1. It sounds like the 2013-14 college basketball season is going to break ground on a large scale yet again, and with Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis again at the forefront of the idea, at least one Big Ten team is likely to participate in his latest and greatest idea. But as the culmination of the season — the NCAA Tournament and, particularly, the Final Four — has grown larger by the years and come to fill bigger spaces and stadiums, could the postseason suddenly be looking to slim down again? The Final Four hasn’t been played in a conventional basketball arena since 1996 and the next four Final Fours have already been scheduled for domes, but television executivess and NCAA administrators aren’t ruling out a return to arenas beyond that.
2. Illinois has quietly been building one of the most impressive — and, perhaps, surprising — seasons around the country thus far, and their star is finally seeing the fruits of his labor. After leading the Illini to an impressive win at Gonzaga over the weekend, Brandon Paul was named the Big Ten Player of the Week. But should we be surprised? Just a few days after scoring 14 against Western Carolina, he went off for a season-high 35 against the Zags, shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line, all the while catapulting himself into the early national and conference Player of the Year discussion.
3. It was just last year we were talking some promising freshmen at Iowa, and here we are again doing the same. With Aaron White now a sophomore, it’s newcomers like Adam Woodbury and Anthony Clemmons who are drawing high praise. Tork Mason of The Daily Iowan says that this incoming class has given the Hawkeyes some much-needed swagger, combining for 36 points over the last two games. In that span, Clemmons has a superb 16 assists and just one turnover.
4. For the most part, as Deshaun Thomas goes, so goes Ohio State. And when things aren’t going well — consider his 3-of-10 shooting in the first half against Long Beach State, which led the preseason All-American to get down on himself recently — Thomas has been prone to show it on the floor. But coach Thad Matta has noticed an improvement in Thomas’ maturity, which has been critical as he’s stepped into a leadership role for the Buckeyes this season. “It’s just me learning the game and becoming an impact player and knowing there are other things than just scoring,” Thomas told ElevenWarriors.com. “There are other things in the game of basketball.” Unfortunately for the rest of the Big Ten, Thomas can do most everything within the game of basketball.
5. Michigan State freshman Denzel Valentine has thrilled Spartan fans this season with his dazzling style of play and court vision, but he’s also maddened them at times when his inexperience has shone through. It’s the latter trait that has led Tom Izzo to rein Valentine in a bit lately, saying the freshman is on “a choker leash.” Valentine had just one turnover in the second half against Loyola on Saturday, after a couple frustrating moments earlier in the season. It’s never a good idea to question the coaching strategies of the six-time Final Four head coach, so it’s reasonable to expect to see Valentine slowly but surely getting more comfortable with a controlled role during the rest of the season.

We admit it. We blatantly stole this topic idea from our colleagues over at the Pac-12 microsite but hopefully they’ll view this as somewhat of an homage to their creative topic ideas rather than lazy theft. Anyway, the season is more than a month old and there is a logjam near the top the Big East conference standings. Cincinnati and Syracuse are the last unbeaten teams, but are they truly the best?

Mike Lemaire: While I recognize that Cincinnati and Syracuse are the last two unbeaten teams in the conference, I still find myself gravitating to Louisville when I think of the conference’s best teams. The Bearcats have played almost nobody of note (does a buzzer-beating win over Alabama count?) and while the Orange throttled a solid San Diego State squad in the season opener, I wonder whether all of that young depth will hold up as the schedule gets more difficult and players start to wear down. Pittsburgh’s depth and incredibly efficient offense make them an excellent team, but their best win is against Lehigh and with the exception of the game against Michigan, their non-conference schedule has been embarrassingly easy (No. 257 in the country, according to KenPom). I recognize that Georgetown’s only loss was to the best team in the country and that Notre Dame has been excellent since losing to Saint Joseph’s, but the Hoyas’ offense is a mess and the Fighting Irish don’t play defense the same way that the Orange and Cardinals do.

Russ Smith Has Been Superb This Season (C. Hanewickel, US Presswire)

Meanwhile, Louisville boasts the nation’s most efficient defense, a top-25 offense in terms of efficiency, and its only loss came against Duke, who has been soundly beating everyone, and they were playing without defensive star Gorgui Dieng. Of course it hurts the Cardinals’ case that one of the best defensive players in the country will miss some time, but coach Rick Pitino expects him back before the new year, and a broken wrist, while probably painful, is not nearly as bad as an ACL or another knee injury. Even without Dieng, the Cardinals have depth on par with Syracuse and their bench is far more battle-tested. If mercurial scoring guard Russ Smith comes back to earth a little, Pitino’s offense might see a bit of a backslide, but until the Orange can sustain their success against better opponents, the Cardinals remain the class of the Big East.

