldn't be more pleased with the remarkable run to the A-10 tournament title game. He should be. It was quite a feat. He also is hoping that the A-10 grabs Butler as fast as possible. The Bonnies' administration wants, and the A-10 needs, to replace Temple with a high-level team. Butler would be the obvious choice.

3. The Rhode Island coach search will come down to an eclectic mix if it chooses between Danny Hurley (Wagner), Jim Christian (TCU), Tim Cluess (Iona), Jim Ferry (LIU Brooklyn), Al Skinner (former BC coach) and possibly Orlando Antigua (Kentucky assistant). The interesting nugget on this job is what happens with assistant Preston Murphy. He could be the key to keeping important recruits.

Syracuse finished its wire-to-wire dominance with ease, disposing of Louisville in the regular-season finale.

Everyone else? Business as usual. Up, down and all over the map has been the story of this Big East season and nothing changed in the final week, when teams played themselves onto the NCAA tournament bubble and out of Big East tournament double byes.

1. Syracuse: The Orange finished off their wire-to-wire run to grab their 10^th regular-season crown and finish one loss away from perfection.

2. Marquette: The Golden Eagles’ stomping and offensive show against Georgetown displayed exactly what Marquette can be when it’s on -- the one team that can challenge Syracuse for the Big East tournament title.

3. Cincinnati: The Bearcats muscled their way to a double bye by finishing strong, winning five of their final six. Cincinnati’s win against Marquette was particularly impressive.

4. Georgetown: The Hoyas’ loss to Marquette was a defensive disaster. Georgetown needs to rediscover its identity to advance deep in New York.

5. Notre Dame: The Irish ended a two-game skid by beating Providence. More quickly, Notre Dame fixed its shooting woes, hitting 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

6. South Florida: The Bulls could have made life easy. Instead, they made it complicated, beating Louisville but losing to West Virginia to reaffirm their spot on the bubble. The tournament is huge for USF.

7. Louisville: The Cards can’t score. That’s the bottom line. They average just 65 points per game, but that’s deceiving. Louisville hasn’t topped the 60-point threshold in its last five games.

8. West Virginia: The Mountaineers are yet another Big East bubble dweller, who won the bubble head-to-head with South Florida but need more in New York to secure a bid. This team is more than capable of winning a few in its last Big East tournament.

9. Connecticut: The most intriguing team in the conference got a win and its coach back to finish the regular season, both necessary. Now let’s see what the Huskies can do with it.

10. Seton Hall: The Pirates can’t seem to help themselves, losing to Rutgers and DePaul to put black marks on their NCAA resume. Seton Hall can be great and it can be awful. Which shows up in New York?

11. Rutgers: Don’t think the Scarlet Knights aren't dangerous in NYC. They are, and come in having won two of their final three. Rutgers is a young team with nothing to lose.

12. Pittsburgh: Decidedly new territory for the Panthers -- playing on Tuesday in New York. This is Pitt’s last chance to resurrect a horrifically disappointing season.

13. St. John’s: The young Red Storm might be the most dangerous in the tournament, blessed with the ignorance of youth and playing on their home court. Their two-game skid to finish the season would indicate otherwise.

14. Villanova: Maalik Wayns looked more like Maalik Wayns, scoring 26 against Cincinnati, but not even that was enough to prevent yet another loss in what has been an endless season of woe for the Wildcats.

15. Providence :This has been the story for much of the year for the Friars: fight hard but lose. Providence gave Notre Dame all it could handle but had no answer for Jack Cooley.

16. DePaul: The Blue Demons finish at the bottom of the league standings for the fourth season in a row, but at least they grabbed a win in their regular-season finale against Seton Hall.

Syracuse put a bow on its nearly perfect Big East run, sewing up the conference’s regular-season honors. But there’s still much jockeying to be done in the final week -- for bubble positions and, more immediately, for seeding positions for the Big East tournament. The top four earn the double bye.

1. Syracuse: The Orange clinched the regular-season crown with a win that might have been more impressive than the other 15. Syracuse needed to stave off UConn for a victory that made up in grit what it lacked in style points.

2. Marquette: Not even the absence of four starters for a half could keep the Golden Eagles down or Buzz Williams from dancing. Marquette’s rally from an 11-point halftime deficit at West Virginia proved this is a very good team.

3. Georgetown: You almost had to feel for Villanova. The Hoyas went and got inexplicably clobbered by Seton Hall. Someone was going to pay. The Wildcats were the victim, sliced and diced by 21.

4. Notre Dame: Nothing lasts forever, not even the Irish’s luck. Notre Dame’s nine-game streak ended at the hands of St. John’s and an awful 4-of-31 performance from beyond the arc. The Irish need to fix that or their Big East tournament visit won’t last long, either.

5. Louisville: The Cardinals are among the teams pushing to grab that last top-seed position. To get it, they’ll need to win two tough ones -- against equally hungry South Florida and at Syracuse.

6. South Florida: The Bulls will be among the most watched teams all the way through Selection Sunday. South Florida is 11-5 in the league after beating Cincinnati but still needs a signature win. The Bulls have a chance at Louisville and then with a home game against fellow bubble resident West Virginia.

7. Cincinnati: Most folks believe the Bearcats are in the Dance. But they certainly don’t want to make it easy. Cincinnati scored 45 points against South Florida’s defense and now has to finish up against Marquette and Villanova. A loss to the Wildcats isn’t how Cincinnati wants to finish the season.

8. Seton Hall: The Pirates giveth; the Pirates taketh away. A hugely impressive win against Georgetown proved why Seton Hall deserves NCAA consideration. A home overtime loss to Rutgers negated some of the good. How the Hall finishes will be critical.

9. Connecticut: The Huskies showed more in defeat than they have all season, finally displaying some energy, hustle and feistiness in their loss to Syracuse. The question is: Was it too late? UConn absolutely cannot lose to Providence or Pitt to finish the season.

10. West Virginia: Kevin Jones might be the best player in the conference, but his team is trying to dull his star and keep him out of the NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers are fading, losing four of their past five. Jones struggled with foul trouble against Marquette, and no one picked up the slack.

11. St. John’s: Technically, Madison Square Garden is a home-court advantage for the Red Storm. The way this young team is playing, it just might take advantage of it. Moe Harkless and D’Angelo Harrison, perhaps as good a one-two punch as there is in the league, led St. John’s to its upset of Notre Dame, its third win in a row.

12. Rutgers: There’s nothing like a win against your rival to cure what ails you. And we’ll see whether that’s the case for the Scarlet Knights, who ended a six-game skid by upsetting Seton Hall. Now it’s up to Rutgers to use the momentum well against Villanova and St. John’s.

13. Pittsburgh: Saddled with injury and illness, the Panthers came up short on an upset bid against Louisville. That’s five losses in a row, a streak the Panthers need to end to gain some confidence heading into New York.

14. Villanova: Maalik Wayns returned. JayVaughn Pinkston turned his ankle during pregame warm-ups. That about sums up the Wildcats’ season, which is limping -- quite literally -- to a merciful finish.

15. Providence: At this point of the season, the Friars are latching onto any good news: Blowing a 17-point lead yet still beating DePaul thanks to Vincent Council’s late heroics qualifies.

16. DePaul: The promise of a new beginning for the Blue Demons in the Big East has faded to the same result. DePaul will need to beat both West Virginia and Seton Hall to crawl out of their regular conference-basement seat for the Big East tournament.

