ESPN Men's Basketball

Until he misfired during a Final Four loss against Kansas (9 points), forward Deshaun Thomas had been the best player –-- arguably -- on the Buckeyes' roster throughout the NCAA tournament.

The left-hander’s versatility fueled Ohio State’s run to New Orleans with performances that raised his NBA stock.

But Thomas announced Friday that he’s decided to return to school for another year. And that call automatically keeps the Buckeyes in the national title hunt for the 2012-13 season, even with Jared Sullinger turning pro and William Buford graduating.

I think they’re a solid top-10 squad. Aaron Craft is back to harass opposing guards. And there’s potential among young players who didn't get a ton of minutes this season.

If former McDonald’s All-America center Amir Williams blossoms in the offseason and starts to fulfill his potential as a sophomore, the Buckeyes could make another strong run in the NCAA tournament.

But Thomas will be the focus of Thad Matta’s system. And I think his skill set will allow Ohio State to spread the floor and take full advantage of Thomas’ abilities, which we saw during the NCAA tourney.

While the Thomas announcement solidifies Ohio State’s position entering next season, the rest of the Big Ten is one giant question mark.

The league has the potential to send multiple teams to the Big Dance. But depending on who goes pro by the April 29 deadline (after April 10, any early entrant who applies for the NBA draft will lose his collegiate eligibility), it might not pack the same punch it did during the 2011-12 campaign.

Indiana and Michigan could join Ohio State in the preseason top 10, but that all depends on a few decisions that will be made in the coming weeks/days.

If Cody Zeller and Christian Watford return, the Hoosiers could compete for the national championship. Tom Crean is bringing in one of the best recruiting classes in the country. Zeller will be a Wooden Award candidate and preseason All-America center. If Watford builds on his Sweet 16 performance against Kentucky (27 points), he could be one of the best forwards in the conference.

Michigan needs Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. to return. Burke, however, is more vital to John Beilein’s plans. With highly rated prospects Mitch McGary and Glenn Robinson Jr. coming to Ann Arbor for the 2012-13 season, the Wolverines will add productive scorers who can contribute right away if Hardaway goes pro. But what will they do if they lose Burke? He might be the best point guard in the country if he comes back for his sophomore season. Without him, Michigan will still possess a talented, young roster. But the Wolverines could end up in Atlanta with Burke leading the way.

Minnesota also faces an uncertain future. The Gophers could be a borderline top-25 squad if preseason all-Big Ten forward Trevor Mbakwe returns. He missed most of last season after suffering a knee injury, but the NCAA recently granted the Big Ten’s No. 1 rebounder during the 2010-11 season a sixth year of eligibility. He’s expected to return -- assuming the Gophers have a scholarship for him. Tubby Smith has already reached the 13-scholarship limit, with two recruits joining the team next season. So Minnesota’s situation could get complicated, too.

Smith has asked the NCAA to allow the team to use a 14th scholarship next season. There’s also a chance that a player will transfer; five have left the program since 2009. But there are no guarantees right now for Mbakwe or the Gophers.

The Big Ten will be talented next season even if the aforementioned stars leave for the NBA.

But right now, it’s hard to project the league’s potential without knowing if its best players will stick around for another season.

ATLANTA -- What we saw Friday night was highly entertaining theater.

Kentucky and Indiana, two members of an elite collection of iconic college basketball programs, gave us all an enjoyable watch in the Sweet 16.

There was a pro mentality to this affair. It was as if two teams were out there to conduct the business of basketball. There were times it was just pure hoops.

If you wanted scoring, you got it.

Plenty of it.

Kentucky put up 102 points, the most scored against IU in 93 all-time tourney games. Indiana countered with 90 of its own. Before this shootout, no team in the entire tournament had reached 90 points.

In the end, UK moved on to its third consecutive Elite Eight, where it will play Baylor on Sunday. IU is heading home after a tremendously successful and memorable season.

Kentucky had to win this game with Anthony Davis playing limited minutes due to foul trouble. He played 25, yet was still highly effective. The national player of the year to many (he’s won four of the six awards so far) still was very efficient, with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks to go along with his 9 points.

“I got in early foul trouble,’’ said Davis. “By the second half, my teammates told me, 'You're fine. Just come out and play your game. We need you to steal, block shots, rebound and score the ball.'

“So that's what I did in the second half -- don't let the first half get to me and just come out with the same intensity the players came out with in the first half.”

And after the game, there was so much respect on both sides. There was no trash talk or bitterness. Kentucky coach John Calipari and Indiana coach Tom Crean are close friends and are genuinely pleased with each other’s success.

“Well, I'm truly happy for Indiana and Tom Crean,’’ Calipari said. “When he took that job, I told him, 'You are taking one of the top five jobs in our country in basketball. That's it. Indiana's it.'

“And he said, 'Cal, it's going to be hard.' Yeah, it's going to be hard, but it's Indiana. It's Indiana. So you'll get it going. Walking into Kentucky, it's hard, but it's Kentucky. It's North Carolina, it's Duke, it's Kansas. If you have one of those jobs, you have a chance to be a top-five program year in and year out. What he's done there, where it came from, you think about it. They lost 25 games their first year. He had a lot of people griping. Hey, you've got to build the foundation, and he did it.”

Crean returned the compliments: “We did a lot of good things, but they're a very talented team. As I said many times, I think it's obvious, they're extremely well-coached. He is a great coach. It's one thing to have talent; it's a whole other thing to get them to be as good as they are defensively.”