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1. The Kentucky players haven’t quite bought into John Calipari’s system yet, but they’re certainly trying to become a top 10 team. “Definitely,” freshman center Nerlens Noel said. “We’ve definitely got the potential. We’ve got the players, the pieces, the coaching staff. We’ve got all the great tools. We’ve just got to work on some things and really bring it all together.” But if anybody has the credibility to get first year players to buy in, it’s Calipari. Perhaps last year’s success is part of what is hindering this year’s version of the Wildcats? “We’re trying to uphold expectations we shouldn’t have had,” freshman Willie Cauley-Stein said. “We’re not last year’s team.” He’s right about that. The 2012-13 team is more 2010-11 than 2011-12, and that team was possibly a play away from being Cal’s first championship team.
2. Jarvis Summers is crucial to Ole Miss‘ success this year. The Rebels lost their first game of the season on Saturday to Middle Tennessee State, in part because Summers sat the last 13 minutes of the first half in foul trouble. While he was on the bench, his backups committed seven of Ole Miss’ 18 turnovers. “They just took the ball,” coach Andy Kennedy said. “Like what happens sometimes when you play your big brother. They just took your ball.” Summers returned to play 17 minutes in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough. He finished the game with just seven points and four assists, but Kennedy recognized his impact on the game by allowing Summers to play through four fouls with over six minutes left in the game.
3. Florida is getting some much needed rest before one of its biggest games of the year against Arizona. “Playing as many games as we’ve played this early against some really good quality opponents I think guys get mentally drained,” coach Billy Donovan said. “So I think we’ll probably need some time to regroup before we go out west.” The Gators have 10 days between games, allowing some time to recover from injuries as well. Senior forward Erik Murphy hasn’t been 100 percent after a hip pointer injury, and of course final exams are mixed in for the student-athletes. “This a good group,” Donovan said. “They’ve worked hard. We’ve had to individually battle through our own adversity as a team.” So far this year, 13 points is the closest margin any team has come to the Gators.
4. Missouri is also preparing for one of its biggest games of the year, but this one is for bragging rights above all else. Missouri is already circling a December 22 date with Illinois, which is one of the hottest teams in the country right now. The author makes the case that the Tigers need this win for RPI purposes because of the weak standing of the SEC relative to the Big 12 from which coach Frank Haith and the Tigers migrated. I tend to disagree. Yes, the SEC is weak at the bottom, but teams like Kentucky (with a current RPI of #95) or Tennessee (#132) won’t stay that low for long. Regardless, the match-up with the Illini is important in the bigger picture for Haith and company, but don’t expect the top half of the SEC to be a hindrance to RPI standings in the long run.
5. Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings had a unique perspective regarding Vandy guard Kyle Fuller’s honor as SEC player of the week for his outstanding performance against Xavier. Fuller scored all 12 of Vanderbilt’s points during the overtime period, leading the Commodores to a surprising victory. “That’s awesome for him and almost embarrassing for the rest of us,” Stallings said. “Good for Kyle. He made some huge plays.” Fuller came up huge in the road victory with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting, along with five assists, four rebounds, and three steals. You have to sort of agree with Stallings on this one, however. Vandy desperately needed someone not named Kedren Johnson to step up on the offensive end. Johnson’s field goal attempts have been in double figures in every game this season, and until the return of Dai-Jon Parker, the Commodores can’t continue to rely that heavily on Johnson for all of their scoring.

