ESPN Men's Basketball

College basketball could use a Heisman-like award, one main honor instead of the five mainstream national awards.

The problem is that finding a consensus for the Wooden, Naismith, AP, Rupp and Oscar Robertson honors is no easy task.

The awards voters do tend to coalesce behind one candidate. And maybe that will be the case again.

But it seems that this season's race will be as wide open as ever. If you need more evidence, take a look at the 25 finalists for the Wooden Award, released on ESPNU and ESPN.com on Tuesday.

It appears that the only two players who are consensus candidates are Kansas' Thomas Robinson and Creighton's Doug McDermott. It's not a reach to say these two players are the favorites in mid-January, a stunning development considering how much preseason hype Ohio State's Jared Sullinger and North Carolina's Harrison Barnes received. The amazing part thus far is that I don't believe Sullinger nor Barnes would be a first-team All-American if the voting were conducted today.

Before we get to the list of players compiled by the Wooden folks, it's important to note that these are simply the 25 players who they felt should be honored on their midseason list. Players who do not show up are still very much eligible to win the Wooden Award at the end of the season and will be given equal consideration.

So players who have legitimate claims to being on this list -- Maryland's Terrell Stoglin and Seton Hall teammates Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore come to mind -- still have a shot.

So without further ado, here are the 25 Wooden finalists (in alphabetical order):

Harrison Barnes, 6-foot-8, So., F, North Carolina
Stat line: 16.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg

Chances: Fading. Still has a shot to be a second-team All-American. Barnes hasn't been the dominating player on the Tar Heels. To be fair, he has some of the best talent in the country (John Henson, Tyler Zeller and Kendall Marshall) surrounding him. UNC's 33-point loss to Florida State didn't help his case, either.

Will Barton, 6-6, So., F, Memphis
Stat line: 18.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg

Chances: No shot. He could be the Conference USA Player of the Year, though. Barton has greatly improved and has been the most consistent player during the Tigers' inconsistent season.

William Buford, 6-6, Sr., G, Ohio State
Stat line: 15.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg

Chances: No shot. Buford won't win Big Ten POY, either. He has been OSU's best perimeter threat, but he won't be a first-team All-American. Buford might not even be first-team All-Big Ten. He is an integral part of the Buckeyes' title hopes, but is not a POY contender.

Anthony Davis, 6-10, Fr., C, Kentucky
Stat line: 13.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 4.6 bpg

Chances: High. Davis has been the most dominant post player in the country. He blocked a last-second shot by North Carolina's John Henson in December, preventing the Tar Heels from winning a game at Rupp. He alters and changes more shots than any other player. If the Wildcats win the national title, Davis will be one of the reasons why. He would be ahead of Ohio State's Jared Sullinger on the All-America ballot if you had to choose one of them.

Marcus Denmon, 6-3, Sr., G, Missouri
Stat line: 17.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg

Chances: Not great. Denmon is the leading scorer for Mizzou. But it's hard to separate him from Kim English, Ricardo Ratliffe, Michael Dixon and Flip Pressey in his importance to the Tigers. They all have played an equal role in Missouri's impressive start. It will be interesting to see which of these players earns first-team All-Big 12.

Draymond Green, 6-7, Sr., F, Michigan State
Stat line: 15.8 ppg, 10.1 rpg

Chances: In the mix. If he continues his current pace of scoring and rebounding, Green could end up nudging out Sullinger for Big Ten Player of the Year. The Spartans did lose at Northwestern on Saturday, but Green has been a tremendous leader. He will stay in the chase for a first-team All-American spot if his team stays in the race for the Big Ten title.

John Henson, 6-11, Jr., C, North Carolina
Stat line: 14.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg

Chances: No shot. Henson didn't convert the biggest shot of his season against Kentucky. Davis blocked it. And if Barnes isn't the national player of the year, Henson isn't either. The 33-point loss to Florida State will haunt all Tar Heels candidates.

John Jenkins, 6-4, Jr., G, Vanderbilt
Stat line: 19.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Chances: No shot. Jenkins is a superb shooter and scorer and is leading the revitalized Commodores. But his role isn't more important than Jeffery Taylor, Brad Tinsley or Festus Ezeli -- it is equally important. The 'Dores mid-nonconference slide hurts Jenkins' campaign. The success of the Kentucky freshmen also makes it almost impossible for Jenkins to get SEC Player of the Year.

Orlando Johnson, 6-5, Sr., G, UCSB
Stat line: 20.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg

Chances: No shot. Johnson is having a stellar season for the Gauchos, and he may be one of the higher draft picks on this list. But the Gauchos are 8-6 and are trailing Long Beach State in the Big West. Johnson should be an All-American, but he won't make the first team.

Darius Johnson-Odom, 6-2, Sr., G, Marquette
Stat line: 18.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg

Chances: No shot. DJO has had a superb season for the Golden Eagles. He has a legit shot at Big East Player of the Year. But that won't be enough to get a first-team All-American spot or the national POY. Marquette has been decent, but not great enough for DJO to stand out on that pedestal.

Kevin Jones, 6-8, Sr., F, West Virginia
Stat line: 20.6 ppg, 11.1 rpg

Chances: Decent. Jones has put it all together as a senior and has put up just a monster season for the Mountaineers. Just seems like it's double-double after double-double for Jones, who will need to keep the Mountaineers in the top 3 of the Big East in order to stay in Wooden contention.

Perry Jones III, 6-11, So., C, Baylor
Stat line: 14.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg

Chances: No shot at player of the year, but he is in the hunt for a first-team All-American slot. The problem for Jones' candidacy is that Quincy Acy has been a comparable inside scorer and guard Pierre Jackson has been an integral member of this team. Jones didn't help his case when he and the Bears were dominated by Kansas' Thomas Robinson in a loss on Monday night. But he can't win national POY if he isn't the Big 12 Player of the Year. And Robinson is the favorite for that honor.

Kris Joseph, 6-7, Sr., F, Syracuse
Stat line: 13.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg

Chances: No shot. Joseph is leading the Orange, but this team is so deep, so talented and so balanced that you would have a hard time picking just him. Dion Waiters may be Syracuse's MVP. A number of other players have taken turns being the star for the Orange, too.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, 6-7, Fr., F, Kentucky
Stat line: 13.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 49.4 FG percentage

Chances: Solid. Kidd-Gilchrist could be the SEC Player of the Year. And if he gets that honor, he'll be in contention for the national POY. Kidd-Gilchrist took a few games to get going, but once he did he was an offensive force. He has delivered on his talent and effort.

Jeremy Lamb, 6-5, So., G, Connecticut
Stat line: 17.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Chances: No shot. Lamb is leading the Huskies in scoring. But UConn is still finding its way in the Big East. The Huskies haven't featured Lamb as much, either. Andre Drummond may end up being the team's featured scorer by season's end. Lamb isn't the Big East Player of the Year right now, so he isn't winning the national honor.

Damian Lillard, 6-3, Jr., G, Weber State
Stat line: 25.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.5 apg

Chances: He won't win national POY, but he should be in contention for second-team All-American honors. Lillard is having a stellar season for the Wildcats, who are in first place in the Big Sky. He leads the nation in scoring and his stat line is as good as any in the country. The problem is that Weber has been in obscurity so far this season. Lillard will likely not be seen by the masses until March.

Doug McDermott, 6-7, So., F, Creighton
Stat line: 24.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 62.1 FG

Chances: High. McDermott has been one of the most complete players in the country and is a first-team All-American, at the very least. He could be this season's Jimmer Fredette, coming from outside a power six conference to win the national player of the year honor. McDermott has led the Bluejays to the top of the Missouri Valley and into the Top 25. He is the focus of every opposing defense, too.

Scott Machado, 6-1, Sr., G, Iona
Stat line: 13.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 10.3 apg

Chances: Not happening for POY, but he's in the hunt as a first-team All-American. Machado has been the most dominant point guard this season and easily leads the country in assists. Iona has played a decent schedule and is the team to beat in the MAAC. Few teams will want to face the Gaels in March, and Machado is one of the key reasons why.

Kendall Marshall, 6-4, So., G, North Carolina
Stat line: 5.8 ppg, 9.6 apg

Chances: No shot. Marshall is a key for the Tar Heels. He hasn't been the best point guard in the country, but has been a solid contributor this season and does rank second behind Machado in assists. But that isn't enough to win the award or be a first-team candidate.

Mike Moser, 6-8, So., F, UNLV
Stat line: 13.9 ppg, 11.2 rpg

Chances: No shot. But Moser has to be in contention for a first- or second-team All-American spot. His rebounding has been epic (especially against North Carolina). Moser and fellow UCLA transfer Chace Stanback have been the major reasons the Runnin' Rebels are ranked and in contention for the MWC title.

Arnett Moultrie, 6-11, Jr., C, Mississippi State
Stat line: 16.5 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 0.9 bpg

Chances: Not good for POY, but he's a serious candidate for first-team All-American. Outside of Moser, Moultrie has had the most impact of any transfer. He has increased MSU's chances of being a serious threat to Kentucky in the SEC. Moultrie is a double-double machine for coach Rick Stansbury and has allowed the Bulldogs to avoid relying only on Renardo Sidney.

