ESPN Men's Basketball

You may remember Leonard Washington from his time at USC. More specifically: You may remember Washington* from the time he hit then-Oklahoma sophomore Blake Griffin in the crown jewels back in 2008. That was a funny episode, particularly because Washington tried to deny what happened after the fact. Then-USC coach Tim Floyd's money quote on the subject: "He's a freshman. He doesn't know that we film everything." Apparently not.

In any case, Washington had come a long way since 2008. He transferred to Wyoming, and in 2012 he starred in his first season under new coach Larry Shyatt, leading the team in scoring (12.9 points) and rebounding (6.9 rebounds) while posting sterling shooting percentages and the 11th-best defensive rebounding rate (27.4 percent, per KenPom) in the country. Wyoming went 21-12 in 2012, its best season in ages; for a while there, the Cowboys even flirted with the NCAA tournament bubble. Washington was a major reason why.

Unfortunately, Washington's individual progress may be coming undone. In early April, Shyatt suspended Washington indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules. Then, two weeks after that suspension, Washington was arrested and charged with battery and criminal entry during which, according to the citation, he admitted entering a house "without permission from the occupants and striking an individual with a closed fist during a fight." He pleaded guilty to both counts Tuesday, receiving fines and suspended jail time as well as up to a year of unsupervised probation.

The mundanities of the arrest are less important (for our purposes, anyway) than what they could do to Washington's career. The forward was already on indefinite suspension when he was arrested; that's no way to get back in your coach's good graces. Making all this worse for Shyatt is how much he needs Washington in 2012-13. The Cowboys are trying to build momentum under their new coach, but losing your best and most productive player -- in addition to the three senior starters that graduated this spring -- makes an already difficult task monumentally so.

It is no exaggeration to say that Shyatt's handling of Washington -- whether he suspends him for the summer, or dismisses him from the team, or sits him down for a stretch in the winter -- could determine the outcome of the fledgling program's season. It's a fine balance to walk, and Washington can only hope his coach is the forgiving type. Shyatt gave Washington his second chance. Does he deserve a third?

*I, for one, will never be able to hear "Leonard Washington" without thinking of the "Chappelle's Show" character. Like all good Dave Chappelle characters, it will stay with me forever.

Don't sleep on the Mountain West tournament.

Not that you would, of course. You're hip. You're with it. You're not living in the past, man. You know that if you're looking for the West Coast's -- or at least the western half of the country's -- best college hoops, one must look to the Mountain West.

This week, that means focusing squarely on the MWC tournament in Las Vegas, where this conference's eight teams can be divided up among three categories:

• Tourney-Bound Contenders: UNLV, San Diego State, New Mexico
• Miracle Auto-Bid Underdogs: Wyoming, Boise State, Air Force, TCU
• Bubble Hopefuls: Colorado State

The bracket is here. The scoreboard schedule is here. Here's a quick and hopefully handy set of questions about what to look for after tipoff in the Thomas and Mack Center at 3 p.m. ET Thursday afternoon:

Will Colorado State get it done? As you no doubt know, there is but one team with bubble drama in the Mountain West. UNLV, SDSU and UNM have all long since firmed up their at-large bids, while Wyoming, Boise State, Air Force and TCU are all in need of respective miracle runs to the MWC title (not impossible, but unlikely) to get in the Big Dance. The Rams are the only team that could go either way. So, given their position as the No. 4 seed in this week's conference tournament, what are their odds of making the NCAA tournament field? The chances are good, actually, but for now they rest on one thing: Colorado State can't afford to lose to TCU.

It's not that a loss would necessarily put Colorado State out of the tournament. As of now, our Joe Lunardi has the Rams in the field, and clearly so, above bubble teams like Seton Hall, Drexel, Xavier and Northwestern, not to mention the likes of Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, NC State and the rest of the squads that need runs of various deepness in their league tournaments to make a positive move along the bubble line. CSU, as it is, is a No. 12 seed. But if they dip out of the tournament too early, and do so in rather ugly fashion, it could contribute to an impression that the Rams (who won just one road game in Mountain West regular-season play, and not until last Saturday's game at Air Force) were great at home this season but not-so-great away from Ft. Collins, and the loss would surely ding an otherwise solid (especially RPI and SOS-wise) profile. If CSU wins and makes it to the semifinals to (most likely) face San Diego State, then it could probably begin to feel pretty safe about its chances. But nothing is guaranteed going in.

Is UNLV the favorite? You would think so. After all, the Rebels were 16-0 in the Thomas and Mack Center this season, and this tournament is being played in, you guessed it, the Thomas and Mack. (Actually, you didn't guess it; I told you as much above. But if you weren't paying attention, maybe you guessed it? Moving on ...) That will no doubt translate into a huge home-court advantage, and not just from the hometown fans, but also from the sheer familiarity and comfort that comes with playing on the same floor where the Rebels spend so much of their basketball-related time.

Then again, for all the talk of home court, Dave Rice's team is at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the bracket. The Rebels are the No. 3 seed, which means that if they handle business against Wyoming, they're likely to meet No. 2-seed New Mexico in the semifinal, which promises to be a much more difficult game than San Diego State is likely to face in the other semi, even if Colorado State does make it through as planned.

In one sense, you have to like the Rebels to win this thing. They haven't lost on their home floor, and it's on their home floor. But with the way final MWC standings and seeding shook out, UNLV's road to the title is hardly going to be a stroll.

Who's the most likely sleeper? I'll go with TCU. The Horned Frogs have played -- in spurts, admittedly -- some very solid basketball down the stretch. In February alone, Jim Christian's team took down Colorado State, UNLV and New Mexico on its own floor, and got a win at Air Force (not as easy a feat as you'd think) to boot. The Horned Frogs shot the 3 better than any team in conference play, and their offense tied for the league's second-best in conference play at 1.05 points per trip. The problem? Defense. If the Horned Frogs get hot, they could certainly pose a threat to a very bubble Colorado State team in the first round. But if the shots don't fall, the lackluster defense that plagued Christian's team all season won't serve it well in what should be a raucous and rowdy environment. We'll see.

What else should I read about the MWC tournament? I'm glad you asked. In some order, you should check out:

• John Gasaway's final edition of Tuesday Truths, which proves some handy final per-possession stats for MWC play. (The general gist: New Mexico was good, but not quite as good as its efficiency margin makes it seem, mostly because it destroyed Air Force twice.)
• The Las Vegas Sun's preview of how UNLV is approaching this tournament, not to mention its constantly shifting NCAA seed possibilities.
• Another LV Sun story, this one about how the conference tournament (and the coming wave of NCAA games) will affect local business (read: casinos).
• This brilliant flowchart designed to help you figure out exactly who to root for in the MWC tournament. (Sample eliminator question: "Do Cowboy butts drive you nuts?")

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other observations from the night that was:

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

Here's an abbreviated rundown of Joe Lunardi's bracket outlook after Saturday's games:

TOP SEED PAIRINGS
EAST/Syracuse vs. WEST/Kansas (1 vs. 4)
SOUTH/Kentucky vs. MIDWEST/Missouri (2 vs. 3)

-- Kansas replaces Ohio State as No. 1 seed
-- Missouri moves to No. 3 overall (Midwest Region, St. Louis)

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN (projected bids in parentheses)
Big East (9)
Big Ten (8)
ACC (6) -- added Miami
Big 12 (6)
SEC (5)
Mountain West (3)
West Coast (3)
Atlantic 10 (2) -- dropped Xavier
Conference USA (2)
Missouri Valley (2)
Pac-12 (2)

BUBBLE BREAKDOWN

Last Four In
Cincinnati
Seton Hall
North Carolina State
Miami (Fla.)

First Four Out
Xavier
Washington
Northwestern
Belmont (at-large, Mercer leads Atlantic Sun)

NEXT FOUR OUT
Iona (at-large, Loyola leads MAAC)
Wyoming
Colorado State
Colorado

Louisville gets a big win on the road, Florida has the week from hell, UConn shows signs of life in a loss at Syracuse, Missouri has its way in yet another disappointing performance from Baylor and UNLV holds on for a thrilling win over San Diego State. As is tradition, here's what we learned from those games -- and more! -- Saturday afternoon.

[Editor's note: Per usual, we encourage you to stay with the blog all day for on-site reports from our writers across the country and, later, our recaps of all the big-time Saturday night action, including Wichita State-Creighton, Michigan State-Ohio State and Kentucky-Vandy.]

UNLV 65, San Diego State 63: One team must win, and one team must lose. UNLV fans will be thrilled. San Diego State fans will agonize. The contours of this relatively new rivalry couldn't be more pronounced, and this season's series -- with both games decided by two points; SDSU won the first at home 69-67 -- will only add fuel to that fire. In a guttural, emotional sense, if you're an Aztecs fan, this loss hurts. If you're a UNLV fan, you're downright stoked. So it goes.

But once the reflexes give way to perspective, both fan bases might realize this was the rare instance in which both teams can legitimately claim victory -- if not on the scoreboard, in terms of perception.

