Did pretty well at this one, though I'd forgotten all about the Mike Davis Era at Indiana.

While UConn is at its scholarship limit of 13, don’t be shocked to see another slot or two open up over the coming weeks via transfer, etc. The Huskies are still in pursuit of some of the top Class of 2010 recruits in the country, but like their competitors on the recruiting trail (Kentucky, Kansas, Texas, Syracuse, Florida, etc.) they are at the whim of the decisions of a bunch of 17, 18-year-old kids. Once one major recruit (Brandon Knight?) makes his decision, the dominos will all start to fall over the next month.

So what’s UConn’s sales pitch to elite recruits? Well, here’s a good one: since Ray Allen in 1993-94, there have been (by my count) 17 players who started right off the bat as freshmen at UConn. Of those 17, 11 wound up being NBA draft picks, and many emerged as NBA stars. And that list doesn’t even include Ben Gordon, who didn’t start for most of his freshman season despite being the team’s second-leading scorer (12.6 per game). The others not on the list: Kevin Freeman, Ajou Deng, Taliek Brown, Rashad Anderson and Jeff Adrien.

Translation: if you come to UConn and play immediately, there’s a great chance you’ll wind up making lots of money in the NBA one day.

And there are definitely minutes to be had next season for the Huskies. Starter’s minutes. Incoming frosh Roscoe Smith could certainly be one. Can UConn land another?

***Totally unrelated, but here’s a feature from today’s Register about New Haven’s Keith Cothran, who’ll lead URI into action against North Carolina tomorrow night in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Nice story (whether well-written or not) about a nice kid who’s overcome a lot and has truly used college basketball as a ticket to an education and a better life.

Some quotes from Tyler Olander, who verbally committed to UConn at about 2:30 p.m. today:

"I’m very excited, I can’t wait to start. It’s like a dream come true growing up."

Olander, who grew up and still lives about five miles from the UConn campus, said he recalls shooting hoops in his driveway at age 7 with his brother, Ryan, dreaming about hitting a game-winning shot for UConn.

"Right now, it doesn't even feel like it's real," he said.

His favorite UConn player was Emeka Okafor, and he remembers "really admiring him, hearing a lot about his work ethic, and wanting to be just like him."

(Here's the full story on Olander's committment.)

Among the many suitors for Olander were Virginia, Wake Forest, Florida, Providence and URI.

He said he talked to Jim Calhoun this afternoon and Calhoun said he was "excited to have me on board and can’t wait to get things started."

Olander is 6-foot-9, 220 pounds and considers himself a "face-up four." His coach at E.O. Smith, Ron Pires, said he can put the ball on the floor, pass well and shoot the 3. Olander, in fact, was one of E.O. Smith's key press-breakers this season.

His main area for improvement, both Olander and Pires admit, is that he needs to get stronger. Olander won't turn 18 until July.

Olander enrolled at Worcester Academy last summer but left the school after just a couple of months. He returned to E.O. Smith and didn't have to sit out any games as a transfer, since he had broken his thumb at Worcester and never played (or practiced) with the team.

" I just didn’t like it up there," he said of Worcester Acadmey. "That really played into my decision. I didn’t like being away from home. At UConn, I’ll be away from home enough, but I'll still be right there."

Of course, playing so close to home can add some pressure, as well.

"A little bit, yeah," he admitted. "But I’m not going to consider it pressure, but take it as motivation to work harder and that nothing’s going to be handed to me."

Tyler Olander, a 6-9 power forward from Mansfield who attends E.O. Smith High, has committed to UConn, per scout.com.

Olander, who transferred to E.O. Smith (right at the foot of the UConn campus) from Worcester Academy last fall, is a good athlete who can also shoot from distance. He made an unofficial visit to UConn to take in the Huskies' win over Texas on Jan. 23.

It's interesting that the Huskies have gone local to find a big man who can shoot (something they very much need). UConn hasn't had great results with local kids in the recent future, with Doug Wiggins being the latest example.

However, the Huskies have also missed on a couple of kids from the area over the last few years -- Farmington's Tim Abromaitis, who was one of the Big East's leading scorers this season at Notre Dame, and Jordan Williams, who just finished a terrific freshman season at Maryland.

More to come ...

Here's a somewhat emotional Jerome Dyson, talking about the end of his UConn career following last night's NIT loss to Virginia Tech.

And here's Jim Calhoun talking about the end of the Huskies' season. He seemed even more emotional in the postgame presser.

Funny thing: as the media filed into the interview room after the game, Calhoun was already sitting at the podium. That was a rarity: it normally takes the coach a good 15-20 minutes (at least) to get to the interview room, where the media is usually awaiting him. But he simply didn't have much to say to his team after the game -- which was a good thing.

"A lot of times I'll come in (the locker room), we'll lose a tough game, and I'll say, 'I don't feel bad for you, because you caused the problems yourselves.' They didn't cause the problems themselves tonight."

A fitting ending? Yes, to a great degree: the bad turnover, the clutch shot by the opponent, the missed shots in the closing seconds.

All the ingredients that have marked this disappointing season for UConn were on display in the final minute of its crushing, 65-63 second-round National Invitational Tournament loss to Virginia Tech tonight at Cassell Coliseum. Everything, that is, but the Huskies' effort.

UConn's heart and hustle, questionable too many times in too many losses this season, was unquestioned in this one. The Huskies played hard, played with passion, and played well enough to advance to the tournament's quarterfinals. They simply fell a bit short, and it will instead be the Hokies playing Rhode Island on Wednesday night.

Gotta admit, I was looking forward to a UConn-URI tilt on Wednesday at the Ryan Center. So was Jim Calhoun.

"If we hadn't played well tonight, I would have said it was time to bring the curtain down," Calhoun said. "It wasn't time to bring the curtain down. We got it. We didn't make some of the plays I would have liked to see us make, but we really got it tonight. It's unfortunate we couldn't have gotten a little finalization in the end."

The Huskies finish 18-16. More tellingly, they wind up 1-8 in games decided by five points or less.

"That was exactly what happened all season, pretty much every other game," senior Gavin Edwards said of the tight loss.

Added Kemba Walker: "It was just like a jinx or something. That's how it's been for the whole season."

UConn took a 52-51 lead on an Edwards stickback with 8 minutes, 17 seconds to play and didn't trail again until the closing seconds. A pair of free throws by Victor Davila with 49.3 seconds left brought Tech to within a point (63-62), and with 22.4 ticks left, Jerome Dyson had a pass tipped, collected the loose ball but was whistled for a backcourt violation.

"He got knocked out of bounds," said Calhoun. "He ended up underneath the scorer's table."

Added Dyson: I definitely did (get bumped). He hit the ball, the ball goes back, (the referee) calls backcourt. I didn't even hear the whistle blow until the ball went out of bounds, so … I don't have much to say."

