College Basketball Week In Review: Blake Griffin and Hasheem Thabeet, please come the front of the class

What We Learned This Week: There may only be three teams playing for the national title this year: UNC, UConn, and Oklahoma.

Why?

You can't slow down UNC, but they are starting to play some defense. You can't score on UConn, but they are starting to look more efficient offensively. Oklahoma has Blake Griffin, as well as a supporting cast that gets deeper and better every day.

Beyond that, I don't really see too many teams with all the tools to contend for a title. Pitt is too inconsistent offensively. Wake Forest has a tendency to not show-up every other game. Michigan State has been impressive, but they have yet to play with a squad at full strength this year. Duke? Ehh. Louisville? Maybe. Marquette or Memphis? Please.

Along those same lines, the list for player of the year candidates should really be shrinking as well. Blake Griffin is your pick right now, and there shouldn't really be too much of an argument. I mean the numbers speak for themselves (averages of 23 and 15, 22 double-doubles, not to mention the 40 and 23 he put on Texas Tech the other night).

Thabeet's numbers are not quite as impressive on the season, but it is because he is a different player. UConn is winning because of the way that they play defense, and the way that they play defense is a direct result of Thabeet's presence. Don't believe me? Check out his numbers over the last five: 15.8 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 7.2 bpg. Sound POY worthy?

So if that is two of the all-american first-teamers, who are the other three? I would put Stephen Curry, Jerel McNeal, and James Harden, although leaving guys like Jodie Meeks and Luke Harangody off that list is going to be difficult.

The Pac-10 is wide open this year.

Wide open.

There are five teams within two games of first. Washington, who is sitting atop the standings at 10-3 in the league, doesn't exactly strike fear in the heart of opponent's. Arizona has gone from Pac-10 also-ran to one of the hottest teams (and one of the best stories or 2009) with a seven game winning streak and, most recently, and shellacking of UCLA on Saturday. UCLA is not the same UCLA as the last three years, but they still are a Ben Howland coached team. Cal, when they are hot, can run with just about anyone in the league.

But my pick to win this is Arizona State. Not only do they have the best player on the west coast on their roster, but they have a solid, in unspectacular, supporting cast (Derek Glasser, Jeff Pendergraph, Rihard Kuksiks) and an excellent coach in Herb Sendek.

But like I said, the Pac-10 is wide open. A week ago, I would've put money on the fact that UCLA was getting ready to run away with the title. There is only one thing I am sure about in the Pac-10:

Russ Pennell needs to get rid of that goatee.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Tasmin Mitchell, LSU

Mitchell had one of the most dominating performances of the season this week as he went for 41 points, 11 boards, and 5 assists against Mississippi State. Mitchell also went 12-15 from the field, 15-18 from the line, and had 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 0 turnovers. LSU would go on to win 97-94 in 2OT, and it was Mitchell who scored the biggest basket, an and-1 lay-up with less than a minute left to give LSU the lead for good. Mitchell followed that up with a 20 points, 9 rebound performance in a win over Ole Miss, which combined with another MSU loss put the Tigers up three games in the joke of a conference that is the weak SEC West.

TEAM OF THE WEEK:
Arizona

Is there anyone playing better basketball right now that the Arizona Wildcats? Three weeks ago, they were 11-8, 2-5 in the league, and down big to Houston at home. But then Aubrey Coleman stepped on Chase Budinger's face, the Wildcats made a comeback, and have since reeled off seven straight wins, sliding into fifth in the Pac-10 and into the NCAA tournament discussion. The biggest reason for the improvement has been the play of Nic Wise. During the winning streak, the most under-appreciated of Arizona's big three has averaged 20.3 ppg, 4.3 apg, and 1.9 spg. This past week, 'Zona swept USC and UCLA at home, the latter coming in a game that was in the high teens and low twenties for most of the contest. (WARNING: If you are an Arizona fan, do not read this next sentence) Seeing how the Wildcats have been playing, can you imagine how good they would be if Jerryd Bayless, Brandon Jennings, Emmanuel Negedu, and Jeff Withey were playing?

MATCH-UPS OF THE WEEK:
2/16 - Pitt @ UConn: Anyone that doesn't appreciate watching DeJuan Blair go against Hasheem Thabeet is not a true basketball fan.

2/17 - Michigan State @ Purdue: Neither team is at 100% as Raymar Morgan is battling pneumonia and Robbie Hummel is dealing with a hairline fracture in his back.

2/19 - Washington @ UCLA: Watching the senior Darren Collison going against freshman Isaiah Thomas should be fun.

2/21 - Oklahoma @ Texas: This game has lost a lot of luster since Texas has fallen off, but it is still the Red River Rivalry.

2/21 - Butler @ Davidson: The headline of Saturday's BracketBusters. Full schedule here.

Great line-up of games on Sunday:

• Wake Forest @ Duke
• Wisconsin @ Michigan State
• Villanova @ Syracuse
• Arizona @ Arizona State
• Illinois @ Ohio State