Player of the Night: Daniel Mullings
The freshman guard recorded New Mexico State’s first triple-double in 20 years, as the Aggies walked all over Hawaii, 115-73. Mullings finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, all career-highs. He’d never even had a double-double before. William Benjamin recorded the Aggies last triple-double in 1992. Mullings is the first freshman with a triple-double since Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser last season.

Stat Sheet Stuffer: Ken Horton
Horton did a little bit of everything in Central Connecticut’s 78-63 win over Mount St. Mary’s. The Blue Devils' senior scored a career-high 39 points to go with 13 rebounds and five assists. Horton joins Villanova’s Maalik Wayns as the only players to reach all three of those totals in a game this season. Horton also added five steals. No one has reached those four totals in a game in, at least, the past 15 seasons. Horton stands just 81 points shy of 2,000 for his career. While one Blue Devil was scoring a career high, another Blue Devil was having a huge game off the bench for Duke.

Bench Star: Andre Dawkins
The junior scored 22 points in 21 minutes off the bench to lead Duke over Florida State, 74-66. Dawkins did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 18 points. Dawkins has come off the bench in half of his games this season, and actually has a higher scoring average as a reserve (10.4) than as a starter (9.4).

Scoring Star: Kevin Olekaibe
Olekaibe scored a career-high 43 points, including 25 in the second half, as Fresno State topped Seattle, 78-72. The 43 points set a school record for a regulation game, and it’s the most by a WAC player since Jaycee Carroll in 2007. Olekaibe also became the first Fresno State player to top 40 since Courtney Alexander in 2000.

Ugly Stat Line of the Night: Kyle Kuric
Louisville got next to nothing out of Kuric, and dropped a 60-56 decision at Cincinnati. Kuric went 0-for-11 from the field and missed all seven of his 3s. It’s the worst shooting performance by a Louisville player in, at least, the past 15 seasons.

This Saturday was always going to be a bit more underwhelming than recent weeks, but boy, did it end well. Once it ended, that is. Creighton students rushed the court before the game was officially over. Their reverse storm, in which they calmly walked off the court, was one of the most surprisingly orderly things I've ever seen. Bravo, Bluejays fans. Bravo.

Read up on Long Beach State-Creighton, Michigan-Ohio State and the rest of Saturday night's action here. If you missed our afternoon recap, catch up now.

No. 19 Michigan 56, No. 6 Ohio State 51: Here's something I learned Saturday -- Michigan hasn't won a Big Ten title since 1986. As Dan Shulman said on the broadcast, that's kind of hard to believe. Here's something else we learned Saturday: The Wolverines have a legitimate chance to break that streak this season.

The race for the Big Ten title is officially a three-way affair. How did Michigan get there? By taking care of business at home. Saturday's win was the Wolverines' 16th consecutive victory in Ann Arbor. For much of the past 10 years, under Tommy Amaker and then John Beilein, Crisler was usually a cold, detached, almost lifeless place. On Saturday, it was rocking in Minute 1 and Minute 40 and constantly in between.

Of course, a home atmosphere is nice, but it doesn't mean much if your team can't play. And Michigan most certainly can play. Point guard Trey Burke continued his impressive freshman campaign against the Buckeyes, scoring 17 points -- including a flurry of much-needed late buckets, one of which he took straight at former grade-school teammate Jared Sullinger -- and dishing five dimes against the best perimeter defender in the country, Ohio State guard Aaron Craft. Tim Hardaway Jr. added efficient perimeter scoring, while forward Jordan Morgan scored 11 points and 11 rebounds against Sullinger. Those matchups -- point guard and forward -- should be Michigan's weaknesses, particularly against OSU. In this one, Burke and Morgan turned them into strengths.

That said, Michigan won the game on the defensive end, where it held the Buckeyes to .91 points per trip, and in some part it has the Buckeyes to thank. Shooting guard William Buford struggled yet again, going 3-of-12 and continuing his senior slump. Credit the Wolverines for forcing the Bucks into perimeter jump shots, but also blame Ohio State, which often settled for those jumpers without first attempting to get Sully into an iso situation on the low block. When Sullinger did touch the ball, the Buckeyes usually got a score. They figured this out eventually, which is what got them back into the game in the second half. But it was too little, too late. You wouldn't think you'd need to "figure out" that you should probably give the ball to Sullinger because, you know, he's really good.

Look, Ohio State remains a very good defensive team. After all, holding Michigan to 56 points on its own floor is no easy task. But the Buckeyes' offense, particularly its perimeter shooting (or lack thereof), looks like a serious liability. It lurched helplessly against Michigan State's defense last Saturday, and it played right into Michigan's hands tonight. As a result, OSU allowed its sworn rival to tie it in the league standings, a game behind MSU in the loss column. If the Buckeyes can't fix these problems, their March ceiling -- once as limitless as any team's in the country -- will suffer accordingly.

No. 14 Murray State 65, No. 16 Saint Mary's 51: How much fun is Murray, Ky., having right now? With a rare national audience and Dickie V in the house, the Racers played as well as they have all season, as their fans -- an intense, buoyant bunch -- gleefully soaked it all in. Judging by Vitale's rave reviews of the small burgh, I'd say Murray might be one of the best places in the country to spend this exact Saturday night. I kind of wish I was there. (My colleague Jason King is and had this to say about the game.)

In any case, the nation got a chance to see what this Murray State team was all about, and the timing couldn't have been better. After its loss to Tennessee State two weeks ago, the tone of the discussion around the Racers changed from "Whoa, this team could go undefeated!" to "Well, that was fun, but check out that at-large profile -- Murray State could miss the tournament!" I think we can put that debate to rest. The Racers might not be a national title contender, but with Isaiah Canaan leading the way (he had 23 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, a 5-for-8 mark beyond the arc and at least two or three downright crossovers that made this viewer yelp in enjoyment), they are certainly one of the better mid-major teams in the country and one that can give plenty of outfits issues in the NCAA tournament. Sure, some of the wins were shaky, and sure, the Ohio Valley Conference is bad, but when you win your first 23 games, guess what? You're pretty good.

Saint Mary's was far less convincing. The Gaels' offense was hobbled by Matthew Dellavedova's rolled ankle and Rob Jones' early foul trouble, but those weren't the primary causes -- and the road atmosphere and tough Murray defense don't explain it all, either. In reality, the Gaels, who have lost three of their past four (all by double digits), are just flat-out struggling. Over the course of the WCC season, the Gaels have posted about 1.17 points per possession (adjusted), best in the league. In their three recent losses, Dellavedova & Co. have failed to exceed a point per trip. Much like Creighton, this team's defense isn't nearly good enough to get the job done when the offense struggles. Much like Creighton, if the Gaels don't throw points in at something near their usual rate, they're going to lose. It's really just that simple.

Creighton 81, Long Beach State 79: Speaking of fun, how much fun was this? The finish -- Antoine Young's brilliant left-handed, last-second game winner -- was merely the icing on the cake. The 40 minutes that preceded that shot were chock full of high-octane mid-major awesomeness. LBSU's Casper Ware, T.J. Robinson and Larry Anderson trading deep 3s and inside moves with Young and Doug McDermott? Yes, please.