Tech came down and quickly got it to red-hot Dorenzo Hudson, who buried a 17-footer off a screen to give the Hokies a 64-63 lead with 14.1 seconds left.

UConn called a timeout, and as the players returned to the floor, "Enter Sandman" blared on the p.a. system. Off to never, never land, indeed ... Walker took the ball to about 12 feet and had his shot blocked by Jeff Allen. He grabbed the loose ball but, instead of putting up a shot, passed to Edwards – who missed a point-blank shot.

"I was going to go up, but a guy stepped in front of me so I threw it to Gavin," said Walker. "Unfortunately, it didn't go in."

Said Edwards: "I thought he was going to shoot it."

Terrell Bell grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first free throw, made the second, Walker's three-quarter court shot fell way short, and UConn's season was over.

"It's a very hard game for me, far and away the hardest (of the season)," said Calhoun. "(It's) an NIT game in Blacksburg, Va., that the nation's not going to care about. But I care about it greatly, because they got it tonight. We, as a team, got it. That's the best opportunity I remember us having at the end of a game in one of these close games."

Virginia Tech improved to 25-8, matching a school record for wins in a season. ACC scoring leader Malcolm Delaney was held to just six points on 2-for-14 shooting, but Hudson picked up the slack with a game-high 27 points – 17 of them in the latter half on 7-for-10 shooting.

When not holding Delaney in check, Walker led the Huskies with 18 points. In their final games at UConn, Dyson had 15 points, Edwards 10 and Stanley Robinson nine.

When the dust had settled, Calhoun was asked about the status of the program and what the future holds.

"Right now, the only future I have is going into that locker room and let them know how I feel about them," he said. "(I'll tell them), 'If you do that every night the rest of your life, be it in basketball or otherwise, you're going to be just fine'."

***Both Calhoun and Tech coach Seth Greenberg were hit with technical fouls. Greenberg's came less than six minutes into the game after yelling at the officials. Calhoun's came just under four minutes into the latter half, after Robinson was called for an elbow while grabbing a rebound. The officials huddled around the monitor to determine whether it was a flagrant foul and repeatedly asked Calhoun to leave the area. He didn't, and referee Doug Shows T'd him up.

***The vocal crowd of 6,983 wanted a technical on Ater Majok late in the first half. After Dyson had fouled Delaney and Delaney lay on the floor, it appeared Majok kicked Delaney – perhaps inadvertently – in the head. The refs didn't see it, but the crowed booed Majok each time he touched the ball, a la Ralph Sampson at Boston Garden in the 1986 NBA Finals, the rest of the way – even in the halftime layup drills.

***Davila was a 50.8 percent foul-shooter this season, but swished 4-of-4 over the final two minutes, barely grazing net on each shot.

***Final words from Robinson and Dyson, both of whom could hear their names selected in June's NBA Draft.

"Overall, I'll just say I'm happy I played with these guys," said Sticks. "I'm glad I came to UConn and stayed here all four years."

Dyson: "It's a little sad. The season had so many ups and downs. At times, we played like we're one of the best teams in the country, and at times we played like we shouldn't even be in the NIT. It hurts to know the potential that we had here and the efforts we made in some games weren't our best – and if we had, the season would have been a lot different.

"It's hard to put into words. The four years I've been here have been great. I owe coach a lot. He's been with me every step of the way, when he could have just given up on me. I'm just blessed and happy I had the opportunity to play here."

Does Dyson feel he's hurt his NBA stock with his end-of-the-season slump?

"They'll have a lot of opportunities to see me. There will be a lot of workouts and camps. I just have to get back on top of my game. I felt like the last two games, I was playing well. The shots felt good."

***Highly, highly doubtful, but you never know -- this could have been Walker's last game in a UConn uniform, too.

"I don't know yet," Walker said when asked if he's definitely coming back next season. "I'm leaving that up to coach. We'll talk about it soon, I'm pretty sure. He'll let me know."

Can't imagine how Walker doesn't return to Storrs next season.

There is a local connection on Virginia Tech: Allan Chaney, who lived in New London for three years, is a red-shirt sophomore.

Chaney is from Baltimore but moved to New London as a teen and played three years at New London High. He went off to play for Billy Donovan at Florida, but apparently had a miserable time and transferred to Tech to join his good friend, fellow Baltimore native Malcolm Delaney.

***Entertaining first half. UConn's got 11 offensive rebounds but eight turnovers, several of which helped turn a 12-point lead with 7:07 to go in the half to five (35-30) here at the break, following JT Thompson's 3-pointer at the buzzer (just the third trey of his career).

Tech coach Seth Greenberg got a technical foul for yelling at the refs less than six minutes into the game. Hokie fans wanted a tech on Ater Majok, after Jerome Dyson was called for a foul and it appeared Majok may have stepped on a VT player on the ground. I didn't see it, to be honest.

Tech had seven turnovers in the first 13 minutes but none over the last seven. ACC leading scorer Delaney is 0-for-6 with exactly one point, as Kemba Walker has done a nice job guarding him.

So here's what you do in Blacksburg (actually, Christianburg, about five miles away) on a Monday afternoon: sit in your hotel room and watch 'The Sixth Sense', then 'Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo.'

Ugh.

Couldn't get to Cassell Coliseum fast enough -- even if it is for an NIT game. The Huskies had a couple of good practices over the past two days -- Stanley Robinson in particular, I'm told. Kemba Walker hasn't been able to get it going in practice lately, for whatever reason. Maybe watching his friends on TV in the Big Dance has him a bit down.

Looks like a decent crowd tonight that will look better on TV. Hardly anybody in the upper rows, but enough in the lower ones to make it seem OK on ESPN. Writers here are expecting about 7,000 (building seats 9,847). They only got about 4,500 for Quinnipiac (about 5,200 announced).

The Huskies fly out tonight, but assistant Patrick Sellers will hang back and fly out of Roanoke tomorrow on a recruiting trip. Wouldn't tell me where -- or who.

Talk later ...

Per the Virginia Tech media guide:

The answer leads all the way back to 1896 when Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College changed its name to Virginia Polytechnic Institute. With the change came the necessity for writing a new cheer and a contest for such a purpose was held by the student body.

Senior O.M. Stull won first prize for his "Hokie" yell (Old Hokie Cheer below) which is still used today. Later, when asked if "Hokie" had any special meaning, Stull explained the word was solely the product of his imagination and was used only as an attention-getter for his yell. It soon became a nickname for all Tech teams and for those people loyal to Tech athletics.

The official university school colors - Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange - also were introduced in 1896. The colors were chosen by a committee because they made a 'unique combination' not worn elsewhere at the time. The official definition of "hokie" is "a loyal Virginia Tech Fan".

There ya have it.

Greetings from Blacksburg, Va. ... we think.

"When I come here, I can't tell the difference," Jim Calhoun quipped. "One's West (Virginia), the other's Virginia, but they're both Virginia."

