The matchups for next season's SEC/Big East Invitational were announced Thursday morning.

It's eight teams playing four games at two locations.

It looks like this ...

Dec. 16 in Nashville

• Vanderbilt vs. South Florida

• Tennessee vs. Marquette

Dec. 18 in Cincinnati

• Mississippi State vs. Cincinnati

• Ole Miss vs. Louisville

Among the interesting storylines is the matchup between UT and Marquette that will feature Bruce Pearl against Tom Crean. If you recall, Pearl was the coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (just down the street from Marquette) before moving to Tennessee, so he and Crean have a history. Also, the event will mark the return of Andy Kennedy to Cincinnati. If you recall, Kennedy was the interim coach at Cincinnati when Bob Huggins was removed before the 2005-06 season, so he and the city have a history.

Michael Beasley made good on his promise.

Josh Carter made a bunch of 3-pointers on his home court.

Here's Thursday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Wednesday: I'm not sure Kansas State could beat Kansas in Africa (like Michael Beasley proclaimed), and I have my doubts about whether the Wildcats will beat the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on March 1 (like Beasley has also proclaimed). But give Beasley credit for backing his strong words with a 25-point effort to lead No. 22 KSU to an 84-75 upset of the second-ranked Jayhawks that led to the capacity crowd at Bramlage Coliseum flooding the court to celebrate the school's first home win against Kansas in 24 years. With the win, KSU improved to 15-4 overall, 5-0 in the Big 12. Kansas is 20-1, 5-1 in the Big 12. And don't forget, the rematch is March 1.

Notable performance from Wednesday: Sticking in the Big 12, Josh Carter sank 4-of-7 3-point attempts to finish with 19 points and 10 rebounds in No. 23 Texas A&M's 80-63 victory over 10th-ranked Texas. Carter was 5-of-11 from the field, 5-of-6 from the free throw line. The junior wing has now reached double-digits in points in 15 consecutive games while hitting at least one 3-pointer in 16 consecutive games.

Notable game scheduled for Thursday: Eric Gordon is hurt, which is bad news for Indiana because the 11th-ranked Hoosiers are at 13th-ranked Wisconsin. But the non-shooting wrist that was injured in Tuesday's practice isn't expected to keep the fabulous freshman sidelined, meaning Gordon will take the court and try to help IU avoid back-to-back losses. The Hoosiers are coming off Saturday's 68-63 loss to Connecticut and are 17-2 overall, 6-0 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is 16-3 overall, 6-1 in the Big Ten. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET.

Bruce Weber described Illinois as "the best 10-11 team in the country" following a victory against Northwestern on Sunday, which is kinda like claiming to be the smartest person in your GED class or the sanest person at Britney Spears' home. It's hilarious, really. But because I'm not the type of writer who takes quotes at face value, I decided to do a little research to see whether Illinois actually is the best 10-11 team in the country heading into its game Wednesday night at Michigan State.

As it stands, there are eight 10-11 teams -- Fresno State, Illinois, Iowa, Old Dominion, Rutgers, South Florida, Stetson and Tennessee State. Of that group, I think the crown of best 10-11 team belongs to either South Florida, Illinois, Iowa or Rutgers, but it's really close.

Here are the vital statistics ...

USF
• RPI: 120
• Best wins: Florida State and UAB
• Worst losses: Buffalo and Cleveland State

Illinois
• RPI: 123
• Best wins: Arizona State and Missouri
• Worst losses: Tennessee State and Penn State

Iowa
• RPI: 147
• Best wins: Michigan State and Michigan
• Worst losses: Louisiana-Monroe and Bradley

Rutgers
• RPI: 162
• Best wins: Pittsburgh and Villanova
• Worst losses: St. Peter's and Nebraska

So you tell me, America. Are the Illini really the best 10-11 team in the country? And even if they are, isn't it wild to think that only three years ago at this time they were the best 21-0 team in the country?

Southeast Missouri State used three OTs to win.

Tennessee's Chris Lofton sank a bunch of threes in a win.

Here's Wednesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Tuesday: Derek Wright finished with 43 points and Drake Reed added 29 in Austin Peay's 121-116 loss at Southeast Missouri State. That's right, Austin Peay got two great individual efforts and lost ... in triple-overtime. So no, it wasn't quite Baylor over Texas A&M in five OTs. But it wasn't bad for a midweek Ohio Valley Conference match-up.

Notable performance from Tuesday: Chris Lofton is starting to look a lot like Chris Lofton. The Tennessee senior sank 5-of-9 3-point attempts and finished with 23 points to lead the Vols to a 93-86 victory at Alabama that pushed Bruce Pearl's team to 18-2 overall, 5-1 in the SEC. Lofton is now 17-of-32 from 3-point range in his past three outings, which is must better than when he started the season by making just 3-of-17 3-point attempts in his first three outings.

Notable game scheduled for Wednesday: The match-up would be so much better if it were at Fifth Third Arena because the ovation would be off the charts. But Cincinnati at West Virginia is still must-see TV thanks to it being the first game Bob Huggins will coach against the school that unceremoniously removed him before the 2005-2006 season since said school unceremoniously removed him before the 2005-2006 season. Huggins compiled a 399-127 record in 16 years at Cincinnati, making him the winningest coach in school history. He was ultimately replaced by former assistant Mick Cronin, who is 20-30 at the helm heading into this contest. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

I'm updating the Projecting the Field and Projecting the Seeds right now.

It'll be up on the site in the morning.

But for the life of me I can't find 65 schools that deserve to make the field.

Honestly, it's insane. And though I've always believed it to be true, what this process has reminded me (this week particularly, for some reason) is that the NCAA Tournament DOES NOT need to be expanded. Sixty-five participants (31 league champions plus 34 at-large bids) is more than enough, proof being how I really can't decide on my final at-large team because none of them seem worthy of a berth.

To complete the bracket I'm picking between (in alphabetical order) ...

• Arkansas

• Boston College

• BYU

• Florida State

• Illinois State

• N.C. State

• Oregon

• Providence

• Seton Hall

• Villanova

Fine teams, every one of them.

But would any of those schools have a legitimate gripe if they didn't make the Field of 65?

Oklahoma State still can't win on the road.

Saint Mary's just can't win as a ranked team.

Here's Tuesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Monday: Oklahoma State has now dropped 17 consecutive road games, the latest coming by a 64-61 margin at Oklahoma. Blake Griffin and Taylor Griffin combined for 35 points and 10 rebounds to send the rival Cowboys to their fifth consecutive loss overall. It's the longest losing streak at OSU since a six-game skid in January 1987. The Cowboys are now 10-10. Oklahoma is 15-5.