We couldn't have predicted the ending, but we should have seen the entertainment value coming. These teams both excel most at one thing: scoring the basketball. That's what Creighton does. When the Bluejays don't put the ball in at a high rate, they lose, as they did in their recent three-game losing streak, culminating with a home blowout at the hands of Wichita State last weekend. The defense simply isn't good enough to save Creighton from an off night.

Fortunately, Creighton has Doug McDermott. McDermott has been great all season, though he's struggled of late, and it's no coincidence his team had lost three of its past four in that span. But on Saturday night, he was amazing. Not "amazing" in a "wow, this sesame chicken is amazing" sort of way; McDermott was actually, literally amazing. He scored 36 points on 14-of-20 shooting and added 11 rebounds, six of which on the offensive end. The most impressive came late in the second half, when McDermott flew to the hoop and somehow tipped in a wayward shot arcing halfway over his head. Once it was clear McDermott was on, LBSU coach Dan Monson ordered his charges to begin aggressively double-teaming the opposing coach's son. But McDermott's eager passing and ability to make plays without the ball in his hands -- see the aforementioned tip-in -- neutralized that strategy. He was just so good. And at the perfect time, too.

As entertaining as this game was, as memorably as McDermott performed, the good news for Long Beach is that a loss at Creighton hardly hurts its at-large profile. Chances are, this team will continue its blistering Big West pace and get to the NCAA tournament in academic, auto-bid fashion. But if something goes awry in the conference tournament, LBSU's crazy nonconference schedule -- the toughest in the country by, like, a lot -- should be more than worthy of the committee's respect. Whatever happens, we'll always have Saturday night in Omaha. What a game, man. What a game.

Other observations from the night that was:

• All season, Arkansas has been bad on the road (where it is still winless) but great in its own building (where it was undefeated). That trend ended emphatically against the Gators. Florida hung a 98-68 offensive blitz on the young, up-tempo Razorbacks, led by Erving Walker's career-high 31 points on 9-of-11 from the field, 5-of-6 from 3, and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Walker has been criticized this season, and rightfully so; his insistence on forcing bad shots in bad situations (at Kentucky, for example) is maddening. But you can't really play much better than he did Saturday night. Insane line.
• Harvard's vaunted defense handled rival Yale with relative ease, which immediately brings to mind images of old men in smoking jackets, teasing each other over cigars and snifters of cognac. (This is how I see Harvard-Yale. I know it's silly, but I can't help it.) This creates a rather compelling finish to the conference season: Harvard, the long-dormant program with sudden title expectations, will face traditional league powers Penn and Princeton at home this week. If the Crimson win, they'll sew up at least a share of the Ivy title, maybe more. There's something slightly poetic about that.
• Huge win for Xavier, which held on to its slim margin in the final seconds of overtime to beat Dayton, 86-83. The Musketeers have been flagging badly along the bubble cut line lately and they desperately needed a home win tonight to stay viable. Oh, and here's a fun fact (unless you're a Dayton fan): This loss made it 27 straight for the Flyers at rival Xavier. Dayton hasn't won there since -- get this -- 1981. Yikes.
• Speaking of fun facts, after an 18-point effort in a 64-53 win over Minnesota, Northwestern forward John Shurna became the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer, toppling Billy McKinney's 35-year hold on the honor. That's all well and good, but Shurna is no doubt more focused on the here and now, where the Wildcats couldn't afford to drop this game and still hope to land an at-large NCAA tournament bid, at least if the bracket was selected tomorrow. The victory keeps Northwestern very much alive. Minnesota's chances, unfortunately, will suffer in proportion.
• When it rains, it -- well, you know. The cliche certainly applies to Villanova, which is struggling through an uncharacteristically bad season but had, even without Maalik Wayns (knee) and James Bell (ankle), a 20-point lead in this game. Notre Dame came back and won in overtime and, well, yeah: That's a tough way to lose. Villanova could surely have used some brief flash of sunlight in an otherwise dark year. It was so, so close Saturday. And then it wasn't. Brutal. Notre Dame, meanwhile, won its eighth game in a row. The Irish don't always look pretty, but they get the job done.
• Southern Miss lost at Houston. Yep. That happened. It's bad news for Larry Eustachy's team, of course -- it puts a definite dent into the Golden Eagles' otherwise stellar tourney résumé, which features gaudy RPI and SOS numbers -- but also bad news for Conference USA, which would no doubt prefer to be a multi-bid league this season. Speaking of which, Memphis took its own awful loss today, too, 60-58 at home to UTEP. Yes, Memphis lost to UTEP at home. The Tigers had been quietly working their way through C-USA play with relative ease, but the offensive inconsistency that plagued them in their nonconference slate crept back in against the Miners, and that doesn't bode well for the coming tournament. Mild C-USA intrigue abounds!
• Speaking of bad losses by Mississippi teams, what is going on at Mississippi State? The Bulldogs were listless at Auburn -- Auburn! -- in a 65-55 loss, MSU's third in a row in a season that is stunningly spiraling in the direction of the bubble. The Bulldogs are just 6-6 in the SEC and have games against Kentucky and at Alabama this week. Uh-oh.
• And speaking of uh-oh and three-game losing streaks, Gonzaga lost in the closing seconds at San Francisco -- the third consecutive year it's lost to the Dons on the road. The Zags shot 51 percent and yet still lost, falling into a tie with BYU for second in the WCC, one game behind 12-2 Saint Mary's.
• Colorado State held on for a rather ugly win over Wyoming. This was a definite bubble elimination game, one Wyoming couldn't afford to drop if it wanted to preserve any chance of at-large consideration. The victory won't put CSU in the field by any means, but it keeps the Rams alive, if only barely.
• Watching Georgetown, it's hard not to be impressed with the Hoyas' pinpoint Princeton offense. But this team's real strength is its defense. We saw that again Saturday, as Georgetown held Providence to 25 percent shooting at the Dunk, a win that pushed Georgetown to 10-4 in the Big East and should quell any lingering concerns its fans may have had about another late-season collapse. That's not happening.

It's a crapshoot after No. 1, but I'll give another shot to ranking all 16 Big East teams ...

1. Syracuse: Good bounce back by the Orange, who rallied from their first loss of the season to beat Cincinnati on the road and West Virginia, with some controversy, at home. Syracuse still does not have Fab Melo, and with each game it's more evident how critical the big man is.

2. Marquette: It is time to give the Golden Eagles their due. Marquette lacks the pizzazz of some other names in the league, but this team is rock solid. Darius Johnson-Odom won’t let the Golden Eagles stray too far off script.

3. Notre Dame: There’s the luck of the Irish and there’s good basketball. This isn’t luck. Mike Brey has done it again, reconfiguring his team after a serious injury. Notre Dame, an average team even before Tim Abromaitis was lost for the season, is now 6-3 after beating Syracuse and Connecticut.

4. West Virginia: Yes, the Mountaineers lost two this week but we’re calling it two with an asterisk. If you’re looking for a team to count on in this weird conference, one coached by Bob Huggins is always a good bet.

5. Georgetown: The Hoyas’ lack of defensive intensity and their rebounding issues cost them against Pittsburgh. Georgetown will have to fix both in a hurry, with suddenly desperate UConn coming to D.C. on Wednesday.

6. South Florida: Feel free to criticize the Bulls for not beating the toughest the Big East has to offer, but remember South Florida can only play the schedule it was handed. For a team that has been struggling to win since joining the conference, this 6-3 start is a huge step.