Yes, Virginia. The Huskies face Virginia Tech in a second-round NIT game tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Calhoun waxed about the current goings-on in that other tournament, which is chock full of upsets and early Big East ousters.

"Does it speak to a 96-team field? Or does it speak to the (idea) of a 32-team field?" Calhoun asked, rhetorically. "The bottom line is, if you put the two tournaments together, you could find a team in this tournament that could possibly get to the Final Four, the way things are breaking. I think it speaks to what everybody keeps talking about in college basketball. This gives us a chance … in what appears to be a wide-open year for college basketball, that maybe No. 79 is very comparable to No. 38 … or even No. 15. No. 1, in Kansas's case."

Calhoun was asked about his fellow conference brethren's struggles.

"Obviously it's disappointing, because I think the league has shown against outside competition all year how good it can be. You probably will never know, but you'll be able to speculate. Georgetown, for example, those four games in a row (at the Big East tournament) can't be good for you. It can't be for (Austin) Freeman, for example, who's on new medication for diabetes."

"My other theory – it sounds like an excuse, I don't think it is, because we're not involved in the NCAA tournament – but, there is a wear-down effect. When Marquette lost … if they had won … how many times can you have somebody make a shot (to win)? The kid (Lazar) Hayward's shot looked like it was going in and I said, 'They're going to win 14 of these games!'"

Jerome Dyson concurred: "It's crazy, to have so many teams already out. Like coach was saying, we really beat each other up during the season and really exert so much just trying to get through the season … it really takes a lot out of us."

Calhoun believes an ideal league has 12 teams -- four top 25-level teams, four others that could make the NCAA tourney, and four weaker sisters "you can feast on."

And so, it's Huskies vs. Hokies tomorrow night at Cassell Coliseum. Winner faces the winner of tomorrow night's Nevada-Rhode Island game, on Wednesday night. Nevada would be in Storrs; URI in Kingston, URI. Winner of that goes to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden, "which would really be something special, I think," Calhoun said.

Honestly, it appears Calhoun is enjoying this opportunity as much -- if not more -- than some of UConn's players. Don't get me wrong, he lives to play in the NCAA tourney. But Calhoun seems to be in a good place right now.

"At the end of it all, when they start to rank and look at teams, all of a sudden you're sitting on the top of a very good 32-team field, you can make a case maybe you're the 20th best team in the country. There's nothing wrong with that in a year in which, at times, certainly was very disappointing. We don't want to end up disappointed. The one thing we want to do is leave everything we have on the floor (tonight)."

***It was 20 years ago today ...

Tate George's game-winning shot, off Scott Burrell's long inbounds pass, to beat Clemson in the Sweet 16 at the Meadowlands.

"That was still one of the great shots in college basketball," Calhoun said. "People say, 'how do you do it?' Well, you run home run one, which means one second … and then you get a professional pitcher, and the 21st draft choice that year, throw him the ball and have him turn and shoot the ball. And make sure the guy at the Meadowlands is an eastern guy, who truly appreciates what the east can do. It's one of the more special moments in NCAA tournament history and, obviously, our history."

***Kemba Walker, not Dyson, will get the honor of guarding ACC scoring leader Malcolm Delaney tonight -- at least to start the game.

"I know he's the leading scorer in the ACC. That's it. I know he can score the ball. That's it. I'll try my best to contain him. I'm up for the challenge."

***Donnell Beverly has practiced with the team the past two games and is cleared to play after missing last week's Northeastern game with a bone bruise in his right knee.

***Music quiz: What Stones album was "Sweet Virginia" on?

UConn will face Virginia Tech in the NIT Second Round on Monday, March 22 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The game will be played at Virginia Tech.

He was 6-for-26 from the floor in his prior three games, and 1-for-8 two minutes into the second half tonight. That adds up to 7-for-34 in a 3 1/2-game stretch for Jerome Dyson.

Then, out of nowhere, Jerome got his groove back. Here's how:

***With 7:13 left, he hit a lefty driving bank shot.

***After Northeastern went up by six (54-48), Dyson hit a floater with 5:11 to play.

***Trailing by five again, Dyson hit an elbow jumper with 3:42 remaining.

***Northeastern's Chaisson Allen countered with a baseline jumper, but Dyson followed with a 3-pointer with 3:42 left to get UConn back to within two.

***Dyson tried an alley-oop pass to Stanley Robinson, which the senior forward bobbled. But Robinson retained possession and went up for the layup to tie it.

***With 1:12 left, Northeastern's Manny Adako missed a running hook shot, and with 53.6 ticks left, Alwayne Bigby was called for a blocking foul and Dyson hit both free throws.

Surprisingly, those would be the final two points of the game. Northeastern leading scorer Matt Janning missed a couple of decent looks down the stretch – a corner 3-pointer with 41 seconds left and a running bank shot with :13.3 to play – and UConn was able to survive Kemba Walker's two missed front ends of 1-and-1's to score the narrow win. Baptiste Bataille's good look at a 3-pointer at the buzzer rattled in and out to seal the deal.

Dyson hit his final five shots and scored 11 of UConn's final 13 points.

"I couldn't let it end like that," shrugged Dyson, a senior who hit his final five shots. "The coaches were telling me the whole time they need me to shoot the ball and get to the middle."

"Jerome Dyson stepped up and made some big shots, exactly when his team needed it," said Northeastern coach Bill Coen. "That's what great players do, and he certainly is a great player."

Dyson finished with a game-high 18 points. After his clunkers over the prior couple of weeks, Dyson had been criticized publicly in the media, on Internet message boards, etc., that he didn't play with enough heart. Calhoun scoffed at that notion.

"If they question his technique, if they question how hard he works at his game, how skilled he is at this particular point – they have a right to say that," said the coach. "I've said it to him 1,000 times over. But if anybody questions his heart during his four-year career, you're barking up the wrong tree. You really are. I've questioned the fact that he doesn't get himself as ready as he should all the time – and I'm comparing him to Ben Gordon's 500 jump shots every single night, Emeka, Caron, some of those kind of guys. But I've never questioned his tick-tock."

Calhoun seemed to indicate that Dyson heard some heckling from the home crowd on Tuesday.

"I think when he got out there early, there were a couple of things being said to him by some people that he heard, and he came in pretty inspired."

Whether or not there were catcalls or criticism in the media, Dyson was oblivious.

"I don't pay attention to that stuff," he said. "They're going to like you when you're up and hate you when you're down, so I'm not really paying attention to them. I'm just trying to help the team win."

Calhoun waxed about Dyson's awful performance a week earlier in a Big East tourney loss to St. John's (six points, nine turnovers).

