ESPN Men's Basketball

Editor's Note: On Tuesday night, Andy Katz caught up with a happy 86-year-old in Ohio -- a man who played on Harvard's one and only NCAA tournament team in 1946. To read Katz's piece, click here.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The most avid Princeton fan in the country sat home with his family on Tuesday night, rooting hard for the Tigers and all the while trying to maintain a little perspective.

“You know what I’ve learned in the 100 or so years I’ve been through this? You’ve got to just play it out,’’ Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “Who knows how things are going to develop or shake out? It’s going to be what it’s going to be.’’

On the last regular-season game of the 2011-12 college basketball season, fate finally decided it was going to rule in favor of Harvard.

In 40 minutes, Princeton ruined the dreams of its basketball rival and delivered the dreams of its academic enemy, beating Penn 62-52 to hand Harvard the outright Ivy League crown and the school’s first NCAA tournament berth since 1946.

The final score led to raw emotion up and down the Northeast Corridor.

In Boston, there was pure joy. Amaker, who purposefully didn’t gather his team to watch the game, was returning giddy phone calls and text messages from his players, waiting anxiously to see them in practice the next day -- "I just want to hug 'em and touch 'em," he said.

In Princeton, there was a weird sense of euphoria. The Tigers had a kiss-your-sister sort of evening, preventing rival Penn from getting even a share of the Ivy crown yet delivering the conference title on a plate to Harvard.

"It was an interesting game coming in," Princeton's Patrick Saunders said. "We don’t have much love for either team. It was nice to get a win, but it was kind of tough to swallow knowing our win put Harvard in the tournament."

And in Philadelphia, there was equal parts anger and anguish. The Quakers will spend a year reliving this one, not because they lost but because of how they lost. Penn, which had won nine games in a row to force Harvard into a corner, played Ole' defense on the Tigers, allowing Princeton to do whatever it wanted offensively.

"How can a team that's playing for nothing play harder than a team that's playing for something?" Penn coach Jerome Allen wondered.

It’s a question without answer but one that will at least temporarily rewrite the Ivy League record books.

For the better part of the Ancient Eight, when Penn and Princeton met on the final Tuesday of the season it was to decide the fate of the conference.

Only not like this. Back then, either the Quakers or the Tigers would claim the crown.

But both programs had fallen on tough times, giving way first to Cornell and more recently to Harvard. Princeton enjoyed its rebirth last season, returning to the NCAA tournament by nudging the Crimson out of the way in a thrilling one-game playoff.

Two seasons ago, the Quakers were more the Quagmires. Glen Miller was fired in December, almost unheard of in Ivy circles, and Allen was tagged as the interim coach.

It was the nadir for a once-proud program that had become worse than bad, it had become irrelevant.

Allen, who owned the Ancient Eight as a player, quickly restored order in West Philadelphia, perhaps more quickly than anyone expected. The Quakers were picked only fourth at the start of the season. And so theoretically and even statistically, Penn ought to be happy with an 11-3 Ivy record and a second-place finish.

"No, no, I don't think we got this program back," said senior Zack Rosen, who made like a sherpa and toted the Quakers on his back the entire season."Coming close isn’t what Penn is about. Penn is about numbers and banners and championships."

Now those championships go to a newbie. Harvard celebrated its share of the title a season ago, but that will pale in comparison to the party the Crimson can enjoy now.

"This is significant for us," Amaker said. "It's a chance for us to be a part of something special at one of the most special places in the world, arguably the No. 1 school in the world. It’s been forever and so it means so much to so many people."

A year ago, Amaker was in a high school gym recruiting, learning via text-messaged scores that his team would need to win a one-game playoff game.

This season he chose to stay home, which was better but no less nerve-wracking.

"I was in and out," he said. "I watched most of it."

Most important, he watched the end -- and even if he couldn’t hug his players, he felt their excitement buzzing through his cell phone.

Now instead of worrying about where Harvard will have to travel to get to a neutral playoff site, Amaker is busy making much better plans.

"We've got to decide what we're going to do about watching the Selection Show," he said. "I want them to enjoy the moment because we know how hard these moments are to come by. You've got to be good and you've got to be lucky."

And finally, on the last day of the regular season, Harvard was a little of both.

Saturday afternoon transitioned into Saturday night as smoothly as Kentucky transitions from an Anthony Davis block to the fast break. In the process, we saw Michigan State defend like crazy at Ohio State, Creighton take a beatdown by Wichita State and the aforementioned Wildcats again assert their dominance, this time at Vanderbilt. That and more in the evening edition of What We Learned.

[Editor's note: For recaps of all the afternoon games, click here.]

No. 12 Michigan State 58, No. 3 Ohio State 48: As far back as August, Tom Izzo -- in typical Izzonian fashion -- proclaimed far and wide how much he loved his team. Not necessarily because he knew the Spartans would be good or because he knew they would keep getting better (although he often seemed to assume as much), but because this Michigan State team, perhaps more than any other in recent years, does the two things Izzo seems to value most: It rebounds. It defends.

The Spartans began Saturday allowing the fourth-fewest points per possession in the country (adjusted, per Ken Pomeroy). They also ranked in the top 10 in both relevant rebounding categories, chasing down 39.9 percent of their misses on offense and yielding second chances on just 26.1 percent of opponents' possessions. Throw in the focused vocal leadership of forward Draymond Green, the back-from-the-dead reclamation of Derrick Nix, one of the toughest point guards in the country in Keith Appling and a batch of dedicated supporting pieces, and, well, no wonder Izzo loves this team. Compared to last season's incoherent, apathetic bunch, he must occasionally feel like he's coaching an entirely different game.

For as consistently as Michigan State has demonstrated those qualities throughout this season, never have they been more clear than Saturday night. Izzo's team held the third-ranked Buckeyes -- in Columbus, mind you -- to a mere .75 points per trip. How? How do you stop a team with so many weapons, with one of the best forwards in the country anchoring it all, in a building where it has won 39 in a row? The Spartans know how: You scrap. You claw. You fight. You make everything difficult for that team's best player. You frustrate him at every turn.

Jared Sullinger was, of course, the focal point of MSU's defensive strategy, and it worked. Sullinger still scored 17 points and grabbed 16 boards, but he needed a 5-of-15 performance to get there, and he committed 10 turnovers in the process. (The 17-16-10 is the first turnover-laden triple-double of the college basketball season, per ESPN Stats & Info. Former Buck Evan Turner had two of them in his final season. The Evan Turner Special lives!) Sullinger was noticeably frustrated throughout the game, arguing for fouls (sometimes rightly, oftentimes wrongly) and forcing shots into the teeth of State's interior defense, anchored brilliantly by forward Adreian Payne (who was also 6-of-6 from the field).

The performance reminded me of Ohio State's loss to Kentucky in last season's Sweet 16, when UK forward Josh Harrellson harassed and harangued Sullinger into a performance far below his usual standards. Harrellson was one of the few players in the country with the size and strength to hold his ground against Sully's girth. Nearly a year later, Payne and Nix demonstrated the same abilities. It's a testament to Sullinger's ability that he still grabbed 16 rebounds, eight of them offensive, but every putback was challenged, every touch contested, every dribble met with reaching slaps.

Sullinger didn't get much help from his teammates. William Buford and Deshaun Thomas combined to shoot 4-of-24 (!!), Aaron Craft was 3-of-7, and all told, the Buckeyes shot 2-of-15 from beyond the arc and 26 percent overall -- its third-worst shooting performance of the past 15 years. Yikes.

The Spartans weren't great on offense (.91 points per trip). Ohio State's defense is its best quality, and the Buckeyes were again good on that end of the floor. But Michigan State didn't have to light it up to get this victory. When you defend this well, when you execute your defensive game plan this perfectly, when you thoroughly dominate one of the nation's elite teams in its own building, you don't have to put up points in bunches to get the job done. No team in the country this season has posted 40 minutes of defense this strong against a team this good.

So, yeah, Tom Izzo loves this team. Can you blame him?

No. 1 Kentucky 69, Vanderbilt 63: You have to hand it to the Commodores: They didn't go away.

That's the biggest positive Kevin Stallings' team can draw from this loss. From the opening tip, UK's brilliant defense was again, well, brilliant. As late as the 4:42 mark in the first half, Vanderbilt had scored just 13 points. The Commodores finished the first half with a whopping 23 as Kentucky led by 13. Terrence Jones was engaged. Anthony Davis was dominant. As it has so often in the past three weeks, John Calipari's team appeared ready to roll to another very impressive SEC victory. Ho and hum.

