• With Boise State backing out of the agreement to join the Big East, there might be an opening for San Diego State to do the same. Now that the Broncos are gone, the Aztecs aren't required to stay if there is no other western team in the league. The Mountain West agreed to pay up to $3 million of Boise State's exit fees ($5 million) from the Big East. The fees mostly will come from the Broncos' year-end distribution.
• In light of Jim Boeheim's ascent to No. 2 on the all-time list for coaching victories, notching 903 and passing Bob Knight, ESPN Stats and Information put together a list of the most likely current basketball coaches to get to 900. Butler's Brad Stevens (fastest ever to 50 and 100) is on the list but the 36-year-old quickly responded that he has "no shot." At the top of the "most likely" list are West Virginia's Bob Huggins (717 at age 59) and Kansas' Bill Self (487 at 50).
• Earlier this week, Marquette and UConn played a great game, but afterward, most of the talk was about a bizarre situation at the start of overtime that cost Connecticut -- the eventual 82-76 loser -- two points.
At the start of overtime both teams lined up facing the wrong direction, unknowingly, and when the Huskies got the ball, they headed toward the wrong basket. Shabazz Napier's layup was goaltended, but just then, the referees realized their mistake. They ultimately ruled that 12 seconds had elapsed and the basket did not count. However, according to the NCAA rule book (Rule 5, Section 1, Article 3), in that conundrum "all activity and time consumed shall count as though each team had gone in the proper direction." Officials admitted their mistake the following day.