The players competed at a high level. And after the game, both sides gave each proper respect.

“They were knocking down shots, they were being really aggressive and getting to the rim,’’ said Kentucky senior Darius Miller. “We just had trouble guarding them. I don’t think we came out lacking intensity or lacking focus or anything like that. They just did a great job of executing their game plan and coming out ready to play.’’

There was something wholesome about this game, which is perfect considering these two schools are in the heartland of the country and the sport.

Their fan bases are two of the most passionate in the country. And while the Baylor-Xavier game was an undercard with a junior-varsity crowd that included empty seats, that was hardly the case for the nightcap. The fans showed and came to cheer. There were times when the Georgia Dome actually got loud, not easy considering the cavernous nature of this building.

Kentucky under Calipari is now like it was under Rick Pitino in the mid-1990s, where Final Fours are expected. UK went to three in a row from 1996 to 1998, winning two of the three — with Pitino claiming the first title and Tubby Smith the second in the third of three Final Fours. Calipari is 40 minutes away from his second consecutive Final Four in Lexington, third overall. But he has to win at least one national title, the first for the school since 1998, to live up to the expectations that were placed on him when he arrived, let alone compare to that Pitino run.

Indiana under Crean is now officially back. The Hoosiers were left in ruins after the Kelvin Sampson NCAA fiasco when departures had the program starting from scratch. After grinding it out the first three seasons, Crean now has reaped quite a turnaround, one that found the Hoosiers in the Sweet 16.

And they could have gone further. Indiana was down three at the half. The Hoosiers were constantly a few possessions away from pushing Kentucky. But they couldn’t contain the Wildcats' myriad offensive options.

The Cats were the aggressor, getting to the free throw line 37 times and making 35. The 94.6 percent mark was the highest in tourney history for a team with at least 30 attempts. But that was really the only clear advantage for Kentucky.

“They're great drivers, and they're attacking pretty hard throughout the game,’’ said Indiana freshman Cody Zeller. “Late in the game, we had to foul just to try to close the margin a little bit.

“They got in the bonus pretty early, and that really helped them out pretty well. And once they got there, they were knocking them down.”

Indiana had five scorers in double figures, led by Christian Watford’s season-high 27 points.

Kentucky also had five, led by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s 24, which tied a career-high.

For whatever reason, the Hoosiers chose not to guard MKG.

“I just saw that they weren’t playing me at all, saw it and went for it, that’s it,’’ the UK freshman said. “We just took turns. I mean, this was a great team win.’’

There is something special brewing with this Kentucky team.

The Wildcats can be vanilla at times. But that’s OK. They win. And they don’t need to boast or brag.

Now, there is one more game to get Sunday for Kentucky to reach its intended destination. Baylor can certainly win. This might be the one team, save a healthy North Carolina, that mirrors the Wildcats.

“It seems like there's only one team that is not allowed to lose in this tournament, and that's us,’’ Calipari said. “I don't want them to feel that. That's not the case. What I want them to do is go have a ball playing, be aggressive, play to win. If that's not good enough -- like, I'll be honest with you, folks. If you told me the team we're playing today, Indiana, was going to score 90 points and shoot 52 percent from the floor, I was going to have to tell you, 'Wow, it's been a nice season. Hate to end it that way, but it's been a nice season.'

“And we won. We played very aggressive and did stuff down the stretch that we needed to do offensively.”

MINNEAPOLIS -- All evening, Jordan Taylor just smirked.

When his four first-half 3s found the net. As an awkward reverse layup in the second half did more damage to the hometown team he rejected after high school. When his teammates swarmed him following the No. 22 Badgers' 68-61 overtime victory against the Gophers on Thursday night.

On the postgame podium. Outside the visitors locker room. The grin never left the Minnesota native’s face.

He’d waited four years to smile here.

“I love playing. I’ve struggled a little bit from the field this year so to have the ball go through like that was definitely fun, especially at home,” Taylor said after he’d recorded 27 points (including 5-for-9 from beyond the arc) and three steals in the victory.

Taylor, a former Minnesota prep star, had never defeated the Gophers at Williams Arena.

Thursday night was his last opportunity to secure a victory over his hometown-turned-rival school.

He initially downplayed the stakes.

And then, he talked about the family members who’d come from Cleveland to watch him play. And the 16 tickets he’d personally distributed. And the 50-plus family members and friends who’d found their own.

“It means something to me. It definitely does, coming back,” he said. “I’ve got a ton of family here, a ton of friends. To be able to win at the Barn, it’s special to me.”

Taylor didn’t disappoint his fans.

He scored 14 points in the first half after going 4-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line. He hit a crucial 3-pointer with a little more than 17 minutes to play that gave the Badgers a 37-26 lead.

The Badgers, fueled by Taylor’s strong start, maintained a double-digit lead for the bulk of the second half.

And then, the Gophers clamped down defensively and the Badgers failed to score for the last eight minutes of the second half (the Badgers made seven of 11 3-pointers in the first half but just two of 12 in the second).

Minnesota ended regulation with a 10-0 run that sent the game into overtime.

Taylor’s teammates, however, came to Minneapolis bent on helping their senior star get his first victory at the Barn. They knew this was his last chance.

“We wanted to get him a win here. I was hitting the glass hard, and he was making shots himself. That was a big factor,” said Ryan Evans, who scored 17 points. “It’s not anything we talked about, but we kind of all knew and understood what it meant for him.”

The Badgers, who also start Minnesotans Mike Bruesewitz and Jared Berggren, scored the first six points in the extra period and made 15 of 17 shots from the charity stripe.