Then, only a few moments into the second half, things just sort of ... opened up. The Dores not only started finding open shots, they started making them. Brad Tinsley, Jeffery Taylor and John Jenkins came alive on the perimeter, while Festus Ezeli started finishing things down low. Soon -- almost before you knew it -- what "GameDay" host Rece Davis called Kentucky's "aura of invincibility" fell away. By the 8:26 mark in the second half, the Commodores led 55-51, the culmination of a 32-17 run.

They would score just eight more points the rest of the game. No one could have known it at the time, but Tinsley's jumper at the 4:09 mark would be Vanderbilt's last bucket of the day. Just as soon as VU had opened the game with solid man offense, crisp passing and accurate shooting, Kentucky shut it down. Davis recorded four blocks in the final seven minutes of the game; he finished with seven total. One of the major themes of the broadcast was Calipari's stated desire to see his team challenged, to see how it would respond. The Wildcats were. Vanderbilt kept swinging. Kentucky took Vandy's best punch. It absorbed a combo or two. And then, as all great fighters do, it emerged stronger and stronger as the game wore on. If Calipari wanted to see how his team would react to a challenge, he had to be thrilled with the result.

Kentucky played a solid, experienced team. It played said solid, experienced team in said team's unique building, with its weird sight lines and elevated court and baseline benches. It did so in front of a crowd that had spent all day goosed by "GameDay," hyped for the glorious chance at knocking off No. 1, something this school has done six times over the years. It didn't matter. Kentucky went 3-of-14 from 3. And it still emerged unscathed.

If Christian Watford's last-second shot doesn't fall in Assembly Hall on Dec. 10 -- back when Kentucky was still figuring things out -- the Cats are undefeated and we're talking less about this sudden surge of brilliance than whether UK could make it to the NCAA tournament with an unbeaten record. This team is one shot -- one 10-second defensive breakdown -- away from legendary comparisons.

Oh, well. As it is, Calipari's team is rounding into one of the most complete -- if not the most complete -- of his career. Davis is a transcendent force anchoring a team with zero defensive holes. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is one of the best two-way players in the country. Jones can dominate when he wants. Doron Lamb is a lights-out shooter. Darius Miller is an underrated offensive presence and an all-around glue guy extraordinaire.

There's a reason this team is awash in that so-called aura of invincibility. The Wildcats aren't actually invincible, of course. But right now, they're the closest thing going.

Wichita State 89, No. 15 Creighton 68: When you've got a national player of the year candidate ripping through each and every opposing defense he sees with a rare blend of volume and efficiency, it's easy to disguise your team's warts. After Wichita State's end-to-end dismantling of the Bluejays on Saturday, those warts are now fully exposed.

The score line tells the story here, but it's nothing new: Creighton is, at best, a fairly mediocre defensive team. The Bluejays entered this Valley showdown ranked No. 119 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, per Pomeroy. They force turnovers on just 16.3 percent of their defensive possessions, which ranks them No. 336 out of 345 Division I teams. This so-so defense has been hidden well all season because Creighton outscores everybody. Doug McDermott and company have the nation's highest effective field goal percentage and its sixth-most efficient offense overall. But in the past three games -- losses to Northern Iowa, Evansville and now Wichita State -- the Bluejays' offense has suddenly cooled off. Creighton's effective field goal percentage figures in its past three games are 46.5, 44.2 and 44.7 percent.

And therein lies Saturday's problem: Wichita State is not a one-way team. Rather, Gregg Marshall's squad combines excellent defense (KenPom rank: No. 26) with efficient offense (KenPom: No. 11), tops in MVC play in both metrics. Despite their hugely impressive per-possession stats, the Shockers have flown below the radar recently thanks in large part to that triple-overtime loss at Drake in late January. But in basically every other Valley affair, even the 68-61 loss at home to Creighton in this series' first game, the Shockers have been comprehensively good.

Does that mean Wichita is 21 points better than Creighton, home, away or neutral? No. Is its offense as good as the 1.4 points per trip it poured in Saturday night? Probably not. But this lopsided result in front of a huge crowd in Omaha does reveal some notable truths about both teams. For Creighton, it laid bare just how important the Jays' offense is to their chances of making a run in the NCAA tournament; it's no coincidence this three-game losing streak came in three mediocre shooting performances. Greg McDermott's team can't afford to miss shots, because it can't get the stops it needs to keep things close.

For Wichita State, well, if you didn't know, now you know: The Shockers are good. Not "dangerous." Not "plucky." Just flat-out good.

Temple 85, Xavier 72: If you're still waiting for a team to round into its full form on Feb. 11, there's a good chance you'll still be waiting on March 11. That appears to be the case with Xavier. The Musketeers haven't been bad in Atlantic 10 play -- they ranked fourth in A-10 efficiency margin as of this week -- but they haven't been particularly good, let alone their usual brand of good, the one that led them to a 15-1 league record last season. Instead, these Musketeers are just sort of, well, mediocre.

Which is to take nothing away from Temple, which blitzed Chris Mack's team early and never looked back. Guard Ramone Moore went off, scoring 30 points on 9-of-16 from the field, while Khalif Wyatt put up 18 points, four assists and three steals, and Micheal Eric contributed 11 points and 16 rebounds. The Owls' backcourt is the undisputed strength of the team, and Fran Dunphy's squad continues to look more and more like the A-10's clear favorite each time that backcourt makes life so difficult for opponents on both ends of the floor. Temple is alone atop the league at 8-2.

The contrast between these two teams is glaring. One is whole, complete, playing its best basketball at the right time. The other is scattershot, struggling, not bad but far worse than it has any right to be, given its talent. The temptation to connect X's continued struggles to the Dec. 10 brawl is worth resisting here. Does it play a part? Maybe. Has guard Mark Lyons (who didn't start) been unpredictable and frustrating since? Oh yeah. But at this point, it's also possible Xavier just wasn't all that good in the first place. Whatever the reasons, the Musketeers -- perennial NCAA tournament fixtures -- are running out of time to figure it out.

A few more observations from the night of hoops:

• Harvard's preordained run to its first NCAA tournament in decades -- the Crimson are clearly the best team in the Ivy League and were the heaviest of favorites to win it outright -- got just a little shakier Saturday night. Tommy Amaker's team fell to the old-world perennial Ivy favorite, Princeton, 70-62. It's a sign of Harvard's changed status that Princeton students -- who are fans of a program that is the historical Ivy elite, and which just beat one of the league's longtime losers -- rushed the court after their team's 23rd consecutive home victory over the Crimson. Despite the loss, Harvard's chances of winning the league are still very good. Its schedule -- which features Yale, Princeton and Penn at home before a season-ending two-game road swing at Columbia and Cornell -- is a major advantage. Plus, the No. 21 Crimson still own a one-game lead in the standings. But they will be eager to avoid any further slip-ups. If they end up in another one-game tiebreak (the Ivy League awards its NCAA tournament bid to the regular-season winner), anything can happen. Amaker's bunch, which lost its trip to the tourney to Princeton on a tiebreak buzzer-beater last season, knows all too well what can happen when you leave the preordained to chance.
• We let this one slip by in the afternoon frenzy, but Mississippi State's loss to Georgia probably deserves a mention. The Bulldogs were undone by freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's big-time step-back 3 in overtime (not to mention his other 17 points and eight rebounds), and hey, yeah, sometimes you take a tough OT loss. But Mississippi State's inconsistency is a bad sign for a team with major tournament aspirations. Not a good performance at all.
• Southern Miss held on for a 78-74 home victory over UCF, yet another gritty, close win in a Golden Eagles season full of them. Don't look now, but Southern Miss is 21-4 on the season with a top-15 RPI. Wednesday night's loss at UAB is certainly a black mark -- especially considering the Blazers lost by 34 to Memphis on Saturday night -- but other than that, this team has a shockingly strong at-large case. Larry Eustachy is reborn!
• Phil Martelli's team picked up another A-10 home win, as Saint Joseph's took down upstart UMass 73-62 and damaged the Minutemen's outside chances of an at-large bid. Massachusetts could have gone to 8-3 with a win. Instead, it moves backward, into the thick of the league's muddled middle, alongside the Hawks and many others.
• If there is any justice in the world, tiny Wabash College will find its way to the "SportsCenter" top plays in the coming days. Why? Because of Aaron Zinnerman's shot, one of the more insane and unlikely you'll ever see. The YouTube clip is here. Enjoy. (Important correction! This post incorrectly cited Wabash as the alma mater of Butler coach Brad Stevens. Rather, as numerous alums have informed me, Stevens actually went to rival DePauw. I always mistake the two, but nonetheless regret the error. My bad, everyone.)

