old school

-- Who is or was your favorite college professor? Mine is Barry Lawing, a history instructor at North Carolina's Forsyth Technical Community College. Why? For the second straight winter, Professor Lawing is teaching a class on ACC History, "featuring everything from old game footage to guest lecturers, some better known for scoring than speechmaking." Barry has himself attended about 400 games and is a huge Wake Forest fan. More on the class you wish you could have taken from Aaron Beard of the Associated Press.

-- Jeff Eisenberg of the Daily Bruin previews UCLA's game against Arizona State. Perhaps more than any other game this week, the Sun Devils' trip to Pauley Pavilion is a must-watch match for the NCAA selection committee. For my part, I can't decide if Diogu or Dijon will have a bigger night.

-- Eight teams remain undefeated in conference play. But will Vermont (RPI: 17) be invited to go dancing if they fail to win the America East Tournament? I would hope so. TJ Sorrentine and Taylor Coppenrath are as talented as most major-conference starters. And a team that nearly defeated Kansas in Lawrence deserves the opportunity to pull off a March upset. Before Tom Brennan retires and is replaced by...Maryland's Mike Lonergan? Eric Prisbell of the Washington Post reports that Lonergan, Catholic University's coach during their Division III title run in 2001, will interview this weekend for the Catamounts' head coaching job.

-- Nate Robinson goes on record to defend the Oregon students who will tonight chant "Gary Coleman" in his honor while holding photos of the former child star. Props to Nate-Dogg for understanding college basketball's unique appeal to fans. The Washington star correctly notes that heckling by an opposing school's students is "part of basketball. Without fans, it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be any fun." He also requests a meeting with California's former gubernatorial candidate: "I'd like to meet [Gary Coleman] and give him a Nate Robinson jersey."