7. Louisville: The Cards quietly have turned things around by taking advantage of the middle and bottom of the Big East pack. Soon it gets interesting. Starting Feb. 6, Louisville gets Connecticut, West Virginia and Syracuse.

8. Connecticut: The NCAA has cleared guard Ryan Boatright but that hasn’t fixed what ails UConn. The Huskies dropped their third in a row, a 50-48 loss to Notre Dame on Sunday. A season once full of promise needs to be repaired in a hurry.

9. Cincinnati: The Bearcats have lost three in a row. Cincinnati needs to find a way to score when it doesn’t hit 3-pointers. The Bearcats were 7-of-20 from 3-point range in a 61-54 loss to Rutgers on Saturday.

10. Rutgers: If any team sums up the inconsistency that is the Big East it is the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers lost to DePaul 69-64 and then beat Cincinnati 61-54. Mike Rice’s team is clearly talented enough to beat anyone and young enough to lose to anyone.

11. Seton Hall: Just when you thought it was time to believe in the Pirates, they drop four straight. Kevin Willard is looking for offense. Seton Hall scored 18 in the first half against Notre Dame and 21 in the opening 20 against Louisville.

12. St. John's: The baby-faced Red Storm have put together back-to-back good games, even if they don’t have the results to show for it. St. John's beat West Virginia 78-62 and then fell to Duke 83-76.

13. Villanova: The Wildcats look better. They’re getting scoring from guys not named Maalik Wayns and playing tougher on defense. That’s the good news. The bad news is, while they look better, they aren't winning games.

14. DePaul: The Blue Demons ended a five-game skid with a road win against Rutgers but need to make hay to crawl out of the league basement once again.

15. Pittsburgh: A strong salutation to the Panthers, who emerge from the basement with wins against Providence and Georgetown. Is Pitt on the mend? Tune in Monday night for the backyard brawl against WVU to find out.

16. Providence: The young Friars have lost seven of their past eight and three in a row. To get out of the cellar, Providence needs to up the ante on defense.

PHILADELPHIA -- The game lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Jay Wright was hit with a technical before halftime. Buzz Williams earned one, he says, for not saying a word. “I never got a 'T' for not saying anything. I guess you can get T's now for body language.’’

Maalik Wayns screeched a playground curse word that wouldn’t earn a pre-teen a date with a bar of soap, racking up technical No. 3 of the day.

And not even Twitter can claim as many tweets per hour as Pat Driscoll, James Breeding and Tim Clougherty made on their whistles -- 45 in all.

After surviving all of that, not to mention a game that offered a rhythm only Elaine Benes could dance to, Junior Cadougan emerged from his locker room thoroughly nonplussed.

“Ah, this is nothing,’’ the Marquette guard said. “You should see our practices.’’

This was a game that only the winner could love, a Bataan Death March up and down the court to the free throw line 57 times.

Make no mistake. Marquette did indeed love it, loved it a bunch. The Golden Eagles claimed their sixth win in a row the hardest way possible, surviving not only the aforementioned but also a one-time 18-point deficit for the 82-78 win against Villanova.

The difference between spots No. 2 and No. 16 in the Big East (and perhaps even spot No. 1 if Fab Melo isn’t cleared soon) is about as thin as a supermodel. Too many inexperienced teams, too few superstars have collided to make this one of the most unpredictable league seasons in recent memory.

The most talented team may not win the whole thing. The toughest very well could.

Right now Marquette, holding steady in second place, is making a bid to be that team. Buoyed by practices that Cadougan said almost always include scuffles, the Golden Eagles make up in attitude what they may sometimes lack in size.

“It’s how we work. It’s what we believe in,’’ Williams said. “I don’t say that to be arrogant, but you can’t go on the road, playing against any team in this league and go through what we did and have a chance to win unless you’re extremely tough. But you can’t just be tough on game day. You have to be tough all the time.’’

This one required every ounce of tough for Marquette, especially after a Villanova team that is fighting to avoid its worst season under Wright since 2003-04 streaked to a surprising 28-10 lead.

Fortunately for Williams, he has toughness personified in the form of Darius Johnson-Odom. The senior, who doesn’t crack so much as the hint of a smile during a game, scored 10 of MU's next 12 points, singlehandedly bringing down the deficit from insurmountable to manageable, 33-21.

Johnson-Odom is more lunch pail than flashy, the sort of player who quietly dominates a game, dominates the statistics but doesn’t draw a lot of attention in the process.

He’s also the guy, Williams said, who dominates a huddle. More vocal than his head coach, DJO kept his team organized in the first half, not with firebrand and preaching but with a casual calm that delivered just as much of an impact.

“I think we were a little too confident early, not because we’d beaten them before or anything but because we’d won five straight,’’ said Johnson-Odom, who finished with a season-high 26 points. “We had a little too much swagger. That was out of character for us in the first half.’’

Marquette’s true character returned in the second half, that endless scrappiness that frustrates opponents. Cadougan draped himself all over Wayns, the league’s second-leading scorer. Wayns, who dropped 39 on Cincinnati two weeks ago, finished with 12 points, hitting only 3-of-10 from the floor. Cadougan also pressured him into six turnovers.

Cadougan and Wayns have been going at it for years, back when both were starring on the high school and summer-league circuit.

“I tried to contain him, keep him out of the paint and just make him feel uncomfortable,’’ Cadougan said. “”He’s tough, one of the best guards in the Big East. They win games when he gets hot.’’

Wayns never did, but Villanova, a young team struggling to find itself this season, hung around anyway. The Cats, in fact, led by four with just a little more than six minutes to play when Wayns was whistled for the technical.

Wayns screamed his frustration at Breeding after the official called a touch out of bounds play out on Nova. He cursed but most would agree it was a mild-mannered expletive on the scale of one to offensive.

Wayns may have been the victim of bad timing. Or cursing. The call came in the wake of a strong-worded edict from NCAA national coordinator of officials John Adams.

“You should have a very low tolerance for players who use profanity towards officials or who ‘wave you off’ after a call, etc.,’’ Adams wrote. “These type of actions call for Technical fouls. Call them!’’

Johnson-Odom made the two free throws and Jae Crowder scored on the ensuing possession, putting in a reverse layup to tie it.

The Wildcats, already down two big men in Mouphtaou Yarou and Markus Kennedy, never recovered.

If there is solace for Villanova it is that the Cats are clearly taking baby steps toward improvement. It’s likely too late to resurrect this season. This team seems predestined for a date with the NIT, missing out on an NCAA invite for the first time in eight years.

But in recent weeks the Wildcats are showing more life and, more critically, showing that folks other than Wayns can score.

Maurice Sutton, pressed into action, had the best game of his career with 11 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Dominic Cheek, the potential second scorer Nova needs desperately, had 16 and JayVaughn Pinkston 17.

And Villanova is playing harder, diving for loose balls against Marquette and forcing 16 turnovers.

Marquette, however, played tougher.

And in the Big East, especially this season, toughness wins the day.

PHILADELPHIA -- A quick look at Marquette’s 82-78 win over Villanova:

What it means: Marquette has won six in a row and stands in second place in the Big East. This isn’t a finesse team, but a scrappy one -- think Pitt of old. The scrappiness serves the Golden Eagles well. Villanova, meantime, is showing life, but it’s a little too late to resurrect what likely will go down as the worst season under Jay Wright since 2003-04.