Notable performance from Monday: Brandon Johnson got 25 points and four assists to lead San Diego to a 63-55 upset of 21st-ranked Saint Mary's just hours after the Gaels broke into the AP poll. The 6-foot junior made 9-of-15 shots -- including 3-of-5 3-point attempts -- to lead the Toreros to just their third win in school history over a ranked opponent. With the loss, Saint Mary's dropped to 17-3. It will drop out of the AP poll next Monday.

Notable game scheduled for Tuesday: Win or lose, Virginia Commonwealth will exit atop the CAA standings. Such is the advantage of having a two-game lead in the league standings. But if the Rams (15-4, 8-1 in the CAA) can go to George Mason (14-6, 6-3 in the CAA) and escape with a victory then they'll pretty much clinch the league title barring some sort of collapse because these two schools only play once this season, meaning VCU would own a three-game lead over the perceived second-best team in the league, plus the head-to-head tie-breaker. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

The top 15 schools in the AP poll, coaches poll and my poll are the same.

Just in a slightly different order.

But after that everything gets crazy. And honestly, there's not a whole lot of difference between No. 16 (Connecticut, in my rankings) and No. 26 (UConn, in my rankings) these days. A reasonable person could rank Florida (though I didn't) or Southern California (like I did). So there's no reason to debate personal preference when the bodies of work are similar, which is why I'm going to instead focus the Poll Attacks on the Others Receiving Votes and explain why certain teams shouldn't be getting any votes at all.

AP poll: Today I call out Scott Boatright and Taylor Zarzour, the two AP voters who placed Houston on their ballots despite it making no sense at all. The Cougars are 15-3, and that looks swell on paper. But their best victories are over Marist (yippie!), UTEP (hooray!) and an out-of-sorts Kentucky team (whoopee!).

Nine of Houston's wins are against teams outside the Top 200.

Twelve of Houston’s wins are against teams outside the Top 150.

Fourteen of Houston's wins are against teams outside the Top 100.

So it's obvious the Cougars (whose schedule is rated 203rd nationally) have really only played three quality opponents -- Arizona, UMass and Virginia Commonwealth -- and their record in those games is ... 0-3. Furthermore, the loss to Arizona came at home and by 14 points, and the wild thing is how Arizona still doesn't appear on the ballots of Boatright or Zarzour despite Arizona being 14-6 against the top-ranked schedule in the country with wins over Washington State, UNLV and Texas A&M and three of the losses coming at No. 1 Memphis, at No. 2 Kansas and at No. 14 Stanford.

Where would Houston be with Arizona's schedule?

My guess: 11-9, at best.

Coaches poll: How is freaking Davidson getting votes again?

Did those wins over Western Carolina, Citadel and Charleston prove something?

Look, I don't mean to pick on Davidson. The Wildcats are a nice team with a great coach. But I'm not sure anything aggravates me more than Davidson receiving votes in the last week of January based on nothing other than it moving into its subpar conference and winning games that only show how Davidson is better than all the teams in the 14th-rated league in the country. The Wildcats could've proved themselves in early games against North Carolina, Duke, UCLA and N.C. State, but they lost all of those match-ups ... plus games at Western Michigan and Charlotte. Consequently, the Wildcats are 0-3 against the Top 25 and 0-4 against the Top 50 with eight of their 13 wins coming against teams ranked outside the Top 200.

In other words, Davidson is worse than Houston.

And you know how I feel about Houston!

Miami got a huge win.

Nick Calathes got a double-double.

Here's Monday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Sunday: If there's such a thing as a must-win game in January, Miami had one against Clemson. It was at home and a loss would've sent the Hurricanes to 1-4 in the ACC and further on their way to the NIT. Instead, Miami won 75-72 and snapped a three-game losing streak. So the Hurricanes are now 15-4 overall, 2-3 in the ACC while Clemson is 15-5 overall, 3-3 in the ACC.

Notable performance from Sunday: Nick Calathes nearly messed around and got a triple-double, finishing with 15 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in Florida's 86-64 victory over 14th-ranked Vanderbilt. It was the Gators' first win over a Top 50 opponent and Calathes' second-double-double this season. The 6-foot-6 freshman has scored at least 14 points in eight consecutive outings.

Notable game scheduled for Monday: Connecticut has strung a trio of nice wins -- against Marquette, at Cincinnati and at Indiana -- heading into this showdown with Louisville. The Huskies are 14-5 overall with three of the losses coming to teams appearing in the latest Top 25 (and one) rankings, specifically No. 1 Memphis, No. 8 Georgetown and No. 16 Notre Dame. Their other two losses were to Gonzaga and Providence. Meantime, Louisville is 15-5 and on a two-game winning streak. With a victory, the Cardinals will move into a tie for first in the win column in the Big East standings. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Is it possible to stop the Kansas-Nebraska series?

I know they play in the same league and all, but this is getting ridiculous.

The Jayhawks spent Saturday destroying Nebraska, which is what they always do to Cornhuskers. The final was 84-49, meaning Kansas has now beaten the Huskers by at least 20 points in each of the past six meetings. The other margins were 79-58, 92-39, 76-56, 69-48 and 96-54. We're reaching the point where Las Vegas will refuse to put lines on these games, kinda like it does when a Division I opponent plays a Division II opponent.

Anyway, the byproduct is that the two undefeated teams will remain undefeated.

Memphis beat Gonzaga.

Kansas beat Nebraska.

So expect those schools to again be No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings.

The rest of the top five should be Duke, North Carolina and UCLA, barring any more upsets.

Arizona shocked Washington State.

Kevin Love dominated in his home state.

Here's Friday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Thursday: Arizona used 23 points from Jerryd Bayless and hit 12 3-pointers as a team to hand sixth-ranked Washington State its second loss of the season. The Wildcats pulled away in the second half and won 76-64, leaving Washington State in a three-way tie for second in the Pac-10 standings behind UCLA. Speaking of the Bruins ...

Notable performance from Thursday: Kevin Love returned to his home state and stuck it to Oregon, finishing with 26 points in No. 8 UCLA's 80-75 win over the Ducks. The 6-foot-10 center made 8-of-11 field goal attempts (including 2-of-2 from 3-point range), and his 18 rebounds matched the total of Oregon's entire roster while setting a record for UCLA freshmen. Love's eight offensive boards were three more than Oregon had as a team.