Thomas Robinson, 6-9, Jr., F, Kansas
Stat line: 17.8 ppg, 12.3 rpg

Chances: High. Robinson is the POY favorite at this juncture. He should be a consensus first-team All-American. He has had to take on immense responsibility with the departure of the Morris twins and has responded without a hitch. He carries the weight of the incredible burden of losing his mother during last season. And yet he is as focused as ever in 2011-12. Robinson dominated in the rout over Baylor on Monday night with 27 points and 14 rebounds.

Mike Scott, 6-8, Sr., F, Virginia
Stat line: 16.9 ppg, 8.9 rpg

Chances: He has no shot for national POY, but Scott is one of the favorites for ACC Player of the Year. He has been the most consistent big man in the league. Take Scott off the Cavs, and they don't come close to the top of the league standings. But Virginia did lose at Duke and also fell to TCU. Scott will have to keep the Cavs in the ACC's top three to have a chance at the league's POY.

Jared Sullinger, 6-9, So., F, Ohio State
Stat line: 17.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg

Chances: Still strong. Sullinger has been battling injuries (back, foot) and missed the road game at Kansas in December. That's part of the reason he is not the favorite right now. Sullinger still has plenty of time to be a first-team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year. But it would help if he had some dominating performances down the stretch.

Cody Zeller, 6-11, Fr., C, Indiana
Stat line: 14.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.4 bpg

Chances: No shot. But Zeller is in the chase for Big Ten Player of the Year. At the very least, he'll be the Big Ten Rookie of the Year. It's amazing that he's on this list and his older brother Tyler (a senior at North Carolina) is not. Cody has helped transform Indiana into a national player, but the Hoosiers' recent two-game skid does take his chances for Big Ten POY down a peg.

My midseason All-America team choices:
First team: Robinson, McDermott, Davis, Moultrie, Machado
Second team: Kidd-Gilchrist, Sullinger, Green, K. Jones, C. Zeller

The elite powers have resurfaced at the top of the Top 25 and across the high-major conferences.

A few schools, like Xavier, Gonzaga and Memphis, as well as newcomers Baylor, Marquette and Vanderbilt are expected to challenge with deep NCAA tournament runs and possible Final Four berths.

But what about the programs that missed the NCAA tournament a season ago? The ones that appear destined to rise this season?

A run to New Orleans might not be prudent to predict. But then again, no one had VCU headed to Houston last April. But even the Rams didn't have a consistent regular season. VCU squeaked into the field and then enjoyed a magnificent postseason run. Connecticut, another team that had been nearly as erratic, albeit against superior competition, won the national title.

Below are 10 programs headed for breakout seasons. If they fall flat, they may have no one to blame but themselves. The talent is in place. The landscape is open. And the opportunity exists for any team in this group to make the bracket its own for a weekend or two in March.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys are picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 -- and with good reason. Baylor, Texas A&M, Kansas and Missouri should all be deemed favorites. Texas arguably could finish higher than the Cowboys. But Oklahoma State has one of the top freshmen in the country who few discuss outside of the region in LeBryan Nash. He could be a star by midseason. Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford has assembled a cast that is more apt to run this season and cause havoc the way he's envisioned. The Cowboys have a loaded schedule after picking up a challenging game versus Pitt at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 10. Oklahoma State may still finish as low as fifth or sixth in the Big 12. But if they get into the NCAA field, consider the Cowboys a potential breakthrough team with an ability to cause problems in March.

Marshall: Memphis is the clear favorite in Conference USA. But the Thundering Herd have two guards -- DeAndre Kane and Damier Pitts -- who can match up with any of the players on the Tigers. Marshall has plenty to prove to be worthy of a team that should be taken seriously. There are a number of nonconference games -- Belmont, Iona, West Virginia and Cincinnati -- that will show if Marshall is worthy of significant hype. And of course the Herd must make Huntington a tough place to play and be consistent to nudge at Memphis throughout the winter. If Marshall does that, you'll take the Herd seriously in March.

Harvard: The Crimson are the pick to win the Ivy. They technically won a share of the regular-season title with Princeton last season. But Harvard lost the playoff game against the Tigers on a buzzer-beater and then got blasted at Oklahoma State in the NIT. Harvard is finally ready to be the Ivy leader from the season's start to its finish. Coach Tommy Amaker has the core of his team returning, and Harvard can compete with most teams in the country. Keith Wright is a legit All-America candidate. Kyle Casey, Brandyn Curry, Christian Webster and Oliver McNally are all experienced. The Crimson can make a name for themselves with a win at Connecticut on Dec. 8, easily the most recognizable game on the schedule. But if not, don't fade on Harvard during the winter. This team will be relevant in March and a trendy first-weekend upset pick.

Detroit: Slaying Butler in the Horizon League has been like the search for the Holy Grail for conference opponents. Milwaukee thought it had the Bulldogs beaten when it hosted the conference tournament title game, only to lose. Detroit has the personnel to dethrone Butler, even with Eli Holman's status in doubt. The majority of coaches in the league tab the Titans as the team to beat and the most talented with Ray McCallum Jr., Chase Simon, Nick Minnerath and Doug Anderson. Members of the Valparaiso staff said last week that the Titans look like a formidable Big Ten team when they step on the court. Detroit has the opportunity to make the NCAAs with a solid schedule. Get there, and the Titans will be a hard out.

Creighton: Greg McDermott was no fool when he left Iowa State on his own terms and seized the Bluejays' job once Dana Altman went to Oregon last year. McDermott had been in the Missouri Valley at Northern Iowa and seen the success and potential of arguably the top job in the conference. The Bluejays have a number of hidden gems who are flying under the national radar in Doug McDermott, Greg Echenique and Antoine Young. The problem for Creighton is that the schedule could have been stronger. It may need to have a significant run during the Valley tournament, which won't be easy at all due to the strength of Wichita State and Indiana State, to ensure a bid. But once they're in, the Bluejays have the personnel in the right positions to be a serious pest.

New Mexico: Coach Steve Alford is going through a bit of a renaissance in Albuquerque. The Lobos had a big-time run two seasons ago but then took a dip last season. The ability to bounce back quickly will be on display in 2011-12. Alford has found the right mix of four-year transfers (Drew Gordon and Demetrius Walker), hidden gems out of high school (Kendall Williams and A.J. Hardeman) and an international sharp shooter (Australia's Hugh Greenwood) to put together a conference champ. The Lobos will have to manage the nonconference well and get past UNLV, but this team has the ability to be a second-weekend squad in the tournament.

Saint Louis: Rick Majerus had a horrendous personal year with the death of his mother and multiple injuries and illnesses. He's also had to deal with the suspensions of his two best players. But he seems energized this fall and has a team that is committed to making serious strides in the A-10. Kwamain Mitchell is back after a suspension. He joins Mike McCall and Kyle Cassity as the core of this team. Majerus put together a challenging slate of nonconference games, giving the Billikens ample tests to see if they're worthy of the praise. Xavier and Temple are the standards in the A-10. St. Bonaventure is a legitimate upstart with perhaps the best all-around player in the league in Andrew Nicholson. But Saint Louis should a formidable team, poised to get Majerus back to the NCAA tournament.

Virginia: The plan at Washington State was to get players out of high schools and take chances, in hopes they develop and reach their potential. The Cougars did, and Tony Bennett got them to the NCAA tournament. Wazzu's program isn't close to Virginia's. The Cavs have more resources, finances and access to players. Still, Bennett hasn't deviated from his plan. And now that Mike Scott is healthy inside, Bennett has a team that gets him, his style and his commitment to defense. The Cavs should be able to score and close games, rather than sit on the doorstep, unable to get significant wins. The timing is perfect for Virginia, too. The ACC is in a rebuilding mode outside of North Carolina, Duke and to some extent Florida State. The rest of the league is in flux, giving Virginia ample chances for wins and to establish itself as a top-four team en route to the NCAAs.

Oregon: The Ducks have the Nike resources, the state-of-the-art everything and have been consistently recruiting talented players to the Northwest from urban centers in the Midwest -- regardless of the coach. Dana Altman also fully understood the need to infuse a few transfers, one is a risk in Wake Forest's Tony Woods, and another is a lock for success in Louisiana Tech graduate Olu Ashaolu. The infusion of newcomer Jabari Brown, who was a hit on a summer trip to Italy, is a game-changer for the Ducks. Altman said Brown still needs to be consistent, but who doesn't at this stage in the season? Oregon has a challenging schedule, which includes opening at Vanderbilt, so be patient with the Ducks. In a Pac-12 where there is no clear favorite (not Cal, UCLA, Washington or Arizona), the opportunity is there for Oregon to surprise. The Ducks won the CBI tournament over Altman's old team, Creighton. The natural next step will be the NCAAs.