Mike Crispino and Bob Valvano break down No. 21 Harvard's first conference loss this season, a 70-62 defeat that gave Princeton its first victory at home over a top-25 team since 1977.

He made a career out of tilting at windmills and slaying dragons, the ultimate underdog in a game in which bigger and stronger is supposed to equate to better.

He was craftier, that’s always been the argument. Pete Carril was able to conjure up an offensive scheme that put his Princeton teams on equal footing with their more talented foes.

Actually, above all else, Carril is practical.

Three, he knows, is worth more than two.

“Sometimes we had centers and forwards smaller than our guards, so who were you going to post up?” Carril said. “So what we had, we had 3-point shooters and we made a lot of 3s. They add up.’’

There is, it turns out, genius in simple math.

The 3-point shot, celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has revolutionized the game. Post play is no longer as crowded as a New York City subway at rush hour, defenses are stretched across the floor and the little man is more than just a dribbler.

Perhaps less noticeable to the naked eye, the 3 also has given rise to the mid-major. Parity has hit the college game for plenty of reasons -- the one-and-done rule leaves top teams without valuable experience and leadership; television has exposed recruits to more and more teams; name-branding from the NCAA tournament -- but it would be foolish to overlook the impact of the 3.

“It isn’t an equalizer in the game,’’ Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart said. “It is the equalizer.’’

Smart should know. His Rams toed the arc all the way to Houston and the Final Four last season, connecting on 61 of 143 (42.7 percent) of their 3s compared to just 31-of-113 (27.4) by their opponents.

In perhaps their most difficult step, the Elite Eight game against Kansas, VCU knocked down 12-of-25 from long distance to just 2-of-21 for the Jayhawks.

But VCU is hardly the first team to expose its heftier opponents by draining 3s. In some of the most memorable upsets and Cinderella runs in college basketball, there is one common denominator -- 3-point shooting.

• 3-Point Anniversary

  This season marks the 25th anniversary of the 3-point line in college basketball. Once derided, it is now an integral part of the game. 3-point home page »

  • O'Neil: The 3-pointer turns 25 » • O'Neil: The great equalizer » • Brennan: Top 3-point shots » • King: Steve Kerr spans two eras » • Leung: Kevin Foster defends his title »

  1991 Richmond vs. Syracuse: The Spiders knocked down 5-of-17 from the arc to 5-of-21 by the Orange.
• 1996 Princeton vs. UCLA: The Tigers were 8-of-27, the Bruins 5-of-18.
• 1999 Weber State vs. North Carolina: The Wildcats were 14-of-26, the Tar Heels 9-of-21.
• 2005 Bucknell vs. Kansas: The Bison were 8-of-31, the Jayhawks 1-of-11.
• 2010 Northern Iowa vs. Kansas: The Panthers were 9-of-26, the Jayhawks 6-of-23.
• 2010 Butler Final Four run: The Bulldogs sunk 42 3s to 22 by their opponents.
• 2011 Butler Final Four run: The Bulldogs sunk 44 3s to 34 by their opponents.

“When you are truly undersized and undermanned, it changes everything,’’ Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “It doesn’t have to be someone in particular who can shoot it, but you have to some reliability. One of the reasons we went to the national championship game is because Matt Howard hit five 3s his first year and 53 as a senior. We don’t go if we can’t stretch the floor with him.’’

Chris Mack found out just how hard it is to win without a 3-point shooter. A year ago, Brad Redford tore his ACL before the season, sidelining the 42 percent shooter for Xavier. Mack's Musketeers went on to a more than respectable 24-8 record but were bounced short of their fourth consecutive Sweet 16 by Marquette.

The double dip of extra attention paid to Tu Holloway and Xavier’s 2-of-13 shooting from the 3-point line doomed the Musketeers in that game.

“Having Brad back does two things for us,’’ Mack said. “It makes our other players better because the floor is so much more spread out. It makes our penetrators better because they have less help-side [defense] to navigate through, but it almost becomes a 4-on-4 game because you can’t leave him. We’re a much more dangerous team because he’s as automatic as they come.’’

The challenge for mid-majors, or any coach for that matter, is finding guys who can hit a 3. As teams continue to go away from the traditional power forward, relying more and more on guys who are more versatile at the 4 position, recruits who can hit a 3 are at a premium.

Consequently coaches who might be second in line in the pecking order are forced to develop good shooters if they can’t recruit them.

Which begs a chicken-or-egg question: Are great 3-pointer shooters born or can they be created?

The answer is both. Right now Stevens has one of the best 3-point shooters in the game sitting on the bench -- Arkansas transfer Rotnei Clarke. In three years, Clarke has drained 274 3s.

But over the course of time Stevens also has turned guys into 3-point shooters.

Along with Howard, Stevens helped coax Willie Veasley into a 3-point shooter. In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Veasley didn’t even attempt a 3-point shot. By his senior season, he drained 45.

There’s no trick involved, just commitment from a player and dedication from a coach.

“When you see a guy consistently make a shot from 18 feet and you move him back to 20, if he struggles from there people tend to say, ‘Well, that’s not your range,'’’ Carril said. “I never listened to that. There’s not much difference between 18 and 20 feet.’’

No, but there’s a world of difference for a mid-major team that can hit a 3-pointer.

Before we get to the Blue Ribbon team-by-team previews for the Ivy League, here is Diamond Leung's one-minute wind sprint through the league:


Blue Ribbon breakdowns of all eight teams in the Ivy:

Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Yale

More Ivy League content:

• Andy Katz on the hoops momentum at Harvard under coach Tommy Amaker.
• New Faces, New Places: Dana O'Neil on new Princeton coach Mitch Henderson returning to his alma mater.
• O'Neil on balance returning to the Ivy League.
• Katz on Yale forward Greg Mangano gaining experience on the world stage for Team USA.
• Journey to Africa: Penn players Dau Jok and Zack Rosen blogged for ESPN.com during a service trip to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda. Their moving chronicle of the trip can be found here. Also: O'Neil on Jok's message of hope for his native Sudan.
• Paul Biancardi gives the lowdown on the recruiting picture in the Ivy.
• For more coverage of the Ivy League in the Nation blog, recruiting picture click here.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kentucky freshman Brandon Knight missed the first seven shots he took against Princeton in Thursday’s East Regional second-round game at St. Pete Times Forum.

But Knight made the shot that mattered the most for Kentucky, scoring a scooping bank shot with two seconds left to play in the No. 4-seeded Wildcats’ 59-57 victory over No. 13 seed Princeton.

Knight, a point guard from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., finished with two points on 1-for-8 shooting.

Turning point: Princeton, the Ivy League co-champion, had a 44-39 lead with about 12 minutes to play. But the Wildcats scored on their next three possessions. Freshman Doron Lamb's bank shot gave the Cats a 45-44 lead with 9:49 to go.

Player of the game: For all the attention Kentucky’s fabulous freshmen are getting, senior forward Josh Harrellson continues to come up big in the postseason. Harrellson scored 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. He also had four steals and one blocked shot.

Key stat: 3-for-14. The Tigers shot 3-for-14 on 3-pointers, including 1-for-7 in the second half.

Miscellaneous: Kentucky junior Darius Miller scored 17 points, but only two in the second half. He had 15 points in the first half on 5-for-8 shooting. Freshman forward Terrence Jones added 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Guard Dan Mavraides led the Tigers with 14 points.

What’s next: Kentucky advances to Saturday’s third round and will play No. 5 seed West Virginia in the East Regional. The Mountaineers upset UK 73-66 in the Elite Eight last season. Princeton finished the season with a 25-7 record.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Even though teams like Kentucky, Michigan State and UCLA are located on opposite sides of the bracket, the Tampa pod at the St. Pete Times Forum has a distinct blue-blooded flavor.

The Bruins have won 11 national championships and played in the Final Four 18 times, more than any other program. The Wildcats are playing in their 51^st NCAA tournament -- an NCAA record -- and have reached the Final Four 13 times.

The Spartans and Gators have enjoyed more success recently, with the Spartans making six Final Four trips under coach Tom Izzo and the Gators winning back-to-back national championships under coach Billy Donovan in 2006 and ’07.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins guided the Mountaineers to the Final Four last season, after taking Cincinnati there in 1992.

“You know, these teams have great history, great historical programs,” UC Santa Barbara forward James Nunnally said. “But we’re all basketball, we’re all the same. We all lace up our shoes the same way. We all have to play. That’s how I feel about it.”