Notable game scheduled for the weekend: Gonzaga-Memphis is getting most of the attention as the best non-league match-up on tap, but Connecticut-Indiana isn't bad either. The Huskies are 13-5 after winning two straight over Marquette and Cincinnati. The seventh-ranked Hoosiers are 17-1, having not lost since Nov. 24 while Eric Gordon averages 22.1 points per game. Tip-off is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

This is usually the spot to find What You Need to Know.

And it still is.

But for now all you need to know is Baylor beat Texas A&M in five overtimes.

Yep, five overtimes!

The final score was 116-110.

"I wish it would've been on national TV," Baylor coach Scott Drew said by phone early Thursday. "You would've enjoyed that game."

You think, Scott?

Because it wasn't on national TV most of the basketball world was reduced to following things via scoreboard ticker. So that's what the basketball world did, and the text messages started hitting my phone in the second overtime.

"Are you seeing this?," read one.

"Get me to College Station," read the next.

"Holy S---!" read another.

"Baylor is gonna run out of players," read another.

It was a wild game all-around, one in which five Baylor players fouled out. It was the longest game in Big 12 history, setting the Big 12 record for most points in a league game (Baylor's 116) and most combined points in a league game (226). Each team had a 30-point scorer (Baylor's Curtis Jerrells finished with 36 while Texas A&M's Bryan Davis had 30), nine players reached double-digits in points, there were 106 combined free throws and four players recorded at least 50 minutes on the court

Beyond that, it was a huge win for Baylor.

The Bears are now 16-2 overall, 4-0 in the Big 12.

This was their first victory as a ranked team since 1969.

"We had about 500 students waiting for us when we got back at 1:30 in the morning," Drew said, still excited despite the hour. "It was just crazy."

Baylor might be really good.

Or Baylor might be totally overrated.

It's reasonable to have contrasting opinions at this point. But we're going to learn everything we need to know about the Bears in an upcoming nine-game stretch that will show whether Scott Drew's team is worthy of its national ranking or merely the beneficiary of crafty scheduling. Baylor is 15-2 overall heading into Wednesday night's game at Texas A&M, and that sounds great on the surface. But 13 of those wins came at the expense of opponents outside the Top 100 at CollegeRPI.com, meaning the Bears have played just four Top 100 opponents, meaning the Bears are just 2-2 against Top 100 opponents.

In other words, there isn't much there.

But the level of competition is about to increase in a big way because eight of Baylor's next nine games are against Top 100 opponents and seven of the next nine are against Top 50 opponents. Between Jan. 23 and Feb. 23, the Bears will play Texas A&M (No. 41 in the RPI), Texas Tech (No. 70), Kansas (No. 3), Oklahoma State (No. 122) and Kansas State (No. 50) once each -- plus Texas (No. 12) and Oklahoma (No. 36) twice. Making things tougher, five of those nine games will be on the road. So this is a difficult stretch by any definition. But if the Bears are truly a Top 25 team they should be able to avoid a collapse.

Josh Young is back.

Kentucky basketball might be too.

Here's Wednesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Tuesday: Josh Young played for the first time in nearly two weeks, hit a key 3-pointer in overtime and led Drake to a 68-60 victory at Creighton that extended the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs' winning streak to a school-record 16 games. Drake held Creighton to just 34.5 percent shooting from the field and won as a ranked team for the first time in 33 years.

Notable performance from Tuesday: Patrick Patterson finished with 20 points and eight rebounds to help Kentucky notch its biggest win of the Billy Gillispie era, a 72-66 upset of No. 3 Tennessee. The freshman forward made 6-of-11 shots (and 8-of-9 free throws) in 39 minutes in an effort that was so impressive Gillispie used part of his postgame interview on national television to describe Patterson as a "star".

Notable game scheduled for Wednesday: Western Kentucky at New Orleans is a splendid match-up featuring a pair of 14-5 teams and two of the best players the Sun Belt has ever produced, namely Courtney Lee and Bo McCalebb. Lee is a 6-5 wing averaging 20.8 points for the Hilltoppers. McCalebb is a 6-0 guard averaging 22.3 points for the Privateers (and he's now the Sun Belt's all-time leading scorer). Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET.

Georgetown won in overtime.

D.J. Augustin didn't need overtime.

Here's Tuesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Monday: Georgetown got another scare at home, not unlike the Connecticut game from nine days earlier. But the ninth-ranked Hoyas managed to escape again, this time in overtime and by a 64-62 margin. Both teams combined for just one field goal in the extra period. And though Jonny Flynn had a shot at the buzzer for the win, the Hoyas were able to celebrate when the long 3-pointer rattled out.

Notable performance from Monday: D.J. Augustin finished with 26 points in Texas' 63-61 victory at Oklahoma State. The sophomore point guard made 7-of-16 shots, 9-of-10 free throw attempts and scored UT's final 10 points. He's now scored at least 16 points in 15 consecutive games as is widely recognized as the best in the nation at his position.

Notable game scheduled for Tuesday: Drake will play as a ranked team for the first time since the 1974-75 season when it visits Creighton. The No. 22 Bulldogs are 16-1 overall, 7-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference and winners of 15 consecutive games. But this could be their toughest test to date given how Creighton is 14-3 overall, 5-2 in the MVC and 10-1 at home. Tip-off is set for 8:05 p.m. ET.

Maryland is on one too many ballots.

Texas A&M is on way too many ballots.

As always, allow the Poll Attacks to explain why.

AP poll: One of the first things I do when the AP poll is released is go to the Others Receiving Votes category and see if any undeserving teams got a single point or two because there's usually a head-scratcher near the bottom. And this week is no exception, what with Maryland sitting there with one point.

Maryland?

Seriously?

I know Maryland's win at North Carolina was great and all, just a thrilling ending and a huge upset. But the reason it was a huge upset is because Maryland has been terrible this season, meaning you'd have to be crazy to think the Terps are a Top 25 team with a 12-7 record when their second best victory is against Wake Forest, when they possess losses to six unranked teams (including American) and when no other school in the Top 25 has more than four losses.

So yeah, Cormac Gordon (of the Staten Island Advance) is kinda crazy.

Or at least he votes that way.

Coaches poll: I like Texas A&M -- everything from the coaching staff to the players to the potential for great things. But there's a reason I dropped the Aggies completely out of my Top 25 (and one), and it's because there is nothing that has happened on the basketball court that suggests they should still be ranked.

The Aggies are ...

• 14-3 against a schedule ranked 150th.

• 1-2 against the top 50 and 2-3 against the top 100 at CollegeRPI.com.

• Losers of two straight (to Texas Tech and Kansas State) by an average of 18.0 points.

Does that sound like a Top 25 team?

Of course it doesn't.