Long Beach State: Dan Monson has had a long road back to the point where he feels comfortable in the game. He left Gonzaga to try to rebuild Minnesota after NCAA violations. He wasn't able to turn that program around on a consistent basis. Now he's done that at Long Beach State. The 49ers were atop the Big West last season but didn't win the conference tournament. Long Beach will have to fend off Orlando Johnson and UC Santa Barbara again, but with Casper Ware and Larry Anderson, the 49ers should prevail. Long Beach has a monster nonconference schedule that could set up an at-large berth if it falls short in the Big West tourney. Long Beach will have the talent to win a game in March.

At this time last year, Ben Hansbrough's name didn't appear on the Wooden Award preseason watch list.

Five months later, he edged out Connecticut's Kemba Walker for Big East Player of the Year.

Using that as a backdrop, let's remember that the list of 50 Wooden nominees is flawed, much like any of the award lists. The Wooden Award does not allow its voters to nominate any freshmen or transfers (either four-year or junior college) on their ballots.

And with college basketball as loaded with talent as any year since 2007-08, narrowing it down to 50 is not easy. So below I've attempted to come up with the names that didn't make it, either as "just missed the cut" omissions or just because they're freshmen or transfers. These guys aren't on the list (which can be found here), but might show up when it's updated during the season.

This group is by no means definitive, either. There's no telling who else might emerge nationally as the games get under way.

Let's take a look …

The omissions (in alphabetical order):

Julian Boyd, Long Island: The Blackbirds are the favorite again in the Northeast Conference and the main reason is because Boyd is back and ready to dominate the stat sheet.

D.J. Cooper, Ohio: The diminutive point guard does a little bit of everything; he averaged 15.8 ppg, 7.5 apg and 5.0 rpg for the Bobcats last season.

Jared Cunningham, Oregon State: Cunningham has some of the best hops in the sport and a chance to be a Pac-12 star, allowing the Beavers to finally move up in the standings this season.

Seth Curry, Duke: Curry was a standout shooter for the Blue Devils on their trip to China and could be one of the top scorers on the team.

Brandon Davies, BYU: Davies was recently reinstated to the Cougars, and the offense is expected to flow through him inside and out as BYU mounts a campaign to win the WCC in its first year in the league.

Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's: SMC coach Randy Bennett envisions this as one of the best teams he's ever had, but a lot of that will have to do with whether Dellavedova can shoot like Mickey McConnell did last season.

Greg Echenique, Creighton: Echenique was a rebounding force for Venezuela this summer and should do even more for the Bluejays with a full season to work with.

TyShwan Edmondson, Austin Peay: The Governors should be the favorite in the Ohio Valley with a legit scorer like Edmondson, who has a strong man, Will Triggs, to take pressure off him.

Kyle Fogg, Arizona: Fogg is next in line to assume a leadership position for the Wildcats, who are in a position to compete for Pac-12 titles for years to come.

Kevin Foster, Santa Clara: As a sophomore, Foster sort of came out of nowhere to average 20.2 ppg and become one of the nation's top 3-point shooters.

Chris Gaston, Fordham: The Rams aren't any good, but the nation's leading returning rebounder (11.3 rpg) at least deserves a shout-out in this space.

Yancy Gates, Cincinnati: UC coach Mick Cronin said he'd be surprised if Gates wasn't one of the 10 names on the Big East preseason first team.

Malcolm Grant, Miami (Fla.): The Hurricanes have to play most of the season without big man Reggie Johnson, so Grant will have more opportunities to shine.

Rob Jones, Saint Mary's: Jones could be a double-double regular for the Gaels, and for Saint Mary's to win the WCC, Jones will have to be a star.

Doron Lamb, Kentucky: John Calipari says Lamb will be the Wildcats' best player. Just Coach Cal mind games, or the truth?

Meyers Leonard, Illinois: Leonard didn't contribute a whole lot as a freshman, but he was a hidden gem on the U.S. U-19 team in Latvia this summer. The Illini are expecting big things out of him.

C.J. McCollum, Lehigh: McCollum is the nation's leading returning scorer (21.8 ppg) and is in the top five in steals (2.5 spg). Oh, and he did that as a freshman. What more do you need to know?

Cameron Moore, UAB: The Blazers have been consistently good under Mike Davis and have had unheralded C-USA stars. Moore is the latest.

Toure' Murry, Wichita State: If the Shockers win the Missouri Valley over Creighton, a lot of the credit will end up going to the veteran Murry.

Brandon Paul, Illinois: Illini coach Bruce Weber was a bit surprised Paul didn't crack the top 50 on the Wooden list, given his overall importance to this team.

Ryan Pearson, George Mason: The Patriots are a trendy pick for the Top 25 and a lot of that has to do with the versatility of Pearson.

Damier Pitts, Marshall: The Thundering Herd are a real sleeper to gain an NCAA tourney berth out of Conference USA in large part because of Pitts.

Herb Pope, Seton Hall: Pope has come back from multiple life-threatening situations and has a real shot as a senior to put it all together and finally shine.

Terrence Ross, Washington: The Huskies can't be dismissed as a major player for the Pac-12 title, and if they win it, Ross will be a significant reason why.

Robert Sacre, Gonzaga: Sacre has matured into a solid post player, and that progress shows no signs of stopping as the Zags once again compete for the West Coast title.

Mike Scott, Virginia: If the sleeper Cavs mount a run to the NCAA tournament, the oft-injured Scott will be the reason why.

Renardo Sidney, Mississippi State: If Sidney is in shape and plays up to his potential, he has SEC Player of the Year potential and could be the difference between the Bulldogs making the NCAAs or NIT.

Andrew Smith, Butler: The Bulldogs will have fewer stars this season, but Smith has a chance to outshine Khyle Marshall and newcomer Roosevelt Jones with his scoring prowess in the post.

Chace Stanback, UNLV: Stanback's suspension to start the season is only one game, so that won't diminish his ability to lead the Rebels in their hunt for a Mountain West title.

Raymond Taylor, Florida Atlantic: FAU quietly won the Sun Belt East Division last season and Mike Jarvis' diminutive point guard was the catalyst behind the regular-season championship.

Hollis Thompson, Georgetown: If the Hoyas are to make the NCAA tournament again and be a pest in the upper half of the Big East, then Thompson needs a breakout season.

Kyle Weems, Missouri State: Doug McDermott is the one everyone is talking about in the Valley, but let's not forget that Weems is the reigning MVC Player of the Year. Too bad for the Bears he's their only returning starter.

Kendall Williams, New Mexico: The sophomore guard was the leading scorer in four postseason NIT games for the Lobos and should only get better with the addition of Australian Hugh Greenwood.

The transfers

Dewayne Dedmon, USC: Trojans coach Kevin O'Neill firmly believes this JC transfer is an NBA talent who could dominate the post and average a double-double for SC.

Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State: The former UTEP big man is ready to have a bust-out season for a team that has serious bounce-back potential after a disappointing 2010-11 campaign.

Mike Rosario, Florida: The former Rutgers scoring guard finally has plenty of support around him and will put up numbers for a winner.

Rakim Sanders, Fairfield: The Boston College transfer should flourish after dropping down a level, and he should get coach Sydney Johnson another trip to the NCAA tourney. Johnson is beginning his first year at Fairfield after leading Princeton to the 2011 tourney.

Royce White, Iowa State: White is finally ready to be a star on the college scene after multiple transgressions at Minnesota.

Brandon Wood, Michigan State: The Spartans picked up a rare senior transfer (taking advantage of the graduate transfer rule) from Valparaiso who could be one of the best shooters in the Big Ten.

Tony Woods, Oregon: The embattled Woods arrived from Wake Forest after legal issues and has a chance to really shine as a double-double player for the first time in his career.

The freshmen

Bradley Beal, Florida: Beal has a chance to be a productive player in a frontcourt that has a vacuum after multiple seniors departed.

Gary Bell Jr., Gonzaga: Coach Mark Few has been anticipating Bell's arrival for over a year now. He's expected to step in and deliver right away.

Wayne Blackshear, Louisville: The Cardinals fancy themselves a Big East title contender, and that's partly because they consider Blackshear a star in the making.

Jabari Brown, Oregon: Brown was the star of the Ducks' trip to Italy with his scoring prowess, and expect that to continue in the Pac-12.

Jahii Carson, Arizona State: There is some question right now as to Carson's eligibility, but if he's good to go, the Sun Devils might become relevant in the Pac-12 again.

Erik Copes, George Mason: Copes was bound for George Washington before Karl Hobbs was fired; now he'll be a headline performer for the Patriots and first-year coach Paul Hewitt.

Anthony Davis, Kentucky: Davis has a chance to be the SEC Player of the Year and the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, so expect him to be on the midseason list when freshmen are allowed.

Andre Drummond, Connecticut: He will be an immediate star and help lift the Huskies into the national title chase again. He's more than likely a future top-five pick in the NBA.

Myck Kabongo, Texas: Coach Rick Barnes has had quite a bit of success with big-time freshmen guards, and Kabongo is next in line.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky: Gilchrist will be another star on what will be a headline team throughout the season.