Here’s a closer look at early NCAA tournament action in Tampa:

No. 12 seed Clemson (22-11) vs. No. 5 seed West Virginia (20-11), 12:15 p.m. ET (CBS)

ABOUT THE TIGERS

Coach: Brad Brownell (189-96 in nine seasons, 22-11 in first season at Clemson)

Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2010

All-time NCAA record: 9-10 in 11 appearances

Player to watch: Clemson forward Jerai Grant has been one of the ACC’s most-improved players over the past couple of years. This season, he was named to the ACC’s all-defensive team and finished second on the team with 12.4 points and first with 6.7 rebounds. He also ranked among the country’s best shot blockers, averaging 2.4 blocks a game. In Clemson’s 70-52 victory over UAB in Tuesday’s NCAA first-round game, Grant scored a career-high 22 points on 10-for-15 shooting with seven rebounds.

ABOUT THE MOUNTAINEERS

Coach: Bob Huggins (690-252 in 29 seasons, 100-41 in four seasons at WVU)

Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2010

All-time NCAA record: 24-23 in 23 appearances

Player to watch: Guard Joe Mazzulla always seems to rise to the occasion in the NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, he nearly had a triple-double in a second-round upset of Duke in 2008, with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Last season, Mazzulla scored 17 points in a 73-66 upset of Kentucky in the East Regional finals. Mazzulla is averaging 7.2 points and 3.9 rebounds this season.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. Clemson’s legs: The Tigers didn’t arrive in Tampa until 4:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, after beating UAB in an NCAA first-round game in Dayton, Ohio. The Tigers didn’t make it to their hotel until around 5:30 a.m. and players were allowed to sleep until around noon. There was a shoot-around and news conferences later in the day.

“It was difficult, but you know, it’s the NCAA tournament,” Brownell said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity, so I’m not talking about the negatives. “We’re going to be ready at 12:00 and we’re going to lace them up and be ready to go.”

2. Defense, defense, defense: It’s a matchup of two of the better defensive teams in the country. The Tigers rank No. 20 nationally in scoring defense, allowing only 60.9 points per game. The Mountaineers allow only 64.1 points per game and have won 42 of their previous 46 games when yielding 69 points or fewer.

3. Casey at bat: West Virginia senior Casey Mitchell has been in and out of Huggins’ dog house this season, but still leads the team with 14.1 points per game. Mitchell was suspended from the team on Jan. 24 and didn’t play in the next three games. He returned on Feb. 5 and has been inconsistent ever since. He scored 23 points in a loss at Syracuse and 22 points in a loss at Pitt, but also was held to 10 points or fewer in six of 10 games since coming back. Huggins said Mitchell had some of his best practices of the season this week.

No. 13 seed Princeton (25-6) vs. No. 4 seed Kentucky (25-8), 2:45 p.m. ET (CBS)

ABOUT THE TIGERS

Coach: Sydney Johnson (66-52 in four seasons)

Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2004

All-time NCAA record: 13-27 in 23 appearances

Player to watch: Senior forward Kareem Maddox plays off the bench, but leads the Tigers in scoring (13.9 points), rebounds (7.1) and blocked shots (56) in 31 minutes per game. He was the Ivy League defensive player of the year and scored 30 points in an 86-77 victory over Siena and 31 in an 82-78 win at Tulsa.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS

Coach: John Calipari (505-151 in 19 seasons overall, 60-11 in two seasons at Kentucky)

Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2010

All-time NCAA record: 101-45 in 51 appearances

Player to watch: Point guard Brandon Knight was named All-SEC and freshman All-America after leading the Wildcats in scoring (17.5 points) and assists (4.2). He has scored in double figures in 28 consecutive games and had 12 20-point games -- the most by a UK freshman. Knight is shooting 78.9 percent on foul shots and 38.7 percent on 3-pointers.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. Kentucky guard Doron Lamb's ankle: Lamb, a freshman from Queens, N.Y., injured his ankle in Kentucky’s 72-58 victory over Alabama in the SEC tournament semifinals on Saturday. Lamb was able to play 23 minutes off the bench in UK’s 70-54 rout of Florida in the championship game, but went 2-for-6 from the floor, including 0-for-3 on 3-pointers.

“It hurt a little bit, but once the game started it was OK,” Lamb said Thursday. “After the game, it was killing me. But I got a lot of treatment and iced it, and I will be ready.”

2. Princeton’s offense: This isn’t your daddy’s Princeton offense. Once known for their methodical, half-court offense, which typically back-doored opponents to death, the Tigers are actually running up and down the floor. Johnson still employs elements of legendary coach Pete Carril’s offense, but these Tigers are averaging nearly 70 points per game.

“The players that we have, there’s a little bit more athleticism, they’re a bit more dynamic, and so we may not need three or four passes and a cut-through before they can get a shot,” Johnson said. “It might be as simple as a pick-and-roll. It might be a hard cut and just post-up at the basket and roll it into them.”

3. Kentucky’s freshmen: Knight and forward Terrence Jones, the SEC’s freshman of the year, are two of the country’s best rookies. But both freshmen looked a little overwhelmed playing in the first two games of the SEC tournament. Knight and Jones shot 30.4 percent, including 2-for-15 on 3-pointers, in victories over Ole Miss and Alabama in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.

Quick hitters on the bracket:

• The First Four will be a good watch. Well, at least the two games involving bubble teams. USC has proved it can beat just about anyone in the field. The matchup against VCU will be one of the better early-round games. Clemson is one of the toughest defensive teams in the field and UAB is one of the more controversial picks. Oh, and Kevin O'Neill has been reinstated to coach the Trojans, meaning there are plenty of storylines in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday.

• I liked Oakland as a possible Sweet 16 team when I watched the Golden Grizzlies early in the season, but once again it's all about matchups. I don't like Oakland beating Texas because of the Longhorns' ability to defend on the perimeter.

• Wisconsin couldn't have drawn a worse matchup than sneaky-good Belmont. The Bruins can win a first-round game. The Badgers struggled against Wofford and Cornell last season and now Mike Bruesewitz is hurt. This isn't a positive draw for Wisconsin.

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Don McPeak/US PRESSWIREIan Clark and No. 13-seeded Belmont could be a tough out for Wisconsin.
• The committee doesn't play the matchup game. But geez, how odd is it that Memphis coach Josh Pastner, who played and coached at Arizona, has his first game as a head coach in the NCAA tournament against Arizona? UCLA and Ben Howland against Michigan State and Tom Izzo on the first day? Wow. It would have been hard to predict that in the preseason.

• There will be blood during the Butler-Old Dominion 8-9 game in D.C. This is going to be a battle with two teams that like to grind defensively.

• Florida State's Chris Singleton told me after the loss to Virginia Tech that he could have played in the ACC tournament but it was coach Leonard Hamilton's decision. He said he is going to play in the NCAA tourney. If he does, the Seminoles should beat Texas A&M.

• Georgetown's Chris Wright said he's playing in the NCAAs. But the Hoyas didn't get an easy draw. The Hoyas have to prep for two different styles in USC and Virginia Commonwealth. The better matchup for Georgetown would be VCU. USC has the bigs in Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson that could cause problems for the Hoyas in the second round.

• The two toughest teams to predict in the Southwest Regional are playing in the 8-9 game. UNLV and Illinois have shown flashes of playing at a high level or looking very pedestrian. Neither team can beat Kansas.

• Vanderbilt can't catch a break. The Commodores drew hot mid-majors Siena and Murray State in recent tournaments and lost to both in the first round. Richmond is on a roll right now with the A-10 title win. The Spiders will be a trendy 12-5 upset pick.

• A Purdue-Notre Dame Sweet 16 game in San Antonio would be an intense affair. JaJuan Johnson and Ben Hansbrough have the ability to put up monster numbers. But whoever wins that game will probably fall to Kansas. That's my pick.

• Utah State finally may win a first-round game. The Aggies have been playing do-or-die type affairs for weeks with little margin for error. Kansas State was a bad stock to buy since the Wildcats have been all over the map. The Aggies have the personnel to get to the Sweet 16 and if Belmont were to upset Wisconsin, or even if it didn't, a win over K-State could pave the way for Utah State to get to New Orleans.

• Pitt should breeze to the Elite Eight. I'll be surprised if it doesn't get to its first Final Four since 1941.

• Gonzaga got an 11-seed, but got St. John's sans D.J. Kennedy. The Red Storm started the season losing to a WCC team at Saint Mary's and I think they'll end it losing to a WCC team in the Zags.

• Jimmer Fredette could pull a Stephen Curry and lead BYU to the Elite Eight. The reason? The bracket is winnable for the Cougars. UCLA and Michigan State aren't getting out of the first weekend and Florida is beatable.