But the Aggies are still 16th -- five spots ahead of a Stanford team that is ...

• 15-3 against a schedule ranked 82nd.

• 2-2 against the top 50 and 5-3 against the top 100 at CollegeRPI.com.

• Winners of two straight (over Arizona and Arizona State) by an average of 9.5 points.

Washington State beat Oregon.

Eric Gordon beat Penn State's zone.

Here's Monday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Sunday: Washington State still hadn't managed to snap a losing streak to Oregon despite all of Tony Bennett's recent success. But that changed with a 69-60 victory that gave the Cougars their first win over the Ducks since 2001. The effort snapped a losing streak that had stretched 13 games and kept WSU in a three-way tie for first in the Pac-10 with UCLA and Arizona State. Derrick Low finished with 27 points, and the Cougars' 16-1 record is the best start since the 1948-49 team opened 18-1. WSU can match that mark this week with wins at Arizona and Arizona State.

Notable performance from Sunday: If you're planning to play zone against Indiana be prepared to extend it 30 feet. Otherwise, there's a good chance Eric Gordon will simply shoot over it like he did in the Hoosiers' 81-65 victory against Penn State. The 6-foot-4 freshman was 5-of-11 from 3-point range, 8-of-17 from the field overall. He finished with 25 points, six rebounds and three assists to help IU win its 27th consecutive home game.

Notable game scheduled for Monday: It's doubtful we'll get the triple-overtime thriller we had last year (if only because Kevin Durant is no longer around), but Texas at Oklahoma State from Gallagher-Iba Arena is still an interesting contest. The Longhorns are 14-3 with losses to Michigan State, Wisconsin and Missouri after starting the season 11-0. Oklahoma State is 10-7 and in desperate need of a marquee win to settle a fan base that is growing impatient since a five-game winning streak has been snapped by back-to-back losses to Baylor and Iowa State. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET.

LOS ANGELES -- Trying to update the Top 25 (and one) should make for a fun Sunday given all the upsets, and we still need to see what Washington State does against Oregon. But assuming the Cougars win I'm pretty sure my top five will look like this:

1. Memphis
2. Kansas
3. Tennessee
4. Washington State
5. Duke

LOS ANGELES -- An examination of the way writers voted last week makes it pretty obvious that as long as Memphis beats Southern Miss late Saturday, the Tigers will move into the top spot of Monday's Associated Press poll thanks to North Carolina's loss to Maryland.

The only other candidate is Kansas (which plays Missouri late Saturday).

But considering Memphis had 24 first-place votes last week compared to Kansas' three, it would take a major change in thinking for the Jayhawks to jump the Tigers, particularly given how Memphis was No. 2 on 34 of the 45 ballots that had North Carolina No. 1.

In other words, if the writers who had Memphis No. 1 keep Memphis No. 1, and the writers who had Memphis No. 2 on ballots where North Carolina was No. 1 advance Memphis to No. 1, then Memphis will have 58 first-place votes compared to Kansas' 14, making John Calipari's Tigers the top-ranked team in the country by a wide margin.

As long as they beat Southern Miss, of course.

If you're wondering, Memphis is a 23-point favorite.

So if the Tigers lose at home it'll be a choke job for the ages.

LOS ANGELES -- Cleveland State got a huge win.

Wayne Chism had a huge performance.

Here's Friday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Thursday: Somehow, 12th-ranked Butler is now two games back in the loss column in the Horizon League following a 56-52 loss to Cleveland State that doubled as CSU's first-ever regular-season victory over a Top 25 opponent. The Vikings entered 1-26 in games against ranked opponents, with their lone win coming against No. 16 Indiana in the 1986 NCAA Tournament. Cedric Jackson and J'Nathan Bullock each finished with 14 points.

Notable performance from Thursday: A.J. Ogilvy might be the better player and pro prospect, but Wayne Chism tagged him with an 18-point, 18-rebound effort in No. 6 Tennessee's 80-60 victory over 16th-ranked Vanderbilt. A 6-foot-9 sophomore, Chism matched in this single game the number of rebounds he tallied in the entire month of December while making 8-of-13 field goal attempts. The only negative? He was 0-of-4 from the free throw line. But I suppose that can be overlooked given how Chism grabbed as many offensive boards (seven) as all five Vandy starters combined.

Notable game scheduled for the weekend: I'm here in Los Angeles for Saturday's showdown between Southern California and UCLA that will provide the first of at least two matchups between freshmen stars O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love. It'll feature a sold-out crowd at Pauley Pavilion, and though the Trojans are clear underdogs, this is a crucial contest for Tim Floyd. If he loses, his star-studded team will drop to 1-4 in the Pac-10. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Bob Knight reached another milestone.

Temple reached out and smacked Xavier.

Here's Thursday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Wednesday: After failing to record his milestone 900th victory last weekend at Oklahoma State, Texas Tech's Bob Knight did it with a 68-53 blowout of 10th-ranked Texas A&M. Naturally, he was less than enthused. "This thing never crossed my mind," Knight told reporters afterward. "I could care less about this. I'm just happy to get it over with." For the record, I'm happy he got it over with, too. And now if Eddie Sutton can just get his 800th victory everything will be right in the college basketball world.

Notable performance from Wednesday: Dionte Christmas scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to help Temple cruise to a 78-59 victory against No. 20 Xavier. The junior guard hit 9 of 12 shots and added six rebounds and five assists for the Owls, who handed Xavier its second blowout loss of the season. Temple is now 7-8 while Xavier is 14-4. Christmas has reached double figures in every game.

Notable game scheduled for Thursday: Another night, another big SEC showdown -- this time one that features in-state rivals Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Tennessee is 14-1 and ranked sixth while Vanderbilt is 16-1 and ranked 16th. The two schools will play at Thompson-Boling Arena, where UT has a 24-game winning streak. This will be the first meeting in which both schools have been ranked since 1968. Tennessee is coming off an 80-56 victory at South Carolina. Vanderbilt is coming off a 79-73 double-overtime loss at Kentucky. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

OXFORD, Miss. -- I'm catching a flight Thursday afternoon for Los Angeles in anticipation of Saturday's USC-UCLA game that will double as the first meeting of freshmen stars O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love. That should be fun (and you can see it exclusively on CBS!). But before heading west, I opted to drive south, where I'll be at Wednesday night's SEC showdown between Florida and Ole Miss here at the Tad Smith Coliseum.

No matter the outcome, we should learn a lot about both teams.

