Friday Morning Dump

- Luke Winn's power rankings always make my Friday mornings better

- Pete Thamel penned a terrific article on Ben Hansbrough. Its too bad he plays in the same conference as Kemba Walker, because he is having a player of the year kind of season.

- Eric Angevine offers up an interesting debate: Who is going to win Big East Player of the Year? Ben Hansbrough or Kemba Walker. Angevine also provides some knowledge on Texas' classroom dominance

- Jay Bilas tells us who he believes are the most respected players in the country

- Jeff Eisenberg details Utah State's inability to provide sturdy backboards

- Jeff Bro-zello takes a look at some mid-major teams who wish they were in the Ivy league so they wouldn't have a conference tournament

- Justin Young tells us about Landon Clement, who you've probably never heard of. According to Young, this Clement fellow is one-heckuva three-point-shooter doubling as a white guy playing for an HBCU

- Don't know how I missed this from earlier in the week, but a good-read from the USA Today on whether or not the selection committee will continue to be kind towards teams with 10+ losses

- Syracuse beat-reporter Mike Waters responds to the verbal-abuse he received from Jim Boeheim at the now-infamous post-game presser (For the record, while I may loathe Syracuse, I believe Waters is one of the best beat reporters in the country. Then again, I don't want to even imagine what Boeheim has to say to a lowly-blogger like myself)

- UConn head coach Jim Calhoun thinks the Big East needs to cut the schedule back to 16-games

- Arkansas coach Mark Pelphrey is pumping energy and passion back into his squad, and it all started with a late-night text message

- LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva has given head coach Trent Johnson the dreaded vote-of-confidence

- NC-State fans are upset that not enough people are taking notice at the fact that Herb Sendak's Arizona State Sun Devils are 1-11 in the Pac-10

- A solid-read on the changing of the guard in the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga may be struggling, but the rest of the conference seems to be getting better

- Unlike so many years in the past, the Horizon League regular season title will be decided in the final set of games

- Secondary break provides an excellent debate topic: do conference tournaments do more harm than good?

- Karen Sypher just will not go away. Now she is seeking a new trial in the extortion case against Louisville coach Rick Pitino

- Temple forward Michael Eric fractured his right patella at practice on Tuesday and will miss the rest of the season

- Coastal Carolina's leading scorer Desmond Howard has been suspended indefinitely due to an eligibility issue. The Chaticleers are 25-3 and leading the Big South Conference with a 15-1 record.

- Georgetown junior Henry Sims is more than just a back-up center. He's also a budding politician

- It is more than likely that tOSU shooting guard Jon Diebler will set a new Big-Ten record for three-pointers in the Buckeye's game on Sunday against Purdue

- St. John's hasn't been this hot in nearly a decade. But now the Big East leaders, Pittsburgh, are coming to town and they may have Ashton Gibbs back in the lineup

- Gonzaga struggled early on in non-con play, then again in conference-play. But as of late they have started to put it all together. Can the Zags keep the momentum going?

- It's likely that a new team will replace Kansas' as No.1 next Monday following the Jayhawks road loss at K-State. Following the loss, the Jayhawks took a step back and looked inwards

- An interesting look at the minutes clocked by Kentucky Wildcat players

- George Mason is not this season's George Mason. They are a good team who is likely to get an at-large team. Mike DeCourcy tells us why. But does the 2006 Final-Four run make this George Mason team over-hyped?

- DeCourcy also tells us how Marquette can get a bid to the NCAA tournament

- The South Florida Bulls will take part in next season's Hall of Fame tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts

- The Portland Pilots basketball squad does their best LeBron impression and ask the question "What Should I Do?" Speaking of the Pilots, their head coaching wore a bowtie on the sidelines at their home game last night in homage to a Pilots super-fan who recently passed away

- Arizona got a commitment from highly-regarded big-man Angelo Chol

- Dogs are faster than college students. Who knew?