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Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesBYU's Jimmer Fredette is the kind of player who can carry a team on a deep tournament run.
• For much of the last two months, George Mason was a popular pick to go far in the NCAA tournament. But the matchups aren't favorable after Villanova. Ohio State has too much balance and strength inside for the Patriots.

• Princeton can cause Kentucky's younger players problems, but the Wildcats have figured out how to play together more consistently. A Kentucky-Ohio State Sweet 16 game in Newark would be a tough ticket.

• Marquette isn't playing well enough for me to buy into the Golden Eagles, but Tu Holloway can lead Xavier for a few rounds.

• If Syracuse plays up to its potential, this bracket could open up for the Orange to at least get to the Sweet 16.

• Isaiah Thomas proved he can be like Kemba Walker and Fredette, and make game-winning shots. Who takes that shot for Georgia?

• North Carolina didn't defend well against Duke on Sunday in the ACC tournament but the Tar Heels will not lose in Charlotte. No way. The Tar Heels will be playing at home for two games. Book them to Newark.

• If the Elite Eight game is Ohio State against North Carolina, the NBA scouts will drool with Jared Sullinger against the bigs of Tyler Zeller and John Henson in addition to Harrison Barnes going against the host of wings of OSU.

• I thought UNC could get to Houston, but I don't like the Tar Heels getting past the Buckeyes. It's all about matchups.

• Paging Tennessee? Part of me is convinced the Vols are in position to be the most dangerous No. 9 seed. If the Vols play up to their potential, they could beat Michigan and Duke to get to the Sweet 16. But Tennessee could also lose badly to Michigan and the Wolverines' 1-3-1 defense.

• Texas is a No. 4 after projecting as a No. 1 a few weeks ago. Which Texas team will show? If it's the one that is sharing the ball, defending and has Jordan Hamilton taking quality shots, then the Longhorns can knock off Duke and be on the doorstep of playing as host in Houston.

• The bottom part of the West bracket will be about Kemba Walker. The UConn star led the Huskies to an incredible five-game run in the Big East tournament. Can he do it again in the NCAA tournament? Playing either Cincinnati or Missouri, assuming the Huskies beat Bucknell, is a good draw.

• How about Temple playing Penn State, two schools from Pennsylvania playing in Tucson, and Louisville and Morehead State, two schools from the state of Kentucky, playing in Denver?

• I'm done doubting Louisville's Rick Pitino. This Cardinals team has shot down every question and continues to win. The Cards could be playing Kansas in the Sweet 16 in San Antonio. Talk about a fun game.

• San Diego State was treated well by the NCAA tournament committee. The Aztecs earned a No. 2 seed by losing to only one team -- even though it was twice -- in BYU. The Aztecs will play in Tucson and then possibly Anaheim. I like their experience, defense, fast tempo and half-court game. If D.J. Gay is on, especially defensively against elite guards in this bracket, then the Aztecs can advance. They're the one team not on the No. 1 line that I have getting to Houston.

• This bracket will be dominated by star players having headline games, just like we saw during Championship Week.

• We should see plenty of upsets, but when the Final Four is upon us in a few weeks, I don't see Ohio State or Kansas losing. I'm less confident in Pitt, but the Panthers have a favorable bracket. I'm going with OSU, KU, Pitt and SDSU.

By now, you've probably seen what happened in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday. If you're a Harvard fan, you don't want to see it again.

(In case you missed it, video is here. Crimson supporters click through at their own risk and assume any and all responsibility for repairs to their smashed laptops. Deal?)

Yes, Harvard was seconds away from its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1946. The Crimson led 62-61 with three seconds left. And then the unthinkable -- a leaning, last-second, no-he-did-not-OH-MY-GOD buzzer-beater by Princeton guard Douglas Davis -- happened. Princeton students rushed the floor, Harvard fans tore up their hilarious signs, and the Crimson lost out on the Ivy League's automatic bid in the most heartbreaking manner possible.

So here's the question, one yours truly was asked on Twitter within seconds of Davis' shot: Can the Crimson still get a bid?

It's not a totally ridiculous idea. As of this writing, Harvard's RPI is 32. The Crimson are 21-6. They have a win over an NCAA tournament team (Colorado) and a full-fledged bubble team (Boston College), and that latter victory came in a true road game. There's also one win over Princeton, whose RPI is currently hovering around the top-50 threshold. Nor do the Crimson have many unsightly losses; Feb. 26's loss to Yale (RPI: 157) is the only loss outside the RPI top 50 on this profile. So, hey, why not? Why can't the Crimson get in?

Unfortunately, Harvard's gaudy record has been boosted by a disconcerting number of bad wins. Sixteen -- yes, sixteen -- of the Crimson's 21 victories this season have come against teams ranked below 150 in the RPI. Eight of those teams have RPI figures below 240. On some level, Harvard deserves credit for beating the teams on their schedule, and it's not like head coach Tommy Amaker's team can control how low its conference competitors sink in the Ratings Percentage Index.

(Not to go on a tangent about RPI here, because pretty much everyone agrees that the RPI, while occasionally helpful, is mostly crude and outdated. But if you needed yet another anecdotal example of why the RPI is often deceptive, look at Harvard. With wins over Colorado, Boston College and Princeton -- as well as a whole mess of unremarkable victories over sub-150 teams -- the Crimson have somehow garnered a top-40 RPI figure of their own. Is Harvard one of the 40 best teams in the country? Or, for those who praise the RPI as a good measure of "accomplishments," does Harvard have the 36th-best "list of accomplishments" in the country? If so, why? Because the Crimson haven't lost to horrible teams? Can you tell I'm tired of talking about the RPI?)

Anyway, back to the question at hand: Is Harvard's résumé good enough to get an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament? The answer, it seems, is no. Harvard's competition on the bubble line -- teams like Virginia Tech, Penn State, USC, Colorado, Alabama and even Boston College -- all have their fair share of bad losses and variably shaky RPI numbers, but all of them have also proven capable of playing and beating some of the nation's toughest teams. Harvard, through little fault of its own, hasn't.

That's a bit unfair; Amaker only has so much control over his team's schedule. At some point, you'd like to reward a team for getting wins. You'd also like to reward a long-suffering team that just suffered one of the most brutal do-or-die tourney-berth losses since, well, ever. But it's hard to imagine Harvard leapfrogging the rest of the well-established bubble now. Unfortunately, it appears the Crimson's century-long tourney absence will continue for another year.

Sorry, Harvard fans. Tough day. The good news is most of you are already running the country or you will be in the near future. That has to make it a little better, right?

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Maybe there’s something to this Tiger blood thing.

How else do you explain designing a last-second play for a 39-percent shooter who was 3-for-13 in the game with a trip to the NCAA tournament on the line?

Princeton coach Sydney Johnson did exactly that and guard Douglas Davis did his part too. Davis took an inbounds pass from Dan Mavraides and buried a jumper from the left side at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 63-62 win over Harvard in Saturday’s Ivy League playoff at Yale’s John J. Lee Amphitheater.

“I didn’t really know what was going on when the ball went in,” Mavraides said. “I think I might have blanked out and the next thing I knew I was on the ground screaming. It was a great feeling. When it went in, it was like my life flashing before my eyes except it was my four years here, from the worst team in Princeton history all the way to this.”

With the win, Princeton (25-6) gets a 24th trip to the NCAA tournament while Harvard (23-6), which was looking for its first NCAA trip since 1946, now has to wait until Sunday evening to find out if its season will continue with an at-large bid.

Davis finished with a team-high 15 points for Princeton, which had three other players in double figures. But all anybody will remember is that final shot by the junior from Philadelphia.

“It was the designed play and it was basically a read for Dan [Mavraides] and it was a good read,” Davis said after the game, with the recently cut down net draped around his neck. “I was able to get open and he made a good pass. I knew I had a little bit of time to dribble and get some space.

“I got a good screen from Will Barrett. At first I thought they were going to deny me the ball, but then I was able to get open. I took a couple of dribbles and was able to fade. It felt good and went in. I fell on the ground and that was the worst decision I’ve ever made because everybody just jumped on me.”

Davis, who had hit game-winning shots in high school but nothing like the magnitude of this one, had the good (or bad) fortune to have Saturday’s heroics and instant crushing celebration take place right in front of the Princeton student section.

And while Davis was occupied with his frenzied classmates, referees Earl Walton (of recent Big East Tournament infamy), Paul Faia and Louie Andrakakos were over at the scorers’ table to ensure the shot got off before the triple-zero red light.

It did and the neutral-site celebration resumed -- at least for one half of the gym.

“The ending was a dagger,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “Your heart just sinks. But it was a special afternoon for our league, a great game and a great crowd.”

