big monday

-- Arizona will play five of its last seven regular season games on the road. The stretch will either prepare the Wildcats for a surprising and long-lasting March run or expose Channing, Salim and Hassan as unworthy of anything higher than a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

-- Israeli point guard Niv Berkowitz has left Marquette and will return home to play professional basketball. Less than two months into his stay in Milwaukee, Niv's departure puts Tom Crean & Co. in quite a bind. Ideas on Travis Diener's replacement welcome.

-- Billl Liesse of the Peoria (IL) Journal Star argues that James Augustine is the Big Ten's best big man. But while acknowledging his progress this season, I disagree, believing Augustine's weaknesses are camouflaged by the Illini's guards (who, despite a quiet game against Indiana, remain exceptionally talented offensive threats).

-- Neil Ostrout of the Connecticut Post previews the Huskies' big week, beginning with tonight's game against Syracuse. On Sunday, Connecticut welcomes North Carolina to Storrs. (The Tar Heels, for their part, will be coming off a Wednesday night game against Duke). Beating Villanova took the pressure off Jim Calhoun's club. Losing both of this week's games, however, would bring it back.

-- Following the Orange's 60-57 win over Notre Dame, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle's Jeff DiVeronica previews Connecticut-Syracuse. The angle he takes has Jim Boeheim concerned about the Orange's most significant weakness, their unbalanced attack. For Syracuse to make a Final Four run, Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara can't be the only two players producing on the offensive end.