1. BC Interruption: The US Department of Education published athletic revenues and profits for athletic departments. A quick note before looking at these numbers: profit can be very misleading. Athletic departments aren’t designed to turn profits, as in many cases, all revenue goes towards paying debts, contracts and travel. The revenue numbers can be misleading too, though less so. Case in point: Louisville’s basketball revenues nearly double those of Duke and North Carolina. How’s it possible for an admittedly strong regional brand to almost equal the sum of two of the three most popular teams in the country? The answer: the Yum! Center. The school’s state-of-the-art downtown arena brings in quite a deal of revenue, which presumably counts towards the basketball numbers. It’s still really interesting stuff.
2. Duke Basketball Report: Ken Pomeroy (and many others) have pointed to Duke’s apparent struggles on the glass as a potential Achilles heel this season. Duke Basketball Report went back into the archives and checked on the rebounding figures from Coach K’s tenure in Durham. The reality is that neither one is wrong. Duke‘s rebounding is at its weakest point this year, but does that mean it will come back to haunt the Blue Devils? Probably at some point. But also remember that Krzyzewski has had great success without great rebounding teams and Marshall Plumlee should help augment the Blue Devils’ board-crashing upon his return.
3. College Hoops Daily: How did Wake Forest go from being a regular contender in the ACC to a perennial conference doormat? Well, Skip Prosser died; Dino Gaudio signed a team full of players with off-court issues and didn’t win enough to merit the exceptions; and athletic director Ron Wellman hired his friend Jeff Bzdelik. Bzdelik hasn’t improved in his three years leading the team and isn’t likable enough to mask his less than stellar results with charm. This season’s freshman class is really his first real step forward, but the product on the court looks largely the same. Bzdelik may be a great basketball coach, but he’s got to start showing progress right now if he wants to stick around much longer (see: Mark Turgeon).
4. Washington Post: Speaking of Turgeon, he’s trying some new ways to avoid turnovers. Now, whenever a Maryland player commits a turnover in practice, he performs five push-ups. One interesting thing about the Terrapins’ turnover problem is that it’s not just one player responsible for all the miscues. Eight — yes, you read that right — Maryland players are averaging at least 1.5 turnovers a game. Do the math, and it’s not hard to see why the Terps are last in the conference in turnover margin.
5. Hartford Courant: Connecticut never really stood a chance in conference realignment. At least not against Louisville. Despite the two schools’ recent head-to-head results, the Cardinals are obviously a football program headed in the right direction. It’s harder to say that is true with Connecticut. Attendance is struggling and strong academics can’t make up for lukewarm fan support. Less importantly, the Huskies don’t share a border with Indiana (Notre Dame, anyone?) or Ohio, a football talent hotbed.

1. The biggest news of the last 24 hours came just after midnight, when it was widely reported that the Big East’s seven non-football members convened with conference commissioner Mike Aresco in New York to raise concerns over the league’s uncertain trajectory. The meeting substantiated previous rumors that the Jesuit bloc of Marquette, DePaul, St. John’s, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall and Villanova were considering acting as a group to dissolve the Big East and form a rogue basketball league. If those seven schools can reach a consensus in favor of dissolution before football-playing newcomers gain voting membership in July, they could avoid the exit fees, loss of branding and equity they would incur were each school to jump ship unilaterally. The new wrinkle in this convoluted web of intrigue is that Temple –– a school that was expelled from the Big East in 2004 –– might control the fate of the league. As a pending member, it’s currently unclear whether Temple is permitted to vote in basketball-related affairs yet. If it does, its leadership would likely relish the opportunity to veto that plan should it arise, and keep Tulane and SMU on Villanova’s schedule for the foreseeable future.
2. Rivals.com writer Greg Domorski did a nice feature for Seton Hall on the return of prodigal son Sterling Gibbs, who is looking forward to the opportunity to spend his last three years of eligibility with the Pirates after a homesick freshman season at Texas. He is the first Seton Hall Prep player to join the basketball program at SHU since Jamar Nutter did so in 2003. Gibbs cites his familiarity with the community as a major factor in his decision to return home: “I will work extra hard knowing the support of my family and my friends are all around me. At Texas, they knew my name but not exactly who I was. They didn’t follow me through high school. Here that’s different.” Though he regrets his Texan sojourn, the experience wasn’t altogether unrewarding –– he credits the friendships he developed with former Longhorns D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant as essential to his growth as a player.
3. VU Hoops takes a look at the gaping hole in Jay Wright’s frontcourt after the transfer of Markus Kennedy and asks the question, “did it really need to be this way?” A story from Philly.com over the weekend had depicted some questionable decision-making from Wright, who apparently agreed to let Kennedy rejoin the team after a fruitless attempt to transfer out, only to renege on that decision once some of his teammates voiced their displeasure. “It begs the question of whether the inmates are running the asylum” author Brian Ewart points out. Attrition in the Cats’ frontcourt could get worse before it gets better, with Mouphtaou Yarou graduating and solutions remaining on the recruiting board rather than on the bench.
4. Tom Noie at The South Bend Tribune points out that Notre Dame junior point guard Eric Atkins has recorded 33 assists to just one turnover in his last 143 minutes on the floor. Atkins had resolved to be more aggressive on offense this season at the risk of committing more turnovers, but counterintuitively, his assertiveness has coincided with even greater efficiency. The Irish guard leads the Big East with a 5.3 assist/turnover ratio in the process of dishing out seven assists per game.
5. Lastly, Ray Fittipaldo at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers some perspective on the maturity Pittsburgh senior Dante Taylor has displayed in taking an active role in his team’s leadership despite playing behind freshman Steven Adams. The affection and respect Taylor has garnered among his teammates was on full display in the latter minutes of Pitt’s win over North Florida last Saturday, as their bench exuberantly celebrated Taylor’s team-high 16 points. “Even when I wasn’t playing well those guys were in my corner… It was a confidence-builder.” Jamie Dixon praises Taylor as a consummate teammate and leader, and stressed after the game that his contributions in other areas are more important to him that the senior’s scoring. Nonetheless, Taylor is shooting a career-best 64% from the field, and any sustained offensive production at a center position that generates a modest 11.2 points per game right now will greatly benefit his team.