For UNLV, the win represents a restoration of the Rebels' first-place claim to the top of the Mountain West standings; this victory moved both teams to 6-2 in league play. It showcased the rich vein of talent first-year coach Dave Rice has tapped. Forward Mike Moser was excellent on offense and a source of havoc on defense. He finished the game with 19 points, nine rebounds, six -- yes, six -- steals and four blocks. Chace Stanback struggled, but his teammates had his back. Brice Massamba scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, Oscar Bellfield went for 15 points and six assists, and Anthony Marshall contributed eight assists (a few of them spectacular), six rebounds and two steals.

For SDSU, the two-point loss was proof of this team's enduring grit. That's a bit cliche, I know, but you have to cite it when you see it, and boy, do the Aztecs ever have it. It doesn't take much for UNLV's uptempo attack to bury opponents at the Thomas and Mack. Just ask New Mexico. Instead, every time the Rebels looked ready to finally break through and run away -- as they did at the 7:50 mark of the second half, when they led 60-50 -- SDSU just kept fighting back. Chase Tapley, the oft-forgotten fifth wheel in last year's dream season, has become a full-fledged star. He dropped 22 points and made four of his seven 3-point attempts, including a series of huge shots to close the lead -- and overtake it at 63-62 -- in the closing minutes.

For UNLV, its ability to hold on at home, swallow any jitters and make the big plays (particularly on the offensive glass in the final minute) is only good news for the future. For SDSU, its ability to hang tough and nearly escape an insane road environment with a win says much the same. UNLV won this game, and its record and eventual NCAA tournament seed will reflect as much. But anyone who watched all 40 minutes of this affair couldn't help but come away as impressed with the Aztecs as the Rebels. We don't know how this league will play out in the coming weeks, but we do know this much: The Mountain West has two very good teams at the top. Impressive stuff, all the way around.

No. 4 Missouri 72, No. 6 Baylor 57: I thought my colleague Myron Medcalf summed it up perfectly in the closing moments of Missouri's second win over Baylor this season. As Myron wrote, "Missouri continues to prove that the question isn't 'How will Missouri guard team X?' but 'How will team X match up with Tigers?'"

Spot on, isn't it? All season, the question about Mizzou has been whether its severe lack of size leaves it at a disadvantage against teams such as Baylor and Kansas (or any number of the national foes on the prospective road to the Final Four). As we've long since learned, that lack of size -- and the barrage of guards that replaces it -- is much more to MU's advantage than to its opponents'.

That was true against Kansas last Saturday, but it's especially true of Baylor. On paper, the size of Quincy Acy, Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller, and even Anthony Jones and Cory Jefferson should wreak havoc on a Missouri team that starts three diminutive guards and Kim English, a shooting guard, at power forward. Instead, as in the first contest (an 89-88 Mizzou win in Waco), it worked to the Tigers' advantage. Baylor simply couldn't keep tabs on Flip Pressey, Marcus Denmon and Michael Dixon; the trio combined for 51 points on 17-of-30 from the field and a downright blistering 12-of-22 mark from long range.

Few teams can stop this Missouri attack. That's why it ranks No. 2 in the nation (and No. 1 in the Big 12) in points per possession this season. But the Bears, particularly coach Scott Drew, didn't do themselves any favors, either. Drew stuck to his team's trademark zone defense long after Missouri had hit its 11th and 12th 3s on the day. When he finally switched, English almost immediately used a curl screen to free himself for a sweet open jumper, and the Tigers kept pulling away. In other words, it's not as if man defense was the great untapped panacea. (In fact, as our Stats & Info's Ryan Feldman wrote this morning, Missouri was much better against Baylor's man defense in the first meeting.) But Baylor needed to do something to cool off -- or at least pressure -- Missouri's scorching-hot shooters. It didn't, at least not until it was too late.

We've grown accustomed to seeing these sorts of performances from the Tigers. It's a testament to how impressive this team has been all season (and the job Frank Haith has done, of course) that most of us expected Mizzou to prevail over the No. 6 team in the nation with relative ease. Missouri is really good, especially on offense. What's more, if you like sharp, controlled, uptempo basketball, there are few teams in the country more worth your time. Missouri is must-see hoops TV.

What this result says about Baylor is a matter of similar certainty: This is a very talented team as capable of impressive wins as downright baffling losses. This wasn't one of them, but it revealed many of the same issues. There is no reason a team with the 10th-ranked effective height figure (per Ken Pomeroy) should be so bad on the defensive glass. (The Bears rank No. 9 in the Big 12 in opponents' offensive rebounding rate. Only Oklahoma State has been worse.) There is no reason a team with these sorts of offensive weapons should be held to 36.2 percent from the field against a team allowing the ninth-highest effective field goal percentage in its conference. There is no reason Perry Jones III should be so passive (he went 2-of-12 on Saturday), why powerful forward Quincy Acy should attempt just three field goals, why a group that could dominate in the post with ease if it wanted to should toss up 17 3s (and make only four).

All told, the Bears are as frustrating to watch as Missouri is enjoyable. This team should be better. It isn't. Unless something unlikely changes in the weeks to come, that will be the story of a 2011-12 season that once contained almost unlimited promise.

Tennessee 75, No. 7 Florida 70: Since he arrived at Florida in the mid-'90s, Billy Donovan has achieved nearly every kind of success a coach can have. He's won two national titles. He's won a score of conference trophies. His teams are near-annual fixtures in the NCAA tournament; he recruits some of the best players in the country on a yearly basis. This is the best Florida has ever been at this strange roundball sport. Where hoops is concerned, these are the Gators' glory years.

What, then, can explain Florida's weird relationship with Tennessee? After Saturday's loss -- the second to the rebuilding Vols this season -- UF is 6-12 against Tennessee since 2004. The Volunteers have won eight of the past 12 against the Gators. When Bruce Pearl was leading Tennessee in its own hoops glory years, this hardly felt unusual. Pearl's teams were frequently good, particularly at home, and it's hard to beat good teams on the road in SEC play. But now that Pearl is gone and Cuonzo Martin is leading a 13-12 restoration project, Tennessee's strange near-dominance has continued. You figure it out. I can't.

In any case, the reasons for this particular edition's outcome are not particularly difficult to identify. Florida's oft-lackluster defense let it down again, allowing the Vols to score 75 in 66 possessions. In the meantime, UF's offense -- which is usually good enough to mask defensive lapses -- was just plain off. The Gators hoisted 30 3s but made just 11. Other than that, they scored just nine 2-point field goals.

It's an old identifier, one hoops analysts are often far too quick to use, but it fits here: Florida (which shoots the most 3s in the country, and accurately, too) lives and dies by the long-range shot. If those shots don't fall, the Gators haven't proved they can seek out balance and get easy buckets from Patric Young in the paint. They were outscored 36-14 in the paint Saturday. There's nothing wrong with firing 3s. They're worth an extra point, after all. But when you're cold, you have to find easy ways to score. It's not rocket science. Florida appears to lack that ability.

No. 23 Louisville 77, West Virginia 74: With so many teams across the country -- not to mention in the Big East -- looking adrift in the second week of February, the Louisville Cardinals present a refreshing contrast.

For so much of the season, this team's offensive struggles looked likely to derail a once-promising campaign. On Jan. 7, the Cardinals scored .92 points per trip in a home loss to Notre Dame. A few days later, the Cards were drubbed at Providence 90-59, and the only thing more disconcerting than the strange defensive drop-off -- PC scored 1.34 ppp that day -- was Louisville's continued inability to counter on the offensive end. Those struggles continued the week after, at Marquette, where UL posted another bad offensive night (.89 ppp). The Cardinals' defense would be fine. But as the midseason Big East losses revealed, a good D wasn't good enough to make up for such thorough offensive woes. If Rick Pitino's team couldn't score consistently, its hopes of a deep NCAA tournament run could be only limited.

A few weeks later, after Saturday's 13-point rally in Morgantown's brutal atmosphere, there's no mistaking the Cardinals' forward progress. Louisville scored 77 points in 61 possessions, getting balanced double-digit scoring from five players. One of those players, freshman guard Wayne Blackshear, made his debut performance after early season injuries kept him out of the lineup, and he was immediately productive, posting 13 points and four rebounds on 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3 in his 20 minutes of run. Blackshear's productive entry into the rotation is a fantastic sign for this team, but the trend lines are moving upward anyway.

Louisville has now won six in a row (including road games at Pitt and Seton Hall). Those wins have been due in part to its defense, the fourth best in Big East play to date, but also to an impressive offensive burst. In its past six games, Pitino's team is averaging 1.12 points per trip. The Cardinals aren't setting the world ablaze, but the improvement can't be discounted. Outside of Syracuse, there aren't many teams in the Big East playing better.

No. 2 Syracuse 85, Connecticut 67: Speaking of Syracuse, there are few places in the country you'd rather not visit after a road loss like the one Connecticut took at Louisville this week. The Huskies were not only outplayed but outworked. Ryan Boatright said the Huskies "basically gave up." Alex Oriakhi called it "embarrassing." Both were right. Games like that can rupture already shaky teams. They can lead to season-destroying slumps. After the Louisville loss, UConn was 3-7 in its past 10. A team this talented should never be on the bubble. The Huskies most certainly were and are.