Why it happened: This wasn’t pretty. The foul-plagued game took two-and-a-half hours to complete, with officials serving three technical fouls and so many personal fouls it was impossible to get into a rhythm. But if they weren’t beautiful, the Golden Eagles were wily. Marquette slowly and methodically chipped away at Villanova’s lead, which was 18 at one point in the first half. The Golden Eagles upped the ante on the defensive end. Junior Cadougan virtually took Maalik Wayns out of the game, pressuring the junior guard so much he could barely get the ball on an inbounds play. And then Darius Johnson-Odom did the rest.

Star of the game: Johnson-Odom scored a career-high 26, hitting one dagger after another for the Golden Eagles. Teammate Jae Crowder struggled with his shot, but still finished with 20 points and 12 boards. Maurice Sutton deserves a mention despite the loss. The little-used junior, pressed into service thanks to foul trouble for Mouphtaou Yarou and Markus Kennedy, was everywhere for the Wildcats, diving on loose balls and tipping inbounds passes. He scored 11 and added nine rebounds.

For starters: Maybe the best news of the first half for Villanova was that the Wildcats led by 10 and Wayns wasn’t the leading scorer. Villanova’s guard has had to do almost everything for the Cats this year, but James Bell and Dominic Cheek took charge against Marquette. Each had 11 to lead Villanova to a 46-36 edge. It would have been worse without Johnson-Odom. The guard scored 10 points in a row and swished a shake-and-bake 3 to end the half, giving him 13 and keeping the Golden Eagles in it. The game might force Big East officials to reconsider using six fouls for its games. The two teams were whistled for 25 fouls and each coach got hit with a technical.

What’s next: Marquette hosts Seton Hall on Tuesday, while Villanova gets a week off before traveling to Pittsburgh for a game on Super Bowl Sunday.

A scan of the college basketball box scores each night guarantees all kinds of fun oddities and standout performances. Here are a few we found from Wednesday:

Creighton 66, Missouri State 65
For the second time in three games, Creighton’s opponent committed three turnovers and still lost. On Friday night, it was Illinois State. Wednesday it was Missouri State.

Eastern Michigan 62, Western Michigan 59 (OT)
Western Michigan’s Mike Douglas played 40 minutes and attempted two shots. The only other player to play 40 or more minutes and attempt two shots or fewer this season is Steve Tchiengang of Vanderbilt.

Villanova 84, Seton Hall 76
JayVaughn Pinkston and Maalik Wayns of Villanova attempted 17 and 16 free throws, respectively. It’s the second time this season two players on the same team have attempted 16 or more free throws (the other being Gonzaga’s Robert Sacre and Marquise Carter, who each attempted 18 against Eastern Washington).

Duquesne 80, Massachusetts 69
UMass became the second team this season to commit at least 29 turnovers and 28 personal fouls in one game. Norfolk State is the other.

Trillion of the night: Davante Drinkard, Southern Illinois -- Played 11 minutes and did not record a single stat in a 75-68 overtime loss to Drake.

Player of the Weekend – Deividas Dulkys
Dulkys poured in a career-high 32 points in Florida State’s 90-57 blowout of North Carolina on Saturday, the Tar Heels' worst loss of the Roy Williams era. Just how unexpected was Dulkys’s performance? His previous season-high was just 16 points, and he’d scored 32 points in his previous nine games combined. Dulkys went 12-14 from the field, including 8-10 from 3-point range.

Filling Up the Stat Sheet – Maalik Wayns
Cincinnati outlasted Villanova despite a memorable game from Wayns. The junior guard finished with a career-high 39 points to go with 13 rebounds and six assists. It’s the first 39-13 game by a Big East player since Marquette’s Steve Novak in 2006. The only other major conference player with a 39-13-5 game in the past 15 seasons was Luke Jackson in 2004.

Bench Hero – Pierre Jackson

Baylor walked all over Oklahoma State with a 106-65 win to improve to 17-0 entering tonight’s matchup with Kansas. Once again, Jackson provided a huge boost off the bench, finishing with 18 points and eight assists. Jackson is one of only eight major-conference players averaging 12 PPG, five APG and three RPG. And he hasn’t started a game all season. In fact, his 12.3 PPG ranks second among power six conference players who haven’t started a game. Only Syracuse’s Dion Waiters (12.9 PPG) ranks higher.

Block Party – Alec Brown
Brown blocked more shots on Saturday than 276 teams. The Green Bay sophomore blocked 11 shots in a 57-56 comeback win over Wright State. It’s the most blocks in a game this season. The Phoenix went on a 20-3 run in the second half during which Brown had four of his blocks. The 11 blocks set a school record, as well as a Horizon League record.

Ugly Stat Line of the Weekend – John Henson
Henson went 0-for-7 from the free throw line in North Carolina’s loss to Florida State. That’s the most free throw attempts without a make this season. He’s the only ACC player in at least the past 15 seasons to attempt that many free throws without connecting on one. The last major conference player with a worse game at the line? Tennessee’s Ramar Smith, who went 0-12 in a game in 2007.

Ranking this mega-league is not an easy task, but we'll give it another shot ...

1. Syracuse: Someone on Twitter suggested that the Orange’s second five be ranked as the second-best team in the Big East. It’s not crazy, considering the bench accounted for 41 of Syracuse’s 78 points against Providence.

2. Connecticut: Another difficult week for the Huskies. With Jim Calhoun’s suspension over, now UConn is dealing with the uncertainty of Ryan Boatright's status for the rest of the season as the NCAA looks into his eligibility again. That the Huskies were able to deal with the immediate news and win at Notre Dame is a credit to the team. The long-term effects, however, remain to be seen.

3. West Virginia: Interesting week for the Mountaineers, who appear headed in the right direction. They play against in-state rival Marshall, a dangerous game against a good team in Conference USA, and then host Cincinnati.

4. Georgetown: The Hoyas hopped off their losing streak in convincing fashion by toasting St. John’s by 20. That should -- at least temporarily -- silence critics who wondered if Georgetown was heading to another midseason slide.

5. Seton Hall: So was the loss to South Florida a hiccup or a more serious problem? That’s the question that needs to be answered for the Pirates, who had a chance to win the game, but Jordan Theodore missed the front end of a one-and-one. Seton Hall is good, but until the Hall avoids upset losses, fans will be leery to go all-in.

6. Cincinnati: Just how good are the Bearcats? We’ll know by the middle of next week. This is Cincinnati’s gauntlet: at Connecticut, at West Virginia and then home against Syracuse. One win would be good, two huge and three a reason for serious joy in the streets.

7. Marquette: The Golden Eagles went back to their bread and butter, their defense, to beat skidding Pittsburgh. But one thing that’s becoming obvious: The margin for error for Marquette is slim.

8. Notre Dame: Tim Abromaitis remains the Irish’s leading scorer, despite not playing since tearing his ACL after Game 2. That tells you all you need to do know about the good job Mike Brey has done retooling this team into something respectable. The sledding gets harder now, with ranked opponents in three of Notre Dame’s next five games.

9. Louisville: The reeling Cardinals got exactly what the doctor ordered: a game against DePaul, one of the league’s lower-tier teams. Russ Smith looks like the key puzzle piece for a team that struggles offensively. The sixth man makes his coach crazy, but Louisville needs to afford Smith some freedom if it’s going to score. It also needs Kyle Kuric back.