The Gophers looked tired. Digging out of the hole Taylor put them in drained the young team.

If only he’d stayed home.

But before Tubby Smith arrived prior to the start of the 2007-08 season, Taylor chose Bo Ryan.

His stellar high school career at nearby Benilde-St. Margaret’s concluded in 2008 with a 3A state championship. Ryan, however, had latched onto Taylor long before his prep pinnacle.

The Gophers never had a chance or they just didn’t push hard enough, depending on whose version of Taylor’s recruitment you believe.

His success, however, still fuels the what-if tweets and message-board posts from Gophers fans who dreamed of a program that featured the state’s best preps.

But in their eyes, Taylor and the team’s other Minnesotans have joined the enemy.

“It’s different. Air smells a little bit better here when you walk off the plane. Then you get in here, it’s crazy,” Bruesewitz said about facing the hostile crowd at the Barn. “I don’t mind it. When they were making their run with about a minute and a half left, they were really getting after it, the Barn was loud. ... You can’t do anything but smile.”

It took Taylor four years to feel that way.

Editor's Note: For Myron's recap of Saturday's afternoon action, click here.

More Saturday games. More drama. A weekend slate that wasn’t supposed to offer much ultimately produced an impressive collection of games. Saturday night only added to the excitement.

Washington 69, Arizona 67

This game might have been a preview of the vibe we’ll see in the Pac-12 tournament. Not one team in this league can feel secure about its NCAA tournament hopes, but the conference's collective downfall does make for plenty of must-win drama.

Consider this: Between the 14:16 and 2:28 marks of the second half, Arizona recorded exactly one field goal. And yet, with two minutes to play, this was just a six-point game. Solomon Hill’s 3-pointer with 9 seconds to play tied the game at 67. He was awesome, scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. But while he made nine of his 10 shots, the rest of team went 12-of-40 (30 percent) from the field.

And after Hill's big bucket, Josiah Turner committed a huge foul on C.J. Wilcox, who hit a pair of free throws before freshman Tony Wroten blocked Turner’s layup at the buzzer. The Pac-12 is certainly down. But it’s also a very scrappy league right now because of the uncertainty. Arizona was bad for a chunk of this game, but the Wildcats kept coming -- because, well, it's UA-UW and these matchups are always dramatic.

The Huskies, who lead the Pac-12 at 7-2, scored a crucial road win, while Zona’s at-large hopes took another major blow with its third home loss of the season. Fun game.

No. 21 Virginia 61, North Carolina State 60

The Cavaliers led 55-45 with 6:37 on the clock, but barely held on here. The Wolfpack was sloppy for the bulk of this game and finished just 2-of-15 from beyond the arc. Near the five-minute mark, Alex Johnson missed three shots on one possession. He botched a layup on a fast break, then missed a contested follow-up and a 3-pointer. It was that kind of evening for the Pack.

But they bounced back and chipped away at Virginia’s lead. They outscored UVa 15-5 in the final six minutes of the game and Scott Wood hit a late 3 to close the gap to 1. The Cavs missed a jumper in the final seconds so NC State had a chance to tie on the last possession, but Virginia’s defense clamped down on Lorenzo Brown, whose 3-point attempt at the buzzer was way off.

The Cavs continue to find ways to win and force teams to play their grind-it-out style of basketball. Mike Scott (18 points) certainly helped, but Virginia was outrebounded 42-25 -- it gave up more offensive boards (18) than it had defensive boards (17)! -- and still pulled out the win. The Cavaliers' 17th victory gives them one more than all of last season.

That’s certainly something to be proud of, but I’m not sold on the Cavs as a team that will do damage in the NCAA tournament. Not with struggles against Towson, a bad home loss against Virginia Tech and other so-so efforts this season. Their finish against NC State on Saturday showcased some of this team’s flaws.

No. 20 Saint Mary’s 80, BYU 66

Wait, wasn't this supposed to be the weekend that the Gaels fell in West Coast Conference play? As impressive as SMC's 8-0 start in the WCC was, there was a palpable buzz that suggested the Gaels' success was directly linked to the fact that they played five of their first eight conference games at home, including routs of BYU and Gonzaga.

A rematch with Brigham Young on the road -- the Marriott Center is one of the most challenging venues in the country -- spelled doom. Right? But Saint Mary’s truly separated itself from the rest of the league with a 14-point victory that really wasn't even that close, despite SMC's heavy turnover total (24). It was a scrappy game both on the floor and off it -- fans threw things onto the court at one point as the Cougars lost back-to-back home games for the first time ever under Dave Rose. Four Gaels recorded double-figure point totals, led by Brad Waldow (19 points, 8 rebounds). I already can't wait for that Saint Mary's-Gonzaga game in Spokane.

Some more observations from Saturday night ...