Johnny O'Bryant, LSU: Coach Trent Johnson needs the Tigers to start trending upward again, and he has a shot with the arrival of the big man from Mississippi.

LeBryan Nash, Oklahoma State: OSU is a bit of a mystery team in the Big 12, but the All-American from Dallas could push the Cowboys into contention.

Austin Rivers, Duke: Rivers will have the ball in his hands quite a bit and appears to be the next Duke star in a lengthy list of recognizable names.

Josiah Turner, Arizona: The Wildcats will win the Pac-12 regular-season title if Turner is as good as advertised.

Cody Zeller, Indiana: If coach Tom Crean is going to turn the Hoosiers into a relevant team this season, it will be because of Zeller and his impact in the Big Ten.

All Greg McDermott needed to hear came right after the end of the FIBA U-19 World Championships in Latvia, when the gold-medal-winning coach from Lithuania explained that his team had a great four years together.

"We've been together since June 20th," McDermott said of the Americans, who lost to Russia in the quarterfinals and finished in fifth place after Sunday's two-point win over Australia.

"There's no question that the timing and execution of the teams playing together is obvious," said McDermott, who took a break from recruiting as head coach of Creighton to watch his son Doug play for Team USA. "Our coaches have a short time frame to put together everything and have to keep it relatively simple due to the prep time."

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, an assistant on the U.S. national team and the chair of the junior national team committee, said the U-19 has consistently been the hardest championship for the Americans to win. The tournament was held every four years from 1979 to 2007 (it's now every two), with the U.S. winning gold in 1979, '83 and '91. The Americans went four straight tournaments without winning gold before a team coached by Pitt's Jamie Dixon ended the drought two years ago in New Zealand.

This squad, which was snubbed by a number of high-profile underclassmen who were eligible but chose either summer school or working out at their respective schools, was coached by new George Mason coach Paul Hewitt.

Team USA lost an exhibition to Lithuania by 33 points, but then in the second round -- behind 35 points from UConn's Jeremy Lamb -- beat the eventual gold-medal Lithuanians by two in overtime 107-105. But the U.S. then lost the ensuing game against Croatia before the medal round and was upset by Russia before beating Poland and Australia in the consolation round.

"The 19 is the toughest for us to win,'' Boeheim said. "The other teams have been together for three to four years. They are there for the 16, 17, 18, 19. It makes it tougher for us to win. Lithuania was by far the best team and I was happy that we were able to beat them in a game. That was a huge, huge upset, but against Russia we couldn't make a 3-point shot. We had all new guys."

Dixon said he could tell while coaching the Americans two years ago that this tournament was the one the younger teams were hyped to win.

"They all build for it," Dixon said. "After that tournament, they usually go to the professional teams. We have a new team every year. The way the system is set up, the 19s is the culmination for the rest of the countries. We don't get all of our best players."

Regardless of this year's so-so performance, you can expect a number of the leaders on this team to have standout seasons when they return to campus, just as players like Ashton Gibbs, Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack did after their experience in New Zealand.

"It validated everything for Gordon," Butler's Brad Stevens said. "He was someone who averaged 12 points and five rebounds in high school. He didn't know how good he was. That experience validated it for him. It showed that he's pretty darn good. Shelvin was already feeling he could play with anybody and it showed he was right."

Stevens is hoping the experience will have a similar effect for Khyle Marshall, who was a role player for the Bulldogs' national runner-up team this spring. His main responsibility was to rebound off the bench, but he'll be asked to do much more this season. In Latvia, Marshall averaged 5.7 points and three boards in 13 minutes a game.

"It was such a great experience for him, to represent the U.S., to travel abroad and to see how much it matters to other countries," said Stevens, who will assist Purdue's Matt Painter on the World University Games team that heads to China in August. "You can't put a price tag on that. Khyle is a guy who can find the basket in a number of different ways. The rest of the summer he'll hone his skills and get in the gym and make it a priority. He wasn't the first or second guy on a scouting report so that's a big step for him and he'll have to take the appropriate steps on how to handle it."

The tournament will be a difference-maker for a number of players.

Lamb (16.2 ppg, team-high 18 steals) will be the go-to scorer for Connecticut with Kemba Walker no longer around. Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr., (9.4 ppg) will be counted on even more after Darius Morris stayed in the draft and was selected by the Lakers. Florida's Patric Young (9.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg), who was a beast around the basket (28 offensive rebounds), will be the focal point inside for the Gators with the departures of Vernon Macklin and Alex Tyus. Michigan State will lean heavily on Keith Appling (11 assists, seven turnovers) in Kalin Lucas' absence, while Illinois can certainly expect increased playing time and production out of big man Meyers Leonard (6.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg).

Florida coach Billy Donovan was in Colorado Springs as a court coach prior to the team leaving for Latvia. Donovan had to instruct Young to stop being a perimeter player and told him to run the floor, duck in and grab rebounds and finish.

Last season, Young didn't have to be an everyday player with Macklin, Tyus and Chandler Parsons around. That won't be the case this season.

"My hope for him is that he can become a consistent guy every day," Donovan said. "He has to be a guy who is consistent with effort, attitude all the way through. The simpler the better for him. He has to understand what our team needs. He has to do what he does and then work on everything else. He has to focus on how he can impact the game."

Two players in particular from this team really stood out in terms of a take-away experience: the aforementioned McDermott and Joe Jackson of Memphis.

The hometown hero Jackson competed with Antonio Barton at the point last season and will do so again. In Latvia, Jackson was solid from the free throw line (21-of-27) and averaged 11.6 ppg, but his assist (37) to turnover (30) ratio wasn't exactly ideal.

Nevertheless, Boeheim said Jackson showed him an ability to play the point. And he said the intensity of the games will only help him on a Tigers team with big expectations for next season.

That's exactly what Memphis coach Josh Pastner wanted him to experience.

"He had to continue to learn the game," Pastner said. "He had to continue to play against high-level teams in a structured environment -- not pickup games, real games, more game experience. There's no spot that's handed to him. We've got good players and good competition. Everyone will have to earn spots. But this gave Joe a lot of confidence."

McDermott didn't need any more confidence in his overall ability. While playing for his father in Omaha, he led the Bluejays in scoring (14.9) and rebounding (7.2) and was named to the USBWA freshman All-American team.

At the World Championship, he was third on the U.S. team in scoring (11.3 ppg) and made a team-high 13 3s.

"This was such a fabulous experience for my son to put on this jersey," McDermott said by phone from Riga, Latvia. "Doug's confidence is at an all-time high. As soon as he got the invitation he was doing the extra work in April, May and June. You can't put a price tag on this. It's one of the more special things for me as a father. My oldest son Nick was here with us and to share this experience with them, I can't ask for anything anymore as a dad."

In 2011-12, the Bluejays are expected to compete with Wichita State for the Missouri Valley Conference title. In addition to McDermott, Creighton also returns guard Antoine Young and a full season from big-man transfer Greg Echenique.

"We've got good pieces back," Greg McDermott said.

Creighton actually begins a five-day practice session on Saturday before heading off to the Bahamas on Aug. 11.

"I told Doug he can have Tuesday off," McDermott said. "We'll go easy on him. He came over here and played with guys who will be going to the NBA. That will end up being an incredibly valuable experience."

In the end, the Americans didn't medal. You can pick apart the roster selection or the coaching. The experience the opposing teams have over the Americans when they are together for several years can't be denied, but everything is fair game when there is a defeat.

But playing in these intense games -- at a high level, on the road, overseas -- will almost certainly benefit these players next season more than any pickup game or local tournament would have.

Some news and notes on this Wednesday afternoon:

• Team USA's two exhibition losses to Lithuania have caused some concern stateside, but the Lithuanians are considered the favorites heading into the U-19 World Championship tournament in Latvia this week.

The Americans lost 101-72 to the U-20 Lithuanian team and then 108-75 to the U-19 team, which got 23 points out of the Toronto Raptors' No. 5 draft pick Jonas Valanciunas.

The Americans start pool play Thursday against Egypt and play Serbia and China before the second round begins. Medal round games begin on July 9.

"Lithuania is the best team and we didn't play well,'' said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who is the chair of the junior national team and helped select the squad in Colorado Springs earlier this month. "We're not as strong as we'd like. But we're better than we've played so far.''

Boeheim said UConn's Jeremy Lamb, expected to be a star on this squad, hasn't played as well as expected yet. In the two exhibition games, Lamb is shooting 22.2 percent on 3s and 35 percent overall. He's averaging 9.5 points a game. Butler's Kyhle Marshall is even worse, shooting 23.1 percent overall.

Boeheim also singled out Tony Mitchell, the former Missouri recruit who is headed to North Texas. Mitchell has taken only four shots, making one.

"They've gotten off to a slow start,'' Boeheim said. "They've struggled more than we thought they would.''