1. With the movement we had seen from some very prominent schools in the past few weeks and the relatively meager TV deal offered to the Big East we figured it was only a matter of time before something big happened with the conference. It looks like that event may be on the verge of happening as the conference’s seven Catholic, non-FBS schools met with the conference’s commissioner to discuss the direction of the league in a move that some say might be the first step in a process that could lead to the dissolution of the league. As the anonymous sources say it is very early in the process, but it has been clear that this is a league in decline with the moves we have seen in conference realignment. We will have to take a wait-and-see approach with this story, but two things stand out: the report that Madison Square Garden may no longer host the Big East Tournament if the Big East continues to have its membership change and that member schools are concerned that the entrance of Tulane will affect its RPI, which in Twitter terms would be a #midmajorproblem.
2. We always take whatever we hear on social media sites with a grain of salt unless the information is coming for a highly reputable source, but the reports surrounding a reported incident involving Michael Carter-Williams at a Lord & Taylor seem suspicious at best and led to a fair amount of reckless speculation on some gossip sites that thought they were breaking news. When reports first surfaced on Sunday afternoon with what was reported to be pictures of Michael Carter-Williams being led away in handcuffs by a (giant) security guard. We haven’t had much in the way of a statement from the school, which is what we would expect given the evidence, but both the store and Carter-Williams are offering what is probably most accurately described as non-denial denials. Given the lack of reasonable evidence we doubt anything will come of it (until Syracuse goes on the road in conference play).
3. This week’s edition of his Fast Break is filled with Seth Davis’ usual accolades highlighting the best and worst of the past week as well as an interview with John Beilein in which the Michigan head coach talks about his team that is quietly in the top five of almost every poll out there. Davis also attempts to defend the “Texas Tip-Off” (Mark Hollis’ idea to play four games at the same time in the same building) by comparing it to the Wright Brothers initial attempts to fly. We usually think Seth is a pretty reasonable guy, but we can’t defend him on this one. Maybe next week Seth will propose playing every NCAA Tournament game at the same site with all 32 first round games being played at the same time with the stands being combined for the 16 second round games that would be played at the same time and so on.
4. With all the negative stories about college athletes that are out there so it is nice to occasionally find a positive one such as the one that Diamond Leung wrote about Adreian Payne, the Michigan State center who has managed to put together an impressive in-class resume despite the rigors of being a student-athlete and having ADHD. Payne, who was not diagnosed with ADHD until arriving in East Lansing, should serve as evidence of the support that athletes can get if they are interested in being successful off the court. You probably won’t hear Payne’s story mentioned on national TV like you might if Payne played for another program so it is nice to hear about some of the good stories in other areas of college basketball.
5. Trey Zeigler may have garnered the most attention for his decision to transfer after his father’s dismissal as head coach, but he is not the only player to transfer after his father lost his job. Billy Baron is one other notable case as he transferred to Cansius from Rhode Island after his father switched jobs. Baron might not have the talent that Zeigler does, but his season has been more successful (or at the very least less controversial). Barron has helped put Cansius at the top of the MAAC with the biggest test of their season coming up on Saturday as they travel to Syracuse. If Cansius makes it to the NCAA Tournament this is a story you will be hearing much more about in March.

Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn. *Ed. Note: since Monday night had such a weak schedule of games, we combined the ATB for that night into the weekend’s edition.