After the game was well over and the on-court celebration had subsided, Amaker’s counterpart sounded more relieved than anything.

“I think Harvard is really, really good and I want to give credit to them, but I do think we’re in a different place because there’s an expectation to win here,” Johnson said. “And that’s a different responsibility. These guys have been carrying so much weight so I’m just so pleased for them to be able to finalize that dream. It’s been a grind and a big challenge.”

Johnson and Princeton get about 24 hours to enjoy this win before finding out what the next challenge will be. And in that time, it’s likely that Davis’ buzzer-beater will be replayed over and over again.

And although Johnson was much happier with his result compared to Amaker’s, the Princeton coach was just as satisfied that his Tigers did exactly what they planned to do on that last-second shot.

“It looked true, it was a perfect pass, great execution and the right shot,” Johnson said. “I was just ready to shake hands either way. We would have been crushed, there’s no doubt, if that shot didn’t fall down. But that’s exactly what we wanted and we’ve got to be able to live with that. You understand that if you execute and you battle, you’ve got to be able to live with the results.

“There’s no win promised to anyone.”

But there is another game promised to Princeton in next week’s NCAA tournament, thanks to some last-second heroics -- with just maybe a little Tiger blood mixed in for good measure.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Ivy League proudly refers to itself as the Ancient Eight, comfortable in its status as a relic and an antique in an age when newer is always equal to better.

This is a place where things are done a certain way because they’ve always been done a certain way. Change is welcome, but only when it is incorporated into the honored traditions of the past.

So while the rest of the country stages its conference showcases, bringing the early madness to March with Champ Week, the Ivy League doles out its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament the old-fashioned way: to the regular-season winner.

And when there is a tie, the old league reverts to the age-old rules of the playground: one game, winner take all.

It is archaic, perhaps, but is it really so wrong?

When there is only the hope of one bid -- and the Ivy has never received an at-large -- is it more fair to let the team that grinds it out over 14 games represent your league or the Johnny-come-lately who gets hot or catches lightning in a bottle for 72 hours?

“I think it’s a good way to do it,’’ Princeton coach Sydney Johnson said. “That’s the way it was when I played and that’s the way it was before and I appreciate that. I think it’s the right way to go about it.’’

Johnson, some would argue, could afford to be gracious. Thanks to a 70-58 win over rival Penn on Tuesday night, his Tigers now have a 50/50 chance of winning that single ticket.

Princeton will face Harvard at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday in a one-game playoff to decide who is in the NCAA tournament and who is not.

But those reared in the world of the Ivy League understand that this is how it works and appreciate that this is probably how it ought to work.

“Is the glass half full or half empty?” Penn coach Jerome Allen said. “If I’m in first place, I feel pretty good about it, but sitting here like we are, I’d love the chance to keep on playing. But that’s the law of the land. We had an opportunity to extend our season. We had 14 chances and it didn’t happen.’’

On Saturday, most of the talk will center around Harvard. Until it beat Princeton on Saturday, the Crimson had never won even a piece of an Ivy League championship. The school's one and only NCAA tournament appearance came in 1946.

Hey, the school has only been around for 375 years.

Yet Princeton’s share of the title and chance to play for a March bid is every bit as newsworthy. Occasional fans consider the Tigers the elitist league’s elite, but in reality, it has been Princeton which has fallen back among the pack in recent years.

It’s been six years since the Tigers won a share of the crown, which on the scale of Harvard isn’t much but to Princeton fans is an eternity.

The drought chased out one of its own. Former player Joe Scott left as the Tigers head coach for Denver before the posse could catch him.

As the university so often does, it turned to one of its own to replace him, handing the keys over to Johnson.

In his first year, he went 6-23.

“It was pretty lonely,’’ he said. “It was very different than what people were accustomed to at Princeton.’’

Different, too, than what Johnson was accustomed to. He won two Ivy titles as a player, going 14-0 in his senior season.

He has drawn on his own experiences and his own sense of pride to push his players, sometimes coaxing them and sometimes shaming them. On Saturday, when Harvard beat the Tigers to win a part of the Ivy crown, Johnson made his players stay on the court and endure the court storming.

He wanted them to understand what it feels like when you don’t give your all, when you are outhustled and outworked as he thought his Tigers were on Saturday.

“It was painful, real painful,’’ senior Dan Mavraides said. “I hope they didn’t have a camera on me because I got pretty emotional.’’

Johnson went back to that well against Penn. The Tigers led the game 15-4 and then trailed 23-19 at the half. Just under a minute in, the Quakers extended that to 27-19.

Johnson called timeout. He huddled privately with his coaches and when one of them, former player Brian Earl, told him "they just aren’t playing hard enough," Johnson delivered that message to the team.

At first it was patient and then it was straight firebrand, an insistence that the Tigers were simply being too passive, that they weren’t playing hard enough.

In the 15 minutes prior to Johnson’s critical timeout, the Tigers scored four points.

In the 15 minutes after, they scored 37.

Senior Kareem Maddox internalized the message the best. He had two points at halftime and 23 by game’s end. His post dominance forced Penn to sag inside, and once the defense committed, the deft passer found his shooters outside.

The Tigers hit an astounding 14 of their 18 field goals in the second half.

“Several people talked to me at halftime and told me I wasn’t being as aggressive as I normally was,’’ Maddox said. “I didn’t really realize it.’’

And now the challenge is to find the intensity for one more game.

Johnson played in a playoff game in his own career. In 1996, the Tigers beat Penn 63-56 in overtime.

They would go on to beat UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament in what would be Pete Carril’s last year.

“To be the coach here, it’s a huge responsibility,’’ Johnson said. “It’s not just a job when you’re coaching your alma mater. In some cases, it’s where you met your wife like I did. It’s about your best friends and you put a lot of love into it. It’s a real challenge, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.’’

Johnson knows the history.

He’s lived the history.

And he appreciates the history.

Five observations from the week that was:

1. Jimmer Fredette is the clear frontrunner for national player of the year. Duke's Nolan Smith and Ohio State's Jared Sullinger can certainly end the season with higher-profile performances, but Fredette made quite a statement over the weekend. He played as complete a game in a hostile environment as any of the aforementioned have personally played in this season. Fredette was targeted throughout the game by the passionate SDSU fans as well as the Aztec defense. Yet he played with four fouls, made 3s, scored 25 points and tied a season-high with nine assists in a convincing road win at San Diego State.

Fredette has handled himself at such a high level throughout the course of this season. He has been the focus for every opposing defense, yet has answered every opportunity and has put BYU in position to be a No. 1 seed. I'm not sure either or the aforementioned players or Connecticut's Kemba Walker have to deal with the personal shots and vitriol that Fredette has to deal with on the road. If he wins this honor, it would be a testament to a player who worked his tail off throughout his career to become a star.

2. Harvard blew a chance to win the Ivy League title outright this coming weekend when it lost at Yale on Saturday. But all is not lost. The Crimson can still make history, win the Ivy League for the first time and reach the NCAA tournament for only the second time. The other time was in 1946. If Harvard wins its next two games against Penn and Princeton, then at the very least there will be a one-game playoff on a neutral site during Champ Week. The two teams would have split the season series and have one other conference loss (Harvard to Yale and Princeton to Brown).

According to the Ivy League, contingency plans for a date and site for the playoff game are being made. The likely neutral site would be at Yale in New Haven, Conn., which would fall roughly in between the two schools. The Ivy League is toying with the idea of playing the game either Thursday, Friday or Saturday of Champ Week. Princeton plays Penn on Tuesday of that week, which may prevent the title game from being played earlier than Friday.

3. Xavier has quietly put together a remarkable story by rising to the top of the Atlantic 10 yet again. Chris Mack has done a phenomenal job with a limited roster due to injuries and eligibility. He has been saved to some degree by an outstanding point guard in Tu Holloway. Still, the Musketeers are a model of consistency in the league and continued to roll with a win in a hostile environment at Dayton on Sunday. Xavier is 13-1 in the A-10 with two games to play, 22-6 overall and a lock for the NCAAs. Closing out the season against Charlotte and at Saint Louis is a mere formality. The A-10 isn't as strong this season, especially from sixth place down to 14. But X wins the games it's supposed to and then some and continues to be the benchmark for this conference.