• Oh Dayton, you confusing Atlantic 10 contender (pretender?). From Dec. 7 through Jan. 7, the Flyers won seven of eight games, including victories over Alabama, Ole Miss, Saint Louis and Temple. They’ve now lost three of five after Saturday’s 86-81 home loss to … wait for it … Rhode Island (4-18, 1-6 Atlantic 10). That’s not OK. What a wacky league. Xavier, Saint Louis and Dayton, three teams expected to emerge from the crowd, all have three conference losses as La Salle, St. Bonaventure and UMass (a very impressive winner over the Billikens on Saturday) share the conference lead. The A-10 seems as wide open and as unpredictable as any league in the country. Who can call it right now? Not me.
• The last time Minnesota and Illinois faced off, the Gophers lost to the Illini in double overtime in Champaign. On Saturday, Minnesota got its revenge with a 77-72 OT win at the Barn. After losing their first four conference games, the Gophers have won four of their past five. They’re a young team with limited depth, but Tubby Smith has coached this team extremely well in this five-game stretch.
• It was a huge night in Conference USA as the league's top four teams squared off. What we learned is that Memphis and Southern Miss, which play each other Wednesday in Hattiesburg, are the conference's co-favorites. Behind a career-high 29 from Will Barton, the Tigers rallied in the second half for a hard-fought home win against Marshall. The Golden Eagles also had a huge second half to win in Orlando, where UCF had won 16 straight (including a recent victory over Memphis). Neil Watson and Kentucky transfer Darnell Dodson combined for 45 points as Larry Eustachy's underrated squad improved to 19-3. Yes, 19-3.
• Think the Mountain West is a pushover? No. 15 UNLV needed overtime to dismiss Boise State on the road and the Rebels needed an extra period again Saturday, when they beat Air Force 65-63. AFA is ranked 156th in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted tempo ratings and Vegas is 17th, but these two squads were even on the scoreboard until the closing seconds. But the Falcons committed two turnovers in the last 15 seconds of the contest and squandered their chances to win this one late. Still, it was more evidence that the Mountain West is deeper than it appears to be on the surface. Mike Moser continued his destructive streak with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
• Oklahoma scored a key road when it beat No. 24 Kansas State 63-60. The Sooners pressured the Wildcats, who committed 20 turnovers. Frank Martin has been preaching defense, but K-State didn’t have much against Steven Pledger, who scored 30 points. The Wildcats have lost three of their past six. Meanwhile, this had to be a satisfying win for Lon Kruger, who used to play and coach in Manhattan. What a great job he's done in his first year in Norman.
• Seton Hall looked like an NCAA tournament team after it followed a blowout road loss at Syracuse with a four-game winning streak. But the Pirates have lost their past four and looked lackluster in a 60-51 home defeat to Louisville. Boy, that surprising season turned sour really quick, didn't it?
• Speaking of New Jersey, how strange is this Rutgers season? After Saturday's victory over Cincinnati, the young Scarlet Knights now have wins over Florida, Connecticut and the Bearcats ... and losses to DePaul, Illinois State, Princeton and a down Richmond team.
• Wichita State and Drake took a combined 149 shots in their triple-overtime thriller Saturday night. The Bulldogs outplayed the Shockers and deserved their 93-86 victory. Kraidon Woods’ layup for Drake sent the game into the first extra period and Rayvonte Rice hit a pair of late free throws to take the game into a second overtime. Drake’s Kurt Alexander and Wichita State’s Ben Smith traded late 3s in the second extra period to send the game into a third OT. In that third overtime, Drake scored the first five points and WSU couldn’t close the gap. The Shockers suffered their first loss since New Year’s Eve, but this is still a quality team. Wichita State is now one game behind Creighton in the MVC. Let's all count down to that Feb. 11 rematch in Omaha.

1. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told ESPN.com late Thursday night that the league will review the overtime scuffle between Oregon State and Arizona. Don’t be surprised if there are some suspensions since the Pac-12 tends to be aggressive. Arizona’s Kyryl Natyazhko and Oregon State’s Joe Burton were ejected. Natyazhko was out of line in his reaction. He had to be held back. Arizona’s Kyle Fogg started the mess by woofing at OSU’s Jared Cunningham after a dunk. But credit Arizona’s Sean Miller here for trying to quickly restore order before it escalated too much. OSU’s Craig Robinson also kept his players cool.

2. Minnesota coach Tubby Smith was criticized locally last week because of the Gophers' failure to excite or go deep in March. The Gophers turned around and had the best outing of their season with a road win at Indiana in vaunted Assembly Hall. The Big Ten record doesn’t show it (1-4), but Smith had to reconstitute this team without Trevor Mbakwe (ACL). The Gophers have remained competitive. Indiana can’t be faulted too much for a home loss. Remember, this is still a young team that is learning to play with high expectations.

3. It will be interesting to see how Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin uses Jarnell Stokes against Kentucky on Saturday. The highly-touted incoming freshman was deemed eligible by the SEC this week. Martin has his Vols playing as hard as any team in the SEC, and Stokes hasn’t been privy to Martin’s coaching or the tough practice schedule. Stokes is a talent, but he’ll have to buy in defensively and, of course, effort-wise going forward to make a major contribution. Martin is managing this transition quite well so far in Knoxville.

Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and John Calipari couldn’t do it. Jared Sullinger, William Buford and Thad Matta couldn’t, either.

But somehow, a Minnesota squad that had lost its first four Big Ten games this season – and 13 of its past 14 – pulled off a 77-74 upset of No. 8 Indiana on Thursday night in Bloomington, Ind.

“It feels great. We were 0-4 going into Indiana. To get the win, it’s a huge win,” Austin Hollins (career-high 18 points), the son of Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins, told ESPN.com. “We play in a really tough league. I don’t think [we were] thinking about 0-5. We were thinking that anything can happen in any game. … We had to keep our heads up and keep our confidence up.”

Both the Wildcats and the Buckeyes, ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, at the time, lost at Assembly Hall earlier this season. The Hoosiers were undefeated at home entering Thursday’s game.