The Weekend’s Lede. Prepare For College Hoops Boredom.In the interest of sparing you Monday night’s gulf of emptiness, and to give you a substantial recap to kick off the week in preparation for probably the most non-eventful week on the college hoops calendar, I’m incorporating the weekend into a lengthy ATB review. There was plenty of exciting action over the past three days, and for your sake and mine, I hope you enjoyed as much as of it as you can. If you missed anything – if the seasonal urge of holiday shopping or Christmas tree purchasing consumed your time – the next few days could feel especially painful. The dreaded final exam lull sneaked under the national consciousness, cloaked by the sport’s high drama in leagues across the country, but there’s no avoiding it any longer; it’s here. In that spirit, hopefully the weekend that was gave you enough to chew on over the coming week. I’ve singled out a few highlights, big moments and breathtaking plays to guide your thinking. For the sake of good, exciting basketball, let’s dive into the past three days’ worth of games.

Your Watercooler Moment. Illinois Is Better Than We Thought, And Now It has A Win To Prove it. 

The Illini made a statement by beating Gonzaga on its home court (Photo credit: AP Photo).

Entering Saturday night’s showdown at Gonzaga, the most you could say about Illinois was that John Groce had clearly coaxed better performances across the board from the same players who quit on Bruce Weber down the stretch last season. They were undefeated, ranked in the top 15 of last week’s AP Poll, and clearly improved over last year’s NCAA Tournament miss. But if you dug deep into Illinois’ body of work, it was hard not to come away thinking their undefeated start (and Maui Invitational crown) had at least something to do with a mostly forgiving early schedule. What the Illini did in Spokane – take down a top 10 team with Final Four potential on its home floor – legitimizes their undefeated run. Granted, the Bulldogs were coming off an unimpressive two-point escape at Washington State, the only time they’d been challenged all season, but it’s hard to argue Mark Few’s team wasn’t one of the nation’s best when the Illini visited the Kennel Saturday night. All things considered, Illinois’ victory was one of the most impressive true road wins we’ve seen all season. And no small measure of credit is owed to Brandon Paul, who contributed 35 points on 10-of-16 shooting in a national coming-out party that saw not only his own perception (and NBA draft stock) skyrocket, but also that of his team, and their prospectus in a crowded Big Ten.

Also Worth Chatting About. Kansas Is Still Kansas.

The Buffaloes were no match for Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse (Photo credit: Getty Images).

Just when you thought Kansas’ run of eight straight Big 12 titles might be in jeopardy, when the losses of National Player of the Year finalist Thomas Robinson and erratic-yet-effective point guard Tyshawn Taylor would leave the Jayhawks on the short end of another casually brilliant Bill Self season, Kansas goes out and eviscerates a very good Colorado team on national television to validate its place among the nation’s elite crust of national frontrunners. That’s just what the Jayhawks needed to reintroduce their veteran leadership and collective talent to the world, and to erase any doubts that existed about their league and national championship bona fides – if those doubts even existed in the first place. More importantly, Kansas unleashed highly-anticipated redshirt freshman Ben McLemore as a Freshman of the Year type of talent that many pegged him as. McLemore had already shown the potential to be Kansas’ primary offensive weapon this year; Saturday’s romp merely confirmed what many already knew.

Dunkdafied #1. Earlier this season, Mason Plumlee punctuated Duke’s comeback victory (and in the eyes of much of the national hoops consciousness, it’s No. 1 ranking) over Ohio State with a breathtaking alley-oop. Victor Oladipo sees you and raises you this rim-rock (and we can probably assume he fashions his Hoosiers the best team in the land). No lobs needed here, thank you very much.

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Kansas State jumps into the third spot in this week’s ranking and the top three teams remain at one loss for the year. Texas continues its free fall without Myck Kabongo, the middle of the pack teams played like middle of the pack teams this week, and Texas Tech and TCU are still looking up at the rest of the Big 12 from a deep, deep hole.

1) Kansas (7-1, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 1

Last Week:  W 90-54 vs. Colorado

This Week: Saturday vs. Belmont, 6:00 PM CST

Bill Self’s Jayhawks are Atop the Big 12 Power Rankings for the Second Straight Week. (AP)

• Rundown: The loss to Michigan State is getting further into the rear view as the Jayhawks have now won six in a row. They struggled 10 days ago against Oregon State but a week of practice seemed to help, and they ran Colorado out of the gym Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. Finals are over this week, and these next few weeks of winter break are usually when Bill Self implements most of his offense and prepares his teams for their annual Big 12 title runs.
• They Could Use Help From: Freshman F Perry Ellis: Ellis is averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG. He’s only a true freshman and expectations aren’t high this season, but another reliable scorer next to Jeff Withey would be a boost for a Kansas offense that has struggled at times.