10. South Florida: Success for the Bulls has to come in increments, and beating a ranked opponent for the first time in 11 years counts. South Florida’s inability to score makes nothing easy.

11. Rutgers: This is just the way it’s going to be for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are young and so the same team that can beat Florida and Connecticut and hold Pitt to 39 points can, in fact, lose by 24 to West Virginia.

12. St. John's: Here’s what you can know for sure about the Red Storm: Moe Harkless and D'Angelo Harrison are terrific. After that, how do you fairly judge a team with a roster full of freshmen, no head coach and players transferring? St. John’s is skidding (losing four of its last five) with little reason to believe it can right itself.

13. Villanova: The Wildcats just aren’t very good. There’s a host of reasons -- youth, inexperience -- but bottom line, Maalik Wayns is left to do everything on his own. He’s trying, scoring 39 in Villanova’s loss to Cincinnati, but it’s just not enough.

14. DePaul: The Blue Demons are better. But better still isn’t equating to improved results, especially on the road. A victim of tough scheduling, DePaul has lost its past three games away from home. With two now back in Chicago, the Blue Demons need to get back on track.

15. Providence: The Friars lost to Syracuse and lost badly, but credit Ed Cooley for benching leading scorer Vincent Council. As he tries to rebuild Providence, Cooley has to set a standard regardless of what it might do to the win-loss column.

16. Pittsburgh: Put the Panthers right up there next to the pyramids as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. One of the most consistent teams in the country is now consistently awful. Fans are now looking for respectable losses, like ones in which Pitt scores more than 39.

It didn't look like a great slate of games coming in, but Saturday turned out to be full of upsets and last-second thrillers. Here are some things we learned from all the action ...

The Top Three

Florida State 90, No. 3 North Carolina 57
What we learned: Wow. A true beatdown. Perhaps we don’t have an elite team in college basketball this season. North Carolina has as much potential as any team in the country to warrant that title, but Saturday’s meltdown -- the most lopsided of the Roy Williams era -- contradicted much of what we thought we knew about the Tar Heels. The Seminoles are always feisty against Carolina and Duke and tend to be giant-killers, but this was just silly. The Noles were 12-for-27 from the 3-point line in this victory. Deividas Dulkys was 8-for-10 from beyond the arc and scored a career-high 32 points. He had scored a combined 32 points in his previous nine games. The Tar Heels lost their fire once the barrage began. The Seminoles saw a vulnerable team and pounced. For the third time this season, the Heels lost a game outside of Chapel Hill. But in this loss, they were bullied and lethargic. How will UNC recover, and what on earth is the ACC about right now?

No. 2 Kentucky 65, Tennessee 62
What we learned: Cuonzo Martin’s Volunteers haven’t looked like an 8-9 squad over the past week. In their past three games, they’ve defeated Florida, nearly knocked off Mississippi State on the road and battled Kentucky for all 40 minutes. Freshman Jarnell Stokes, the highly touted prep player who joined the team Monday, recorded nine points and grabbed four rebounds in his debut. Once Stokes gets into shape, he’s going to have a major effect on a Tennessee squad that led Kentucky by eight in the second half and stuck with the Wildcats until the end. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Anthony Davis (18 points, 4 blocks) are two of America’s best, but their squad is going to get caught in league play soon if it continues to show up only after halftime.

No. 1 Syracuse 78, Providence 55
What we learned: This game was over when Ed Cooley announced stud point guard Vincent Council would not play. The Friars’ leading scorer might not have affected the final outcome, but he could have helped his squad’s deplorable offense (3-for-14 from beyond the arc, 22 turnovers) against Cuse's press. Council was a beast in PC's 31-point destruction of Louisville earlier this week. But Syracuse proved, again, that it’s the undisputed No. 1 team in the country. SU has separated itself from one of the most competitive leagues in the country. The Orange’s 19-0 start matches the best in school history. With North Carolina losing to Florida State and Kentucky struggling against Tennessee, it’s about time that Syracuse gets more credit for its strong start. Best team. In the country. No debate.

The Midwest Upsets

Northwestern 81, No. 7 Michigan State 74
What we learned: Oh, Big Ten. How you always find a way to amaze us. Within the past week, the league’s top three teams all have fallen in upsets. At home in Evanston, the Wildcats (losers of four of their previous five entering the game) snapped Michigan State’s 15-game winning streak as John Shurna led four double-figure scorers with 22 points. This game meant a few things: (1) There’s far less separation between the top and bottom of the Big Ten than there appeared to be two weeks ago. (2) Much like Michigan and Wisconsin, the Spartans are looking for a consistent No. 3. Draymond Green and Keith Appling were the team’s only two scorers in double figures. (3) Northwestern needs to prove it can put together a string of games that resemble Saturday’s outing. The Wildcats have pieces, but they tend to showcase their potential in spurts. Wonder whether this season will be different.

Iowa 75, No. 13 Michigan 59
What we learned: I can’t figure out Iowa or the Big Ten right now. The Hawkeyes knocked off their second nationally ranked opponent in two weeks. And in a Big Ten that’s as hard to peg as any league in the country right now, the Hawkeyes look like a factor. I didn’t say contender. But the Hawkeyes prove the Big Ten doesn’t offer any easy victories. No pushovers in this conference (see Minnesota-Indiana, Northwestern-Michigan for further proof). For Michigan, this game just confirmed how much the Wolverines rely on Tim Hardaway Jr. He is 17-for-55 in the team’s four losses. The only way the Wolverines -- now 1-3 on the road -- will make a push toward the top of the Big Ten standings is if Hardaway is more consistent.

Oklahoma 82, No. 18 Kansas State 73
What we learned: Frank Martin was enraged after his team lost to an undefeated Baylor squad Tuesday at home. He preached defense in his postgame interviews. That was a major challenge for the Wildcats on Saturday, too. The Big 12’s eighth-ranked scoring defense allowed a Sooners team that lost its first three Big 12 games to shoot 55 percent from the field. K-State's performances against Mizzou and Baylor suggested the Wildcats deserve a spot among the Big 12’s elite. That’s not necessarily the case anymore, with the Wildcats having dropped three of their past four games. Their conference slate gets easier from here over the next few weeks, but the Cats will find themselves in vulnerable spots, especially on the road, if their defensive woes continue. That's now 3-8 in its past 11 Big 12 road games for KSU. After a strong debut, Lon Kruger’s squad fell hard (the Sooners had lost four of five entering Saturday’s game). But the Kansas State victory should be a major confidence booster for OU. The Sooners snapped a 14-game losing skid against ranked opponents.

The Mountain West Thriller

No. 22 San Diego State 69, No. 12 UNLV 67
What we learned: The Mountain West is going to make noise in March. The league’s top two squads, both nationally ranked, battled for 40 minutes in San Diego. This wasn’t a basketball game. It was a title fight. I wasn’t there, but it felt like a tournament game from my couch. This game had some of the best back-and-forth action I’ve seen all season. Neither team could pull away. Jamaal Franklin (team-high 24 points) tumbled over a photographer in the final seconds and hurt his ankle. But he returned to the floor moments later and scored the game-winning bucket. Steve Fisher continues to exceed expectations after losing Kawhi Leonard to the NBA draft and three other starters. The Rebels won’t beat the top squads in their league or the NCAA tournament if their two leading scorers, Chace Stanback (7 points, 3-of-9 shooting) and Mike Moser (9 points, 3-of-11), struggle in big games. But San Diego State is headed to Las Vegas on Feb. 11 for the rematch. Can’t wait to see that. This matchup wasn’t just a boost for the two teams on floor; it was a boost for the entire league. The Mountain West is tough. And don't forget about New Mexico, which won its 13th straight with a victory at Wyoming. The Aztecs and Lobos go at it Wednesday night.