Well aware of what he was losing (which is to say everything), Billy Donovan put together a schedule designed to build confidence and stockpile wins, and it's worked brilliantly (evidence being that 15-2 record). But the reality is that here we are in the middle of January -- more than halfway through the regular season -- and the Gators' best victories are against Temple, Georgia Southern and Alabama. They've really only played two good teams (Ohio State and Florida State) and those contests resulted in double-digit losses. So if Florida loses for a third time by a large margin at Ole Miss, then it might be time to wonder whether this team is truly NCAA Tournament worthy, though for now the Gators should get the benefit of the doubt (back-to-back national titles buys the benefit of the doubt, case you didn't know).

As for Ole Miss, every coach I've spoken with whose team has played the Rebels (14-1) believes they are legitimate and that they've taken on the personality of Andy Kennedy. In fact, one assistant told me they remind him of a "Bob Huggins team on Red Bull" and added he doesn't expect them to flounder now that league play has begun. Regardless, when you're picked last in the SEC (which Ole Miss was) people tend to be skeptical until the evidence is such that it can't possibly be ignored any longer. So the Rebels still have some proving to do, and this seems like a good opportunity to further convince the masses.

Michigan State scored more than 36 points.

Luke Harangody scored more than any two Cincinnati players combined.

Here's Wednesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Tuesday: Michigan State rebounded from that embarrassing 43-36 loss at Iowa (36 points!) with a 66-60 victory over Ohio State. Drew Neitzel got 13 points, five rebounds and five assists in the victory that dropped OSU's record to 12-5 heading into Saturday's game at sixth-ranked Tennessee. Michigan State is 15-2 and ranked 11th nationally. The Spartans are off until Monday's game at Minnesota.

Notable performance from Tuesday: Harangody continued his splendid play, getting 25 points and seven rebounds in a 91-74 win over Cincinnati. The sophomore forward was 6-of-14 from the field and 13-of-15 from the free-throw line. It was his eighth game this season with at least 22 points. He's averaging 24.3 points the past four games (wins over West Virginia, UConn, Cincy and a loss at Marquette) and 19.3 points on the season.

Notable game scheduled for Wednesday: It's pretty wild that Drake is leading the Missouri Valley Conference, as I pointed out in Tuesday's column. But just as surprising is what's happening in the Colonial, where Delaware (8-7 overall, 5-0 in the CAA) is atop the league standings heading into this game at Virginia Commonwealth (11-4 overall, 4-1 in the CAA). The Fightin' Blue Hens were picked 10th in the CAA's preseason poll, primarily because they finished 5-23 last season. They started 2-5 this season but became a totally different team when transfers Marc Egerson (Georgetown) and Jim Ledsome (Nebraska) gained their eligibility before the Dec. 16 contest against Central Connecticut State. Delaware is 6-2 with Egerson and Ledsome in the lineup. Meantime, VCU has won eight of its past nine outings -- the only loss was at James Madison at the buzzer. The Rams are 7-0 at home this season and are now 20-3 in regular-season CAA games under second-year coach Anthony Grant.

Pitt still looks capable.

Kansas still looks invincible.

Here's Tuesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Monday: Let the record show that I'm finished expecting Pittsburgh to collapse just because Levance Fields and Mike Cook are sidelined with injuries. I mean, there's no way they can be as good without those two key players as they were going to be with those two key players. But that 69-60 victory over Georgetown is an indication that No. 15 Pitt will still be more than competitive as long as DeJuan Blair (15 points and nine rebounds) and Ronald Ramon (18 points and four assists) remain on the court, and if Jamie Dixon holds this together he'll be the easy pick for Big East Coach of the Year. As for Georgetown, is it time to question the fifth-ranked Hoyas? They've played just two ranked teams (Memphis and Pitt) and lost both games by comfortable margins, making their 13-2 record almost meaningless.

Notable performance from Monday: Darnell Jackson got 17 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 3 Kansas to an 85-55 blowout of Oklahoma. The senior forward has now grabbed at least eight boards in four consecutive outings while helping the Jayhawks to a 17-0 start. Meantime, OU's Blake Griffin suffered a knee injury not even five minutes after tip-off and did not return. So though it's likely the Sooners were losing this game no matter what, that unfortunate development certainly didn't make things easier.

Notable game scheduled for Tuesday: Ohio State and Michigan State are both coming off losses, which is one factor making this match-up more pressing than it would've been under normal circumstances. The Buckeyes spent Saturday losing at Purdue while Michigan State lost at Iowa, and now the perennial Big Ten powers are getting together at Breslin Center for a contest set to tip at 7 p.m. ET. OSU is 12-4. Michigan State is 14-2.

This week I provide some rules to rankings.

Feel free to print them, clip them and post them on your desk.

So then maybe next Monday the Poll Attacks won't be so obvious.

AP poll: The AP voters violated the No. 1 rule on my list of rules when ranking teams.

And yes, I do have a list.

Here's a portion of it:

1. Never drop a team for losing a tight game on the road to a higher ranked team.

2. Never drop a top-ranked team for winning, regardless of the margin.

3. Never vote for Patriot League teams with 7-5 records.

Now those aren't hard to follow, are they?

But the AP voters dropped Ole Miss from 16th to 18th on Monday, this despite the Rebels nearly winning at No. 6 Tennessee. Ultimately, Andy Kennedy's team lost 85-83 when Tyler Smith scored with 4.2 seconds remaining. But if anything that effort proved Ole Miss should be ranked higher (not lower), which is why I moved them from 17th to 16th in the Top 25 (and one).

Coaches poll: Jim Boylen seems like a good fellow and it'll be nice watching him return Utah basketball to prominence. But he's not quite there yet, which is why the Utes shouldn't be getting a vote on any coach's ballot.

They are 10-4 overall.

That's not a terrible record.

But there isn't a four-loss team in the AP or Coaches poll.

And if there was one it should probably be Ernie Kent's Oregon Ducks.

Oregon is 12-4 with notable wins against Kansas State, Arizona, California and Stanford. Compared to Utah's 10-4 record with just one notable win (against California), it's pretty clear that though the Utes are improving they still aren't deserving of their one Top 25 vote -- especially considering the Utes' losses are to a bad Washington team, a still-building-under-Kerry-Keating Santa Clara team, Gonzaga and ... wait for it ... Oregon!

Oregon burned Stanford at home.

Eric Gordon burned Illinois again.

Here's Monday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Sunday: The importance of homecourt advantage in the Pac-10 was on display as Oregon dealt Stanford a 71-66 loss at McArthur Court. The Ducks have now won three consecutive games since losing at Arizona State, and Tajuan Porter got 15 points off the bench to push Oregon's record to 12-4 heading into this upcoming road swing at Washington and Washington State. Stanford dropped to 13-3, though it's worth noting Brook Lopez finished with 26 points and six rebounds in the loss.