So on to Saturday. The final score in this one looked ugly, and maybe it was always going to. With Fab Melo fully restored in the middle of SU's brutal 2-3 zone, the Orange are almost impossible to beat in the Carrier Dome. But despite the ugly final score, UConn actually acquitted itself well. Syracuse controlled the game and its pace for much of the first half and early into the second, and appeared set to pull away early and often. But the Huskies kept coming, never quite able to overtake Cuse but never truly fading away, either. After 30 minutes of this back and forth, a C.J. Fair dunk gave SU a nine-point lead. But by the 6:28 mark in the second half, the Huskies had fought back again, closing the lead to just 63-61.

That was the closest the Huskies would get. Two Scoop Jardine 3s and a handful of Dion Waiters buckets unleashed an impressive 22-6 run in the final minutes. This just in: Syracuse is really, really good. But for a Huskies team that spent most of its time at Louisville walking back on defense (and watching the Cardinals dunk with ease) -- and spent the days after questioning its own emotional makeup -- this was a much more encouraging display, even in a loss.

No. 5 North Carolina 70, No. 20 Virginia 52: How would the Tar Heels bounce back? That was the eminent question surrounding North Carolina this week. Kendall Marshall, Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes all experienced the worst of what college basketball has to offer in Wednesday night's devastating come-from-ahead home loss to rival Duke. They no doubt spent the next two days hearing gleeful (or downright angry) Duke and UNC fans flood the Triangle's local airwaves with criticism -- of their bad decision-making, their defensive lapses, their turnovers and (perhaps most cuttingly, at least from what I heard on my day-after drive from Chapel Hill to Charlotte) their Tar Heels heart.

In the end, perhaps this was the perfect way to regroup. Virginia is a good, steady team, but one whose best and most important player -- Mike Scott -- does most of his work in the interior, where UNC's defense is at its strongest. Scott still scored 18 points Saturday, but he needed an uncharacteristic 17 shots to get there, while guards Jontel Evans and Joe Harris combined to shoot 6-of-20 from the field. Most of those shots felt difficult, challenged; Zeller and frontcourt mate John Henson forced the Cavaliers' perimeter players to finish most of their drives moving away from the rim, rather than toward it. Meanwhile, Zeller (25 points, nine boards, three assists, three steals, one block) rebounded from Wednesday's disaster brilliantly.

UNC's offense was hardly vintage, and the Tar Heels' struggles from beyond the arc (they were 1-for-10 today) are still a concern. But facing one of the nation's best defenses, with the horrors of this week still (no matter what they might say publicly) undoubtedly fresh in their minds, the Heels flashed the kind of defense that should be their bulwark against occasional struggles (or, you know, full-on crunch-time meltdowns) the rest of the way.

Other random observations from this afternoon's games:

• North Carolina wasn't the only first-place ACC team in need of a rebound after a brutal loss Wednesday night. That condition applied to Florida State, too, which lost to one of the worst power-conference teams in the country (Boston College) earlier this week. ESPNU analyst (and former Wake Forest coach) Dino Gaudio was dead on in his studio analysis Saturday: When Florida State's guards are good -- when they're taking care of the ball and shooting well -- the Seminoles are an entirely different team. That backcourt play is what led them to the seven straight ACC wins, to their blowout of UNC, to their road win at Duke, and that backcourt play is what cost them questionable losses in the nonconference as well as the ACC opener to Clemson. Bernard James and Okaro White are predictable contributors in the paint. James (18 points, six rebounds, two steals, four blocks) was excellent Saturday, and FSU got past a streaking Miami team as a result. It's the FSU guards who are the wild card.
• And how would Duke move on from its insane, emotionally draining win? Would Maryland take advantage of that still-questionable defense and shock the Blue Devils at home? Not so much. Coach K's team moved on from Wednesday's win-for-the-ages with a solid if unspectacular home-court defense. Austin Rivers was off from the field, but balanced scoring from Seth Curry and Miles Plumlee, as well as a defense that held Maryland to far less than a point per trip, were more than enough to get the Blue Devils a win. Hangover avoided.
• Early candidate for Weirdest Game of the Day award goes to Texas 75, Kansas State 64. Why? Because the Wildcats scored 40 points in the first half, taking a 13-point lead and apparent command of the game into the break. And then things fell apart. K-State posted a 24-point second half as the Longhorns found their offense en route to a 48-point (!!) second-half outburst. What was the difference? Free throws. Texas shot 48 free throws Saturday. Kansas State shot 12. The Longhorns attempted seven more free throws than field goals; they posted a free throw rate of 117.1 percent. That should be impossible. Apparently, it is not.
• How good was Marquette's offense in its 95-78 win over Cincinnati? Count the ways: The Golden Eagles scored 1.39 (!!) points per trip, shot 34-of-60 from the field and cashed 20 of their 24 free throw attempts. Cincinnati wasn't bad, per se. (Although the Bearcats might want to rediscover their mid-Big East form before their NCAA tournament chances fade from distance.) On the contrary, Marquette -- which has now won nine of its past 10 -- was just too good. Considering the Golden Eagles started from a 16-4 deficit in the first few minutes (something Buzz Williams' team does almost every game, it seems), this was an offensive burst for the ages.
• Rick Majerus got another key conference win Saturday, moving to 8-3 in the A-10 after a 59-52 victory at La Salle. That defense was typical. SLU entered Saturday ranked No. 11 in adjusted defensive efficiency. In a wide-open A-10, one in which Temple appears the only sure thing, the Billikens' defensive brilliance could take them far.
• If Virginia Commonwealth keeps stacking solid CAA road wins, we might just have to consider this Rams team -- which is now 22-5 and 13-2 in conference play -- in the at-large bubble picture. The Rams' schedule was a bit weak this season, but even so, considering the stars they lost after 2011's miraculous Final Four run, they've been better than anyone could have expected in 2012.
• Larry Shyatt's storybook first season at Wyoming hit a snag Saturday afternoon. This team has never been much to look at on offense this season, but even so, it's hard to hold a team to 48 points and lose by 10, which is exactly what the Cowboys did in the Pit today against New Mexico. Then again, when you shoot 14-of-54 from the field and just 5-of-16 from 3, it's not hard to figure out how you put up just 38 points in 57 possessions. This loss might not knock Wyoming entirely out of the bubble race, but unless Shyatt's squad can find some offense on the road down the stretch, those long-shot hopes could fade rather quickly.
• Saturday's Southern Illinois-Indiana State game didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but when an NCAA record is set, we take notice. That's exactly what happened when the Sycamores finished the game 12-for-12 from the 3-point line, the most 3s without a miss in NCAA history. The previous record for most 3s without a miss was nine, by Minnesota against Penn State on Jan. 11, 2009.

Here are five observations I have as we head into a compelling week of games:

1. The Mountain West is underrated: UNLV’s road loss at Wyoming on Saturday spoke to the entire Mountain West’s potency. The Runnin' Rebels' setback capped a stretch that included Air Force pushing UNLV into overtime, San Diego State getting crushed at Colorado State, and the Aztecs barely escaping Boise State. Joe Lunardi's most recent bracket included four Mountain West squads, as many projected bids as the ACC. But where’s the national love for this exciting league that’s much deeper than it appears to be on the surface? Pay attention to this conference in February.

2. The Pac-12 race is actually exciting: Let’s ignore the fact this could still be a one-bid league and the overall conference has been bested by multiple mid-major conferences this season. The Pac-12’s title race is compelling right now. Washington beat Arizona on the road last weekend and then overcame a late double-digit deficit to beat UCLA on Thursday. The Wildcats overcame Cal’s early 22-9 lead in one of the better matchups of the week: a 78-74 road win for Arizona, which it followed up with a victory at Stanford. The Pac-12 might end up with the most captivating finish in the country simply because so many teams possess questionable NCAA tourney résumés.

3. This might be Thad Matta's year: The Buckeyes have a killer instinct right now that the bulk of the country lacks. I’m usually annoyed by the nonstop mean-mugging in college basketball, but Jared Sullinger's scowl speaks to his passion. He wore it all afternoon during Ohio State’s win at Wisconsin. And I think his team is playing with that fire right now. I don’t think this Bucks squad is as good as the Greg Oden team from 2007, but it might be more aggressive. OSU's intensity and swagger are so high. This could be the one for Matta.

4. Missouri and Kansas might play three more times this season: One more in the regular season. Maybe one more in the Big 12 tourney. And maybe even another in the late rounds of the NCAA tournament. I didn’t come away from Missouri’s come-from-behind victory over Kansas with many reasons to criticize either squad. Both teams embraced the moment and the amazing atmosphere. They both have star power. And they’re equally relentless. I don’t know where the NCAA selection committee will put the two teams once the field of 68 is announced, but it was obvious Saturday that they’re both Final Four good.

5. The SEC is about to get interesting: Florida can beat Kentucky on Tuesday. I’m not saying the Gators will, but the way they spread the floor and Brad Beal's emergence as a stud have changed my entire outlook on this group. They beat a good Vanderbilt squad Saturday and they’re really creating all sorts of matchup issues in the SEC. Can’t wait to see what happens when they play at Rupp.

Here are a few things we learned from the biggest games Saturday afternoon. Check back later for analysis of tonight's games.