Taking Care Of Business

No. 9 Missouri 84, Texas 73
What we learned: The Tigers aren’t conventional. They’re undersized in a league with a multitude of skilled bigs and they’re not very deep. But Frank Haith used seven players in his second consecutive victory since last week’s lopsided loss at Kansas State. Ricardo Ratliffe led the Tigers with 21 points (10-of-12). Marcus Denmon, who had six in a win at Iowa State on Wednesday, scored 18 against the Longhorns. Phil Pressey (18 points, 10 assists, 0 turnovers) continued his impressive play. Few teams possess the perimeter depth and skill to challenge Missouri’s talented backcourt for 40 minutes. J’Covan Brown scored 34 points for the Horns, matching the combined scoring tally for the team’s other four starters. But they couldn’t defend a Mizzou team that held a 43-30 edge at halftime and finished with four scorers in double figures. A week ago, folks questioned the Tigers' legitimacy. But they clearly have regained their mojo since the KSU loss and should pose a threat to any top-tier Big 12 team.

No. 20 Mississippi State 56, Alabama 52
What we learned: Alabama entered this game on a five-game winning streak. But Bama won’t beat most teams in the SEC by scoring 52 points. JaMychal Green (14 points) was the Crimson Tide's only double-digit scorer. The Bulldogs weren’t much better. However, Arnett Moultrie’s 25-point, 13-rebound output was the difference. The two teams combined to shoot 4-for-26 from the 3-point line, but Dee Bost was 3-for-3 from long range in the closing minutes and that was that. Man, the SEC is confusing. Kentucky is obviously the league’s best, but who are Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5? This was an opportunity for these squads to make a definitive statement about their places in the league. Didn’t really happen. I expected more from this one, but hey, Mississippi State will take the win.

Some more observations from Saturday

• Baylor looked like a national champ in its 106-65 victory over Oklahoma State. No, the Cowboys aren’t an elite team. But the Bears shot 52 percent on 3-pointers (15-of-29) and had almost twice as many rebounds as OSU (48-25). Nine players scored for the Bears. Their depth is underrated, and it’s going to be a huge asset in March.
[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Al BehrmanMaalik Wayns, left, dropped 39 for Villanova in a loss at Cincinnati.
• Iowa State blew a 12-point second-half lead and lost its second consecutive matchup against a ranked opponent in its 82-73 defeat at Kansas. But with Royce White (18 points, 17 rebounds), the Cyclones can win nine or more in the Big 12. By the way, a career-high 28 points out of Tyshawn Taylor should quiet a few of his critics.
• Connecticut is such a different team when Alex Oriakhi and Andre Drummond are fully engaged. Drummond (10 points, 13 rebounds) and Oriakhi (12 points, 7 rebounds) were impressive in the Huskies’ 67-53 win at Notre Dame, ending the Irish's 29-game home win streak. The Huskies didn’t have Ryan Boatright, but they played like a complete team with their bigs being so active.
• Pittsburgh played better Saturday but still lost at Marquette 62-57. The Panthers, the models of consistency over the past decade, have lost six straight and are 0-5 in the Big East. Holy cow. Let that one sink in.
• His team lost once again in a close game at Cincinnati, but it's worth mentioning the effort by Villanova's Maalik Wayns, who had a line of 39 points (6-of-13 from 3), 13 rebounds and six assists, and put his struggling Wildcats in a position to win on the road.
• Xavier has won three in a row, after topping St. Bonaventure 77-64. Mark Lyons and Tu Holloway combined to score 33 points in the victory. The Musketeers didn’t secure any signature wins during this mini-revival, but that doesn’t matter. X needed to get back to winning as it prepares for the Atlantic 10's toughest squads. Until someone in the conference knocks off the Musketeers at the Cintas Center (where they've beaten 42 consecutive A-10 opponents), this team is still the league favorite in my opinion.
• Conference USA should be fun this season. Like Xavier, Memphis -- a decisive winner at Houston on Saturday night -- should still be considered the favorite until someone proves they can beat the Tigers on the road. But Marshall and UCF played a classic in a 65-64 Thundering Herd victory, and both could give Memphis trouble. Southern Miss is right in the mix as well.
• Meanwhile, in the Mid-American Conference, Akron now has to be considered the favorite after a 68-63 victory over Ohio, which looked so solid in nonconfernece play but has faltered of late. The Zips have wins at Mississippi State and Marshall. If they make the NCAA tournament, look out.
• Have to be impressed with the way Oregon swept the Arizona schools. Winning in Tempe is nothing to be overjoyed about, but winning in Tucson -- no matter how mediocre the Wildcats have been for most of the season -- is still special for any Pac-12 school. The Ducks are as good a bet as any to win this crazy league.
• You know who won't win the Pac-12? The Ducks' rival, Oregon State. The Beavers have played great at times this season, but the bottom line is 1-5 in a down conference after a horrendous double-digit loss at Arizona State on Saturday.
• You know who just might win the Pac-12? Stanford. The Cardinal now are 5-1 in the conference after a 20-point beatdown of Colorado, which began 3-0 (all at home) but got a rude awakening in the Bay Area by Cal and Stanford.
• Gonzaga was shaky early Saturday night, but the Zags have to be happy with their 62-58 win at Loyola Marymount, a team that has knocked off UCLA and Saint Louis this season. Mark Few's team was absolutely humiliated at Saint Mary's on Thursday. A bounce-back victory was a must, and the Zags got it done.

Before conference play gets underway, let's take another attempt at ranking all 16 teams in the Big East:

1. Syracuse: The Orange head in to league play unblemished and barely challenged. Syracuse has won games by an average of 21.7 points in the nonconference season.

2. Louisville: Russ Smith has provided a much-needed offensive spark for the Cardinals, scoring 23 against Western Kentucky. The Cards still haven’t jelled entirely, but the defense has kept Louisville alive.

3. Connecticut: The Huskies beat a good Fairfield team to end their nonconference schedule but will have to make do in the first three league games without Jim Calhoun. The coach will begin his suspension from NCAA sanctions this week.

4. Georgetown: The eye-opening win against Memphis proved how good the Hoyas are getting … and how much the Tigers are struggling. Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson continue to lead Georgetown.

5. Marquette: The Golden Eagles responded well from the upset against LSU with a win against a decent Milwaukee team. They’ll have one more nonleague game -- against floundering Vanderbilt -- before heading into conference play.

6. West Virginia: No shame in the Mountaineers’ overtime loss to Baylor in Vegas. If anything, the loss proves how good West Virginia is becoming, thanks largely to the continued great play from Kevin Jones.

7. Seton Hall: The Pirates own an eight-game win streak and an 11-1 record. They’ll know how good they really are in a hurry. Seton Hall opens Big East play at the Carrier Dome against No. 1 Syracuse.