The surprise has been the play of Creighton's Doug McDermott, son of Bluejays coach Greg McDermott. The rising sophomore has been the most consistent player so far, averaging a team-high 13.5 points a game. He is shooting 61.1 percent from the field. Memphis' Joe Jackson is at 12.5 ppg on 40.9 percent shooting and Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. is averaging 11.5 points a game but is shooting a woeful 26.9 percent (taking a team-high 26 shots) and 16.7 percent on 3s (2-of-12).

It's perhaps worth noting that the foul calls on the road were noticeably different, with the two Lithuanian teams taking a combined 88 free throws to the Americans' 54.

"We knew this would be a tough tournament,'' Boeheim said. "We [also] don't have some guys who chose to go to summer school. That happens.''

Duke guard Austin Rivers or Ohio State freshman forward Jared Sullinger both chose to stay home rather than play. Clearly, Sullinger would have had a major impact on this team had he decided to play. The U.S. team got outrebounded by an average of 12 boards in the two games.

This is the same tournament in which the Americans won gold in New Zealand in 2009, the first time the U.S. had won the gold medal since 1991. Pitt's Jamie Dixon coached that team, assisted by Purdue's Matt Painter (who will coach the University Games team heading to China in August) and Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery. New George Mason coach Paul Hewitt is coaching this squad in Latvia, assisted by Saint Mary's Randy Bennett and Jacksonville's Cliff Warren, who was an assistant under Hewitt at Georgia Tech.

• The Washington Times reported on Shaka Smart's new deal with Virginia Commonwealth. The eight-year contract is worth $1.2 million annually. VCU got creative by bumping up his salary from $325,000 to $450,000 and adding in a supplemental income of $700,000 that is paid quarterly. Smart could have gone to a power-six job -- possibly NC State -- but stayed put with the Rams. The Final Four run pushed his package over $1 million, a significant bump for a school like VCU but also a necessity in order to stay competitive at an elite level. That's what Gonzaga and Butler have had to do to keep their respective coaches content.

• A number of college coaches are gearing up for 20 days on the road next month by finalizing their nonconference schedules now. One school that needs a quality nonconference slate is Marshall. Thundering Herd coach Tom Herrion fancies his team to be an NCAA tournament squad and a real challenger to Memphis in Conference USA. The Herd return Damier Pitts (16.2 ppg, 4.7 apg) at the point, whom Herrion said should be considered the top point guard in C-USA, along with last season's freshman of the year in the league in DeAndre Kane (15.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg). MU has four starters returning and brings in a recruiting class that has two highly rated JC transfers in power forwards Robert Goff and Dennis Tinnon. Shooting guard Justin Coleman, a one-time Louisville commit, is also eligible after sitting out the year. He was never able to get eligible for the Cardinals.

So what did Herrion do for his schedule? He is playing at Cincinnati in a multiple-team event that has three home games against low-level teams in Alabama State, Jacksonville State and Northwestern State. He will play the annual game in Charleston against West Virginia. That gives him two Big East opponents, one road and one neutral. The Bearcats will be a top-25 team in the preseason, and West Virginia will always be in play for a bid under Bob Huggins.

Herrion also did a home-and-home with perennial Atlantic Sun favorite Belmont, bought a home game against MAAC favorite Iona, has home games against MAC favorites Ohio and Akron and will play at UNC Wilmington out of the Colonial. Herrion is trying to grab a successful team from the A-10, Missouri Valley or CAA -- someone like an Old Dominion or Creighton. He'll need at least one more of those games.

Scheduling is an art form for these coaches. And if a school like Marshall can't get elite home-and-home games out of region, then it has to be creative by plucking some of the best mid-major schools for home-and-home series. That can be a plus for power-rating points. The C-USA schedule helps Marshall too, since the Herd will play perennial contenders Memphis and UAB twice as well as UCF, Southern Miss and upstart East Carolina in the unbalanced schedule.

"Now we've got to go out and win games,'' said Herrion, whose team was 22-12 (9-7 C-USA) in his first season as head coach in Huntington. "We've got to get another projected NCAA team. But we've got to go out and win those games. I do think we can be an NCAA tournament team. But we can't come out of Conference USA with six or seven or eight losses and expect to be.''

• Texas fans are probably down about losing three underclassmen to the NBA, but having a trio of three first-round players (Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph) can come in handy. The Longhorns now have the most first-round NBA draft picks (eight) of any school over the past six years. Kansas and Kentucky are tied for second with seven. If you push it back to 2000, Texas is third with 10 but just one behind North Carolina and Kansas for the lead. Connecticut, Duke and Kentucky have had nine in that span. The Longhorns have also had six lottery picks since 2000, which is tied for fifth with Arizona. Kansas tops that list with nine, followed by UConn and Duke with eight and North Carolina with seven.

• St. John's is quietly putting together one of the top nonconference schedules in the country. The Red Storm will play at Duke, at Kentucky in the SEC-Big East Challenge, host UCLA, play in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer with Arizona, Texas A&M and Mississippi State, and open up Dick Vitale Court against Horizon upstart Detroit. That's all with a team dominated by freshmen. Kudos to coach Steve Lavin, who isn't afraid to challenge his team.

Greg McDermott went from one of the worst jobs in the Big 12 to arguably the best in the Missouri Valley Conference.

And he couldn't be happier.

In his four seasons at Iowa State, McDermott failed to get to the NCAA tournament; injuries, defections and a lack of overall talent all played a part. He said he had five seasons left on his contract because of an agreement he had with the school that any APR or NCAA issues attributed to the previous staff would add years to his deal. Still, Iowa State easily could have bought him out after year five if it had so desired.

McDermott got this rare lifeline for a remarkably fresh start only because former Creighton coach Dana Altman was plucked by Oregon to finally fill the Ducks' opening after the school had exhausted itself trying to land a Final Four coach.

If there was a comparable move in the last decade, it would be Steve Alford's decision to leave Iowa, one of the toughest jobs in the Big Ten, to go to New Mexico, one of the best in the Mountain West.

What is hard to comprehend if you're not in Omaha or Albuquerque is just how passionate the fans are about their home team, regardless of conference affiliation. The salary can push $1 million per year for the head coach. Both teams fill their 17,000-plus venues regularly.

Leaving Iowa for UNM was a great move for Alford as he has turned around the Lobos and made them regular NCAA tournament participants. Getting out of Ames and not taking the risk of being run out was an astute decision by McDermott, too.

If he can win at Creighton, where there will still be plenty of pressure since it is the city's version of a pro team, McDermott can have a highly rewarding and productive coaching life. Altman chose to stay multiple times at Creighton, actually taking the Arkansas job at one point and returning. He knew how good a gig Creighton was in college basketball.

"We have over 13,000 season-ticket holders and there are BCS schools that would die to have that kind of support,'' said McDermott. "We play in an arena that is as good as any. This has been one of the better jobs of this kind in the country and Coach Altman deserves [credit]. He left it in great shape and we hope to build upon what he started.''

Creighton has missed the NCAA tournament the last three years but still participated in the postseason. Altman led the Bluejays to the NCAA tournament seven times, including two second-round appearances.

McDermott said he can't say whether or not he would have been fired at Iowa State had he stayed and not made the postseason again.

"But I'm smart enough to understand that we're paid to win,'' McDermott said. "That will be one of my regrets at Iowa State, that I didn't achieve on the floor what we could. We were able to make a lot of progress and got the APR problem fixed, because when I took the job that was a problem.''

Iowa State's most significant loss was not being able to hold onto Wesley Johnson, who transferred to Syracuse and became a star for the Orange and a lottery pick. Had Johnson played at his peak with Craig Brackins, the Cyclones may have had a different outcome in the Big 12.

"I feel blessed because I landed at a great spot,'' McDermott said. "I loved my time at Iowa State and have great friends there. They're committed to winning. They've got a practice facility that will have a huge impact and give [new coach] Fred [Hoiberg] another resource. But recruiting is different at the mid-major level and I'm a better fit for this level than I was at the BCS level. I'm very comfortable with that.''

McDermott coached against Creighton at Northern Iowa in the Valley, going to the NCAA tournament three times in five seasons.

"At that point, Creighton was the benchmark for everybody in the league,'' McDermott said. "They were winning and winning consistently. That's what everybody aspires to do. Creighton has the resources and the facilities. There's no excuse not to be successful.''

Creighton, Wichita State and Southern Illinois have all upgraded coaching salaries and made it hard for coaches to leave -- as Altman, Gregg Marshall and Chris Lowery have proved the past three seasons. All three schools enjoy strong fan support. Expect Northern Iowa to join that group after upsetting Kansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament last March. UNI coach Ben Jacobson showed no desire to cash in on his success and leave the Panthers last season. He coached under McDermott and the two are close friends, so much so that Jacobson is the godfather of McDermott's daughter, Sydney, and McDermott's middle child, Doug, was granted a release from UNI to go play for his father at Creighton.

McDermott couldn't coach Doug at Iowa State. Doug wasn't talented enough to play in the Big 12 and McDermott didn't want to put his son in a precarious situation. Now, for the first time in Doug's life, he'll be coached by his father.