A Gophers team playing without one first-round draft pick on its roster and competing sans its best player (Trevor Mbakwe suffered a season-ending knee injury in November), however, bullied the Hoosiers on the boards (16 offensive rebounds) and strangled the No. 1 3-point shooting team in the country. The Hoosiers had made 48 percent of their 3-point attempts entering the game but connected on just 4 of 18 against Minnesota (their starters were 1-for-12).

Even Cody Zeller’s career-high 23 points weren’t enough to help the Hoosiers avoid their sixth loss in eight games against the Gophers.

“We played solid [defense]. We got up in their faces. We switched when a switch was needed,” Hollins said. “We really focused on it in practice. We came out here and executed on defense.”

It was Tubby Smith’s first true road win against a top-10 team as Gophers coach and his sixth overall against a top-10 squad.

By now, you’ve read the box score, so you know the numbers.

But you might not know the recent history.

Every time that Smith has taken his Gophers to the state of Indiana to face the Hoosiers, a dramatic matchup has ensued.

Days after suffering a double-digit loss to the Hoosiers in Bloomington, the Gophers beat a nationally ranked Indiana squad in the 2008 Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis via Blake Hoffarber’s turnaround buzzer-beater (the shot earned Hoffarber his second ESPY nomination).

Two years later, Verdell Jones (who chose the Hoosiers over the Gophers) hit a jump shot to seal Indiana’s three-point victory in overtime at Assembly Hall.

And last season – after officials decided to proceed with the game in the middle of an ice storm that shut down Bloomington – a nationally ranked Gophers squad fell to a Hoosiers team that ultimately won three Big Ten games.

Rodney Williams said Minnesota’s recent rivalry with the Hoosiers, especially last season’s road loss, was on his mind entering Thursday’s matchup.

“Me personally, I had that in the back of my mind a little,” the junior forward (12 points) said. “My freshman year, it was a really close game as well. This is one of the toughest places in college basketball to play. The loudest gym I’ve ever been in. It was getting so loud that the rim was shaking.”

For the Gophers, the victory might help them salvage their season. For the Hoosiers, the game was a lesson on the consistent toughness that league play demands.

For those who’ve followed this matchup in recent years, it was simply the norm.

1. Pitt’s inability to score more than 60 points in the past two games is befuddling. The Panthers were playing a possible NEC contender, note possible, in Wagner and then played one of the Big East's bottom third teams in Notre Dame. Yet the Panthers couldn’t crack 60 points and lost both matches. The Panthers were 1-of-14 on 3-pointers against the usual porous Irish defense Tuesday. Travon Woodall was back from an injury and struggled -- 0-for-5 overall, 0-for-3 on 3s. Still, this is a Panthers team that shouldn’t be this offensively challenged. The Panthers were 2-of-15 on 3s against Wagner with Ashton Gibbs shooting 1-of-7 on 3s. The trend will mean that Pitt will slip down to the muddled middle of the Big East for only the second time in Jamie Dixon's eight seasons unless something drastically changes. Pitt has finished in the top two five times, and finished fourth, fifth and seventh -- in 2008 -- once.

2. Minnesota lost to Illinois in double overtime in the Big Ten opener for both teams Tuesday night. But Gophers coach Tubby Smith may be doing his best coaching job -- at the U. The Gophers were thin in experience heading into the season. Losing Trevor Mbakwe to a season-ending knee injury last month should have devastated them. Granted the schedule was soft in many spots but the Gophers still went into that Big Ten opener at 12-1. The Gophers still have a long way to go to ensure a postseason berth but to be this competitive, and playing with this much confidence with such an inexperienced crew, is a credit to Smith and these players.

3. A URI news release says coach Jim Baron will re-evaluate senior guard Jamal Wilson's status in a week after he was suspended indefinitely. But a source with direct knowledge inside the Rams’ program doesn’t expect Wilson to return based on a series of missteps. Wilson may be averaging 17.5 points a game but the Rams have won just one game this season and are one of the biggest disappointments in the country. The Rams are leaning heavily on freshmen since the upperclassmen have been subpar. Baron, who normally has had URI competitive in the A-10, despite not making the NCAAs during his previous 10 years, has two years remaining on his contract. It’s hard to say if he’s under any heat since cash-strapped URI would have to come up with money it may not have to make a change.

If Trevor Mbakwe's tweets Sunday were any indication, the Minnesota Golden Gophers forward may be out for the season. Mbakwe was still in the locker room Sunday night when this heartbreaking tweet -- "Lord please get me through this." -- broke through on his feed. Mbakwe followed up by thanking Twitter for its support; he called what happened Sunday night a "Minor setback for a MAJOR comeback."

There is still the matter of an MRI, of course, which Mbakwe will undergo Monday. You never know: The doctors may find something positive in Mbakwe's diagnosis. Maybe, just maybe, the apparent knee injury that knocked Minnesota's star forward out of the Gophers' 86-70 loss in the Old Spice Classic Championship game to Dayton Sunday night won't be of the season-threatening variety.

But as Minnesota coach Tubby Smith told reporters, "it doesn't look good."

Needless to say, if Mbakwe loses a large portion of the 2011-12 season -- or even all of it, which appears to be the consensus outcome here -- it would be utterly devastating to Minnesota. Mbakwe is the Gophers' star forward, a double-double machine who drives the offense forward despite the Gophers' struggles throughout the rest of the lineup. Without Mbakwe, an already thin frontcourt gets much thinner, Smith loses his team's lone post advantage, and the Gophers' path to the NCAA tournament, hardly an easy one in the first place, suddenly looks far more arduous.