"I honestly thought that he tried so hard during the St. John's game, that he couldn't play. I've never seen him try harder than what he did in the St. John's game, and everything he touched turned into a layup. Stolen. You never see him get picked three times in a row going to the hole, that never happens to him. I mean, he'll throw it away. Trust me, he'll throw it away. He'll turn it over – he could open a bakery, no question about that. But I would never question his heart. I've questioned his focus, questioned the abilities that he has that he needs to utilize them more … but never his heart."

Said Dyson: "It kind of felt like that against St. John's. I was trying to get it going, and that's what caused a lot of my turnovers. Today ... I was able to turn the corner."

***Robinson was UConn's only other player in double figures, with 14. Gavin Edwards, making just his fourth start of the season (and career) and first since Nov. 17, and Alex Oriakhi (all in the first half) had eight apiece. Walker struggled through a 1-for-9 shooting night and had just five points.

Janning (17 points) led four Northeastern players in double figures.

***Oh, I won the bet among beat writers in coming closest to guessing the attendance. I guessed 6,100. The final tally: 5,571. Obviously, 'Price is Right' rules about not going over the actual retail price didn't apply.

"Thank God it was at home, in many ways," said Calhoun. "I remember there were 3,800 people here a couple of years ago when we played South Carolina. Tonight, we had 5,500 people ..."

Huskies lead at the break, 34-26. UConn's Huskies, that is.

Gavin Edwards started for just the fourth time this season, and the first since Nov. 17 vs. Hofstra. And why not, really?

There's a vocal contingent of about 250 Northeastern fans in the house. Total attendance? Remains to be seen, but I predicted 6,100 yesterday in a pool among beat writers and I'd say I've got a good chance to win.

However many fans there are, most of them vociferously booed the Northeastern dance squad when it took the floor during a break.

Alex Oriakhi looks good, with eight points and seven boards.

The thinking is that, if UConn wins and Virginia Tech wins tomorrow, they'd play Saturday in Blacksburg, Va. But that's not official. Not at all.

More later ...

Tomorrow night's game could be a dogfight -- literally -- involving a pair of teams nicknamed the Huskies.

Northeastern's Huskies are no pushover. They went 20-12 this season, 14-4 in a competitive Colonial Athletic Association. They played four teams that are in this year's NCAA tournament, beating two of them (Utah State and CAA champion Old Dominion). And they're a senior-led team, four of whom played UConn tough two years ago in a 69-60 loss at Gampel, including Matt Janning, who poured in 29 points that night.

"We have our work cut out for us," said Jim Calhoun. "They're good. They're capable of beating us. If we give a C, C-plus game, they'll beat us."

Or, to put it another way: "Hypothetically, if we were in the (NCAA) tournament and we were a two-seed, we'd be playing a Northeastern-type team," Calhoun said.

Will the threat of suffering an ignominious home defeat to the team Calhoun began his coaching career with be enough to motivate a Husky team that has looked alarmingly lethargic in recent weeks?

"We have no choice, at this point," said sophomore point guard Kemba Walker. "What's happened was in the past, we've got to look at the future right now. Our future is Northeastern and the NIT, so we've got to make the best of it and play basketball."

But when asked what benefit UConn can get from playing in the NIT, Walker took a long pause, before finally saying: "I don't know. It's games, you've got to take advantage of it. Some teams already (ended) their season. We're fortunate to make the NIT. Things happen for a reason, I guess."

***Expect some of the younger kids to get more run tomorrow night. Donnell Beverly is out with a deep bone bruise in his right knee, so frosh Darius Smith -- who Calhoun said has looked good for the past 1 1/2 weeks -- will be the backup point guard.

If UConn wins tomorrow, it will play the winner of Wednesday night's Virginia Tech-Quinnipiac first-round game. If the Bobcats are able to pull off the upset down in Blacksburg, Va., Calhoun would go against his former longtime assistant, Tom Moore – at a site to be determined.

"We will play anyplace you want us to – East Catholic High School, anyplace, just for both of us to be living in the second round," he said.

***Now, to the juicy stuff. Calhoun was asked about his recent announcement that he has agreed in principle to a new four-year contract extension – something he more or less already announced back around Christmas.

"It's gone back-and-forth 1,000 times. A lot of issues going on in-state, with tuitions and all that. And Jeff (Hathaway), in the past 1 ½ months, roughly … when I said that, I wasn't trying to be a wise-ass … I haven't talked to him …The reason we announced something we already knew is that we were getting killed on the recruiting trails. So nothing drastic has changed, I'm just waiting to get a copy back of the signed contract."

When asked how "cut-throat" other coaches have been on the recruiting trail, Calhoun made a thinly-veiled reference to John Calipari.

"There's a certain coach out there who's big-time now who said Louie Carnesecca was dying of cancer. That's a rather tough one. His name is as big as anyone right now (that was) when he was a graduate assistant someplace. Is it cut-throat? Yes, but it's a cut-throat business.

"Do I like it? No. Do we do it? I hope that no one on our staff has ever done that. We might tell you the advantages of running, we might tell you the advantage of winning, we might tell you the advantage of going to a program, by inference, they may have one (player in the NBA) and we have 14. Sure. We'll say, 'check the other schools that you're involved with,' and they may have two players in the NBA."

Calhoun ended, with a smile: "I've always tried to control the world, and I never have. But my quest will never end."

***Did the Huskies watch the rest of the Big East tournament, or the NCAA Selection Show? Nope, according to Gavin Edwards, Jerome Dyson and Walker.

"I've been playing video games since I've been back," said Dyson. I went out and bought a couple of new ones."

'Call of Duty' and 'Super Mario Wii,' to be exact.

***Northeastern's roster spans the glove – Australia, Cape Verde, Bulgaria, France, Canada – but there is a bit of local flavor. Southbury's Brian McDonald, a Pomperaug High graduate, is a senior walk-on for NU.

***The way Calhoun sees it, UConn would definitely have been in the Big Dance had it won 19 games.

"But we needed to get those 19 wins, we didn't get them, so we're in another tournament that, this year, probably has more significance because there's more good teams."

Jim Calhoun’s first National Invitational Tournament opponent in nine years will be a familiar foe.

The UConn men’s basketball team will face Northeastern in a first-round NIT game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

Calhoun, of course, coached at Northeastern for 14 seasons before taking over at UConn in 1986. UConn is 34-4 all-time against Northeastern and unbeaten (7-0) under Calhoun. The last time the two teams, both nicknamed the Huskies, met was on Dec. 6, 2007 – a 69-60 UConn win in which Calhoun was ejected for arguing with the refs.
UConn assistant coach Andre LaFleur is a Northeastern grad, playing under Calhoun for three seasons.

“Obviously, playing Northeastern has special meaning for me and for Andre,” Calhoun said. “Northeastern is a place that gave me a chance to be a head coach and a place where I have a lot of great memories. (Head coach) Bill Coen is a really good guy and coach and they are an excellent team that our older guys are familiar with, having played them in 2006 and 2007 in Storrs.”