"It's the first shot at coaching one of my kids,'' McDermott said. "We're always gone in the spring and summer as a coach. You can't coach them and be gone one week or the next. Someone else has always done it. That's the case for most college coaches. ''

McDermott said he might redshirt Doug but will see how he develops. The Bluejays will be a factor in the MVC race behind favorite Wichita State with the return of Kenny Lawson Jr., who withdrew from the NBA draft as expected. Adding Rutgers big man Gregory Echenique is a huge plus. He was a medical redshirt due to an eye injury. He'll wear goggles but will be eligible to play in mid-December. Echenique won't be eligible for the first three marquee games -- against Iowa State in Des Moines (a game McDermott set up when he was in Ames) on Nov. 21, at Northwestern (Nov. 28) and hosting BYU (Dec. 1) in the MWC-MVC Challenge. But McDermott said he purposely scheduled three games from Dec. 18-22 (Idaho State, Western Illinois and Samford) at home to allow Echenique to play three games before the Valley season starts at Illinois State on Dec. 29.

McDermott, who made an astute hire in adding former Evansville and Hampton coach Steve Merfeld to the Creighton staff, said he hasn't signed his contract at Creighton but expects to soon.

"Had I been in my fifth year at Iowa State and not gotten the job done, then there would have been a certain level of stress, because your family is impacted,'' McDermott said. "You can lose your job and your family is impacted. But there are also expectations at a mid-major school that has BCS facilities and BCS expectations. There's still plenty of pressure to succeed. There's an excitement within me to have a fresh start and be at a place that is all about basketball. We have all the resources available to us to be successful.''

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Leonard Hamilton has been here before, on the verge of earning an NCAA tournament berth with Florida State, confident that the Seminoles won't be disappointed.

And nothing has changed. Despite failing to get a bid since he arrived in Tallahassee in 2002, Hamilton's confidence won't flutter.

The No. 25 Seminoles lost at Boston College 72-67 on Tuesday night to drop to 8-5 in the ACC, 21-7 overall. Yet, the head coach's confidence isn't shaken.

"The good thing about our team is that I believe we haven't even scratched the surface of our potential," Hamilton said. "I'm encouraged by this team and confident we'll be ready by our next game [against Clemson] and make the NCAA tournament."

He might be right. The Seminoles are in their best position to make the field since Hamilton arrived despite being his most inexperienced team. Remember, this is a program that had Al Thornton for four years in Tallahassee but couldn't get to the Dance. Florida State was 9-7 for fifth place in the ACC in 2005-06 and didn't get a bid.

But this season might be different. Finally, for Hamilton, for the first time in seven seasons, he might have the overall body of work that will be hard to ignore. Florida State won on a neutral court against potential NCAA teams Cincinnati and Cal in Las Vegas in November. The Seminoles beat rival Florida, another potential NCAA team, at home. The loss at Northwestern in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge looked bad in December but better now that the Wildcats have won at Michigan State and beaten Ohio State (and should have taken out Purdue and Illinois at home too). Losing to Pitt at home in an eight-point game that was in play in the final two minutes is hardly a knock.

Playing well in the ACC with wins at Clemson and Virginia Tech proves the Seminoles aren't a home team only.

Still, there is a stigma attached to Hamilton at this school that he needs to shake.

Hamilton did get to the NCAAs after he resurrected Miami. He went to the NBA to coach Michael Jordan's Washington Wizards, had no shot with a roster without stars, and returned to college once he was fired. The expectation was he would get Florida State to the NCAAs in a short cycle. He hasn't. It has been seven years and the Seminoles have constantly had underachieving problems for some reasons that were out of his control.

In 2007, losing Alexander Johnson to the NBA draft when he didn't expect it crushed Hamilton's recruiting since he didn't have another front-line player for the next season. Auburn transfer Toney Douglas missed five ACC games in the 2007 season with a broken hand. That team finished 7-9 and tied for eighth place in the ACC. A season ago, Florida State had no shot. Big man Solomon Alabi played only nine games because of a stress fracture in his right leg. Isaiah Swann missed the final nine games after tearing ligaments in his left knee. Ryan Reid was suspended for nine games. Julian Vaughn, who ultimately transferred to Georgetown, missed three games while he was being treated for a heart condition. The Seminoles finished 7-9 yet again in the ACC, tied for seventh place.

Yet Douglas was prophetic in the fall. Douglas told ESPN.com that Florida State would be an NCAA team. He reiterated that again during Wednesday's ESPNU college basketball podcast. Douglas was convinced he would have a breakout season and he has at 20.5 points a game. He said, and Hamilton concurred, that the Seminoles had an impressive, long group of big men in the improving Alabi, who could turn into a dominating post player at both ends, and Chris Singleton and Uche Echefu, who add different variables as scorers and defenders in the post. And the addition of one-time St. John's player in Derwin Kitchen on the wing gave the Seminoles another strong, scoring guard next to Douglas.

"The most frustrating thing is that we haven't had, until this season, the team that I put together at the end of the season," Hamilton said of the various injuries and attrition. "It wasn't that I was frustrated, just disappointed."

Hamilton has mellowed since his NBA experience. He doesn't seem to get moved by pressure or even chatter about his job status. The setbacks of missing out on the NCAAs, especially the 9-7 2006 season and not having his full team the previous two seasons, kept him motivated.

"I took the high road and didn't worry [about his job]," Hamilton said. "For me personally, this is what I expect to do. There has been misfortune. But if you look at my career, I've always taken over programs that needed fixing up. I know I work for good people and always had a good relationship."

Still, even though he was burned on Selection Sunday in 2006, waiting to get a bid and then not seeing Florida State's name hasn't left him shy about projecting the Seminoles into the field. He feels different about this team. The maturity has been there in the ACC. The Seminoles haven't lost two games in a row this season and Hamilton doesn't expect that to occur with Clemson up next.

"I know we have three more opportunities and we better take advantage of it," Hamilton said. "We haven't had any of those unfortunate basketball demons this season like we've had in the best. I expect our guys to bounce back. We just lost our focus [against Boston College]. We realize we're awfully young and have a tendency to play young and inexperienced at times."

But the bid has to come. The Noles are too close for it not to this season. Hamilton knows this and that's why he won't let his confidence slip. Still, the memory of 2006 lingers.

What bothered him in 2006 was to see teams that he said had worse strength of schedule than the Seminoles still make the field and advance.

"That was very difficult to deal with because I thought we earned the right to be there," Hamilton said. "It was very disheartening for our team. I didn't have an explanation. I didn't have anything to say to them that would comfort anyone."

He doesn't want to find those words again. This team is on the verge of a bid, his first at Florida State. And Hamilton is determined to ensure the Seminoles finally land one.

• Boston College's win over Florida State should get the Eagles into the NCAAs now that they've beaten three of the top five teams in the league in North Carolina, Duke and FSU. The only two they lost to were Clemson and Wake Forest (twice). The 20-9 Eagles (8-6 in the ACC) firmly believe they can get a top-four spot in the ACC tournament and receive a bye. But to do that they've got to win out at NC State and at home against Georgia Tech to finish 10-6, and then need Florida State and Wake Forest to lose. FSU (8-5) finishes with Clemson, at Duke and at home to Virginia Tech. Wake Forest (7-5) finishes with NC State, at Virginia, at Maryland and Clemson. Duke could also slide down a peg at 8-4 with games left at Maryland, at Virginia Tech, Florida State at home and at North Carolina.

• Josh Carter might look back on Tuesday night's 3-pointer at the buzzer as the shot that got Texas A&M into the NCAA tournament. The Aggies stayed alive for a bid with a 57-55 win over Nebraska. Texas A&M, which moved to 20-8 overall and 6-7 in the Big 12, has to likely win out against Iowa State, at Colorado and at home against Missouri. The Mizzou game will be extremely difficult and might be asking too much of the Aggies. But beating a team that could win the Big 12 title (this could spoil it for the Tigers and hand it to Kansas or Oklahoma) is the kind of home win the Aggies could use going into the Big 12 tournament to show they are a tourney-worthy team. Texas A&M knocked off Texas at home and its nonconference wins over Arizona at home and against LSU in Houston are two more chips for a bid.

• The Mountain West needed some separation to show its best teams to the NCAA committee. BYU did that somewhat in winning at San Diego State on Tuesday night. The 10-point win snapped the Aztecs' 10-game home winning streak and moved BYU up to 9-4 in the conference, sending San Diego State down to 8-5. The Aztecs don't have the nonconference wins to stand out and needed to do something special in the conference. UNLV, which is tied with SDSU at 8-5, has the win at Louisville. BYU owns a victory over Utah State and might get a look for its one-point loss to Arizona State at the buzzer after a shot wasn't counted that would have won the game for the Cougars. Beating first-place Utah at home Saturday could be paramount for the Cougs to get a bid after losing to Utah in overtime earlier in the season in Salt Lake City.