4. Assessing Florida State and Georgetown will be a tough chore for the selection committee. FSU doesn't have its best player in Chris Singleton (fractured right ankle) for the foreseeable future. The Seminoles beat Wake Forest and Miami, but lost at Maryland without Singleton. So how will the committee judge Florida State? The résumé likely will put the Noles in the field, but they should be seeded much lower based on the personnel that will play in the tournament. Meanwhile, Georgetown is without arguably its most important player in guard Chris Wright. He broke a bone in his non-shooting left hand and the Hoyas are convinced he will return by the NCAA tournament. But they lost at home against Syracuse without him and were horrendous against Cincinnati after he went down early in the game. Georgetown has one game remaining (at Cincinnati) and then it’s on to the Big East tournament. Going 0-2 before Selection Sunday would not be advisable.

5. The Big East tournament won't have bubble drama. Cincinnati's win over Georgetown and Marquette's win over Connecticut may have put both teams in the NCAA tournament. If that's the case, the conference tourney may not have any bubble drama when the quarterfinals start on Thursday. It will be a slugfest, but it may not even affect seeding that much for the Big Dance. What’s also interesting is that the Big East might not have an NIT team. The division from NCAA to no postseason is a clear line at 11. The bottom five teams haven't done much to command an invitation to a postseason tournament. So the Big East teams can go to New York to slug it out, but ultimately it won't matter much in the bracketing of the NCAA tournament.

Five observations from the past week:

1. Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury justified reinstating Renardo Sidney after the fight with Elgin Bailey in Hawaii by saying that Sidney tried to walk away and that his teammates backed him in the decision. Bailey transferred with a nudge from the coaching staff. Sidney was reinstated. But the Twitter incident this past week was another example of poor management and enabling of Sidney while in Starkville. Stansbury suspended guard Ravern Johnson for his tweet after the loss to Alabama that was critical of the coaching staff and fans. Fine. That’s justified. But Sidney didn’t just retweet the Johnson message, but he also added his own line of “It’s a Shame how our fans turn they back on us when we need them the most….#sad.”

Sidney should be fortunate that any fans are still in his corner after two suspensions, an embarrassing nationally televised fight in which he literally could have put some innocent fan in the hospital with his wild swings, and this latest debacle. Sidney played in a win over LSU on Saturday. He at times looked dominating inside, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 31 minutes in the 58-57 win. Great. But if Johnson didn’t play, why exactly did Sidney? Stansbury decision was worse than the one that reinstating Sidney after the fight. If Johnson was out of line for tweeting critical comments, then so was Sidney. The double-standard here lessens Stansbury’s credibility with the fan base, the rest of his colleagues in the league, and one would think the players in the locker room. Stansbury has had a tremendous run at Mississippi State, especially given the limitations of the school. But this wasn’t one of his finest hours. This season can’t end soon enough for the Bulldogs.

2. When Arizona was looking for a coach two years ago, the Wildcats were staring at a decimated roster and what could have turned into an Indiana-like implosion. But then Tim Floyd resigned at USC and the Trojans’ recruiting class migrated to Tucson. The addition of Xavier’s Sean Miller ended up being the perfect marriage. What looked like a five- to seven-year reclamation project has turned into a two-year turnaround. The quick fix has Arizona atop the Pac-10 and almost certainly back into the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats are 9-2 in conference play after the weekend sweep in the Bay Area, including a triple-overtime thriller at Cal. Arizona couldn’t rely on Derrick Williams since he fouled out toward the end of regulation. Yet the play of Lamont Jones and Kevin Parrom ended up being the difference for the Cats, who were poised throughout every run by Cal. Arizona still has to go to UCLA, but the schedule is favorable from this point forward. The Wildcats have four home games, including a visit from Washington. Even though Zona has only a one-game lead on UCLA in the loss column, anything less than a Pac-10 title at this juncture would be deemed a disappointment by the passionate UA fan base. That’s how high Miller has raised the bar in such a short amount of time. And don’t expect Arizona to slide back one bit in the future either.

3. Alabama coach Anthony Grant and star forward JaMychal Green both said during SEC media day in Birmingham that it was going to take a year-plus to get on the same page in Grant’s system. The Crimson Tide had to adjust to being much more defensive-minded and at times offensively challenged. It looked like the team still didn’t get it in the nonconference season, especially at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, where their 0-3 trip included a loss to Saint Peter’s College. But the Tide is now rolling in the SEC, off to a league-best 7-1 start. Alabama will be a good test case for the selection committee. The team has nothing to show for itself in the nonconference, losing also to Seton Hall and Iowa in St. Thomas, as well as Oklahoma State, Providence and Purdue. But if the Tide can roll to at least 11 or 12 wins in the SEC, then it would be hard to keep out a team on that hot of a streak in a major conference. This is an example where the body of work may be judged by how much Bama improved from November to March. Regardless, barring a collapse, Grant can clear space for an SEC coach of the year trophy.

4. The Arizona-Cal triple-OT game certainly got most of the play Saturday night, but lost in the shuffle was a multiple-OT game in Philly -- Harvard’s 83-82 win at Penn in double overtime behind Keith Wright's 25 points and Oliver McNally's jumper with 11 seconds remaining. The Crimson lost 65-61 Friday night at Princeton for their first loss of the Ivy League season. With Princeton beating Dartmouth, the Crimson couldn’t afford to get swept on this road trip and fall two games behind the Tigers. Princeton still has two games against Penn remaining, starting with Wednesday’s game against the Quakers at home, so there is a potential for another loss. If Harvard wants to be in the NCAAs for only the second time in its history (1946), then it can’t afford to be more than one game down against Princeton heading into the rematch on March 5. The Ivy doesn’t have a conference tournament and a split between the two league favorites would mean a one-game playoff. Harvard needs to be in position to force that if needed.

5. UCLA coach Ben Howland has quietly pushed back his critics and has the Bruins in position to be back in the NCAA tournament after a disappointing finish a year ago left his team out of the postseason all together. UCLA has one of the best nonconference wins of the season -- beating BYU in Anaheim. The Bruins beat St. John’s at home Saturday to add another top-25 RPI win. BYU is currently No. 1 in the RPI, St. John’s No. 22. The Bruins’ overall RPI has crept up to 40 and the nonconference strength of schedule is at 32, which can mask that home loss to Montana on Dec. 5. But most importantly, UCLA can still win the Pac-10 regular-season title, now a game ahead of Washington and just a game back of Arizona in the loss column. The Bruins are at least in the thick of the race. The schedule is more difficult with road games in the Bay Area and in Washington. Finding a way to get three of those four will be tough. Just splitting the four games probably won’t win the Pac-10. But the Bruins can finish ahead of the Huskies for second place and be in great position for an at-large berth. It’s not ultimately what UCLA wants to be fighting for, but it is progress.

Each Wednesday, your humble college basketball hoops blogger (er, me) will respond to your questions, comments and nonsensical rants in this here Hoopsbag. To submit a query, visit this page by clicking the link under my name in the upper right-hand corner of the blog. You can also e-mail me or send me your entries via Twitter. Per the usual, let's begin with a video.

Jack from Durham writes: Just for fun: Say we're putting on a college basketball All-Star game, East vs. West. What are your starting lineups?

Eamonn Brennan: Now this is a great question. For the sake of organization (and because things might get a little lopsided otherwise) let's go ahead and lump the Big 12 in with the more prototypical West Coast conferences (Pac-10, Mountain West, et al.). The Big Ten will stay in the east. With that caveat aside, ladies and gentlemen, I now present the starting lineups (and reserves!) for your hastily assembled college basketball All-Star teams!

East
Guard: Kemba Walker, UConn
Guard: Nolan Smith, Duke
Forward: Terrence Jones, Kentucky
Forward: JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
Center: Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Reserves: Kyle Singler, Duke; E'Twaun Moore, Purdue; Jon Leuer, Wisconsin; Demetri McCamey, Illinois; Rick Jackson, Syracuse; Draymond Green, Michigan State; Brad Wanamaker, Pittsburgh

West
Guard: Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Guard: Jordan Hamilton, Texas
Forward: Derrick Williams, Arizona
Forward: Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State
Center: Marcus Morris, Kansas
Reserves: Klay Thompson, Washington State; Markieff Morris, Kansas; Alec Burks, Colorado; LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor; Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Washington; Chace Stanback, UNLV; Jacob Pullen, Kansas State

Here's my question: Does that East team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers? I think it just might. The West would certainly give LeBron's tortured former franchise a game, too.

Anyway, as you can see, I tried to minimize exclusions by building out seven reserve spots. There still might be some deserving individual players left off the list; I tended to weigh these picks based on team success the same way NBA fans tend to vote for players having good seasons on good teams. Still, taken as a whole, I think this is a pretty representative sample of the players that have shined thus far this season. Got an example of a player I missed? Hit me up in the mailbag (or in the comments) and we can hammer out the details, blog-style.

