Thursday Morning Dump

- The Mike Anderson "Is he staying or is he going?" ordeal seems to be over. As much as Anderson said he was a Missouri Tiger, he never really was. His move back to Arkansas is filled with history. Despite his departure, Missouri is still is a good situation

- Luke Winn put together a set of Power Rankings for the Sweet Sixteen. He's certainly not the only one providing power rankings, but he's certainly the best at doing so

- We mentioned yesterday that Washington State center DeAngelo Casto would be suspended for the Cougars N.I.T. quarterfinal game for violating team rules. It turns out that it was because Casto was found having a small amount of marijuana in his room. This is the third marijuana-related suspension for Washington State players this season. UPDATE: Casto pleaded innocent to the possession charges and is contesting the search. UPDATE: Washington State AD Bill Moos lifted the suspension, allowing Casto to play in last night's game

- All eight games this weekend are going to be entertaining, but if you had to rank the games, it would probably look something like this. If you were looking for haiku's for each game, they would probably look something like this

- The Wall Street Journal put together a great article that tried to determine if experience really matters in the NCAA Tournament

- A behind-the-numbers look at the Sweet Sixteen, courtesy of Rush the Court

- There are four "Cinderella" teams remaining. Which one has the best chance to continue on in the Big Dance?

- The top ten most iconic moments in March Madness history

- Role players are as important to a teams success as star players. Rob Dauster provides a list of the five most important role players in the Sweet Sixteen match-ups

- Billy Gillespie was introduced as the new head coach at Texas Tech

- Some updates on the search for the next North Carolina State head coach

- Interesting headline for an article on new Texas Tech head coach Billy Gillespie

- Tennessee Tech head coach Mike Sutton is retiring

- An in-depth list of candidates for the Tennessee job. The Vols are also targeting Jamie Dixon and Jay Wright. Maybe the school doesn't realize that the job isn't as attractive as they think. A couple of the coaching candidates are in action this week

- Michigan State assistant coach Mike Montgomery will become the new head coach at Norther Illinois

- Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik will interview for the Georgia Tech head coaching job

- Louisiana Tech has fired head coach Kerry Rupp after a last place finish in the WAC

- No mid-major coach in the country has seen their stock rise as much as VCU's Shaka Smart. But tournament success at a mid-major doesn't always guarantee success at the next level (just a big paycheck)

- Former Oregon head coach Ernie Kent and current Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor are candidates for the opening at Wyoming

- Ed Cooley, recently named head coach at Providence, has vowed to turn the program around and win quickly, something Keno Davis couldn't do

- Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek is listed as a candidate for several openings

- Mid-Major Madness provides updates on the ever-evolving carousel of coaching changes

- If you find Kansas State head coach Frank Martin just the slightest bit interesting, you are going to want to click this link

- If you read only one thing today, make sure it is this: A list of Bob Huggins best quotes

- "Glue guys" is a another term used to describe valuable role players. Kansas has two "glue guys" in Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed

- If you are a fan of point-guard play, you might want to keep an eye on the Kentucky/Ohio State game

- Speaking of guard play, Arizona is going to need healthy production from their backcourt if they want a chance at defeating Duke. Despite being carried much of the season by Derrick Williams, guard play is the difference-maker in the NCAA tournament

- Don't forget about Wisconsin and don't forget Mike "Ravishing Red" Breusewitz

- Kyrie Irving went on the Dan Patrick show and said it is entirely possible that he returns to Duke next season

- There is no doubt that "The" Jimmer Fredette is the most entertaining player in the country, but has his rise to fame this season inflated his draft stock too much?

- Butler has already done enough to prove that last season was no fluke

- Ohio State head coach Thad Matta has reinstated freshman J.D. Witherspoon. he was declared academically ineligible for the winter quarter, but will join the team in Newark, NJ

- Talk about awkward press conference questions: Florida players and coaches got asked about premarital sex

- Syracuse did not expect to be done playing basketball already. Now they must look forward to next season. Who will replace Rick Jackson and what can we expect out of the Orange in 2012

- Pittsburgh is going to have to deal with a decent amount of turnover next season. Here is what the 2011-2012 roster looks like now

- If you thought this season was especially-rough for Illinois, just wait until next year, when they will have to play without Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Bill Cole

- Are there any reasons for Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight to return to Lexington next season?

- In order to keep his program on the right track, UCLA coach Ben Howland will have to make the "one-and-done" paradox work

- The NCAA needs to ditch the mid-game referee huddles and just get an automatic timing system

- Speaking of referees, the head of NCAA officiating, Mark Adams, has become a popular man during March Madness

- Not very many people do statistical analyses better than Dave Hess. He takes a look at potential match-ups over the next two weeks

- There has been much debate about what the best conference in the country is. Despite having a poor tournament showing, it looks like the Big East is still the best

- An interesting read on the financial structure of the N.I.T.

- Luke Winn updates his tournament diary from New Orleans, the site of the most recent J.W.O takeover (Jimmer World Order)

- Michael Jordan wants UNC get get some new footwear

- If you couldn't already find a reason to hate Syracuse, here is your chance

- The 2010-2011 college basketball season has featured the rise of the "3-point goggles"


Who knew Elton John was a Tennessee fan?