Utah has the best shot of getting in by itself with nonconference wins over Gonzaga and LSU (by 30). New Mexico is tied with BYU at 9-4 in the conference, but the Lobos missed out on early opportunities for a quality nonconference win by losing at Creighton. UNM's best win is over Ole Miss at home, so winning the regular-season title might be the only way for the Lobos. They still have a legit shot with a BYU win over Utah and then beating the Utes (10-2) themselves on March 3 at the Pit. Do that, and win road games at Colorado State and Wyoming, and the Lobos would have a real shot as co-champs of the Mountain West.

• Baylor's collapse as a Top 25 and potential NCAA team has been a free fall. The Bears lost at Iowa State on Tuesday to drop to 4-9 in the league, 16-11 overall and out of the NCAA tournament discussion.

• Back in September it was obvious to me that LSU had the most veteran talent in the SEC and a 30-point loss to Utah in Salt Lake City made it hard to think of the Tigers as the top team in the league. But the Tigers finally settled into Trent Johnson's system and Marcus Thornton has shined next to Tasmin Mitchell. Now, there's no question the Tigers are the class of the SEC with a 12-1 record, 24-4 overall, and 12 straight SEC wins.

• Creighton won at Missouri State to stay tied with Northern Iowa, which won on an Adam Koch tip-in at the buzzer at Illinois State. Both teams are 13-4 in the Missouri Valley. But Creighton, which has a nonconference win over Dayton (and New Mexico), played a tougher nonleague slate than UNI. If any team gets in as an at-large out of the Valley, it will be the Bluejays.

Missouri plays Kansas at home Monday. Oklahoma comes to Columbia on March 4.

Why shouldn't Mizzou coach Mike Anderson believe the Tigers can win the Big 12?

Well, he does. Monday night's contest is the first of two games between the heated rivals. Kansas (8-0) is ahead of Missouri (7-2) by two games in the conference loss column. So, too, is Oklahoma (9-0).

"We're in the hunt for a conference championship," Anderson said Sunday by phone from Columbia. (For more of the interview, listen to Monday's ESPNU College Basketball podcast. )

"There's a buzz about this game, more so than in the past," Anderson said. "We're in the hunt for a championship. This is a big game."

The Tigers' turnaround, even just this season, is a credit to Anderson, the leadership of forwards DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons and the infusion of ready-to-contribute junior guards Zaire Taylor and J.T. Tiller, among others.

Missouri was impressive early in the season when it beat USC in Puerto Rico (after a four-point loss to Xavier) and blew out Cal at home. But the Tigers were a mystery when they were slammed by Illinois in St. Louis, then started out Big 12 play by losing at Nebraska (which is being seen in a different light after taking down Texas). Their Jan. 28 loss at Kansas State has a different view, too, after the Wildcats beat Texas in Austin and Texas A&M in College Station.

Still, the inconsistency tag could have applied to the Tigers until the past 10 days. Missouri whipped Baylor by 17 points on Jan. 31, won at Texas by four on Wednesday, then made sure it didn't slip on Saturday at Iowa State, when it won by 14.

"Everyone was talking about Big Monday, but I was talking about Big Saturday," Anderson said of the Iowa State game. "We responded well."

The Tigers' defensive intensity has improved, and Anderson said the team is starting to look like the "fastest 40 minutes in basketball," an offensive scheme he'd envisioned when he took the job.

The leadership from Carroll and Lyons, who both had declared for the NBA draft but withdrew, started on a trip to Canada during the Labor Day weekend. Anderson said it was there that the Tigers began to find themselves. They started to have fun playing the game and haven't stopped. Anderson won't say the Tigers are a lock for the NCAA tournament -- yet.

"We'll see," Anderson said. "I just know we're a good basketball team."

Beating Kansas on Monday certainly would do wonders for the Tigers' perception and NCAA profile.

• Speaking of Tigers, Memphis coach John Calipari continued to show he's impressed with his team Sunday after reflecting on its 18-point win over Gonzaga in Spokane on Saturday night.

"We had relentless defensive pressure for 32 minutes," Calipari said. "They had no good looks. They couldn't post it up on us."

The Zags shot 4-of-15 on 3s. Matt Bouldin, Jeremy Pargo and Steven Gray were a combined 4-of-20 from the field, 0-for-6 on 3s.

Meanwhile, Memphis' Robert Dozier had a double-double (18 points and 10 boards), and Tyreke Evans continued to be a scoring leader at the point with 22 points (7-of-8 at the line).

Calipari said Evans vomited three times at halftime and didn't warm up, but it didn't faze him in the second half. He said he would meet with Evans later Sunday to discuss how the Tigers could get another 10 percent out of him the final month of the season. He said he was going to have the same conversation with Dozier.

Calipari also said that if he'd moved Evans to the point earlier in nonconference play, there's "no way we lose all three of those games [to Xavier in Puerto Rico, at Georgetown and to Syracuse]."

The Tigers, ranked No. 15 before they played Gonzaga, likely will be in the top 10 once the latest Top 25 poll is released Monday. The Tigers have finished nonconference games and resume their march toward perfection yet again in Conference USA. (Their streak is at 50 wins.) Which seed does Calipari want his team to garner for the NCAA tournament? "I'm shooting for a one," Calipari said. What else did you think he'd say?

• Creighton won at Northern Iowa to hand the Panthers their second Missouri Valley loss. There is nothing wrong with losing to Creighton -- in any season, in Valley conference play, even at home. But the Panthers, like Siena, which lost to Rider on Saturday in the MAAC, might find it difficult to earn an at-large berth without winning the Valley tournament. This could be a record low for at-large berths outside the big six conferences, especially if Xavier (A-10), Gonzaga (WCC), Davidson (Southern), Utah State (WAC) and Butler (Horizon) win their respective conference tournaments.

• Virginia Tech finally won a close game by beating NC State in overtime Sunday. The Hokies (15-7, 5-3) are walking a fine line for a bid, which is why losing to teams below them in the ACC isn't a recipe for a berth.

• LSU is quietly putting together a dominating SEC West run with a 7-1 mark after beating Alabama on Sunday. It's hard to believe the Tide have lost 17 straight SEC road games.

• Dayton could have held sole possession of first place in the A-10 with a home win over Xavier (8-1) later this week. But it fell prey to the bottom of the league by losing on Sunday to Charlotte, which previously had only one conference win. Dayton is now 7-2 and has one conference loss more than Xavier and Saint Joseph's. The Hawks (7-1) have been up to their usual act of late. After mediocre nonconference play (7-7), they've found their groove playing against conference opponents.

• It's amazing how one loss can change the complexion of the standings in a day. Boston College entered Sunday in third place at 6-3 in the ACC. Losing to Wake Forest sent the Eagles down to seventh at 6-4.

• A week or so ago it appeared Wisconsin was toast for an NCAA berth. But the Badgers beat Illinois and then Penn State on the road Sunday to move to 5-6 in the Big Ten after a very un-Bo Ryan-like six-game losing streak. Wisconsin plays a favorable schedule down the stretch with two games against last-place Indiana, one against 10th-place Iowa and home games against Ohio State and Michigan, two beatable teams. Beating the Buckeyes and Wolverines would look good on the résumé. The Badgers' two other road games will be at Michigan State and at Minnesota -- both difficult contests, but certainly opportunities to impress the selection committee. Wisconsin, at 14-9, has a pulse.

• Washington (17-6, 8-3) beat Stanford on Sunday to earn a split against Bay Area teams. The Huskies will earn an NCAA bid because they don't lose two games in a row. The Huskies do a good job of finding their offensive rhythm quickly. Quincy Pondexter's 20 points were a welcome sign that he could be another scoring option.

• Robbie Hummel's back injury is a shame for Purdue (17-6, 6-4). The Boilermakers aren't the same team without him, and they scored only 48 points against Illinois. Purdue lost its second straight game with Hummel nursing the stress fracture in his back. Meanwhile, Illinois (19-5, 7-4) suddenly is tied with Ohio State for second in the Big Ten, just two games behind Michigan State.

• Michigan coach John Beilein said he still believes the Wolverines will make the NCAA tournament. But he said the Wolverines have to win "the right games" the rest of the season. That means winning games such as the ones against Michigan State at home Tuesday, Purdue at home Feb. 26 and, likely, Minnesota at home on Feb. 19. The Wolverines will play at Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, too. Michigan (15-8, 5-6) still has bankable wins against UCLA and Duke.

• Beilein called Connecticut senior forward Jeff Adrien, "Jason Maxiell with a jump shot." Not a bad description for the Huskies' indispensable power forward.

• The championship ring Boston Celtics All-Star Ray Allen gave Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun on Saturday might as well have been a doorstop. This replica ring clearly couldn't be worn. Calhoun's former players still show him intense loyalty, especially those who are in the NBA.

• Forgot to mention in the Weekly Watch that Boston University hosts Vermont on Wednesday in an America East showdown. The Terriers (14-9, 9-2) matched their win total from last season with seven games remaining. Vermont (8-3) and Binghamton (8-3) trail the Terriers. The homestand continues against Binghamton on Saturday. During an eight-game winning streak, John Holland and Corey Lowe are averaging a combined 42.4 points a game, making 45 percent of their shots and 43 percent of their 3s. Holland and Lowe are averaging 40.6 and 40.4 minutes a game during America East play. The Terriers have played extra periods against Stony Brook and UMBC.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Pitt's bench could end up being the decisive factor for the Panthers if they're going to win the Big East.