No. 3 Ohio State 58, No. 20 Wisconsin 52: Ohio State is hardly a breakneck team, but its adjusted tempo this season is 68.9 possessions per 40 minutes, far above those of many of its Big Ten brethren. The Buckeyes like to get out on the break a little. Thad Matta has a ton of talent, shooting, athleticism, scoring, you name it, and the Bucks aren't shy about letting it shine in the open floor.

In other words, this is exactly how Wisconsin wanted this game to go. It wanted it to be slow -- as slow as possible, in fact -- and it was. These two teams traded 57 possessions Saturday afternoon. If you had told Bo Ryan this game would be this slow, he'd have given his team an excellent chance of knocking off what might just be the best team in the nation. This is the luxury of having Jordan Taylor commanding your team: If you want the game to be deathly slow, with supreme economy of movement and as few possessions as possible, you can't do better than the Badgers' point guard.

The only problem? Ohio State has Jared Sullinger. Wisconsin does not. "The Artist Currently Known As Sully" just so happens to be very comfortable playing half-court offense, and as good as UW was on defense -- as much as it shaded and doubled and harried and harassed -- Sullinger was simply too much. He played all 40 minutes Saturday. He scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field in the first half alone. He finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds (5 offensive), 3 steals, just 1 turnover and an 8-of-10 shooting mark at the charity stripe. He was too much. Jared Berggren did his best, and the Badgers kept their shape well defensively -- there's a reason OSU scored just 1.02 points per trip -- but they never found an answer for the big man on the block.

They also learned the lesson anyone who has played this Ohio State team (or last season's version, for that matter) already knows: The Buckeyes defend, too. Per Ken Pomeroy's metrics, the Bucks are the stingiest per-possession defense in the country. The second stingiest? Wisconsin. But while the Badgers allow .81 points per trip, OSU allows an absurd .77, the rare team that forces turnovers but doesn't give away fouls and one that also cleans up the defensive glass. UW has had its troubles scoring from time to time this season, but the Buckeyes are a whole 'nother animal.

Play fast, play slow, play at your court, play in Columbus. Play however you like. If you don't have someone who can guard Jared Sullinger -- never mind a group of players to check the insanely talented group around him -- and/or an offense that can find a way to score against this kind of defense, it doesn't really matter. Ohio State is going to beat you.

Wyoming 68, No. 13 UNLV 66: For much of the season, during a remarkably quick turnaround, San Diego State coach Steve Fisher has been the consensus favorite for national coach of the year. Deservedly so. But any mention of the words "coach of the year" should also, after today, be followed closely by the words "Larry Shyatt."

Shyatt's story is remarkable. Wyoming gave him his first head-coaching gig in 1997, but after a successful season, he left to take over at Clemson, where he stayed until 2003. Shyatt spent the past several years on Florida coach Billy Donovan's bench, until this offseason, when he returned to Laramie to start over and repay a debt he felt he owed for his quick departure 15 years ago.

And what a return it has been. In 2010-11, the Cowboys finished 10-21 overall and ranked No. 215 in Pomeroy's adjusted efficiency rankings. After a two-point stunner over UNLV -- during which they led for nearly all 40 minutes and turned it over just eight times -- the Cowboys now are 18-5 and ranked among Pomeroy's top 60 teams in the country. This is primarily thanks to their defense, which Shyatt has transformed entirely. Last season, the Cowboys were hands down the worst defensive team in the Mountain West. This season, the defense is among the MWC's best, and on Saturday, it held UNLV to 3-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc.

The question now -- after the school's first victory over a ranked team in 12 years -- is whether Shyatt's miracle story can end with an NCAA tournament berth. The jury is still very much out, and Wyoming probably will have to grab another big win or two to be bubble-relevant going forward. But NCAA tournament or no, this team has made a drastic year-over-year turnaround. It has gone from a no-name afterthought to a program on the rise. And Shyatt's prodigal return is the reason.

Notre Dame 76, No. 15 Marquette 59: It's not fair to say the Fighting Irish looked totally irredeemable in their 8-5 nonconference start, but they certainly didn't look good. Notre Dame was dominated by Missouri, handled by Georgia, no match for Gonzaga, beaten by Maryland and overwhelmed by Indiana. Any time the Fighting Irish played a good (even decent) team, they looked exactly like what all thought they were: rebuilding, in transition, mediocre, meh.

Now? After Saturday's strong home win, which was keyed by a massive second-half run, it's impossible to discount the Irish. The Syracuse upset of two Saturdays ago was more than a random upset or a product of ND's mystically inexplicable propensity to upset elite teams in South Bend. No, Mike Brey's team is much more than that. Guard Eric Atkins is among the nation's most improved players, but he might be eclipsed in that category by forward Jack "Don't Call Me Mini-Harangody" Cooley, who, after years of geeks like me writing, "Hey, that guy looks exactly like Luke Harangody," is rapidly making his own name. (And Patrick Connaughton, whose Irish-name swagger deserves serious respect, was tremendous, too: 23 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 big blocks on huge defensive stops. Dude can play.)

Most impressive in this game was Notre Dame's late push, even if "push" feels like an understatement. With eight minutes remaining in the second half, the Irish led 54-48. The final score speaks for itself. Marquette is a good team, and the Irish simply ran away. The only conclusion: Notre Dame is pretty darn good, too.

No. 11 Florida 73, Vanderbilt 65: It was the opinion of this writer that Florida and Vanderbilt felt like identical SEC twins: guard-oriented perimeter offenses led by sharpshooters (Vandy's John Jenkins, Florida's Kenny Boynton), versatile play from outside-in small forwards (Vandy's Jeffery Taylor, Florida's Bradley Beal) and one true post presence apiece (Vandy's Festus Ezeli, Florida's Patric Young). So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that this game's box score featured such near-identical numbers for both teams. Each team recorded 12 assists; each team snagged nine steals. Both teams turned the ball over at about the same rate. The teams' effective field goal percentages were similar. Vanderbilt shot 18 free throws. Florida shot 17.

You get the idea. So what was the difference? Simply put, 3-point shooting. The Gators made 11 of 24 shots from beyond the arc. VU shot just 8-of-25 from long range. There were other differences, too: Florida outrebounded Vandy on the offensive glass, grabbing 36.8 percent of its available misses to just 28.6 percent for the Commodores. But the real difference was shooting. Florida made three more of its 3s, and it shot 16-of-17 from the charity stripe.

All told, it wasn't Vanderbilt's best offensive day, but there are promising signs. For one, it didn't score the ball particularly well and still hung with a good team on the road. For another, there are signs Vandy's defense, which has played so well (surprisingly so) in the SEC campaign, is for real. It held the nation's best offense to 1.09 points per trip at home; compared to UF's usual output, that's not too shabby.

In the end, this is just what Florida does. It makes shots. It made a few more of them in this one. Not a bunch more. Just a few. But in a game this close, with such a doppelganger of an opponent, a few extra makes were all the Gators needed.

No. 24 Florida State 58, No. 18 Virginia 55: The scoreline says it all. If you don't like slow, plodding, offensively challenged basketball, this was not the ACC matchup for you. But it also was the rare game in which both teams can come away feeling pretty good. Virginia's task in Tallahassee was to take on one of the nation's best defenses and hottest teams, one that recently had found a scorching offense to go along with its typically staunch defense.

Florida State no doubt hoped to keep the good offensive vibes rolling, but more important in the end was holding serve on its home floor. After an incredible streak that included a 33-point win over UNC and a win at Duke, the last thing the Seminoles needed was a lackluster home loss to pull their record (and, maybe, their spirits) back to earth.

FSU didn't keep the offense rolling. Virginia's defense was nearly up to the task. The Cavaliers forced Leonard Hamilton's team into a turnover on 31 percent of its possessions. Unfortunately, UVa coughed it up even more frequently than did FSU. That's the thing about this Florida State team, which is now 7-1 in ACC play: When the Noles are shooting the ball well and scoring it with ease, they're just about unstoppable. But even when they're not, that defense will always be there, providing a baseline when the going gets tough. That has to be comforting, doesn't it?

No. 6 North Carolina 83, Maryland 74: How good are the Tar Heels? Sometimes it's hard to tell. They often look dominant, every bit the national title contender we assume they'll be in March. Just as often, though, they struggle, particularly on the road and frequently against teams they should rather easily handle. Maryland is one such team.

On Saturday, facing the Terrapins in front of a rowdy crowd, the Tar Heels struggled. There's no other way to put it. Maryland brought it, sure, but UNC often seemed to be on its heels, no pun intended. UM center Alex Len was excellent, and Terrell Stoglin showed why he probably should be an all-ACC inclusion by the end of the season. By the 17-minute mark in the second half, Maryland had opened a nine-point lead. Suddenly, as analyst Len Elmore said, the Heels found themselves in a dogfight.

Here's another reason Carolina is so often so hard to appraise: This team seems to have the fabled ability to "hit the switch," i.e., to suddenly focus its efforts, let talent take over and go win the game even when not playing well. And that's what happened Saturday. UNC seemingly flipped its switch, started locking down on defense, started getting easy buckets on offense, started making 3s -- you know, basically, all the things this team should do -- outscoring Maryland 46-34 in the second half en route to a victory. It wasn't pretty, and we often tend to expect more from purportedly great teams, but it's impossible to dismiss this team's talent and its ability to transform that talent at a moment's notice.