Assuming the injury is that bad, not only is it devastating in a vacuum, but it's devastating in context, too. The last two seasons at Minnesota have carried with them major opportunities for program progress under Smith, and each season has brought with it a host of injuries, personnel defections and ultimate disappointment. Two years ago, top recruit Royce White was arrested, benched, and ultimately left the program. That same year, guard Al Nolen missed the second half of the season thanks to academic ineligibility. Last season, Nolen lost most of his senior season to injury, while guard Devoe Joseph transferred and Smith was left playing shooting guard Blake Hoffarber at point. Minnesota entered the season with a balanced, intriguing lineup, but ended up missing the NCAA tournament after late collapse.

Not quite as much was expected this season, but the upside was there. And now this. We'll see if the MRI brings Gophers fans some positive news. But if it's bad as it seems -- if it's as bad as Mbakwe's locker-room tweet -- then it could be very bad indeed.

Minnesota beat Fairfield 67-57 Thursday night. That's a decent result. The Gophers are still figuring their backcourt out, Fairfield is a soild mid-major with a good coach (Sidney Johnson) and a shot at making the NCAA tournament this season.

Given all the surprising high-major home upsets we've already seen this season, maybe Minnesota coach Tubby Smith should be relieved his team didn't join those ranks Thursday night.

Still, Smith doesn't seem very happy with his team's play, particularly with its 23 turnovers in Thursday night's immensely sloppy affair. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's Amelia Rayno:

"It was a comedy of turnovers for a while,” Smith said. “Forty-three turnovers in a game? This is ugly. It was just a lack of execution, a lack of mental toughness.

[...] “You know, there’s always something where you say, ‘Should we have done more of this in practice?’ And one of the things we didn’t work on much was a jump stop, but you’d hope that Division I players would understand the jump stop, balance under pressure.”

That's unusually sardonic stuff from Tubby, and I had to chuckle a little at the quote. He sounds like my roommate when the wrong mail arrives at our house. ("I mean, you'd think a mailman, whose only job is to read, deliver the right mail to the right places, would be able to read an address. Apparently not.") He's right -- a jump stop is something you learn in high school, maybe earlier. You'd expect that a Division I team wouldn't need much in the way of schooling on that point. But maybe not.

In a weird way, you could read this in one of two ways. It may be encouraging. After all, Minnesota coughed up the ball 23 times but still held Fairfield to fewer than 60 points, thanks in part to the Stags' own turnover woes. They coughed it up 20 times.

It may also be discouraging because Minnesota's biggest question mark this season is its backcourt. If the Gophers can't handle the ball effectively against the likes of Fairfield, can they expect to do so against Big Ten competition? Senior forward Trevor Mbakwe, who called the turnovers "unacceptable," doesn't seem to think so. Maybe it's a one-time thing. Maybe it's a trend. Either way, it's something to keep an eye on.

It had to be at least somewhat bittersweet for Purdue coach Matt Painter to get to know Minnesota's Trevor Mbakwe this summer.

On one hand, Mbakwe was the star of the Team USA during the World University Games. The Americans settled for a fifth-place finish, but the 6-foot-8 forward stood out while averaging 11.4 points and 9.4 rebounds.

On the other hand, Painter now has a better appreciation for what he and his team have to go up against when the Golden Gophers come up during the Big Ten schedule.

"They really fouled him the whole tournament," Painter said in a statement from China. "He’s tough to guard. He’s very strong. We just wanted to keep pounding the ball inside and try to get the ball to the basket as much as we could."

That's probably what Tubby Smith probably has in mind as well now that expectations are sky high for Mbakwe, who at this time last year was best known for his legal woes. After averaging a double-double (13.9 points, 10.5 rebounds) in his first season with the program, he now enters his senior season with momentum and the understanding that he could put up those numbers on the international stage as well.

From The Star Tribune:

"It's just a confidence-builder knowing that I’m able to compete," he said last week about his World University Games experience. "These same guys are some of the best players in the country and other countries, too."

Since Mbakwe earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last year, I think it's fair to expect him to achieve first-team all-conference honors and to play his way into the All-America conversation by the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

The Gophers coaching staff believes Mbakwe can have a special year that ends with national honors.

"We're going to be able to take something we learned from here and be able to use it when we get back home for our college teams," Mbakwe said in a statement from China. "It's just been a wonderful experience and I'm really grateful to be able to have this opportunity."

Late Sunday night, as the deadline decision news releases poured in from schools around the country, one player was noticeably quiet.

That player: Minnesota forward Ralph Sampson III. Sampson's draft candidacy had gone unnoticed throughout late April and early May, but he was in the draft all the same. By late Sunday night, reports indicated Sampson was set to stay in the draft, even though Minnesota made no official announcement one way or the other.

All of a sudden -- and not a moment too soon -- it appears Sampson isn't going to stay in the draft after all. According to the Minnesota Star, Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi texted Gophers beat writer Myron P. Medcalf with the news that he "expect[s] Ralph to be here next year."

If so, that's big news for Minnesota coach Tubby Smith, who is now set to return two experienced, dynamic frontcourt players in Sampson and athletic power forward Trevor Mbakwe, who initially toyed with the idea of entering the draft before spurning the chance to test the draft waters this spring. Mbakwe is one of the nation's most dazzling post finishers; Sampson is one of its best shot-blockers, and he boasts a smooth but still-developing offensive game to boot.

Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. ET was the official deadline for prospects to withdraw from the draft and preserve their eligibility for another year in school. Until official confirmation comes, we can't be sure Sampson filed such a request in time. Needless to say, this is an unusual situation. But all signs currently point to Sampson's return. For now, at least.

