The first month of the college hoops season has already had enough defining moments to warrant the Luther Vandross treatment.

There was the poignant high of Coach K surpassing his mentor Bob Knight as the all-time leader in NCAA D-I coaching wins; the gut-wrenching (and ongoing) low of Syracuse assistant Bernie Fine throwing his program into scandal; the inspiring comeback stories of Arizona forward Kevin Parrom and Kansas forward Thomas Robinson; made-for-March upsets like UNLV over North Carolina, Presbyterian over Cincinnati, and Central Florida over UConn; and big-time matchups like Ohio State vs. Duke, Kentucky vs. Kansas, and Syracuse vs. Florida that were dipped in Tournament atmosphere.

This past weekend, though, gave us the most thrilling game, the highest display of talent, and the most grand exhibition of the best of college basketball, all wrapped in one 40-minute showcase in Lexington, Ky. Here is that game, plus the rest of the best and worst of the weekend: Read More »

*College basketball is here (unlike the NBA), and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. The powerhouse is back, while the Cinderellas believe. That’s a deadly combination. We know some of y’all have been asking for some previews. We have you covered – the top 16 teams in the nation will be previewed individually in the next few weeks. After we broke down Vandy on Friday, we’ll keep this going with No. 8-ranked Louisville and No. 6-ranked Duke later today (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

What an end to a great Big East Tournament last night as UConn beat Louisville by three, 69-66, in an intense, up-and-down slugfest at MSG. The battle itself felt like it boiled down to the Kemba Walker/Peyton Siva matchup. Players stepped up on both sides, but it felt like those two were involved in almost every big play, whether it be scoring (Kemba had 19, Siva 13), setting up teammates or keeping the tempo at a blistering pace (they are clearly two of the fastest guards in the nation) … As Kemba was imposing his will in the second half and drawing foul after foul, Jay Bilas relayed that Rick Pitino was telling the refs that “Kemba Walker is not Michael Jordan.” When he was told about Pitino’s quote after the game, Kemba replied, “I’m not Michael Jordan, I’m Kemba Walker”… Kemba finished with 130 points in his five games – a Big East record – and was the easy choice for tourney MVP … So how does this UConn run change the way you look at the Huskies as an NCAA team? Sweet 16? Further? … Think Louisville’s Mike Marra will have nightmares about last night’s game for the rest of his life? Read More »

After yesterday’s win over Marquette in the Big East Tournament, we caught up with Louisville’s leading assist man, Peyton Siva, in the locker room. Check out what he had to say.

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To say the Big East is pretty tough is like saying Wiz Khalifa smokes a little weed sometimes.

While the company line going into this college basketball season said the Big Ten was the strongest conference in the nation, the Big East has reclaimed its rightful place: At the moment, nine of the Big East’s 16 teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, from No. 3 Syracuse to No. 25 Cincinnati. Read More »

Rick Pitino is college basketball royalty. A living legend. Which makes it hard to fathom that — while still actively coaching a strong program in the high-profile Big East conference, and only five years removed from his most recent Final Four appearance — Pitino could somehow be overshadowed in his own state.

And yet that is the case currently for Pitino, now in his 10th season at the University of Louisville. Read More »

Alonzo Mourning had his #33 retired during halftime of Heat/Magic, the first player in Miami franchise history to get the honor — if you don’t count when the Heat retired #23 for Michael Jordan or #13 for Dan Marino — and the right player to get the honor. After Glen Rice set the foundation and before D-Wade came around, ‘Zo has been the heart of the franchise and was its defining player for a long time … Dikembe Mutombo, Big John Thompson, Riles and Tim Hardaway (towel draped over his shoulder for some reason) were among those in attendance. Read More »

The majority of my MLK Day was spent at the University of Washington’s Bank of America Arena, site of the annual King Holiday Hoopfest. Always a day to circle on the West Coast high school basketball calendar, yesterday’s main event saw Franklin H.S. (my alma mater) and Louisville-bound star PG Peyton Siva knock off cross-city rival Garfield H.S. and their star, sophomore Tony Wroten, arguably the best Class of 2011 player in the country. Read More »