No. 2 Syracuse 95, St. John's 70: And so all was well in the land of the Orange. When sophomore center Fab Melo was lost to a lingering first-semester academic issue, Syracuse lost its first game of the season without him, and even in the two wins that followed -- at Cincinnati and in questionable fashion over West Virginia -- the Orange didn't look anything like their typically dominant selves. With so much depth and talent, it was hard to pin all this on Melo's absence ... but it was hard to compare Syracuse's offensive output with and without Melo (not to mention its block percentages, where Melo really excels) and not think the newly trim and focused big man didn't have a much bigger effect on this team's 20-0 start than many originally thought.

And then you watch Saturday's game, Melo's first since his return. You see the big man score a career-high 14 points on a tidy 5-of-6 from the field. You see the Orange roll St. John's to the tune of 1.34 points per possession on a day when they didn't shoot the 3 particularly well (just often). You see them tie a season high with 24 second-chance points and 52 in the paint.

Given all that, you can't help but think Melo is absolutely crucial to this team's national title chances. And then our fine friends at ESPN Stats & Information send along the following statistics, and you see the facts in all their glory: With Melo, Cuse is 21-0, and averages 38.9 points per game in the paint (28.7 without him), 14 second-chance points per game (6.3 without) and 1.18 points per possession (1.00 without), and has an offensive rebound percentage of 39.5 (25.5 without).

So, yeah, I suppose you could say he's pretty important. Impressive performance for Melo, impressive win for Syracuse.

Memphis 72, Xavier 68: "That Used To Be Us." It's the title of Thomas Friedman's questionably considered new book. It also feels appropriately descriptive of the Xavier Musketeers, who spent the first two months of the season earning difficult wins thanks to late rallies but were the victims of such a rally Saturday afternoon at the FedExForum.

Xavier opened a 10-point lead in the second half, but Memphis fought back. The Musketeers opened another one with seven minutes remaining, finding themselves up double digits (62-51) as the Tigers' ugly offense appeared headed toward a losing effort. And then something funky happened. Memphis used a 12-1 run to rally all the way back and tie the game at 63-all with 2:12 remaining. And then something even funkier happened. Memphis closed out the game with a score of made free throws. The Tigers shot 24-of-28 from the line, including 9-of-11 in the final two minutes. Joe Jackson alone was 12-of-12. All told, Memphis went on a 17-1 tear, and the game went from 62-51 to 68-63 before the Tigers closed it out.

It was a nice -- and much-needed -- win for Memphis, sure, but more than anything, it spoke to the seemingly downward trajectory of the Musketeers. This team hasn't been the same since the Dec. 10 brawl, of course, but at this point, the cause-and-effect is beginning to look tenuous. Now more than ever, it looks like X really wasn't all that good in the first place. Losing on the road is hardly a crime. Losing like this? It's something closer.

Some more observations from this afternoon's games:

• Is Arizona on the rise? It's hard to ignore the three-day stretch the Wildcats had, getting not one but two wins on their Bay Area road trip. First, the Wildcats held on for a win over apparent league favorite Cal on Thursday, and then they looked even more impressive in their 56-43 victory at Stanford on Saturday afternoon, holding the Cardinal to just 16-of-63 (!) from the field and 3-of-12 from 3 in their own building. Zona might or might not get on the bubble by the end of the season, but these sort of performances might just carry the Cats to the top of the league's standings before all is said and done. At the very least, Sean Miller's team is worth keeping an eye on.
• Butler's offense is not worth keeping an eye on -- and it continues to cost the Bulldogs games. It's been the case all season, really, and it was the case again today. The Dogs lost to a team that made just two of its 10 3-point field goal attempts and shot just 20-of-47, because Butler's offense was even worse: 18-of-51 from the field, 4-of-19 from 3, just one made field goal from any bench player, a tough 0-of-7 night from Ronald Nored. The Bulldogs can't score. Nothing new here. But give some measure of credit to Detroit for a tough win on the road. Hinkle Fieldhouse was sold out, and the Titans got the job done in Indy for the first time since 1999.
• Baylor loves to play close games. It's either that or the Bears can't help themselves. Whatever the reason, the good news is Baylor seems more capable than most of winning those close games, particularly on the road. It did so twice this week. The first came in a three-point win at Texas A&M on Wednesday. The second came Saturday afternoon, when Oklahoma State rallied from a nine-point deficit to take a 57-56 lead on Keiton Page's 3 with 1:42 remaining. Baylor ended up finishing the game in the final moments, which is nothing new. The Bears have played eight games decided by five points or fewer this season. With the exception of the 89-88 loss to Missouri, they've won every single one. That might not be by design, and it probably doesn't help Bears fans' blood pressure levels, but it's the kind of trait that might come in handy in March.
• Seton Hall is officially off the wagon. A loss at UConn is understandable, even forgivable, but the Pirates were absolutely smacked, 69-46, by a team that had lost six of its previous eight games, to say nothing of Jim Calhoun's sudden and indefinite medical absence. That's Seton Hall's sixth consecutive loss. Unfortunately, the Pirates' happy redemption story is rapidly shrinking under the rigors of Big East play. Shame.
• Before Saturday, South Florida's Big East record was 6-3. Considering the Bulls entered conference play with a 7-6 record and their best conference win was at Villanova, it was fair to say that surprising league start had more to do with South Florida's schedule than its skill. After today's blowout loss at Georgetown -- USF's worst conference loss since joining the Big East and its worst loss period since 2004 -- I think we can officially cement that perception.

For full coverage of the Kansas-Missouri matchup, check out Weekend Watch.

Saturday

South Florida at Georgetown (ESPNU, 11 a.m. ET): OK, let’s see if South Florida is for real in the Big East. The Bulls are 6-3 and tied with Georgetown in the loss column. USF has wins at Villanova and DePaul, but that shouldn’t compare to Georgetown this season. The Hoyas have their mojo back. Georgetown can’t be ruled out to catch Syracuse with a game against the Orange next week.

Marquette at Notre Dame (1 ET): The Golden Eagles have to be applauded for playing well despite not having Chris Otule and Davante Gardner in the post. Gardner isn’t expected to be ready for this game. The Irish have been golden at home so far, save a game against UConn. The Eagles need this one in their quest to stay with Syracuse.

Vanderbilt at Florida (1 ET): The Commodores have a rough week with games at Arkansas and Florida. They’re already down one. If Vandy is going to be taken seriously as a real contender with Kentucky and Florida, it has to pull off an upset.

Virginia at Florida State (ESPN3, 1 ET): The Cavs and Seminoles are the two “other” choices to win the ACC. If either has visions of knocking off UNC or Duke from the top spot, it's got to win this game. FSU is on more of a roll. Beat back the Cavs in what should be a grinder and the Seminoles will continue to be in the chase.

Xavier at Memphis (1 ET): This had the look of a game between two teams that were the favorites in the A-10 and C-USA at the start of the season. Since then, both have taken a few shots. Neither is a lock for the NCAAs and both could use some momentum to pique the selection committee’s interest. Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons against Will Barton and Joe Jackson will headline this game.

Ohio State at Wisconsin (ESPN, 2 ET): This has become one of the most anticipated games of the Big Ten season. The Badgers don’t have the inside presence to deal with Jared Sullinger. But Jordan Taylor can certainly match up with Aaron Craft. The Badgers will have to do something special inside to win this game.

North Carolina at Maryland (ESPN, 4 ET): The Tar Heels are simply better, more talented and have the depth to dismantle the Terps. That’s what should happen. But Maryland has showed some fight lately. The Terps will have to play their best game of the season to pull off this upset.

UNLV at Wyoming (4 ET): The Runnin’ Rebels had to struggle in overtime to get past Boise State and Air Force in their last two road games. Wyoming is a better defensive team than Boise or Air Force. This will test the Runnin’ Rebels yet again. New Mexico and San Diego State were both able to get out of Laramie with a win. Will UNLV?

Old Dominion at George Mason (ESPNU, 5 ET): I was leading the chorus that George Mason should have received a television game in BracketBusters. And then the Patriots lost to Delaware. There is a four-way tie for first in the CAA between ODU, Mason, Drexel and VCU. Separation begins with this game.

Iona at Manhattan (ESPN3, 7 ET): Momo Jones went for 43 against Canisius on Thursday night. Scott Machado had 14 assists. But Manhattan is in step with the Gaels, tied atop the MAAC at 10-2. The winner will be tied with Loyola in the loss column. This game could determine all-important seeding in the MAAC tourney.

Oregon at Colorado (9 ET): The Buffaloes smacked Oregon State on Thursday by 22 at home, where they’ve been a force in their first year in the Pac-12. Oregon, meanwhile, had to come back to beat Utah. The Ducks need a split to stay in the chase for a top-three finish. Coach Tad Boyle has done a tremendous job in Boulder after losing his two best players from last season.

Sunday

Michigan at Michigan State (1 ET): Draymond Green (left knee sprain) may be a game-time decision. The Spartans do have depth to handle his possible absence. But it’s not preferred against a Michigan team that is confident going into East Lansing after knocking off the Spartans in a last-possession game in Ann Arbor. The winner here stays in the chase in the Big Ten. The loser might have to think about the second-place race if Ohio State wins at Wisconsin.

