noon

Smarty Pants.

St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said his team's scrimmage tomorrow against Niagara is at noon for a specific reason. The couple of times he felt his team really played poorly over the last two years, Martelli said, were during games that started at noon, so he wanted to simulate that.

Good thinking...But did Martelli invite the SportsProf to attend and blog about the interesting weekend of Philadelphia-area college basketball scrimmages?

Really? The NCAA?

In USA TODAY's college basketball preview, Dick Vitale goes out on a limb.

Teams that could surprise

Michigan— Is this the season Tommy Amaker makes big noise in Ann Arbor? Last spring the team won the NIT championship, but believe it when I tell you the goal is the NCAA this season.

From the Don’t Knock It

Until You’ve Tried It school of coaching techniques. The Valley Hawk, a new Iowa hoops blog, notes that the Hawkeyes have added Friday morning yoga sessions to the team’s weekly schedule.

Never having attended a yoga class, I’ll have to trust the judgment of associate head coach Craig Neal when he suggests the sessions will improve players’ flexibility.

Yeah,

what Mike says.

Rarely do I read a column from start to finish without finding cause to gripe. But DeCourcy's latest is a keeper. I agree with his selections -- and his rationales -- for most overrated team (Illinois), most underrated team (Pitt), most underrated player (Bracey Wright), toughest team to rate (Louisville), toughest player to rate (Dee Brown), boldest prediction (Athlon placing Charlotte in the Sweet 16) and strangest prediction (DeCourcy himself leaving Arizona's Channing Frye off the Sporting News list of the nation's Top 20 centers).

Not Your Father's Atari

When I first read this almost seven weeks ago, I thought to blog about IntelliGym, a most creative application of Israeli military technology for commercial and collegiate purposes. But I decided against it, believing ACE CEO Danny Dankner when he noted that the company did not (yet) have a contract with an American college basketball squad.

But then I read about Memphis and Kentucky here...

ahem

Jorge Ortiz catches Lute Olson making stuff up.

Arizona's Lute Olson went as far as to say this is the best he has seen the league top to bottom in his 22 years at the helm of the Wildcats, a remarkable statement considering the Pac-10 had a lower power rating than the Mountain West in 2003-04 and didn't have a single team advance past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Five More Years! Five More Years!

Saint Louis University wisely extended coach Brad Soderberg's contract through the 2008-2009 season.

During his administration, Soderberg has worked tirelessly to uncover the origin of the Billiken.

Coming Down the Pipeline

Want to know what college basketball stories Associated Press staff members are working on? You've come to the right place.

Likely AP headlines for this weekend and next week include:

-- Major conferences will dominate, leaving smaller conferences feeling left out
-- Defending champ Connecticut rebuilding both teams without star power
-- Second chances, last chances and no more chances, Eustachy making most of second chance at Southern Mississippi
-- Keady prepares for 25th and final season
-- UCLA facing ongoing rebuilding project
-- Quiet, respectful Diogu hones his game in junior season

To preview lead paragraphs, read on.

Going on 30

The Sporting News is up with its list of the nation's Top 30 players. Joey Graham and Deron Williams are ranked too high, Ike Diogu and Gerry McNamara too low. Craig Smith is just right.

They Said It

"His biggest gripe is that about midway through practice, he's got to go outside to plug the meters because he doesn't want to get the parking ticket because he doesn't get a parking pass anymore."
-- Iowa coach Steve Alford, on his father, Sam Alford, who has retired as the Hawkeyes' director of basketball operations

"This is my best team I've had here in terms of size, talent, depth. We've been counterfeit the last three years. Now we have low-post players, we have some size. That doesn't mean we'll be better, but we're not counterfeit."
-- Louisville coach Rick Pitino

I doubt a

viewing audience of 330,000 per week will make a substantial difference in recruiting, but it couldn't hurt.

With seven NCAA appearances since 1996, Valparaiso University is the marquee team in the Mid-Continent Conference.

But rarely have the Crusaders had their games shown live. That changed Wednesday when WYIN (Channel 56) announced its 33-game college basketball schedule will include eight (five home and three away) VU telecasts.

It’s a modest start for the Crusaders, but much-needed.

swingers

Sans Devin Harris, will Wisconsin continue to employ Bo Ryan's "swing offense?"

I doubt it. (Unless the Badgers catch a break in their search for a healthy starting point guard). Though I expect one or two elements of Wisconsin's success to find their way into Ohio State's system, courtesy of the close relationship between Ryan and Thad Matta.

"[Matta] was inquisitive," Ryan said. "He was attentive. "I’m the same way. I like to know. I get films and I look at other teams and I say, ‘I like that.’ Thad’s doing that all the time, too. He’s probably asked me more questions about the swing offense (developed by Ryan) over the last five years than anybody in the country."

Picked up

pieces from November 2nd. But soon -- very soon -- I'll be back to blogging with great frequency.

Seventh Heaven

Two years, the media picked Wake Forest to finish seventh in the ACC. Last year, the media picked Georgia Tech to finish seventh.

The rest, as they say, is history.

This year the fourth estate ranked Florida State seventh in their preseason poll.

1 Week

until the Associated Press releases its preseason college basketball poll.

After Tuesday, I'll have (a lot) more time to blog -- and to post a final composite before the AP releases theirs.

Andy Katz

BoSox Fan.