After being ejected from that 2007 game, Calhoun called referee Wally Rutecki “incompetent,” and received a reprimand from the Big East Conference.

UConn (17-15) is the No. 4 seed on its side of the bracket, Northeastern (20-12) the No. 5 seed. Northeastern finished 14-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association, losing in the conference tournament semifinals to William & Mary on March 7. Northeastern defeated two teams (Utah State and conference champion Old Dominion) that will be in this year’s NCAA tournament field, and lost to Rhode Island by three points and Providence by four.

If UConn wins Tuesday it will take on the winner of Wednesday night’s Virginia Tech-Quinnipiac bout. That game would be played either Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Monday, March 22.

“With a quick glance at the bracket, it looks like the field is remarkably tough,” said Calhoun. “There are plenty of teams that were in position to make the NCAA Tournament and I think that with all of the parity in the field, it will be very difficult to win and advance. Our goal is to continue to play and give it our best.”

It will be UConn’s sixth trip to the NIT since Calhoun took over the program in 1986 and first since 2001, when the Huskies lost a second-round game in Storrs to Detroit Mercy.

UConn won the NIT championship in 1988, Calhoun’s second year at the helm, beating Ohio State 72-67 in the finals behind Cliff Robinson, Phil Gamble and Tate George. The Huskies advanced to the quarterfinal round the following season, losing to Alabama-Birmingham 85-79 in Hartford.

In 1993, the Huskies were unceremoniously bounced in an opening round home game by Jackson State. Four years later, the Huskies advanced all the way to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden, where they lost to Florida State in overtime 71-66. UConn came back two days later to beat Arkansas in a consolation game and finish third overall.

In all, this will be UConn’s 12th trip to the NIT.

One good thing about playing in the NIT is that ticket prices are much more reasonable: $2 for UConn students, $10 for everyone else. Parking is $5 per vehicle and will be collected at the entrances to the North and South garages on game day.

Jim Calhoun’s first National Invitational Tournament opponent in nine years will be a familiar foe.

The UConn men’s basketball team will face Northeastern in a first-round NIT game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

Calhoun, of course, coached at Northeastern for 14 seasons before taking over at UConn in 1986. UConn is 34-4 all-time against Northeastern and unbeaten (7-0) under Calhoun. The last time the two teams, both nicknamed the Huskies, met was on Dec. 6, 2007 – a 69-60 UConn win in which Calhoun was ejected for arguing with the refs.

UConn is the No. 4 seed on its side of the bracket, Northeastern the No. 5 seed. If UConn wins, it will take on the winner of Wednesday night’s Virginia Tech-Quinnipiac bout. That game would be played either Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Monday, March 22.

It will be UConn’s sixth trip to the NIT since Calhoun took over the program in 1986 and first since 2001, when the Huskies lost a second-round game in Storrs to Detroit Mercy.

UConn won the NIT championship in 1988, Calhoun’s second year at the helm, beating Ohio State 72-67 in the finals behind Cliff Robinson, Phil Gamble and Tate George. The Huskies advanced to the quarterfinal round the following season, losing to Alabama-Birmingham 85-79 in Hartford.

In 1993, the Huskies were unceremoniously bounced in an opening round home game by Jackson State. Four years later, the Huskies advanced all the way to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden, where they lost to Florida State in overtime 71-66. UConn came back two days later to beat Arkansas in a consolation game and finish third overall.

In all, this will be UConn’s 12th trip to the NIT.

Anyone seen this? Guess ESPN figured they could play this throughout the NCAA tournament, with the assumption that Jim Calhoun and his Huskies would be playing, too. Oops!

Jim Calhoun is now confirming that he has agreed to a contract extension with UConn. Here's my updated story:

Jim Calhoun has agreed to a contract extension with UConn and will likely sign it within the next month.

"Let me officially put to rest the speculation about my future at UConn," Calhoun said in the statement released to the Register by his agent, Jeff Schwartz. "We are close to finalizing a new contract and I plan on continuing as the head coach of the men's basketball team for several more years."

Calhoun’s current six-year deal, which pays him $1.6 million this season, expires on June 30. Negotiations have been going, on and off, for several months. The logistics of negotiating a 20-page contract and the “legalese” involved, coupled with Calhoun’s 23-day medical leave of absence during the season, have bogged the process down considerably.

“It should not have dragged on, but that’s just the way it’s been,” said a source with knowledge of the situation. “There’s a lot of speculation and rumor, but it will all be done.”

It will be a four-year deal.

Calhoun, who turns 68 in May and is in his 24th season as the Huskies’ head coach, “is in great health and he wants to coach … no way he wants to leave on a year like this,” said the source.

The Huskies fell to 17-15 after their fourth straight loss on Tuesday, to St. John’s in a Big East tournament first-round game. They are awaiting a probable bid to the National Invitational Tournament – one which UConn will almost certainly accept. The Huskies return to the practice floor on Saturday after taking a few days off.

A recent report on SNY noted that “sources close to Calhoun believe he will retire at season’s end.” However, Calhoun’s son, Jeff, quickly shot down the rumor – as did Calhoun after the loss to St. John’s.

“I was made aware of the story, and it has nothing to do with anything and was not based upon any substantive fact,” he said Tuesday night. “I’m in the business of trying to recruit players to UConn. I love the school, and I still love coaching. But right now it is erroneous. It couldn’t be farther – when I saw or heard a couple of the facts about me talking to certain people, who I have not had a word with the one for one year and the other for eight months about the situation.”

Calhoun was apparently referring to rumors (and a later newspaper report) that his insistence on being able to name former assistant Dave Leitao as his successor has held up negotiations.

Those rumors have “zero” credibility, according to a source.

“A deal will be done,” the source added. “Jim will come back to the school.”

Barring “something unforeseen,” Jim Calhoun will agree to a contract extension with UConn, likely within the next month, and return to coach the Huskies for at least a few more years, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

“A deal will be done,” said the source. “Jim will come back to school.”

Calhoun’s six-year deal, which pays him $1.6 million this season, expires on June 30. Negotiations have been going, on and off, for several months, to no avail thus far. The logistics of negotiating a 20-page contract and the “legalese” involved, coupled with Calhoun’s 23-day medical leave of absence during the season, have bogged the process down considerably.

“It should not have dragged on, but that’s just the way it’s been,” said the source. “There’s a lot of speculation and rumor, but it will all be done.”

Not so fast, according to UConn men’s basketball spokesman Kyle Muncy.

“For the 24th year in a row, at end of season, Coach Calhoun will determine what he’s doing,” Muncy said. “I understand everybody is in a rush to pass along news. Right now, I promise you no one has come up with any yet. It’s just thoughts and gut feelings.”

According to the source, Calhoun (who turns 68 in May) is “in great health and he wants to coach … no way he wants to leave on a year like this.”