A scan of the college basketball box scores each night guarantees all kinds of statistical oddities and standout performances. Here are some we found from Saturday:

Southern Miss 78, UCF 65
Neil Watson (23) and Darnell Dodson (22) each scored more than 20 points off of the Southern Miss bench. They are the first pair of teammates this season to eclipse the 20-point mark off the bench in the same game. By the way, USM's entire starting lineup combined to score 27 points.

Colorado State 77, San Diego State 60
Colorado State hit all 23 of its free throws, matching the most free throws by a team without a miss this season (Jackson State, Jan. 21 vs. Grambling).

Tennessee State 91, Eastern Kentucky 85 (2 OT)
Eastern Kentucky’s Mike DiNunno and Jason Jones scored 33 and 30 points, respectively, in the Colonels’ double-overtime loss. They are the third pair of teammates to score at least 30 in a game this season (all three needed overtime to do so), but the first to lose. The last team to lose despite having two 30-point scorers was DePaul in the 2009 Big East tournament against Providence.

Saint Mary’s 80, BYU 66
Saint Mary’s won easily despite having four players commit at least five turnovers. It’s the first time this season four players on the same team each turned it over five times.

Wyoming 75, Boise State 64
Wyoming missed a total of 15 field goals and free throw attempts, the fewest number of misses by any team this season. Our trillions of the night also came from this game: Arthur Bouedo and Rob Watsabaugh of Wyoming played 6 and 5 minutes, respectively, without accumulating a stat. They are the sixth pair of teammates this season to pull off that feat, but the first to do it in a win.

Southern Utah 62, South Dakota 60
Southern Utah missed all four of its 3-point attempts in Saturday’s win. It is the 14th time this season a team has won without making a 3 and the third time the Thunderbirds have done so. No other team in the country has done it more than once. It’s also the 18th time a team has won while taking five or fewer 3s, and again Southern Utah is the only team in the country to do it more than once; the Thunderbirds have done it seven times.

As good as the afternoon was, with exciting upsets and huge road wins over top-five teams, the evening may have matched it in the vital FOPM statistical category. (FOPM stands for freak outs per minute. It's a tempo-adjusted metric, naturally.) Let's lead with what may be the result of the day -- Syracuse's very first loss of the season, at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame 67, No. 1 Syracuse 58

What we learned: Nobody's perfect. OK, yeah, Murray State is still perfect, but you get the drift: Everyone loses eventually. Sooner or later, the Orange were going to have a particularly bad shooting night. Sooner or later, they were going to struggle on the road. Sooner or later, they were going to do these things against a coach and a team that had designed the perfect gameplan to take advantage of this opportunity. As it happens, that coach was Mike Brey. That team was Notre Dame.

Of course, the Fighting Irish don't have a tenth of the talent available to Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. What do the Irish have? The Burn. That's what Brey calls his team's intentionally slow, clock-killing offense, and while it isn't always the preferred strategy in South Bend, it is something the Irish keep in their back pocket when they find themselves facing a bigger, stronger, faster, more skilled, pretty-much-all-around-better opponent.

Indeed, as ESPN's Doris Burke noted late in the game, the Irish played a sort of semi-burn Saturday night. They lulled the Cuse into seven fewer possessions (61) than its average adjusted tempo (68) on the season (including a handful of late heaves when the game was out of reach), but ND was also opportunistic: When it broke SU's press, it didn't always pull out and set up the halfcourt offense. It was a clinic in opportunistic decision-making. (At one point, it ended in a contested fast-break dunk by Jack Cooley. Jack Cooley? Jack Cooley!)

Syracuse, being Syracuse, still managed to force a mess of turnovers. At several points in the second half, as Notre Dame forward Scott Martin struggled time after time to inbound the ball on his own baseline, it appeared the Irish were just a few possessions away from a late collapse. But the Orange's poor shooting (they posted a 40.0 effective field goal percentage) and ND's solid free throw shooting sealed this game in the closing moments.

Burke called it a "masterful" gameplan from Brey and, as usual, she was dead on: Notre Dame knew exactly what it needed to do to take a walk through any door Syracuse left ajar. When the time came, it executed.

Going forward, this loss may knock Syracuse out of the top spot in the rankings, but it shouldn't change the perception of this team much. First of all, the absence of leading rebounder and shot-blocker Fab Melo (due to an unresolved academic issue from the fall semester) was a blow to this team's inherent interior advantage. Second, Syracuse didn't shoot the ball well. Frankly, it didn't play well. Overreact if you like, but it's the opinion of this writer that, well, hey, these games happen.

For Syracuse, it was bound to go this way eventually. When it did, the Irish were ready.

No. 15 Mississippi State 78, Vanderbilt 77 (OT)

What we learned: The Commodores will struggle with capable frontcourts. They struggle late in close games. They struggle on the defensive end. They are, in other words, the same Vanderbilt Commodores we've come to know and love in each of the past three seasons. Their recent improvements created the notion that this team had turned some vague corner, that it was finally ready to assume the top-10, Final Four-worthy preseason expectations foisted upon them.

Instead, on Saturday, we saw the team that led us to doubt that status in the first place. Vandy yielded a 12-point second-half lead, allowed Mississippi State to score 1.14 points per possession and got vastly outrebounded on both ends of the floor. In the end, even with very good chances to win the game -- particularly the final shot in regulation, which ended up being an uncontested four-foot shot for Festus Ezeli (which he missed) -- Vanderbilt just couldn't make the key defensive plays.

In the meantime, Mississippi State deserves credit for a major road win. Forward Arnett Moultrie was brilliant (21 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, one block) and guard Dee Bost was just as good (24 points, five rebounds, four assists and a handful of key second-half shots). Even Renardo Sidney, who struggled for much of the game and suffered an injury in overtime, got in on the act, hitting a monster 3 with 1:22 remaining in the second half.

Three days ago, the Bulldogs went to rival Ole Miss and lost and looked vulnerable -- even downright overrated -- throughout. Their ability to rebound from that loss with a win on the road against a streaking Vanderbilt team, one that had won its past eight games -- including on the road at Alabama -- is to be commended. Surprising stuff, to say the least.

No. 12 UNLV 80, New Mexico 63

What we learned: UNLV is still the Mountain West favorite. Yes, yes, San Diego State certainly has a claim to that distinction, too, especially since its first two conference results -- a two-point home win over the Rebels and an incredibly impressive road win at New Mexico -- were among the most impressive back-to-back performances we've seen from any team in any league this season. New Mexico is no slouch, either. Before Wednesday's loss to SDSU, the Lobos had won 13 in a row. There are three very good teams in the MWC, folks. That much we know.

Then again, I'd say we knew that already. The main takeaway from Saturday night's best late-night matchup -- and this is a good old-fashioned eye-test thing to say, but I'm doing it anyway -- is that UNLV just looks like the best team in this league. The Rebels have few, if any, holes in their attack. They have talented players at every position. Their guards push the pace; their forwards run to the rim; their wings hit 3s with ease. Anthony Marshall, Chace Stanback, Mike Moser, Oscar Bellfield and even reserves like Carlos Lopez and Justin Hawkins -- these players are perfectly suited to Dave Rice's new emphasis on uptempo basketball, and when you watch them play, it shows.

The Mountain West race is going to be fascinating, and we'll hear more from the Lobos -- and, of course, the league-leading Aztecs -- before the season is out. Sure, I'd take UNLV as the favorite. But whatever happens, if two of these three teams are playing, it promises to be very entertaining.

A few more observations from the Saturday evening that was:

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Keith SrakocicPitt lost its ninth game Saturday, matching the highest season loss total of Jamie Dixon's tenure.
• Bad times got worse for Pittsburgh on Saturday night, as the Panthers fell to No. 21 Louisville at home, 73-62. In case you're counting, that's Pitt's eighth straight loss and seventh in a row in Big East play ... for the first time in Pitt hoops history. Ouch. Even worse? According to ESPN Stats and Information, this is the first time Pitt has lost four straight home games since 1999-2000. The loss is also Pitt's ninth this season. Jamie Dixon-coached Pittsburgh teams have never recorded more than nine losses in a regular season. There are myriad issues afflicting the Panthers right now, chief among them defense, but it's hard to see any major improvements coming any time soon. If this wasn't a lost season already, it is now.
• Neither VCU nor Old Dominion are likely to end up with a chance at an at-large bid come March, but their meeting tonight was still full of implications for the CAA title race. Before Saturday, ODU was 6-1 in conference and VCU 5-2, both right there hanging around with George Mason and Drexel in the Colonial standings. In other words, Virginia Commonwealth got a rather massive 61-48 win, handling the lackluster Monarchs rather easily at home. Shaka Smart's team is still rebuilding after last year's miracle NCAA tournament run, but they're not nearly as far down as most would have expected. Keep your eye on the Rams.
• The C-USA race is going to be interesting. Marshall appeared to have the best odds to challenge Memphis' purported superiority, with Southern Miss a notch or two below -- a dark horse at best. After Saturday -- when Southern Miss topped Marshall and tied the Thundering Herd at 4-1 in league play -- it seems clear things aren't quite that simple. There are no remaining unbeaten teams in the league, with UCF at 5-1 and Memphis, Marshall and USM all now residing in second place at 4-1.
• I don't know if we'll call the Pac-12 race "interesting." "Mystifying" feels more appropriate. Either way, consider what went down in the conference Saturday: Cal fell at Washington State (not an unforgiveable loss, given how well Wazzu has played at home, but still) just as the Bears appeared set, thanks to a blowout Stanford loss at Washington, to create some separation between themselves and the rest of the league. Meanwhile UCLA -- which keeps struggling, week after week, to sort things out -- fell on the road at Oregon, which is now 6-2 and tied atop the league standings. Elsewhere, lowly Utah not only didn't lose, but actually blew out Arizona State in Salt Lake City; and Colorado held on for a one-point home win over Arizona. Those Pac-12 power rankings are going to be a bear to write. I can't wait.
• Two results from the West that shouldn't be dismissed. Long Beach State, a team that played perhaps the most grueling nonconference schedule in the country, continues to see the dividends from that gauntlet. On the road Saturday night, LBSU went into the Thunderdome and absolutely obliterated chief rival UC Santa Barbara, 71-48, the talented squad that's beaten the 49ers in the Big West final in each of the past two seasons. And in Laramie, Wyoming beat rival Colorado State -- which had won eight straight -- 70-51 to improve to 16-3. Yes, 16-3. What a job by first-year coach Larry Shyatt. And what a performance by USC transfer Leonard Washington, who set career highs in points (32) and rebounds (14).
• As for the momentum Nebraska created with that dramatic victory over Indiana on Wednesday? Ohio State did not seem to care. Buckeyes 79, Huskers 45. So much for that.

