The Polls, the polls...

The latest AP and ESPN/Coaches/USAToday polls have been released. I won't discuss the merits of the polls, not how accurate they are. That's for another time.

Florida remains #1 in both polls, while Wisconsin got 1/3rd of the #1 votes in the AP Poll. The two polls are now very close, the biggest difference is four spots, Clemson #25 and #21.

The writers being more basketball-savvy than the coaches (ha!!!) added Stanford and Vandy in their top 25, while the coaches countered the writers by adding an old-school-style coach/team in UNLV.

Surpringly Alabama is around #20 in both polls... Mike Patrick probably used all 20 of his AP votes to help Duke climb up from the dreaded #10 spot... Watch out for the power guard trios and more, Marquette and Oregon could sneak up (sizewise) and bite a lot of teams in March!... If Air Force gets the right matchups in the Tourney, they could be this year's George Mason... Can't wait for Thursday's matchup when Oregon visits UCLA...

Outside the Polls: Is Bob Knight back as a nationally relevant contender? His coaches show will be debut on FoxCollegeSports next week... Iona's Jeff Ruland went all crazy on the media, doing the "with us or against us" routine. Now if this was coming from an average Joe coach the media would not be as scared, but Jeff Ruland is an NBA space-eater... Those with access to the INHD channel check your listings for an upcoming repeat of the series Hardwood Heavens that profiles some of the storied arenas and fieldhouses in college hoops such as the Smith Center, Allen Fieldhouse, and a few more. Check my daily TV listings for more details... Is Syracuse practicing dunks and alley-oops this week (after their game at Louisville)?... In the GQ segment, Doug Gottlieb pointed out that Duke assistants don't wear ties. I think they are happy to be free from the stranglehold Coach K had on them... Moving on, Paul Hewitt went old school by making his players wash their uniforms, and do the chores typically associated with student managers. He also removed the names from the back of their jerseys... I was shocked to discover that wrestlemania-defender Lorenzo Matta is a basketball player as he scored in a couple of basketball moves inside the paint against the Lopez twins... Did you all notice how Ben Howland was obnoxiously inside the lines even during the game? The zebras should really warn him and T-him-up. He looks like a desperate little-league coach (ouch!)...