Minnesota coach Tubby Smith once again spent part of the offseason downplaying rumors that he would leave for another job, but at the same time has been steadfast in saying he wants a new practice facility -- one that has been talked about since before he decided to come to work for the Golden Gophers.

In an interview in The Star Tribune, Smith continued to reiterate just how much the proposed facility means to building the program he envisions, saying that he has addressed his concerns about resources with school officials.

"I'd like to see something done to help basketball. We've done our part. We need to get that done because there really hasn't been anything done for basketball since I've been here in a major way. ... I think it's just the times. You had the financial economic struggles. But I think the university as well as the economy is starting to move in a different direction."

...

But he made it clear that he expects the school to make a greater commitment to the program going forward.

"[It's] kind of like the NASCAR. You want to win? You better put some money in there," he said. "You got to [have] the right engine, you got the right people running it, you've got to have the right pit crew. You'd better be changing and looking to evaluate every day. You've got to have that because you're competing. You're competing against everybody else."

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Smith also said he wants a timetable for the facility before he signs a contract extension, but a definite date right now isn't available.

"I want to do everything I can to keep Tubby Smith as our basketball coach, and I mean that very, very strongly," [athletic director Joel] Maturi said Wednesday. "But I don't think any of us can give an answer to (the timetable) immediately. It's a challenging fundraising climate, although it's getting better. We need to do a better job of making that happen."

University lawyers and Smith's agent are finalizing a deal to extend the contract past the three remaining years. Smith called it "just a matter of time" before the details can be worked out.

"It's just a matter of making sure this is everything we need," he said. "Not necessarily things we want, but (we need to make sure) things we need in order to be successful are on the table and there's a timetable as far as when we can get it done."

Smith ramping up the pressure on the school comes after a season in which Minnesota lost 10 of its final 11 games and did not play in a postseason tournament. He hasn't won an NCAA tournament game after four seasons with the program.

But with a new university president set to take over in July, Smith wants to make sure the school remains on track to fulfill its commitments to what he considers to be the shared vision that he came to Minnesota for.

By speaking up about needing the administration's help in the form of the practice facility to be successful, Smith also ensures that his own future won't be a complete certainty until the thing gets done.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tubby Smith still has a shot at an 18th consecutive 20-win season.

But if he gets those final three victories, they’ll come in the NIT. At best. And that’s certainly not what Minnesota had in mind when this season began.

The Golden Gophers started the season just outside the Top 25 and were generally considered the fifth-best team in a stacked Big Ten. Instead they’ve stumbled to a 17-14 record and a ninth-place finish in the 11-team league.

The Golden Gophers were dumped from the Big Ten tournament Thursday afternoon by Northwestern, 75-65. Minnesota looked like a team that was out of answers and out of fight in the second half against the Wildcats.

When Northwestern went on an 8-0 run to take a six-point lead midway through the second half, Minnesota was done. There was no significant response, no rally -- just playing out of the string in a season gone wrong.

“It’s just been a tough stretch,” Smith said.

How tough? Try 10 losses in the past 11 games. It didn’t help when double-digit scorer Devoe Joseph transferred in January, but when point guard Al Nolen went down with a broken foot, he took Minnesota’s season with him.

“You've got to have leadership and you've got to have guards that can help you get in the offense or bring the ball back out when you have to get it set up, and we just haven't had that,” Smith said.

But as much as the loss of Nolen has taxed Minnesota’s offense, it’s bore only scant resemblance to most Smith-coached defensive teams against Northwestern. The Wildcats scored the most points the Gophers have allowed in a month, and the second-most they have allowed against a Big Ten opponent all season (Ohio State went for 82).

Northwestern got 3s when it wanted 3s and got drives when it wanted drives, as guard Michael Thompson lit up the Gophers for a Big Ten tourney-record 35 points. That doesn’t happen against a Tubby team.

Now the question is whether or not Minnesota will still be a Tubby team in 2011-12.

There have been rumors of Smith being a candidate at Georgia Tech if Paul Hewitt leaves or is fired -- Smith had great success in the state in the mid-'90s at Georgia, so he’d be an attractive name. But Minnesota is working on an extension for Smith, and the coach at least talked a good game Thursday about wanting to stay with the school.

“It certainly makes me feel good that the university believes in me and believes in what we're doing and believes in the type of people that we're getting in the program, that they are doing the right things, graduating," he said.

“Certainly I'm excited about the future. I'm looking forward to being at the ‘U’ for some time, and hopefully this season or this stretch of bad losses doesn't cause them to pull anything off the table.”

For a variety of reasons, rumors of Tubby Smith's imminent departure from Minnesota seem to dog the coach every offseason. Sometimes the rumors are based in truth. (Oregon was very interested in Smith's services last summer.) Sometimes the rumors are just that -- rumors. Either way, each new March, April and May seems to bring with it the renewed notion that Smith's coaching eye is wandering outside the Twin Cities. Like Groundhog Day and a mid-March Chicago snowfall (ugh), this too has become a rite of spring.

Naturally, this season is no different. Smith has been obviously frustrated with his injury-depleted Gophers, and for good reason: After Sunday's home loss to Penn State, Minnesota finished regular season play with a 1-9 mark in its final 10 games, a slide that made it 6-12 in the Big Ten and 17-13 overall. That brutal stretch was caused in large part by a season-ending injury to Al Nolen and the midseason transfer of former starting guard Devoe Joseph; thanks to those absences, Smith has been forced to use sharpshooter Blake Hoffarber at the point guard spot for much of the past month, and you don't have to watch the Gophers as religiously as the father-in-law in "Fargo" to know Hoffarber at the point is a less-than-ideal lineup configuration. Thanks to that dropoff, Minnesota is almost certain to miss the tournament, something Smith told his team -- and the media -- Feb. 27.