Before we begin a new week of games, here are five thoughts from the past seven days:

1. Kentucky should be able to grow from its loss to Indiana on Saturday. It might not seem that way to upset UK fans, but the Wildcats needed to see how to handle a tough environment and late-game situations. They couldn’t convert at the free-throw line to ice the game and then didn’t do what coach John Calipari and his staff instructed in the final possession -- foul a Hoosier, any Hoosier. (Kentucky still had a foul to give and using it would have forced Indiana to take a shot against a set defense.) If the Cats watch those final two possessions and learn what to do in the future, this team will be fine. There's still title-winning talent on Big Blue.

2. Seton Hall’s Herb Pope continues to have an amazing recovery from collapsing last year in a life-or-death scare. As of right now, he's the comeback player of the year with his play. He led the Pirates with 26 points and 14 boards in a 14-point win over Wake Forest this weekend and is averaging 21.9 points and 11.3 rebounds for the surprising 8-1 Pirates.

3. Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus picked up his 500th win on Saturday. Majerus has gone through quite a bit in his career with multiple health concerns. He was a doting son to his ailing mother, who passed away earlier this year. So Majerus deserves all the credit that comes his way after notching No. 500. And it is even sweeter that he’s coaching a potential NCAA team with the Billikens now 9-1.

4. Northern Iowa is back to being relevant just two years after that stunning defeat of Kansas in the NCAA tournament. The Panthers have lost just once and that was a late-night game at Saint Mary's after an arduous travel schedule to begin the season. UNI has won eight in a row since, including an easy sweep of Iowa and Iowa State and a blowout of previously 8-1 Milwaukee on Saturday. Ben Jacobson's group looks like a strong contender with Creighton, Wichita State and Indiana State for the Missouri Valley Conference title.

5. First-year coach Larry Shyatt is making Wyoming play defense and as a result has the Cowboys surging in the Mountain West in his second stint as head coach in Laramie. Wyoming has played a relatively soft slate so far, but the Pokes are 9-1 with a solid 11-point road win over rival Colorado during the weekend. There’s no reason to think Wyoming can’t put itself into postseason contention with this strong start.

1. Florida coach Billy Donovan said junior forward Erik Murphy will play Wednesday against Arizona after missing the Syracuse game with a bone bruise that was originally thought to be a meniscus tear. The Gators desperately need another forward to produce, especially one that can stretch the floor with his shooting. Forward Patric Young is simply not an offensive-minded player. Florida desperately missed another offensive threat against Syracuse last Friday night. Murphy is shooting 57.1 percent on 3s and averaging 10 points a game. He hasn’t played in the previous three games. While Florida gets healthy, Arizona loses a player to a suspension as coach Sean Miller will enter the game without Josiah Turner.

2. Former Donovan assistant Larry Shyatt is back for his second stint at Wyoming as head coach. And he’s once again made sure the Cowboys are defensive pests. Wyoming, which is off to a surprising 8-1 start even though the schedule is soft, is quick to promote some impressive stats: third in the nation in scoring defense (49.4 points per game), fourth in 3-point percentage defense (22.2 percent) and 12th in field-goal percentage defense (35.4 percent). Wyoming is 16th in scoring margin (18.9 ppg) and senior point guard JayDee Luster is No. 1 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (7.4).

3. The Hall of Fame made the smart move of going from Springfield, Mass., to Connecticut's Mohegan Sun for its non-conference tournament. The casino can be more of a destination for fans and the arena is a significant upgrade from when the tip-off event was held at the MassMutual Center. The event had a huge lift with Kentucky as its marquee school last month. But the Hall of Fame is now getting a field worth circling going forward. The four main teams in 2012 will be Ohio State, Washington, Seton Hall and Rhode Island. The 2013 field is even better, with North Carolina, Louisville, Richmond and Fairfield as the four marquee schools.

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



Blue Ribbon's in-depth previews of all eight MWC teams:

Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
New Mexico
San Diego State
TCU
UNLV
Wyoming

More Mountain West content:

-- Diamond Leung with Five Things I Can't Wait To See in the MWC.
-- Jay Bilas examines five burning questions in the league.
-- New Faces, New Places: Leung on UNLV coach Dave Rice and Andy Katz on Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt.
-- Leung takes a whirl around the Mountain West in recapping the offseason.
-- Eamonn Brennan took an in-depth look at conference co-favorite UNLV in the Summer Buzz series.
-- Katz on the future of Air Force athletics. Could it include the West Coast Conference?
-- Joel Francisco gives us the recruiting picture in the Mountain West.
-- Let's take a team-by-team look at the league's nonconference schedules.
-- Check out the latest from Twitter superstar Tim Miles of Colorado State.
-- For more coverage of the MWC in the Nation blog, click here.

Here are five things I can't wait to see in the Mountain West this season:

1. What will UNLV’s new-look offense look like?

Dave Rice arrived back at his alma mater promising to run an offense true to the Runnin’ Rebels name, put the players through conditioning drills that readied them for the uptempo style, and took part in a splashy marketing campaign called “Let’s Run.”

It’s time to see what the shift in offensive thinking produces on the court for a team full of experienced players who have the smarts and talent to adjust. Top scorers Chace Stanback, Oscar Bellfield and Anthony Marshall are athletic guards who will play alongside 3-point specialist Kendall Wallace. There doesn’t appear to be a Jimmer Fredette on this team for Rice to turn to like he did while running the offense at BYU. Rather, the Rebels are going to have to spread the ball around and get athletic big men Quintrell Thomas and UCLA transfer Mike Moser involved.

This group might not initially remind anyone of Jerry Tarkanian’s best teams that Rice himself contributed to off the bench as a player. But after some time buying into a flashy new offense, it should be interesting to see how far it takes this team.

2. Who emerges in New Mexico’s backcourt?

The media picked New Mexico to win the Mountain West, and forward Drew Gordon is the conference’s preseason player of the year. But for the Lobos to achieve their goals, someone will have to emerge in their backcourt to fill the leadership void left behind by departing point guard Dairese Gary.

The most tantalizing possibility to step in for Gary is Hugh Greenwood, the Australian who by virtue of his strong performance on the international stage this summer was chosen as preseason freshman of the year. The Lobos also have Arizona State transfer Demetrius Walker eligible, and if he can tap into some of the potential he showed as a top-100 recruit and freshman year as a Sun Devil, New Mexico will have gotten a good one.

Kendall Williams is primed for a standout sophomore season and Phillip McDonald is a senior who has been solid for years. Add in a top-flight point guard to the mix and Steve Alford’s team could start making noise on a national scale like a couple of programs from the Mountain West did last season.

3. Can San Diego State recapture the magic?

This Aztecs team is virtually unrecognizable from the group that went to the Sweet 16 last season and then saw the departures of Kawhi Leonard and the senior class. But talent on the roster remains, and the question is whether it can capture the hearts of the city even without the high expectations.

Coach Steve Fisher announced Chase Tapley and James Rahon as starters, and the Aztecs expect major contributions from Jamaal Franklin and Washington State transfer Xavier Thames, who is the conference’s preseason newcomer of the year. The frontcourt includes newcomers in LSU transfer Garrett Green and junior college transfer Deshawn Stephens. Leaders will have to emerge from that group for the team to stay afloat. They certainly aren’t household names yet, but then again, few expected Leonard’s meteoric rise as an NBA prospect when he first arrived on campus.

A transition year for the Aztecs doesn’t have to feel like a step backward if this team continues to not only improve, but also pack Viejas Arena. Fisher, who signed an offseason contract extension, has said that perhaps his team needs the fan support more than ever.