The Huskies fell to 17-15 after their fourth straight loss on Tuesday, to St. John’s in a Big East tournament first-round game. They are awaiting a probable bid to the National Invitational Tournament – one which UConn will almost certainly accept. The Huskies return to the practice floor on Saturday after taking a few days off, and will learn their NIT fate Sunday night.

A recent report on SNY noted that “sources close to Calhoun believe he will retire at season’s end.” However, Calhoun’s son, Jeff, quickly shot down the rumor, telling SNY, “I can tell you unequivocally on my children that he has not made a decision to retire and I fully expect him to be back.”

Following the loss to St. John’s, Calhoun said: “I was made aware of the story, and it has nothing to do with anything and was not based upon any substantive fact … I’m in the business of trying to recruit players to UConn. I love the school, and I still love coaching. But right now it is erroneous. It couldn’t be farther – when I saw or heard a couple of the facts about me talking to certain people, who I have not had a word with the one for one year and the other for eight months about the situation.”

Calhoun was apparently referring to rumors (and a later newspaper report) that his insistence on being able to name former assistant Dave Leitao as his successor has held up negotiations.

According to the source, those rumors have “zero” credibility.

Not sure if this is an indication that UConn plans to accept any potential NIT bid, but the Huskies will return to the practice floor on Saturday.

Jim Calhoun said after Tuesday's loss to St. John's that UConn wouldn't practice for a couple of days "at least. Then, I don't know if we will practice or not."

Well, they will on Saturday, for what it's worth.

Let's see, where do we start? Ahh, let's not. Let's congratulate Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards on their good, four-year (with a couple of road bumps) careers at UConn and not talk about the past.

The future, Conan? Umm ... that could be troublesome.

For one, it may or may not involve Jim Calhoun. In a long, rambling way as only he can, Calhoun addressed a report Monday on SNY that he was contemplating retirement after this season.

"I was made aware of the story, and it has nothing to do with anything and was not based on any substantive fact … Like everything else, I'm in the business of trying to recruit players to UConn. I love the school, and I still love coaching. It couldn't be farther … when I saw or heard a couple of facts about me talking to certain people, who I haven't had a word with, it was unfortunate. I haven’t had a word with one for one year and the other for eight months about the situation. And yes, there is a contract offer out there. I haven't seen the final copy, but it's out there, yes."

Calhoun apparently was referring to UConn president Michael Hogan and athletic director Jeff Hathaway, and seemed to be addressing a rumor a few weeks ago that he is balking on retirement because he won't be allowed to select his successor.

***Calhoun also made what I think (and I could be wrong) a veiled reference at how next year's cupboard could be bare when he talked about the Johnnies.

"They certainly have a bright future ahead of them," he said of the Red Storm. "(With returning) juniors and seniors, they'll be one of the better teams in the Big East, certainly top five or six next year. Today the team I saw today from St. John's was terrific. The team I saw from Connecticut today was not very good at all."

***Then there was another veiled shot at Hathaway. When asked about accepting a potential NIT bid, Calhoun said: "I guess I have to talk to the athletic director, and I'll talk to him. Obviously, he makes the final judgment. He runs the athletic department. So, obviously, I have to confer with him."

***So, if asked (and to me, that's up in the air), will the Huskies accept an NIT bid?

"I have great respect for (the NIT)," Calhoun said. "I never thought about turning it down. I think it's a good time to sit down with myself and my staff and think about what we want to do going forward. Particularly after (Tuesday's game) … it's a good time to sit down and think about closing the curtain for this year or continuing on, if we have the opportunity."

Calhoun said his team won't practice for a couple of days, at least. "Then, I don't know if we will practice or not."

***Back to Dyson for one minute. When asked what's been wrong with the senior guard the last three games (16 points, 6-for-26 shooting, 16 turnovers, one second-half benching), Calhoun shrugged: "He hasn't played well. He's played very poorly. If I could explain it, I would try to do something about it. He's played very poorly."

George Blaney gave a more in-depth answer: "It's like a batter that gets in a slump, that can't get himself out of it. He tries everything, he goes hard, he goes soft, he does everything, but nothing works. In fact, you start to look worse. That's what slumps are."

***OK, I'm getting a bit tired of this. I have now covered the Big East tournament seven times -- four times covering Providence, three covering UConn. I have seen the respective teams I've covered win exactly once -- Providence in 2002 or 2003 (can't remember, too lazy to look it up). This despite both PC and UConn have been No. 1 seeds (PC in 2001, UConn in 2009).

I'm a real rabbit's foot, aren't I?

For the first time since his second-half benching against South Florida on Saturday, Jerome Dyson spoke to the media following today's game. Dejected, he sat slumped in the locker room and took questions from about a half-dozen scribes.

Here's part of what he had to say:

(What happened today?)

"We played bad. Personally, I played like (expletive)."

"We couldn't get the ball up the middle, and we gave them a lot of 3's."

(You've struggled the last few games. Are you OK physically?)

"Umm … somewhat. But, the last couple of games, I've just been playing terrible."

(How did you feel about being benched for the final 16 minutes of the USF game?)

"It hurt. My last regular season game, and I was on the bench."

(Will this team be ready for a potential NIT game next week?)

"We can definitely come out and play, but it just sucks to know that the (inaudible)."

(Have you been confused on the court the last few games?)

"I don't know if I was confused, I just felt like I didn't know what was going on. I can't really put it into words. I turned the ball over too many times, couldn't get a shot. It's probably a game that I'll never forget."

(Do you understand why Coach Calhoun benched you vs. USF?)

"I really don't know, I mean … I don't know."

(When did you find out you'd be playing today?)

"Right before the game."

Can't shoot (31 percent, 1-for-6 from 3), can't rebound (21-20 St. John's, 11 offensive), can't guard (Red Storm is 4-for-8 on 3's), can't even get off good shots. When UConn hasn't turned the ball over (8) and has been able to get off a shot, it's almost always one-and-done. Or it seems that way: somehow, the box score says that UConn has 12 offensive boards. OK.

Conversely, St. John's consistently has been getting two, three chances each time down the floor.

Not pretty. We'll see if there are halftime adjustments, but short of boxing out and making shots, not sure how things change much. One hope for the Huskies might be the Johnnies' foul trouble: four St. John's players have two fouls, and Justin Burrell has three. Otherwise ...

Here's all I'll say about the rumor that Jim Calhoun "might be" considering retirement after this season: there are no rock-solid sources to a "Calhoun-will-retire" story ... including Jim Calhoun himself! Seriously. If he told someone he's retiring tomorrow, there's still a better than average chance he'd change his mind the next day.

I won't completely believe Calhoun is retiring until I see him at a podium, announcing it so. We'll see what he has to say at the podium after today's game.

Not so fast ... Jim Calhoun backed off Saturday's postgame proclamation that the same five players who ended the game will start in Tuesday's Big East opener.

