Numbers Can Be Deceiving

Former Western Kentucky coach Ken McDonald urges all
players to stop the game so he can make sure there are 10
players on the court. McDonald got burned against
Louisiana-Lafayette, when the Ragin' Cajuns finished with
six players in the game.

When it comes to college basketball, most people don't really start to pay attention until the first part of February.

Apparently the same can be said for officials in the Sun Belt Conference.

With the game tied at 70 in overtime with 21 seconds remaining, Louisiana-Lafayette and Western Kentucky broke their respective huddles. Through confusion — or perhaps as part of a diabolical plan by Ragin' Cajuns coach Bob Marlin — Louisiana-Lafayette ended the game with six players on the floor.

Normally the extra player would result in a technical foul, but because Western Kentucky was playing zone nobody realized there was an extra player on the court — not even Elfrid Payton, who dribbled out the remaining seconds before scoring the game-winning layup.

In fact, it wasn't until after the game that officials were alerted of the mistake. And with the game already finalized and the teams headed to the locker room, there was no way to enforce the technical.

One day day later, Western Kentucky coach Ken McDonald was fired by the school. It's safe to say that McDonald's least favorite number is five. Not because that's how many players are supposed to be on a basketball court, but because that's how many wins the Hilltoppers had following McDonald's mid-season firing.

McDonald has a daughter who is just about to turn four. My guess is that without a job, the former Hilltoppers coach will be spending a lot of time teaching his daughter how to count up to six until it's time to get his résumé ready for the myriad of coaching openings that show up in mid-March.

Who Wants To Be Number 1?

Texas showed it couldn't handle being No. 1 after a loss to Nebraska.

What a wild week it has been for the top teams in college basketball.

After holding on to the No. 1 ranking for a majority of the season with an undefeated record, Ohio State's loss to Wisconsin has opened the door for teams to vie for the top spot.

That open door has turned into more of a revolving door as of late.

Kansas claimed the skinny number when the polls came out on Monday. Apparently someone forgot to tell the Jayhawks they still have to play the games, because they forgot to show up against in-state rival Kansas State that same day.

It looked like the top billing was going to stay in the Big 12 with Texas – a team that handed Kansas its first loss of the season. Instead, the Longhorns dropped a close one at Nebraska despite several opportunities to come back against the Cornhuskers.

Pittsburgh also had a chance to ascend the rankings once again. Although the Panthers play in arguably the best conference in the nation, St. John's got the best of them. For the Johnnies, that's two top-tier teams to fall at Madison Square Garden – Duke being the other one. If St. John's draws another highly-ranked team in the Big East Tournament, we could see another upset with the partisan Garden crowd.

Duke may get the nod this week, but let's not forget about San Diego State. The Aztecs have only one loss on the season, and that was to current No. 7 BYU. While their conference may not be as brutal as the Big East, it's time to give the folks in southern California a little love.

WOMEN, TOO?

It isn't just the guys who lost a No.1 this week. The Baylor women dropped a shocking game to Texas Tech – a team that has been flirting with the AP Top 25 for all season.

But unlike the men, the top ranking for the women is pretty much an open-and-shut case. Geno Auriemma and Connecticut should be a consensus No. 1, after seeing their 90-game winning streak snapped by Stanford earlier in the season.