The Panthers needed every ounce of effort from their reserves to beat Rutgers 78-72 on Wednesday. And it could prove to be the difference for Pitt if they're to beat out Georgetown, Syracuse, Connecticut and anyone else who may survive the 18-game grind in the Big East to challenge for the league title.

DeJuan Blair was limited to just eight minutes because of foul trouble, and he scored two points and grabbed four boards. So that meant Gary McGhee had to chip in, and he contributed three boards and two points.

But the Panthers will get even better throughout the course of the season if Gilbert Brown and Brad Wanamaker can duplicate what they did against the Scarlet Knights.

Few teams in the Big East, let alone the country, have a player like Brown off the bench. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon envisioned that Brown was going to be a star. But injuries have constantly limited him. That wasn't an issue Wednesday. Brown made shots (4-of-8), got to the free throw line (3-of-4), elevated for an intimidating dunk, blocked a shot, scored in double figures (11) and gobbled up important minutes (22).

"The injuries have been slowing me down all year," said Brown, a 6-foot-6 sophomore wing. "I've had both ankles, forearm, knee, shoulder, everything."

Dixon said the running joke among the staff is that Brown is always hurt. But what's no laughing matter is how much Brown will change the Panthers if he stays healthy.

"He can make shots, defend; he's athletic, and he's very smart," Dixon said of Brown. "He knows everything that is going on."

Wanamaker, a 6-4 sophomore guard, isn't known to be a lights-out shooter. But against Rutgers he scored 15 points and nailed two 3s that silenced the Scarlet Knights' comeback. The criticism of the undefeated Panthers was that they didn't have a consistent perimeter threat. If Wanamaker can deliver, then the Panthers are a different team.

"I've been doing it in practice, and it translated into the game," Wanamaker said. "This could be a big difference for us. If we can all be productive, then we can be a Final Four team."

Ashton Gibbs, a 6-2 freshman guard, contributed off the bench as well, playing nine minutes and spelling Levance Fields at the point. Freshman guard Travon Woodall didn't even get in the game. If Woodall -- who hails from Paterson, N.J., was recruited by Rutgers and would no doubt be playing significant minutes for the Scarlet Knights had he matriculated -- can pitch in, then the bench will become even deeper.

It's clear that the soul of this team consists of Fields, Blair and senior forwards Tyrell Biggs and Sam Young. Biggs is a do-everything player who had six points and 10 boards against Rutgers, while Young is a Big East Player of the Year candidate and an extremely tough matchup who had another ho-hum 18 points Wednesday. Junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon will have opportunities to contribute, and the 6-foot-3 wing did so with three huge steals against Rutgers.

"It just makes us that much better," Fields said. "We've got guys scoring the ball, rebounding and coming up with assists. They're all impacting the game, giving us energy and buckets as well."

Dixon said that the youth of the bench players is the reason their development has taken time. But nothing that any of them did surprised him. Their success was expected; it just wasn't known when it would come.

Quick hitters from a day at the State University of New Jersey:

• Biggs is yet another perfect example of Pitt's program. Biggs could have left for somewhere else when he wasn't getting playing time. Instead, he stayed, found his role and is now an integral part of the team. He said he likens himself to players of the past like Jaron Brown. Biggs does whatever is needed on a particular day. On Wednesday against Rutgers, he was needed on the boards, so he grabbed 10.

• Rutgers freshman guard Mike Rosario is a stud scorer. Pitt couldn't touch him in the first half, when he had 15 points and blew by the Panthers to create space for his shots. He wasn't great from the 3-point line (2-of-10), but he can get to the rim and finished 8-of-20 for 22 points. Rosario is a creator, and the Panthers did a better job of checking him (a Tom Izzo term) in the second half.

Still, Rosario, who scored 26 points at North Carolina on Sunday, is one of the top freshmen in the country and should be a strong contender for Big East Rookie of the Year.

He is the first McDonald's All-American at Rutgers and clearly the cornerstone for Fred Hill's rebuilding project. He's not ready for the NBA, so the hope is that no one is foolishly getting in his ear. If Rosario stays put, he can really do something for himself and for Rutgers.

"The hard work is paying off," Rosario said. "I'm doing everything now with confidence."

Hill said that he expects Rosario and freshman forward Gregory Echenique to shoulder a lot of the production load. Echenique grabbed eight boards but still has to improve as a post presence.

"We've put a lot on those two kids, but they can handle it," Hill said. "That's why Mike came here. They both came here to build something special."

The Scarlet Knights have some interesting pieces in addition to those two freshmen: They have senior guard Anthony Farmer, a scoring guard in sophomore Corey Chandler and a shot-blocker in junior center Hamady N'Diaye.

Rutgers hung around with Carolina for a half, and had Pitt on the ropes for 30-plus minutes. This is clearly a better team than the one that lost at home to Lehigh and Binghamton earlier in the season.

"We call it a fine line, and we embrace where we are. We're standing on that line," said Hill, whose team has played the No. 1-ranked Tar Heels and the third-ranked Panthers already this week and will play the No. 2-ranked Connecticut Huskies on Saturday. "We've competed in the toughest stretch in college basketball history, and in two days we'll do it again [at Connecticut]. We think we're better than last year."

They are. Rosario and Echenique make that obvious. Look, Rutgers will beat some people at the top of this league. The difference for this team will be in where teams play Rutgers. Pitt came here first. Marquette, Syracuse, Louisville and West Virginia all have to come here, too. But Connecticut, Georgetown, Villanova and Notre Dame don't.

"I told you before the game that the RAC is a tough place to play," Fields said of Rutgers' home court. "How the schedule breaks will be interesting for teams."

• Ousted Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy made his final appearance at a game as AD. The school said he resigned; he said he didn't. Mulcahy, who hired Hill, met Hill as he came out of the locker room. The two embraced, and Mulcahy told Hill that they would walk out to the floor together one last time. Mulcahy spoke to the crowd at halftime and was greeted mostly with cheers (just a few boos). He thanked the Rutgers faithful and promised that the Rutgers athletic department will never go back to what it was, claiming that it had moved forward to a new era.

Play-by-play broadcaster Don Criqui had the line of the day in discussing Mulcahy, who used to head the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Criqui said Mulcahy told him, "The worst day in prison is the day they turn back the clocks."

• Surprisingly, Hill isn't a huge fan of the Big East tournament's expansion to 16 teams, up from 12 in the first three years of the 16-team league. Even though Hill coaches one of the projected bottom teams in the Big East, Hill said there was something to earning a berth in New York. "I have mixed feelings, torn about it," Hill said. "We want to get better, but we don't want a pass to it. We want to be a team to be reckoned with down the road in the Big East. I have mixed feelings. I'm glad we're going and want to win five games in a row. But you also want to be playing good enough basketball to earn it. Hopefully we can do both."

On to the scores from Wednesday:

• UNLV's road win at Louisville without an injured Wink Adams might be one of the best wins of the season. And at this point, maybe it's time to stop saying Louisville is a Big East title contender and Final Four contender until the Cardinals actually beat some other league leaders or contenders.

• Michigan and Minnesota lost at home in the Big Ten. That means only Penn State and Ohio State won home openers. Purdue lost at home to Illinois.

• Illinois State is putting together a Drake-like season in the Missouri Valley. The Redbirds won again, beating Evansville by 30 to go to 13-0 and 2-0 in the league. Southern Illinois lost to Northern Iowa to drop to 0-2. Circle the Illinois State-Creighton game Saturday and the one on Feb. 28 in Omaha as the two games of the year in the Valley.

• Two teams to keep an eye on: Texas A&M is 12-1, winning at Rice Wednesday, and Utah State is 12-1, outlasting Wyoming at home in overtime. Utah State is emerging as the favorite in the WAC. A&M is a solid pick to make the NCAA tourney and will cause fits for everyone in the Big 12.

• Gonzaga may have gone from the top five to out of the Top 25 after losing at Utah on Wednesday when Matt Bouldin and Austin Daye couldn't convert a final bucket in a 66-65 loss. Next up for the Zags is a visit to Tennessee. The schedule just looks ludicrous at this point, with so many games away from the Kennel. Gonzaga is 8-4. Talk of Gonzaga as a No. 1 seed out of the West is now moot. This shouldn't be a reach, but don't be surprised to see a Big East team as a No. 1 seed in the West, as there might not be a likely candidate from the West to serve in that role.

• Stony Brook had the shocker of the night by beating Air Force 67-64 on the road. The America East now has wins over the Mountain West (Air Force by Stony Brook), the Big 12 (Colorado by Vermont and Nebraska by UMBC), the Atlantic 10 (George Washington by Vermont), the Big East (Rutgers by Binghamton) and Conference USA (Tulane by Binghamton).