Notable performance from Sunday: Eric Gordon wasn't at his best, but the Indiana freshman still got 17 points, two assists and two rebounds in his much-anticipated game against Illinois that doubled as a 62-58 win for the Hoosiers. If you follow college basketball at all, you know Gordon once committed to Illinois before changing his mind and signing with Indiana. That's the reason Bruce Weber and Kelvin Sampson seem to hate shaking hands, and probably why the Illini have dropped five consecutive contests.

Notable game scheduled for Monday: Georgetown at Pittsburgh would be among the biggest games of the season if not for the fact that Levance Fields and Mike Cook won't be in uniform. Even so, this is still an opportunity for the Panthers to quiet the critics who believe they can't compete for a Big East title while two key players are injured, and it's the first real road test for the Hoyas since losing at Memphis last month. Pitt is 14-2. Georgetown is 13-1. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

They are great at center.

They are great at point guard.

They are great on the bench, always prepared.

And is there a safer pick to make the Final Four than UCLA?

I've been suggesting for weeks that there is not, and nothing I saw in Saturday's 81-74 victory over Washington State made me think otherwise. Honestly, I'm still not sure how Texas went into Pauley Pavilion last month and beat the Bruins. But just trust me when I tell you there won't be another team this season that manages to do the same -- not as long as Darren Collison (the great point guard) is running the break, Kevin Love (the great center) is grabbing the misses and Ben Howland (the great coach) is putting them in a position to do all that and more.

UCLA is now 16-1 and completely dominant.

The Bruins handled a consensus top five team in WSU with little problems, and the final margin was only close because the Cougars sank nine 3-pointers in the final six minutes. Without that barrage, this game was a blowout. And don't take that as a shot at Washington State. It's not. That's a great team Tony Bennett has assembled. It's just that UCLA seems to be operating at a level above, and when you get your bracket on Selection Sunday don't forget to place the Bruins in San Antonio, at least.

Washington State is still perfect.

Saint Louis couldn't be less perfect.

Here's Friday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Thursday: The problem with great weekend matchups in the Pac-10 is that they can get seriously screwed up by late Thursday matchups. It happens all the time. But fourth-ranked Washington State made sure such wouldn't be the case this week with a 73-58 victory at Southern California that will allow the Cougars to take a 14-0 record into Pauley Pavilion for Saturday's showdown with fifth-ranked UCLA.

Notable performance from Thursday: I usually go with an individual here. Next time I will. But I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight Saint Louis' record-setting performance in which the Billikens finished with just 20 points in a loss to George Washington. That's the fewest scored by any team in the shot clock era, and do you have any idea how many bad teams that includes? I mean, wow. Twenty points? Seriously. And it's not like this is 20 points against UCLA. It's 20 points against freakin' George Washington! And check out the postgame quote from Rick Majerus: "I thought GW played tough on defense," he said. "We had some issues." You don't say? Is it any wonder why Majerus was a paid analyst before he got back into coaching? Twenty points. Unbelievable.

Notable game scheduled for weekend: Illinois at Indiana might be the most interesting of all the games on tap, and it shouldn't even be a good game unless Eric Gordon recommits to the Illini and is cleared to participate immediately. Short of that, he'll be playing for the Hoosiers, the team he chose after originally committing to Bruce Weber's Illini. And if one kid is capable of completely altering the trajectory of a coach's career, Gordon might be that kid and Weber might be that coach. Anyway, tip-off is Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Should be nice cinema, if nothing else.

The response has been overwhelming to the story about Eastern Arizona College coach Tim Parmeter. Lots of e-mails, phone calls and even text messages. So I figured it's worth letting you know how Wednesday night's game unfolded, how Eastern Arizona beat Arizona Western 77-51 to improve to 14-1.

Of course, that's not what made the night special.

It didn't hurt, obviously.

But this was less about the victory and more about the halftime ceremony during which Eastern Arizona's Will Bynum was awarded the first annual Ryan Wrigley Parmeter Memorial Scholarship, named for Tim's 2-year-old son who died Dec. 29, 2006 when Tim's estranged wife and Ryan's mother, Paula Parmeter, carried out a murder-suicide at the family's home. Predictably, the ceremony was emotional and it ended with Tim having to step outside the gym for a moment before returning to the locker room to coach his team, which is ranked 20th in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association poll. But once Tim composed himself and had time to reflect he was pleased by how the night went, how the crowd provided two heartfelt standing ovations.

"The ceremony was really nice," Tim said late Wednesday night. "It was as close as possible to being what you would've hoped it could be."

Dozens of readers have asked about reaching Tim. To do that, you can e-mail him directly at eachoops@yahoo.com. For information about donating to the Ryan Wrigley Parmeter Memorial Scholarship Fund, call 1-800-445-2472 or visit the Eastern Arizona College website.

ChampSearch looks smart right about now.

Clemson, not so much.

Here's Thursday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Wednesday: Once upon a time (like three years ago), Tennessee was a bad basketball program and Ole Miss was worse. So it was amazing on some level to see the two SEC schools open SEC play in front of a sold-out crowd at Thompson-Boiling Arena and put on a fast-paced show that the Vols won 85-83 on Tyler Smith's bucket with 4.2 second remaining. Far as games go, this season won't offer many more-enjoyable ones, a matchup of the No. 7 and No. 16 teams in the nation that lived up to the billing. And somewhere, the guys at ChampSearch must've been smiling, well aware that by facilitating UT's hiring Bruce Pearl and Ole Miss' hiring of Andy Kennedy their established firm based in California helped revitalize two dormant programs that should now be the picks to win the SEC's Eastern and Western Divisions.

Notable performance from Wednesday: Leemire Goldwire got 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Charlotte to an 82-72 win at Clemson, and this is precisely what folks in the business like to call a "letdown" game. The 18th-ranked Tigers were coming off Sunday's in-the-bag win turned overtime-loss to top-ranked North Carolina, and Oliver Purnell's Tigers responded with a lackluster performance resulting in a loss to a team that had previously lost to Georgia Tech, Maryland, Monmouth, Hofstra and Tulsa.

Notable game scheduled for Thursday: Southern California finds itself in a strange situation, one that requires the Trojans to beat fourth-ranked Washington State or fall to 0-3 in the Pac-10. So no, the schedule-makers weren't kind to Tim Floyd, sending him to California and Stanford last week before this home game against Tony Bennett's Cougars that are off to a 13-0 start. USC is 9-5. Tip-off is set for 11 p.m. ET.