Clearly, the frustration is there. But does Tubby really want to leave? Will Georgia Tech really buy out Paul Hewitt's contract in an effort to hire Smith, as our own Doug Gottlieb alluded to recently? Will Gophers brass be hunting for a new coach again this spring?

According to the man himself: no. Not at all. Why? Because Smith's wife says so. From Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Sid Hartman:

And Smith rejected the ESPN rumor that Georgia Tech was going to buy out coach Paul Hewitt's contract and hire Smith by saying: "Why would I be interested in that job? I'm not going anywhere. My wife likes it here, I like it here, and I'm going to finish my career here."

That's about as unequivocal as rumor-killing statements get, isn't it? Smith didn't hedge. He give a "I am the coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and right now that's what I'm focused on," or some similar non-denial-denial. Smith is saying, in very clear terms, that he is "going to finish his career" in Minneapolis. It's hard to wiggle out of something like that.

Of course, we've heard coaches say one thing about their job and do another a few weeks later. Smith could still very well be on the job market. But if he leaves now, the disappointed fan base he leaves behind would have good reason to refer to Smith in the same unfavorable terms as Bobby Petrino and Nick Saban, and nobody wants to be like those guys, right?

Hartman details some of the reasons Smith might stay, which include a solid incoming recruiting class, the loss of only two seniors (Blake Hoffarber and Al Nolen) this season, the emergence of freshman both used and unused this season (especially freshman guard Chip Armelin, an athletic but raw combo guard who probably would have gotten the starting nod in Nolen's departure had he more experience running Smith's offense) and the likely return of star forward Trevor Mbakwe, who, according to Hartman, apparently believes (as Smith does) that he needs another year to refine his game before turning pro.

In other words, the personnel situation isn't dire. Yes, Smith has been frustrated. But Gophers fans can take a sigh of relief, in so far as they believe one is warranted. According to the man himself, their head coach isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

(Update: The Star-Trib's Myron P. Metcalf is reporting today that, according to Smith's attorney Ricky Lefft, Smith will "absolutely" sign an extension at Minnesota prior to the 2011-12 season.)

I could be wrong -- maybe this has been around forever and I just haven't noticed it -- but the hottest new coaching phrase of the season seems to be some variation of the following: "I don't play politics."

Every time a bubble team gets a big win the coach of that bubble team is asked to assess his team's tourney chances in the wake of the victory. Coaches have always responded to this question with an artful dodge, but the new hotness appears to be an active assertion of the coach's own unwillingness to campaign on behalf of his team. It's a little like politicians who pretend to hate politics: Of course a coach knows exactly where his team stands on the bubble. His job is on the line, after all. But nobody wants to be that guy, because nobody likes that guy.

(Unless, of course, that guy is Tim Floyd, who is basically a huge clown. But that's a story for another time.)

Minnesota's Tubby Smith is among this group, in so far as he isn't playing politics. But Smith isn't dodging the bubble questions, either. Instead, after Minnesota's home loss to Michigan on Saturday, Smith went with honesty. In other words, he thinks his team is done. From the St. Paul Pioneer-Press:

"This is probably a game that probably does it in for us," the Gophers coach said, referring to what he told his players about their NCAA tournament hopes after a disappointing loss in front of a stunned sellout crowd of 14,625 at Williams Arena. [...] He summed his frustration up with, "This is bizarre."

"It was basically the same script of how we played in the last game," Smith said. "We don't get the stops. We don't get the rebounds. We don't have anyone scoring inside."

Of course, Smith's probably right. Without starting point guard Al Nolen, Minnesota has lost seven of its past eight games. The Gophers are now 17-11 overall and 6-10 in the Big Ten. Their RPI is a lackluster No. 60. And the wins that made them a tourney favorite for much of the season -- season-opening wins against North Carolina and West Virginia in Puerto Rico -- seem like they came years ago.

Still, it's unusual to hear a coach even broach the subject of his team's tournament chances. It's downright, well, bizarre to hear a coach tell his team -- and then the media -- that its season is essentially over.

Smith is clearly frustrated, and with good reason; 2010-11 is the second-straight promising Gophers season derailed by injuries and personnel woes, from Nolen to starting guard Devoe Joseph, who surprised Minnesota with a midseason transfer in January. But do his quotes say something larger about his desire to leave Minneapolis this offseason? There are always rumblings around Smith -- he was one of many candidates rumored to be in the picture at Oregon last summer -- and the impending job openings at Georgia Tech and NC State would seem tailor-made for him if he decided to leave.

What's more, no less reliable a source than our own Doug Gottlieb is already hearing the rumor-mill murmurs about Smith's potential departure:

The hottest chatter in coaching news is the speculation that Tubby Smith will be on the move this offseason. Three different head coaches told me the coaching fraternity is abuzz over whether Georgia Tech will buy out Paul Hewitt (reportedly in excess of $5 million dollars) and land Smith.

We have plenty of time to await that news. In the meantime, one thing is clear: Smith isn't happy. The extent of that unhappiness -- whether it's reserved to this year's team, or involves his program and situation at large -- will be one of the more intriguing stories in what should be an otherwise quiet rumor mill this spring.