4. Which programs can maintain momentum?

Colorado State, Air Force and Boise State are coming off postseason tournament appearances, and now it’s a matter of if they can sustain success. It’s a transition year in the Mountain West before Fresno State and Nevada arrive and TCU departs, so teams will be fighting it out to establish themselves in the top tier of the conference.

Tim Miles appears to have Colorado State best positioned to once again challenge to be in the upper half and put a scare into the frontrunners. The Rams have an opportunity for an early-season confidence booster if they can advance to the NIT Season Tip-Off semfinals at Madison Square Garden. Miles has improved the team’s win total in each of his four seasons, with the Rams now knocking on the door for an NCAA tournament bid.

Air Force has experienced an NCAA tournament as recently as 2006 and also the depths of the Mountain West cellar before being respectable last season. Boise State loses a lot in Leon Rice’s second season, but the Broncos are recruiting well and could continue to improve. We’ll have to see if either team can be a threat.

5. What to expect from Wyoming?

Larry Shyatt returns to Wyoming with few expectations in his first season back, but there’s actually a good amount of talent on his initial roster. USC transfer Leonard Washington becomes eligible and has the ability to be a force in the middle. Senior Afam Muojeke has proven that when healthy, he can be one of the top scorers in the conference, but knee injuries have hampered him through the years. The Cowboys have six seniors on their roster in all, including top returning scorer Francisco Cruz and point guard JayDee Luster.

Can Wyoming be a sleeper team in this league? It’s not easy to tell because the Cowboys disappointed so many times under previous coach Heath Schroyer. A new coaching staff providing a different voice could be just what this team needs.

For the rest of the week, ESPN.com will be breaking down the nonconference schedules of each and every team in a dozen different leagues. On Tuesday, we began with the ACC, SEC and C-USA. On Wednesday, we continued with the Big East, Atlantic 10 and Colonial.

We are devoting Thursday to the West, with the Pac-12, WCC and now the new-look Mountain West ...

AIR FORCE

Toughest: Colorado (Nov. 23), at Gonzaga (Dec. 22)
Next-toughest: Cable Car Classic (Dec. 29-30)
The rest: All-Military Classic (Nov. 11-12), Western State (Nov. 18), at Drake (Dec. 3), Wright State (Dec. 7), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 10), Maryland-Eastern Shore (Dec. 17), Johnson & Wales (Jan. 3), Chicago State (Jan. 6), Texas-Pan American (Jan. 9)
Toughness scale (1-10): 4 -- Air Force has a chance to rack up early wins with this schedule, but can it do well against better competition? The Falcons get Colorado at home and go to Gonzaga. At the Cable Car Classic, they play Wagner and then either Santa Clara or Eastern Michigan. They also host the All-Military Classic and play Army, followed by either The Citadel or VMI.

BOISE STATE

Toughest: at Long Beach State (Nov. 22), at LSU (Dec. 10), at Iowa (Dec. 22)
Next-toughest: Utah (Nov. 16), Portland (Dec. 7), at Idaho (Dec. 31)
The rest: Colorado Christian (Nov. 11), Cal State Northridge (Nov. 19), Northern Illinois (Nov. 26), Drake (Nov. 30), Indiana State (Dec. 3), Idaho State (Dec. 5), at Denver (Dec. 17), Fresno State (Dec. 19), at Fresno State (Jan. 2)
Toughness scale (1-10): 5 -- In the Broncos’ first season in the Mountain West, they play some former WAC foes, some rebuilding power-conference teams, and have a road game against Big West favorite Long Beach State. There are no overly exciting opponents, but then again, all of them are beatable. There are also few cupcakes on the schedule, which is a welcome sight. Leon Rice’s team is set up to do well with this slate.

COLORADO STATE

Toughest: NIT Season Tip-Off (Nov. 14-16), at Duke (Dec. 7)
Next-toughest: Southern Miss (Nov. 19), Colorado (Nov. 30), at Northern Iowa (Dec. 3), Sun Bowl Invitational (Dec. 28-29)
The rest: Montana (Nov. 11), Texas Southern (Dec. 19), at Northern Colorado (Dec. 22), Nebraska-Omaha (Jan. 7), Denver (Jan. 11)
Toughness scale (1-10): 6 -- The Rams will have an early chance to shine if they can knock off SMU and then take out either Fresno State or host Stanford to advance to New York in the NIT Season Tip-Off. That would mean a game against probably Oklahoma State and then either Syracuse, Virginia Tech or George Mason. They’ll also get to play at UTEP in the Sun Bowl Invitational before playing either Jacksonville State or Arkansas-Pine Bluff. And can Tim Miles’ team go to Duke and shock the world? It's not likely, but the national TV exposure certainly won't hurt.

NEW MEXICO

Toughest: 76 Classic (Nov. 24-27), at USC (Dec. 10), at Oklahoma State (Dec. 17)
Next-toughest: at Arizona State (Nov. 18), Missouri State (Dec. 3), at New Mexico State (Dec. 28), Saint Louis (Dec. 31)
The rest: New Orleans (Nov. 11), New Mexico State (Nov. 16), Idaho State (Nov. 30), Montana State (Dec. 20), UMKC (Dec. 22), Houston Baptist (Jan. 3), North Dakota (Jan. 7)
Toughness scale (1-10): 6 -- The Lobos have a chance to make it a memorable time at the 76 Classic, which is set up for them to meet Villanova in the final if they can beat Santa Clara and then either Oklahoma or Washington State. It’s difficult to schedule teams to come into The Pit, so often home games include lesser competition. But Steve Alford gets bonus points for going on the road against USC and Oklahoma State.

SAN DIEGO STATE

Toughest: at Baylor (Nov. 15), Creighton (Nov. 30), at Arizona (Nov. 23), Cal (Dec. 4),
Next-toughest: USC (Nov. 17), Long Beach State (Nov. 19), at UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 26)
The rest: Bryant (Nov. 11), Southern Utah (Nov. 12), UC Davis (Nov. 13), at San Diego (Dec. 7), UC Riverside (Dec. 19), Elon (Dec. 22), Redlands (Dec. 30), San Diego Christian (Jan. 5), Chicago State (Jan. 10)
Toughness scale (1-10): 7 -- The rebuilding Aztecs have some tough tests ahead of them, including road games against Baylor (as part of the Tip-Off Marathon) and defending Pac-10 champion Arizona. Cal, Creighton and Long Beach State are looking like NCAA tournament-quality teams in the preseason. The Aztecs did struggle mightily to fill out their home schedule with top-notch competition after November, so it should be interesting to see how prepared they are for Mountain West play.

TCU

Toughest: Paradise Jam (Nov. 18-21), at USC (Nov. 19)
Next-toughest: at Evansville (Dec. 3), Texas Tech (Dec. 6), Nebraska (Dec. 10), Tulsa (Dec. 31)
The rest: Florida Gulf Coast (Nov. 11), Austin College (Nov. 14), at Houston (Nov. 26), Lamar (Nov. 30), Grambling (Dec. 22), Rice (Jan. 4), Texas-Pan American (Jan. 11), at SMU (Feb. 8)
Toughness scale (1-10): 3 -- The most difficult game here might come in the opening round of the Paradise Jam against Virginia before moving on to play either Drexel or Norfolk State. That’s what the Horned Frogs have set up in the year before they’re expected to depart for the Big 12. One would hope the strength of schedule will drastically improve going forward.

UNLV

Toughest: Las Vegas Invitational (Nov. 25-26), at Wichita State (Dec. 4), at Wisconsin (Dec. 10), at Illinois (Dec. 17), Cal (Dec. 23)
Next-toughest: Nevada (Nov. 14), at UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 30)
The rest: Grand Canyon (Nov. 11), Canisius (Nov. 17), Morgan State (Nov. 20), Cal Poly (Nov. 22), Cal State San Marcos (Dec. 7), UTEP (Dec. 14), Louisiana-Monroe (Dec. 19), Central Arkansas (Dec. 28), at Hawaii (Dec. 31), at Cal State Bakersfield (Jan. 5)
Toughness scale (1-10): 9 -- If it gets past USC, UNLV could very well play No. 1 North Carolina at the Las Vegas Invitational (assuming the Tar Heels beat South Carolina). What an atmosphere that would be. That’d be the highlight of a schedule that also includes difficult road games against Wisconsin, Wichita State, Illinois and UCSB. It’s a slate that certainly boosts the Rebels’ at-large chances.

WYOMING

Toughest: at Colorado (Dec. 9), at Denver (Dec. 19)
Next-toughest: Northern Colorado (Nov. 15)
The rest: at Green Bay (Nov. 19), South Dakota (Nov. 22), Portland State (Nov. 25), Maryland-Eastern Shore (Nov. 26), Louisiana Tech (Nov. 27), Utah Valley (Nov. 30), Bradley (Dec. 3), UC Irvine (Dec. 13), Sioux Falls (Dec. 16), at Idaho State (Dec. 22), at Utah Valley (Jan. 3), Idaho State (Jan. 9)
Toughness scale (1-10): 2 -- The one power-conference team the Cowboys play (Colorado) is in for a rebuilding year. Among the other opponents are eight that had losing records last season. Before Mountain West play begins, there won’t be much reason to watch outside of the intrigue that is Larry Shyatt’s return to Laramie.