Florida got a road win.

D.J. White got a bunch of rebounds.

Here's Wednesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Tuesday: Winning at Alabama isn't a huge deal this season considering Clemson did it last week by 26 points. But any road victory for Florida's new-look roster should be celebrated at this point, particularly a road victory in which the Gators trailed by double-digits before rallying for a 90-83 win. Billy Donovan's team outscored Alabama 50-36 in the second half while shooting 56 percent from the field. Freshmen Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas combined for 40 points and Florida won its SEC opener for the seventh consecutive year, which is the league's longest active streak.

Notable performance from Tuesday: D.J. White became the first Indiana player since Alan Henderson (remember him?) to record a 20-20, getting 21 points and 22 rebounds in the Hoosiers' 78-64 win at Michigan. To put the effort in perspective, consider that White out-rebounded Michigan's entire starting line-up by a 22-16 margin and barely lost the battle on the offensive boards (Michigan got nine offensive rebounds as a team compared to White's eight). Kelvin Sampson said he was "proud of D.J." It's not difficult to see why.

Notable game scheduled for Wednesday: No. 16 Ole Miss is playing at No. 8 Tennessee in the SEC opener for both schools. The Rebels are 13-0 and led by freshman guard Chris Warren, who is averaging 15.2 points per game. The Vols are 12-1 and led by senior guard Chris Lofton, who is averaging 14.5 points per game. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET. A sellout crowd is expected to fill Thompson-Boiling Arena and sing Rocky Top roughly 81 times.

Robert Morris stung Boston College.

Michael Beasley tore through Savannah State.

Here's Tuesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Monday: There's no shame in losing to Kansas at home, even if the margin was 25 points. But Boston College isn't supposed to be dropping ACC tuneups to Robert Morris, though that's precisely what the Eagles did. The final score was 57-51. Tyrese Rice was held to just 10 points while missing 4-of-5 3-point attempts, and is the ACC down this season or what?

Notable performance from Monday: Michael Beasley scored 25 points in Kansas State's 85-25 victory against Savannah State, meaning the KSU freshman tied the Tigers' entire team in terms of offensive output. Beasley also got 10 rebounds and two blocks, and he did it all while the fans at Bramlage Coliseum ridiculed Savannah State for tallying just one field goal in the second half. "That was crazy," Beasley told reporters afterward. "That just was not good."

Notable game scheduled for Tuesday: Florida opens SEC play at Alabama, where the Gators will try to earn their first road victory. Billy Donovan's team is 13-2 overall yet 0-1 in true road games after losing at Ohio State. Meantime, Alabama is 11-4 with no great wins to go with losses to Belmont, Texas A&M, Georgetown and Clemson. Tipoff is at 9 p.m. ET.

Notre Dame unranked?

Xavier ahead of Arizona State?

This is the stuff that makes the Poll Attacks work.

AP poll: Miami got a lot of early hype by starting 12-0 after being picked last in the ACC, but the Hurricanes' loss to Winthrop seemed to suggest they were not worthy of a Top 25 ranking considering there were no marquee wins to offset that defeat. Then came Monday, and Miami appeared back in the AP poll, which isn't crazy, to be clear. But it's difficult not to look at unranked Notre Dame and wonder why anybody thinks Miami has better credentials.

Let's compare: Miami is 13-1 with wins over VCU, Providence and Mississippi State (on the road) while Notre Dame is 12-2 with wins over Kansas State, West Virginia and UConn. Both schools have one bad loss (Miami to Winthrop; Notre Dame to Georgia Tech). But because Notre Dame's three best wins are (in my opinion) all more impressive than any of Miami's best three wins, I find it baffling that the Irish are unranked while Miami moved back into the poll after an inconsequential victory over Penn, particularly when Notre Dame has won 10 consecutive games and is coming off wins over a West Virginia team that beat Marquette and a UConn team that played Memphis tight.

If you're wondering, I have Notre Dame 23rd in the Top 25 (and one).

I do not have Miami ranked.

Coaches poll: I like Xavier. And if you wanted to argue the Musketeers belong in the Top 25, you'd get no argument here, not with the way they've been dismantling folks. But it still seems odd that Sean Miller's team landed at 25th in the coaches poll while Herb Sendek's Arizona State Sun Devils only finished sixth in Others Receiving Votes considering what happened a few weeks ago.

In case you forgot ...

ASU 77, Xavier 55.

And though head-to-head matchups shouldn't normally determine rankings (I mean, nobody has Wright State over Butler, do they?), I do believe such a decisive victory can be used as a tiebreaker of sorts if the two schools being considered have similar resumes. Such is the case for Xavier and ASU, by the way. The Sun Devils are 12-2 with two good wins (over Xavier and Oregon) and one bad loss (to Illinois). The Musketeers are 12-3 with three good wins (over Indiana, Kansas State and Virginia) and one bad loss (to Miami-Ohio). So shouldn't ASU be ahead of Xavier given the similar bodies of work and the fact that ASU beat Xavier by 22 points?

I think so.

That's why I have the Sun Devils at No. 26.

And if I did a No. 27, yes, it would be Xavier.

North Carolina was clutch.

Wayne Ellington was the reason.

Here's Monday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Sunday: The top game scheduled for the weekend lived up to its billing as North Carolina and Clemson went back and forth before the Tar Heels won in overtime. The 90-88 victory pushed UNC to 15-0 and Clemson fans to tears once Wayne Ellington sank a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining. It was a clutch shot in a hostile environment, the kind that makes it reasonable for Ellington to be featured in two categories here. So keep reading ...

Notable performance from Sunday: Ellington's buzzer-beater was the biggest shot of the night, yet hardly unique. The sophomore guard was firing jumpers from the opening tip, finishing 11-of-19 from the field (including 5-of-8 from the 3-point line) en route to a 36-point effort that easily eclipsed his previous career high of 23 points. Ellington has reached double-figures in 14 of 15 games this season. He is the Tar Heels' second leading scorer behind Tyler Hansbrough.

Notable game scheduled for Monday: There really isn't a single interesting basketball game on tap. Consequently, my advice is to just watch football. LSU is playing Ohio State for the national title, case you hadn't heard. It's a big game -- one that will either make LSU fans wish Les Miles had left for Michigan or solidify Ohio State as the fraud so many believe it to be. So have fun with that and then we'll get back to hoops on Tuesday.

UCLA looked good.

Luke Harangody looked superhuman.