8. Cincinnati: Maybe the brawl has refocused the Bearcats. Cincinnati, using a 4-guard offense because of the suspension of Yancy Gates, barely missed becoming the first team in school history to score 100 points in three consecutive games, falling five points short of the record in a blowout of Chicago State.

9. Pittsburgh: The unthinkable has happened twice now at Pitt, with the Panthers dropping their second home loss of the season, this time to Wagner. It’s the first time the Panthers have lost to a Northeast Conference opponent in 70 games, and hardly the confidence boost Pitt needs as it readies for the Big East.

10. Providence: The Friars’ improvement is officially evident in the state of Rhode Island. Providence beat URI on the road for the first time in its past five tries. Ed Cooley takes his team to New York for the league opener against St. John’s.

11. DePaul: The Blue Demons’ improvement continues as Oliver Purnell has DePaul off to its best start (9-3) in 12 years. In Cleveland Melvin, DePaul has a legit Big East talent.

12. Villanova: The Wildcats know one thing heading in to Big East play -- they need Maalik Wayns. Nova recently led American by just two before Wayns, sidelined with a virus, came into the game. The Cats won by 21.

13. Notre Dame: The good news: The Irish scored 106 points in a game. The bad news: It was against Sacred Heart. How Notre Dame will do offensively against the likes of Pitt -- the Irish’s first league opponent -- will be a little more telling.

14. St. John’s: The Red Storm finally got some good news -- Amir Garrett, one of three freshmen who didn’t qualify academically, was cleared and played in his first game last week. St. John’s needs him with Nurideen Lindsey choosing to transfer.

15. Rutgers: Even in a win, the Scarlet Knights have problems. Rutgers beat NJIT by 24 but trailed early in the second half against the undermanned opponent. That on-and-off-the-gas-pedal attitude won’t fly this week when Rutgers finishes its nonconference slate against Florida.

16. South Florida: Things continue to look bleak in South Florida, where the Bulls completed their nonconference play with a loss to Southern Miss. Next up: Connecticut.

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- At first it looked harmless, like Isaiah Armwood actually was trying to pull Mouphtaou Yarou away from a potential fracas.

On replay, however, it was viewed otherwise. As Armwood, the Villanova sophomore, wrapped his arm around Yarou, he hit Nasir Robinson in the left eye.

“A cheap shot,’’ Robinson called it.

A technical Jim Burr ruled it.

Another day at the office, Pittsburgh declared.

Pitt always has been the sort of team that prides itself on taking an opponent’s best punch and responding. The Panthers typically mean that in the figurative sense.

Apparently they can take the literal body blows, too.

“He reached around Yarou and extended his arm,’’ Robinson said. “It was definitely intentional, a cheap shot. But that sort of stuff happens every day in practice. We get bloody noses, black eyes, you name it. It doesn’t matter. We just let the refs call it and keep playing.’’

Handling friendly fire is one thing. Walking onto a campus 14 hours into its fevered pitch and handling a punch to the face in a heated game that featured three technicals, 43 fouls, and so many floor burns and loose-ball dives that you were waiting for the coaches to call for their cut men, is another.

Yet Pitt absorbed the hits and kept on coming, not only keeping its composure but running on a post-punch 15-4 streak that ultimately proved the difference in a 57-54 victory against Villanova.

The Panthers, who halted the Wildcats’ 46-game win streak at the on-campus Pavilion, now stand atop the sequoia of conference perches, 11-1 in the Big East.

Which will mean what, exactly, on Monday?

Not likely a spot atop the rankings.

When the conversation tracks to who ranks among the nation’s best -- a conversation sure to take on a rowdier tenor after Ohio State’s loss at Wisconsin -- it rarely loops around to the Panthers.

Most everyone agrees that the Big East is the best conference in the country and no one will argue that the Panthers aren’t the best in the Big East.

But in 14 weeks of poll voting, the best team from the best league has yet to receive a single vote.

“I think it’s time for us to be in the conversation among the elite,’’ Brad Wanamaker said. “But really, we want to be in the conversation among the elite at the end of the season, not now. When they start talking about the national championship, that’s when we want to be talked about.’’

Ah, but therein lies the chronic rub with the Panthers, the dirty little secret that maybe has kept voters from casting their ballots in Pitt’s favor.

The Panthers have won at least 10 conference games in each of the past 10 seasons and have won 211 games since Jamie Dixon took over as head coach for the 2003-2004 season -- the fifth-most among Division I teams.

For all of that success, Pitt has no Final Fours appearances during that time. The Panthers were tantalizingly close two seasons ago, making it to the Elite Eight before Nova's Scottie Reynolds quashed the Panthers’ dream in one coast-to-coast dash.

Other than that, it has been during the Sweet 16 or earlier rounds that Pitt leaves the party.

And so fairly or not, the Panthers have been labeled a team built to withstand the rigors of the Big East but not necessarily built to win it all.

This team, though, might be different.

“This is as tough and as good a team as they’ve had,’’ Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

Pitt seems to have a knack for losing key players at critical times. Mike Cook, Levance Fields, Jermaine Dixon are among the who's who to have missed stretches during their careers.

Now the Panthers can add Ashton Gibbs to the list. The junior, and most improved Big East player a year ago, is sidelined with an MCL injury in his left knee. He sat nattily dressed in a suit on the bench while his teammates played a game that was more akin to a brawl.

In the past, the Panthers sort of looked to survive without their star, finding a way to piecemeal their way to enough success while their injured player mended.

This time Dixon sent a much simpler message: relax.

“We’ve emphasized that since day one, that there’s no need to do anything differently,’’ Dixon said. “We’ve practiced without him, played without him. We don’t have to make it more than it is.’’

Echoed Wanamaker, “We were confident. We knew without Ashton somebody would have to step up but that didn’t meant someone had to fill Ashton’s shoes. We just had to go play our game.’’

And in arguably two of the toughest environments they’ll face this year -- at backyard brawl rival West Virginia and at "College GameDay" juiced Villanova -- the Panthers did exactly that.

This game was ugly, brutal and mean, just the way Pitt likes it. At times, the fans were crazy that the officials were blowing the whistle too much and others, angry that they were letting too much go.

When Robinson all but tackled Corey Fisher on a fast break, the play itself resulted merely in a foul call. It was the jawing after that earned the pair a double technical.

That’s sort of how it went all night, with bodies flying and shots not falling, a thing of beauty to those who prefer their basketball served with a side of hand-to-hand combat.

Not until the final minutes did there seem to be any fluidity, and naturally when it arrived, it came from the most nonsensical of sources.

In a game where the two teams would combine to shoot 4-of-25 from beyond the arc, a guy who took five 3-pointers all season drained one like it was nothing. Antonio Pena's 3 with under a minute got the Wildcats within three and after Pena stripped Wanamaker, Villanova -- burned by Rutgers on a 4-point play at the buzzer a game ago -- had a chance to at least force overtime.

Dominic Cheek missed a 3 from the baseline but Maurice Sutton corralled the rebound and passed it out to Maalik Wayns. Falling and eventually landing on his backside, Wayns drained the 3.

But it came a split second after Jim Burr already ruled the shot was after the buzzer. The game was over.

“We made too many mistakes in the second half,’’ Wright said. “I just think they were just physically older and tougher than us. It seemed like every time there was a loose ball in this game, we’d both get a hand on it but in the end, they’d end up ripping it out of ours.’’

Not just absorbing the punch, but delivering the knockout.