Why I'm dumber than I think: I published preseason rankings in April, June and then again in October, and not once did I include Texas. The way I figured, a borderline Top 25 team that loses the nation's best player and doesn't add an elite-level freshman to replace him is probably going to take a step backward, and I still believe that's true in most cases. But it's not true in the Longhorns' case, and I apologize for being the last to realize.
Three things you should know before you go
1. Saint Mary's further legitimized itself Saturday with an 85-70 victory over previously unbeaten Seton Hall. Meantime, Gonzaga dropped Connecticut, meaning a pair of West Coast Conference programs topped a pair of Big East programs, and that's a pretty good weekend for the WCC.
2. Yeah, Baylor lost to Washington State on Friday night, but it's worth noting that the Bears played without two of their top shooters in the closing minutes. LaceDarius Dunn tweaked his left knee with 6:23 remaining and Curtis Jerrells left with leg cramps with 4:09 remaining. Neither player returned, which was bad because when Dunn exited, Baylor was leading 58-55 and when Jerrells left, Scott Drew's team was ahead 60-55. Ultimately, the Bears lost 67-64. But it's possible they would have held on, remained undefeated and been ranked in this week's polls if not for those unfortunate circumstances.
3. UMass backed its memorable win at Syracuse with a forgettable defeat at IUPUI, and I doubt any team has ever done that before. The Minutemen lost 89-77 thanks to IUPUI's George Hill getting 30 points and 10 rebounds. I don't mind the 30 points so much because Hill is a proven scorer. But he's also a 6-foot-2 guard, and should a team that just won at the Carrier Dome really be letting a 6-2 guard grab 10 boards?
On tap: Monday, Missouri State tries to get a big non-league victory when it visits Arkansas. Tuesday, Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo face off when Memphis and Southern California play at Madison Square Garden. Wednesday, Washington State and Gonzaga will battle for state supremacy. Thursday, a pair of mascots from the same family -- LSU's Tigers and Villanova's Wildcats -- gets together at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center.
Final thoughts: The only good thing about Bob Knight leaving at halftime of Texas Tech's game with Centenary -- he officially had flu-like symptoms, by the way -- is that it led to Pat Knight coaching the final 20 minutes, which led to Pat Knight's postgame press conference, which led to, well, hilarity.
Texas Tech had a 35-32 lead at halftime.
But the Red Raiders still managed to lose 70-66.
So what happened there, head-coach-in-waiting, Pat Knight?
"If people want me to say, 'Hey, I can't coach, it's my fault -- (expletive) it.' I can't (expletive) coach," Pat told reporters afterward, according to the Shreveport (La.) Times. "It's my fault, just blame it on me, I just don't care. It's a weird situation. I'm pissed about a lot of things: The situation I was thrown into and the way the team came out. I just say, '(Expletive) it.' If people want to write that I can't coach, write it."
I don't know whether Pat Knight can coach, and I don't really care.
But if these are going to be the normal press conferences, rest assured I hope he coaches forever and always.