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Matt from Augusta, Ga., writes: Which of the top four (Duke, Kansas, Ohio State, Syracuse) do you see losing first?

Brennan: Well, it's not Duke. That much I know for sure. According to Pomeroy's projections, the Blue Devils have a better than 85 percent chance of winning 13 of their last 16 games, and they're heavily favored in pretty much every game the rest of the way. Ohio State's next three games are easy (at Michigan, versus Iowa and Penn State at home) before the Buckeyes travel to Champaign for a big one on Jan. 22. After home games with Iowa State and Nebraska this week, Kansas travels to Baylor Monday. And Syracuse plays St. John's in the Garden Wednesday night, versus Cincinnati at home Saturday, and then at Pittsburgh Monday.

Ending a three-games-in-five-days stretch with a road game is tough regardless of opponent. It's brutal when that opponent is Pittsburgh. In other words, I'll take Syracuse.

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Ann from Seattle writes: If you could watch only one regular season game in person the rest of the year, which one would it be?

Suzanne from Provo, Utah writes: Eamonn, I'm actually the Event Manager at BYU's Marriott Center. What we're all wondering here is why you haven't booked a ticket out to Provo for our January 26 game v. SDSU. You could see your man-crush Jimmer in person in an epic battle. 22,700 strong will be in the house. You could also bring your roommate, Paul, but only if he promises to do his own dishes. I'll even give you some complimentary earplugs. :)

Brennan: Ah, the perfect case of one question answering another. I'm not sure BYU-SDSU in Provo is the single best game of the rest of the season, and I'd really like to take in a big game (versus Texas or Missouri, preferably) at Allen Fieldhouse. I've never been. It's a crime, really.

But yeah, seeing one game in person, if I had to choose, Cougars-Aztecs would be pretty tough to beat. Unfortunately, since my blog brother from another mother Diamond covers the West Coast hoops scene like smog covers L.A. (West Coast humor?), I'm afraid he'd be the one to get the nod. The big jerk.

Oh, and speaking of crimes, Paul never does the dishes. But he does do all the bills.

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Jephri from Seattle writes: After Tuesday night's performance, can you think of another player more deserving of the POY award than Jimmer Fredette?

Brennan: It's getting pretty tough, isn't it? That said, I'm not sure Fredette is leaps and bounds above the rest of the field. Jared Sullinger continues to be a beast. Nolan Smith has been making a solid case for the nation's best team even without Kyrie Irving in the lineup. Terrence Jones hasn't gone anywhere. JaJuan Johnson and Jon Leuer remain two of the best, most efficient and most unheralded (relative to their ability) players in the country. And there's this guy named Kemba Walker at Connecticut. He's pretty good, too.

Is Fredette more deserving than any of them? It depends who you ask. But he's certainly near, or at, the top of my list.

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Cameron from Galesburg, Ill., writes: How bout a little Ivy League? Harvard looks like legit, and like they'll get to dance this year for the first time ever. 50 Simpsons writers, like 8 presidents and no tournament bids. Some schools' priorities, right? I'm convinced the Ivy League will come down to the last game of the season with Princeton at Harvard. Do you have a pick there?

Brennan: Harvard has been the class of the Ivy League thus far, and when I took a look at the conference's Pomeroy stats, I expected them to be miles ahead of the rest of the league. But Princeton really isn't all that far behind. Given each team's schedule, I think Cameron's right, and if you want to talk about underrated college basketball viewing experiences, how about a Princeton-Harvard game with the Ivy League title and an NCAA tournament berth on the line? I can only hope the Winklevii would be in attendance, wittily debating whether they should boo the Tigers because they're "men of Harvard." (By the way, Harvard is exactly like the Social Network, right? No? What? Well that's disappointing.)

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Kevin Wiley in West Lafayette, Ind., writes: A single loss against a team that is pretty decent in Wisconsin-Milwaukee really means nothing for long-time Butler followers such as myself. Check out Butlers stength of schedule, and their fine showing beating WSU in Hawaii. They turned around in just a few days and beat a fine Valpo team, then happened to hit this stumbling block. Ask anybody at the end of this season if they would want to play Butler in the first round of the NCAA tourney. Quit being a day trader. The Bulldogs are too well coached and way too smart.

Brennan: This question came in before Butler's big win over Cleveland State this weekend; that alone makes one feel more optimistic about the Bulldogs' chances of continuing their reign in the Horizon League and getting back to the NCAA tournament this season. That said, Kevin, your beloved Bulldogs don't play much defense. Defense was what got Butler to the national title game last season. This was never a good offense, even with an NBA player like Gordon Hayward running off screens; no, the Bulldogs always defended, and they're not doing that this year. Until Brad Stevens gets these Bulldogs to play something resembling the defense they displayed during last year's title -- and I'm not saying it won't happen -- then I'm going to stay short on Butler. (How's that for day trader lingo?)

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Abe Warren from Missouri writes: Can you please explain the hype over Perry Jones? I just saw Chad Ford has Jones as the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. Seriously? He has never had a dominating season. Not even his senior year of high school. And his freshman year at Baylor has been good for a freshman (12 points, seven boards) but No. 1 overall? Does anyone really think he can hang with the likes of Love, Griffin, and Stoudemire? If he goes No. 1, I'm predicting the biggest draft bust in NBA history.

Brennan: Three points:

1. I agree. Jones has been pretty good so far this season for Baylor, but he hasn't been dominant in the same way as Jared Sullinger or Terrence Jones or Kyrie Irving (before Irving's injury, of course). That's irrefutable.

2. Frankly, what we think doesn't matter. NBA scouts don't like Jones because he's been so productive. NBA scouts like Jones because he's 6-foot-10 with a feathery jump shot and innate ballhandling ability. NBA scouts draft productive players who aren't especially imposing or athletic begrudgingly, because NBA scouts don't like to hit doubles. They like to hit home runs. Jones, if he pans out, could be a home run. And that's why he's the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Production doesn't have much to do with it.

3. That said, if I'm an NBA scout and I have the No. 1 overall pick, I'm looking for a guy that can help me today. Not in two years or three or four. Today. I want Derrick Rose. I want John Wall. I want Kevin Durant. To me, Jones is the kind of guy that will need at least a year or two to develop in the NBA; he has to get much stronger, much more muscular, and more more refined to approach NBA stardom in the near future. Does that mean he'll be a bust? Not necessarily. But how patient do NBA general managers really want to be?

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Brad from Ft. Worth, Texas, writes: Regarding the question from Tuesday's chat about the best rivalry game not currently on the schedule: Notre Dame vs. Purdue would have to be near the top of the list, given the success of the two programs and their proximity to one another. Fortunately, they are scheduled to play one another in 2012 at the 2nd Crossroads Classic (which all four schools should continue to participate in beyond the next two years, IMHO).

Brennan: Ooh, that's a good one. I couldn't think of any that currently exist that aren't on the schedule, but if you start getting creative with proximity, there are probably five more of these we could dream up. Leave yours in the comments or the mailbag, friends.

In preseason college basketball tournaments -- heck, in tournaments of any kind -- there's an implicit agreement that the teams that win move on. That's just, like, how tournaments work, man.

Not the CBE Classic. It feels like a preseason tournament. It looks like a preseason tournament. But in the CBE Classic, something entirely different occurs: Host teams move on no matter what. Funky, right?

That structure is clearly a business decision, one evinced by the disparate quality and popularity between the hosts and the hostees. The 2010 CBE Classic field was announced last night. The hosts are Duke, Kansas State, Gonzaga, and Marquette. Duke will host Princeton and Miami of Ohio; Kansas State will host James Madison and Presbyterian; Marquette will host Bucknell and Wisconsin-Green Bay; and Gonzaga will host IUPUI and San Diego State. Each regional consists of those three teams.

But here's why the setup is funky: If, Princteon beats Miami of Ohio in the first "round," they'll "advance" to take on Duke. And even if Princeton upsets the Dukies at their own party, it doesn't matter: The Tigers go home, and the Dukies move on to play in the semifinals of the event Nov. 22-23 in Kansas City.

It's a bummer for the little guys. If you're Princeton, and you just beat Duke, don't you want the thrill of taking your suddenly explosive upset potential to Kansas City, where you can test your mettle against other top teams? Of course you do. It's just a preseason tournament competition, but still, the games count. That's a great opportunity.

Still, the tournament competition is a business, and business dictates that Kansas State, Duke, Gonzaga and Marquette advance and play each other in Kansas City, regional results be damned. The big schools get to be big schools. The little schools know the score before they sign on. It'd be nice if it actually mattered what happened in the regionals. But I suppose that's what the postseason tournament -- no strikethrough needed -- is for.