2) Oklahoma State (7-1, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 2

Last Week: W 61-49 vs. South Florida, W 62-42 vs. Missouri State

This Week: Sunday vs. Central Arkansas, 3:00 PM

• Rundown: Oklahoma State rebounded from its loss to Virginia Tech to beat South Florida and Missouri State last week, but the loss to the Hokies is a bit of a head-scratcher. Junior guard Markel Brown continues to impress, though, averaging 14.0 PPG and 4.9 RPG. The Cowboys should clean up with their next three games: Central Arkansas, Texas-San Antonio, and Tennessee Tech.
• They Could Use Help From: Senior G Jean-Paul Olukemi: With the additions of Le’Bryan Nash and Marcus Smart the last two seasons, it’s not shocking that Olukemi’s offensive numbers have dipped. But he’s capable of scoring at a better clip, and the Cowboy offense (158th in the country with 69.4 PPG) could certainly benefit from.

I. Renko is a DC-based correspondent for Rush the Court. You can follow him on twitter @IRenkoHoops. He filed this report after Saturday’s game between Kansas State and George Washington.

Kansas State improved to 7-1 on the season on Saturday, in a thrilling 65-62 win over George Washington that was not decided until Dwayne Smith missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer. The Wildcats overcame a poor shooting performance, in which they shot 35.7% from the field and 56.3% from the free throw line.  So how did they win? The way they’ve been doing it for the past six years: by dominating the offensive glass. “If you told me we were going to hold them to 35% shooting, I thought we could win the game, but the killer was offensive rebounds,” GW head coach Mike Lonergan explained afterwards. “We just gave them too many second chance opportunities.”

Kansas State Has Been The Most Consistently Outstanding Offensive Rebounding Team in the Country For The Past Six Years (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

The Wildcats set the tone early, scoring their first six points on second chance put-backs by forward Nino Williams.  They would go on to rebound almost as many of their misses as George Washington did, posting a remarkable 49% offensive rebounding percentage.  In fact, the Wildcats actually had more offensive than defensive rebounds in the game — 24 to 22.  As a result, they had 17 more field goal attempts than George Washington, an edge that mitigated their poor shooting.  If you keep throwing the ball up, sooner or later it’s gonna go in.  And the Wildcats’ rebounding performance was not the result of a weak opponent.  In the eight games they played before Saturday, the Colonials had not allowed an opponent to rebound more than a third of their misses.

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As we ponder what happened to Colorado this weekend, what is missing in Washington, and what exactly we witnessed as UCLA and Texas met in a football stadium, we search around the conference for some good news while handing out our weekly honors.

Team of the Week – Arizona

Last week we gave the Wildcats these honors almost by default, since very few other teams stood out. This week, while again very few teams stood out, we feel pretty good about our selection. While Utah and Colorado scored nice wins early in the week, neither could back that up by handling their opposition on Saturday. The ‘Cats, however, scraped by Southern Miss on Tuesday in an ugly but effective performance, then came back over the weekend to score a quality road win over Clemson. In doing so, they put themselves in excellent shape to win this award three times in a row, because I guarantee you, if they win Saturday against Florida, you’ll see their name here again next week.

Jordan Bachynski’s History-Making Day For Arizona State Earned Him Our POTW Honors (US Presswire)

Player of the Week – Jordan Bachynski, Arizona State

After Bachynski’s six points, three boards and three blocks against Hartford on Wednesday, he was all but eliminated from contention for this award, especially considering that same night Spencer Dinwiddie was going off for 29 points, Brock Motum and DaVonte Lacy turned in excellent performances in losing efforts, and Bachynski’s own teammate, Jahii Carson, was continuing his excellent season. But, on Saturday afternoon, Bachynski threw down the gauntlet, posting the first recorded triple-double in ASU history, and doing it the hard way. His 13 points and 12 rebounds are pretty standard fare, but 12 blocks? Yup, that’s one way to earn some recognition. In doing so, Bachynski became the first player in the conference to record a triple-double since Daniel Hackett did it more than five years ago. Bachynski now leads the nation in blocked shots this season with 50.

Newcomer of the Week – Jahii Carson, Arizona State

Carson makes it a complete sweep for the Grand Canyon State this week, after averaging 20.5 points, 6.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game in the Sun Devils’ two wins this week. This is Carson’s second such honor this year and clearly the long wait for his eligibility was well worth it for Herb Sendek and Sun Devil fans.