"We kept changing it today, based on what guys are doing in different drills, I'm sure we'll change it by tomorrow, as I think more through it," Calhoun said. "I think it's more important, how we play the game, whoever's on the floor. That will be determined by watching how they're playing, quite frankly."

For the 45 minutes or so the media was able to watch practice, Stanley Robinson, Donnell Beverly, Gavin Edwards, Ater Majok and Darius Smith ran on one team, while Charles Okwandu, Jerome Dyson, Alex Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Kemba Walker were on another.

How have Dyson and Robinson, in particular, handled Saturday's second-half benching?

"Stanley was very good on defense, came in with a very good attitude," Calhoun said. "Jerome was really good yesterday and today."

When asked about Dyson in particular, Walker gave a short pause, then said:
"I think he realizes what he's got to do. He's been real positive in practice, he's been talking, been going hard. Hopefully, he can transfer it to the game and be the leader that he is."

Dyson was not made available to the media today.

Both Walker and Edwards were asked if the team had lost any faith in its coach and/or, had the coach lost any faith in his team.

"I don’t think so," said Edwards. "Coach isn't one to give up on anybody. He's going to keep doing the best that he can. I don't think anybody has given up on the season, either. Everybody wants to play in the postseason and hopefully make the tournament but, if not, just keep playing somehow."

Added Walker: "Nah, not at all. We've always been together. Some nights, we just don't play hard. We all love each other, we're all cool. Nobody's not friends on this team."

But clearly, these Huskies are an enigma for their coach.

"If I could ever figure this team out," said Calhoun, "then I probably wouldn't be losing my mind."

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM

Greg Monroe, Georgetown, C, So., 6-11, 247, New Orleans, La.

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, F, Sr., 6-8, 255, Schererville, Ind.

Dominique Jones, USF, G, Jr., 6-4, 205, Lake Wales, Fla.

Wes Johnson, Syracuse, F, Jr., 6-7, 205, Corsicana, Texas

Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-2, 190, Herndon, Va. *

Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia, F, Sr., 6-7, 225, Newark, N.J.



ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM

Austin Freeman, Georgetown, G, Jr., 6-4, 237, Mitchelville, Md.

Lazar Hayward, Marquette, F, Sr., 6-6, 225, Buffalo, N.Y.

Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh, G, So., 6-2, 190, Scotch Plains, N.J.

Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall, G, Jr., 6-5, 185, Bronx, N.Y.

Andy Rautins, Syracuse, G, Sr., 6-5, 195, Jamesville, N.Y.



ALL-BIG EAST THIRD TEAM

Jerome Dyson, Connecticut, G, Sr., 6-3, 190, Potomac, Md.

Kemba Walker, Connecticut, G, So., 6-1, 172, Bronx, N.Y.

Samardo Samuels, Louisville, F, So., 6-9, 260, Trelawny, Jamaica

Corey Fisher, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-1, 200, Bronx, N.Y.

Devin Ebanks, West Virginia, F, So., 6-9, 210, Long Island City, N.Y.



BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION

Jimmy Butler, Marquette, F, Jr., 6-6, 215, Tomball, Texas

Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame, F, Jr., 6-8, 232, Unionville, Conn.

Jamine Peterson, Providence, F, So., 6-6, 230, Brooklyn, N.Y.



BIG EAST ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati, G, Fr., 6-5, 210, Brooklyn, N.Y. *

Alex Oriakhi, Connecticut, F/C, Fr., 6-9, 240, Lowell, Mass.

Vincent Council, Providence, G, Fr., 6-2, 180, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dane Miller, Rutgers, F, Fr., 6-7, 210, Henrietta, N.Y. *

Brandon Triche, Syracuse, G, Fr., 6-4, 198, Jamesville, N.Y.

Maalik Wayns, Villanova, G, Fr., 6-1, 185, Philadelphia, Pa.

Great move today by Jim Calhoun. If you're going to lose, might as well lose with players who'll fight hard. And they almost won! Do we see Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards on Tuesday? I think they'll all get another shot, fairly early in the game. But if they continue to display no heart, they'll be right back on the pine.

Anyway, while today may have been Calhoun's best coaching move of the season, he's not winning Big East Coach of the Year honors. The official all-league teams are announced tomorrow (Sunday) morning, and the first year-end awards (6th Man, Most Improved Player, etc.) will be announced Monday. Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Scholar-Athlete will be announced on Tuesday at a 5:30 p.m. press conference at MSG.

Here's my list: sort of a mishmash of who I think deserves it and who I think the coaches will vote for (if that makes any sense).

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Wesley Johnson, Syracuse

(Best player on the best team. Had Scottie Reynolds winning it until recently, when the ‘Cuse pulled away as league champs. Maybe Johnson and Reynolds will share it.)

COACH OF THE YEAR
Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

(A very strong case could be made for Pitt’s Jamie Dixon. Marquette’s Buzz Williams, too. I actually think Dixon, who lost three NBA draft picks, got more out of less talent. After all, Boeheim does have the conference’s likely Player of the Year. But Jimmy B. may win national Coach of the Year, so I’m pretty sure his league coaches will vote for him here, too..)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Dane Miller, Rutgers
Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati

(Stephenson is the bigger name, and he’ll probably win it outright. But Miller deserves to at least share this award. Miller won Rookie of the Week honors three straight times in February. Last Big East player to do that? Fella named Carmelo Anthony, in 2003.)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Hamady N’Diaye, Rutgers

(Led the conference in blocked shots, which probably should sew it up. But don’t sleep on Syracuse’s Rick Jackson, who was second in blocks and is a much better all-around player.)

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Austin Freeman, Georgetown

(Tough one to call. Guys like Jamine Peterson and Tim Abromaitis came out of nowhere with big seasons, but neither played last year, so what exactly are they improving from? Ashton Gibbs of Pitt is just a sophomore. I’ll go with Freeman, who is also now battling diabetes.)

SIXTH MAN AWARD
Kris Joseph, Syracuse

(I thought Gavin Edwards had this one locked up most of the season. But Joseph’s numbers are a little better – and his team is A LOT better.)

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

(He’d be a good sport accepting this in lieu of winning Player of the Year.)

ALL-LEAGUE

FIRST TEAM:
Wes Johnson, Syracuse
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia
Greg Monroe, Georgetown
Dominique Jones, South Florida

SECOND TEAM
Lazar Hayward, Marquette
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Samardo Samuels, Louisville
Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall
Kemba Walker, Connecticut

(I had Jerome Dyson on this team up until today. Depending on when the coaches voted, he still might make it. But I’m not so sure he deserves to.)