Here's Friday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Thursday: UCLA showed again why it is likely to occupy a Final Four spot. In a 76-67 win at Stanford, Ben Howland's team never seemed rattled and just did what it does -- which is control tempo, make shots and protect the ball. The Bruins were 27-of-54 from the field (50 percent) and 9-of-16 from 3-point range (56.3 percent). They only committed nine turnovers and were led by Josh Shipp's 21 points.

Notable performance from Thursday: Luke Harangody went wild on West Virginia, finishing with 29 points and 16 rebounds in Notre Dame's 69-56 victory. The sophomore forward made 11-of-16 shots while posting his sixth double-double of the season to lead the Irish (11-2) to their ninth consecutive win.

Notable game scheduled for the weekend: North Carolina probably has the stiffest test among the six remaining unbeatens with a Sunday game against Clemson. But another interesting matchup will come Saturday when Vanderbilt (14-0) hosts UMass (11-2) in a contest that will further legitimize one of the two. The Commodores are coming off a 76-58 win over Rice. The Minutemen are coming off a 95-89 win over Houston. So both were fine against schools from the city of Houston, and now it'll be interesting to see how they do against each other.

Billy Donovan wrapped his first non-league schedule post those two national titles Wednesday night with an 88-70 victory over High Point. So now Florida will take a 13-2 mark into SEC play, though even Donovan acknowledged the record could be misleading because his schedule "was not the strongest."

Which was by design, of course.

Because when you lose your top six players and replace them with a group of freshmen, it can be wise to take the transition as slowly as possible to ensure damaging losses don't pile up early before the new guys understand how to play with each other and at this level. That's why Donovan isn't apologizing for a non-league slate that ranks 307th nationally. And while it remains unclear how Nick Calathes, Chandler Parsons and Jai Lucas will adjust when the Gators open SEC play next week, Thursday morning seemed like as good a time as any to ask the coach what he's learned about his team so far.

"The one thing I know is that they enjoy playing," Donovan said by phone. "They have a strong desire to want to get better, and that's a good start for us."

Calathes has been better than expected overall, averaging 14.8 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per contest. However, the freshman was noticeably bad in the Florida's two losses, combining to miss 14-of-18 shots while scoring just 11 points in double-digit defeats to Florida State and Ohio State.

So that's an obvious point of concern.

Another is the depth in the paint and size in general.

"I would not classify us as a physically deep and strong team," Donovan said. "We look like a very mature high school team physically. But they've got good chemistry and they compete and they're working to get better."

Florida's next game is Tuesday at Alabama.

Five of the Gators' next eight contests are on the road.

Justin Johnson just needed one more 3-pointer.

Texas didn't really need A.J. Abrams against TCU.

Here's Thursday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Wednesday: There was a wild finish in the Indiana-Iowa game thanks to Justin Johnson hitting six 3-pointers in the final 1:56 to pull the Hawkeyes to within two points with less than five seconds remaining. Then Iowa got the ball back after Lance Stemler sank a free throw to extend Indiana's lead to 79-76. But somehow the Hawkeyes couldn't find Johnson (or anybody, actually) on their final possession, instead turning the ball over to allow the 11th-ranked Hoosiers to improve to 12-1. Eric Gordon had 25 points for IU. Johnson finished with 29 to lead Iowa.

Notable performance from Wednesday: Damion James more than made up for the absence of A.J. Abrams (injured foot), getting 29 points and 14 rebounds in Texas' 67-59 victory over TCU. A 6-foot-7 sophomore, James made 9-of-15 field goal attempts (including 3-of-5 3-point attempts) to help the 14th-ranked Longhorns snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 12-2.

Notable game scheduled for Thursday: Pac-10 play is getting off to a nice start. It's No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 24 Stanford inside Maples Pavilion, Kevin Love vs. Brook Lopez inside (and, at times, slightly outside) the paint. Love enters averaging 16.4 points and 10.2 rebounds while Lopez is averaging 19.3 points and 7.3 rebounds. Both are projected first-round NBA Draft picks whenever they opt to make themselves available. Tip-off is at 10:30 p.m. ET.

David Padgett wasn't much help.

Perhaps Louisville needs a Martin Zeno.

Here's Wednesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Tuesday: Not even the return of David Padgett could prevent Louisville's terrible season from getting worse. The new low point is a 58-57 home loss to Cincinnati -- a team that entered with a 5-7 record featuring losses to Belmont, Bowling Green and UAB. Louisville is now 9-4 and without a single good win heading into Saturday's game against Kentucky. If you care, Padgett had 13 points in 26 minutes in his first appearance since fracturing his kneecap Nov. 18.

Notable performance from Tuesday: Martin Zeno got 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Texas Tech's 79-77 victory over Lamar. He sank 9-of-16 shots from the field and all 10 free throws he attempted while giving Bob Knight career win No. 898. Assuming Texas beats UTEP this weekend (which isn't a safe assumption, by the way) Knight will have his first opportunity to reach 900 when the Red Raiders play at Oklahoma State on Jan. 12 in a game scheduled to be televised by CBS.

Notable game scheduled for Wednesday: Kent State is on a winning streak that will end at seven games unless the Golden Flashes pull off what would be the biggest upset of the season. In other words, they have to win at North Carolina, and the odds are not in their favor considering only two schools have played the top-ranked Tar Heels to a single-digit game. Kent State is 10-2 with wins over Illinois State and George Mason. North Carolina is 13-0 with wins over BYU and Ohio State. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. ET.

Michael Beasley slowed down.

Shan Foster did not.

Here's Tuesday morning's edition of What You Need To Know.

Notable game from Monday: Xavier had no problems with Kansas State or Michael Beasley. The Musketeers cruised to a 103-77 win at the U.S. Bank Arena thanks to seven players scoring in double-figures. Meantime, Beasley had the worst performance of his career. The freshman and future top five pick in the NBA Draft missed 6-of-7 shots and finished with just five points to go with 11 rebounds.

Notable performance from Monday: Shan Foster kept knocking down 3-pointers, sinking five more in Vanderbilt's 97-73 victory over Iona. The senior wing is now 53-of-101 from behind the arc this season, meaning he's making 52.5 percent of his attempts while averaging 20.1 points per contest for the undefeated and 15th-ranked Commodores.

Notable game scheduled for Tuesday: Clemson rebounded nicely from that loss to Ole Miss with a 78-45 victory over Samford this past weekend that improved its record to 11-1. Now the Tigers are in Tuscaloosa for a 4:30 p.m. ET tip-off against Alabama, and it'll be their fourth game against an SEC opponent this season. Clemson beat Mississippi State and South Carolina before losing to Ole Miss. Alabama has not played an ACC opponent, but the Crimson Tide are 10-3 overall and on a six-game winning streak.