THIRD TEAM
Austin Freeman, Georgetown
Devan Ebanks, West Virginia
Jamine Peterson, Providence
Brad Wanamaker, Pittsburgh
Andy Rautins, Syracuse

HONORABLE MENTION
Corey Fisher, Villanova
Herb Pope, Seton Hall
Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame
Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati
Dane Miller, Rutgers
Vincent Council, Providence
Brandon Triche, Syracuse
Bilal Dixon, Providence

(A surprisingly weak group. Alex Oriakhi, despite all his shortcomings, has an outside shot at cracking this team.)

UConn will open Big East tournament play on Tuesday at 2 p.m. as the tourney's 12th seed. The Huskies will play No. 13 seed St. John's, whom they defeated 75-59 in Hartford on Jan. 20 -- the first of seven games Jim Calhoun missed on medical leave.

The Johnnies, of course, will be playing on their home floor, which may give them a little more incentive on Tuesday. (Does anybody call them the Johnnies anymore, by the way?).

Cleveland Melvin, the 6-foot-8, "freakishly athletic" Class of 2010 forward out of Notre Dame Prep, has backed out of his committment to attend UConn.

"It's very mutual," said Notre Dame coach Ryan Hurd. "There was open dialogue over the last few days. Cleve expressed his interest to be a wing player, and Coach Calhoun and Coach Sellers expressed interest in him being an interior player over the next four years. Cleve thinks his chance to play at a higher level was playing the wing.

"It's totally amicable."

Melvin, a Baltimore native, had verbally committed to the Huskies in November. According to Hurd, Melvin has already heard from many of the same suitors he had before committing to UConn: South Florida, Seton Hall, Miami, Marquette, Oklahoma State, TCU.

"Cleve has a ton of respect for the guys at UConn," Hurd added. "Probably even more now that they realized it wasn't the right fit. How much courage does it take to say to Coach Calhoun, 'UConn's a great basketball program, but I'm looking for something different.' That's a bold statement on his part."

So Joe Lombardi ... er, Lunardi has UConn in the NCAA tournament right now. One of his last four in, right along with Notre Dame. Interesting.

Sorry Joe, but I just don't see it. Not now. Not at 17-13, 7-10 in the Big East. Not after whatever that was Wednesday night against the Irish.

Now, granted, I didn't major in Bracketology while at URI. More like Astronomy -- as in, I took up a lot of space in class. Joey Brackets apparently remains impressed with the Huskies' RPI (49) and strength of schedule (2), and that's all well and good. But Lunardi seems to be too much of a prisoner of the numbers, and not taking into account the human element. He's like one of those sabermetricians in baseball, who think a guy should get into the Hall of Fame because he's got a great career OBP, without taking into account if the guy was a dominant player over his career.

Please. Hate to trot out the term "eye test," but did your eyes see Wednesday night's ugliness?

UConn has a great win at Villanova, a very good win over West Virginia and a pretty good win over faltering Texas.

But the Huskies are hardly surging into the postseason (4-6 in last 10, two straight losses). They're 3-9 away from home (2-7 on the road, 1-2 neutral). They're in 12th place in the Big East, and they've lost to 11th-place Cincinnati twice.

They've lost to Providence and Michigan, both on the road. There aren't a whole lot of bad road losses, in my book -- especially in the Big East. Winning on the road in this conference isn't easy, no matter who you play. Except DePaul. And Providence.

It's all well and good that the Huskies have played a tough schedule, but you've got to do more than just play good teams. Gotta win some. They did beat Villanova and West Virginia, and they deserve all the credit in the world for it. But those big wins are somewhat cancelled out by the Providence/Michigan/Cincy losses. Almost beating Kentucky, Syracuse, Georgetown and Duke doesn't mean a whole lot.

The tournament selection committee may not take all of the above factors into consideration, but the bottom line is, it's hard to agree with Lunardi right now. And a win Saturday at South Florida won't change that, either.

The Huskies really need to do A LOT of damage in the Big East tourney next week. Win at USF and I'd say UConn needs to at least get to Saturday nignt's championship game to feel comfortable on Selection Sunday. Getting to Friday's semifinals might do the trick. And here's the kicker: THEY CAN DO IT!

Nothing you saw Wednesday night would convince you that the Huskies can make a conference tourney run. Nothing they've done in the past four seasons (in which they've been one-and-done in New York all four times, stunningly) would make you believe that, either. But it's hardly impossible.

As it stands right now, UConn would play Rutgers in their opening game. They've already handled the Scarlet Knights on the road this year, and it's hard to believe they couldn't do it again. Next would be Marquette. Wouldn't bet the house on that one, but not impossible, by any stretch.

Then would come Pitt. Again, a tough challenge. But remember this: in recent years, teams that have already locked up an NCAA bid don't always play as well in the Big East tourney. Last year, three of the Big East's top four seeds (including UConn) lost their conference tourney openers. UConn and Villanova, of course, wound up going to the Final Four.

Not saying that hard-nosed Pitt, under the terrific tutelage of Jamie Dixon, would fall into that same trap. But again, it's possible.

And while we're at it, if UConn somehow gets to the semifinals and finals, it's already proven it can beat Villanova, West Virginia and (almost) Syracuse.

So, there you have it. Can't agree that UConn is in the Big Dance right now, but I'm predicting a decent run at Madison Square Garden. Get to the finals, and they're in.

Provided, of course, they beat USF on Saturday ...

Had the hardest time I've had all year deciding who's my No. 1 this week. As impressive as Syracuse was in its big win over Villanova on Saturday night, I still feel that Kansas is probably -- barely -- the best team in the country. But the Orange won big this week, while the Jayhawks lost (albeit to a good, NCAA tourney-bound Oklahoma State team, on the road). Kentucky lost, too.

The tiebreaker for me is simply that Syracuse is the best team in the best conference in the country. That's enough to put them on top for this week, in my book. I really think the Orange could win it all this year. That 2-3 zone will cause fits to teams that have never seen it before (heck, look what it did Saturday to 'Nova, which is familiar with the Orange zone).

And so, in the words of R.E.M., "I've got my spine, I've got my Orange crush." For this week, anyway.

What about UConn, UAsk? That Notre Dame game on Wednesday could just about be a play-in game for both teams.

Here's the top 25 I submitted last night:


1. Syracuse 27-2
2. Kansas 27-2
3. Kentucky 27-2
4. Kansas State 24-4
5. Duke 25-4
6. New Mexico 27-3
7. Purdue 24-4
8. Ohio State 23-7
9. West Virginia 22-6
10. Villanova 23-5
11. Brigham Young 26-4
12. Michigan State 23-7
13. Gonzaga 24-5
14. Wisconsin 21-7
15. Butler 26-4
16. Vanderbilt 22-6
17. Temple 24-5
18. Tennessee 21-7
19. Georgetown 19-8
20. Baylor 22-6
21. UTEP 22-5
22. Maryland 21-7
23. Pittsburgh 22-7
24. Xavier 21-7
25. Texas A&M 21-7