Other Hoop Thoughts

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• Keep your eye on the Ramel-O-Meter. Kentucky guard Ramel Bradley has now played four consecutive games without sitting out for one minute. That includes the double-overtime win over Vanderbilt.

• I love what analyst Jimmy Dykes had to say about Mississippi State guard Jamont Gordon: "His strength is his strength."

• Here's what Memphis gets in Conference USA that top teams in the BCS conferences don't get: When Memphis won at Rice, John Calipari pulled his starters with 4:58 remaining and the Tigers leading by 28. Having an occasional night off does wonders for a team's physical and emotional stamina.

• Allow me to join the chorus condemning Oregon State for firing Jay John in the middle of the season. There is no point to it since they can't pursue a new coach until the off-season anyway. John is a first-class guy who deserves better and will hopefully coach another day.

• Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher each attempted 10 free throws (making nine) in Villanova's win at Syracuse on Saturday. Now that's how you win on the road.

• When the bench decorum was made a point of emphasis, a lot of coaches wondered if the zebras would emphasize it in November and December but let things slide once conference play started. Watching Billy Donovan and Billy Gillispie walk all over the court during the Kentucky-Florida game, I'd say that's what's happening.

• If freshman forward Austin Daye could drop the occasional disappearing act and be a dominant factor every game, it would launch Gonzaga into an entirely different orbit.

• Bummer seeing Penn State lose Geary Claxton for the rest of the year. He was a truly underrated player on a team that had potential to win some games for once. Plus, it's the end of his college career.

• Speaking of the Big Ten, Jordan Crawford and Jamarcus Ellis are still scratching the surface of what they can contribute at Indiana. Makes me believe the Hoosiers have a ton of growth potential for the next six weeks.

• Diss UConn center Hasheem Thabeet all you want (and I have), but very few teams have that kind of player to man the middle. Thabeet played his best game in Saturday's thrashing of Marquette. He doesn't have to be a big scorer, but if he can rebound, block shots and stay out of foul trouble, the Huskies just might be on to something.

• Dave Odom has a remarkable sense of timing. He left Wake Forest just when things were about to get unsettled, and now he's doing the same thing at South Carolina.

• There are rumors flying around that Sean Sutton isn't exactly on terra firma at Oklahoma State, partly because some folks in Stillwater harbor fantasies that they can throw enough money at Bill Self to get him to come home. I find that highly unlikely, but since OSU athletic director Mike Holder, who as golf coach led the school to multiple NCAA championships, has been largely silent on this question, I asked him to weigh in. Here was his answer when I asked if Sutton would be back next year:

"That's what I would anticipate happening. He's got a five-year contract ... Right now I'm just trying to support Sean like any other coach, so I'm hoping we get a lot more wins between now and March Madness. Having a coaching background, I have some empathy for what it's like to struggle."

• DaJuan Summers is the X-factor for Georgetown. When he's not involved offensively, the Hoyas are much more vulnerable. (He didn't score in the loss at Pitt.) But when Summers is aggressive, he's a slightly less polished version of Jeff Green. It opens up the middle for Roy Hibbert and helps get Jonathan Wallace open looks.

• I'm surprised Washington State's Daven Harmeling isn't having a better year. But he's not nearly the disappointment Texas Tech's Charlie Burgess has been. Burgess has fallen off so drastically from his junior year that Bob Knight has been forced to play freshman point guard John Roberson more minutes.

• Not to overreact to UCLA's loss to USC, but one prominent head coach, whose team has played the Bruins this year, told me he's not sure UCLA has a killer instinct. He said when they have a lead, it doesn't seem like they're looking to beat you by 30 like a lot of good teams do.

• Texas only got four points from its bench during Saturday's win at Colorado. Just thought you should know.

• I about choked on my coffee when I read Rick Pitino said Earl Clark was not going to turn pro this year. At this point, Clark is barely a good college player.

• Keaton Grant is having himself a nice season at Purdue. The 6-4 sophomore guard is averaging 17.4 points in Big Ten play.

• If Purdue is one of those teams people expect to take a jump forward next year, then so is Wake Forest. The Deacs have a lot of talent, but it is young talent. And remember, they have one of the top recruiting classes coming in next year, and it is chock full of bigs.

• Don't look now, but VCU has hit its stride and is off to a 6-1 start in the CAA. If the Rams keep it up, you can expect Anthony Grant's name to be affixed to every major job opening that comes up in the offseason. I'm hearing he could be a primary candidate at LSU if John Brady doesn't hold on.

• Michigan State's gotta be relieved about the way Drew Neitzel shot the ball during the second half of the 65-69 win at Minnesota. The Spartans' point guard play looked a little suspect in the game, but that was a quality road win no matter how you slice it.

• I can't help but wonder how long can Pittsburgh stay in the hunt for a Big East title basically playing only six guys.

• Vanderbilt struggled offensively against Kentucky and Tennessee. Makes you think the Commodores, who don't have anybody who is great at breaking down defenders, are vulnerable against quick teams that pressure the ball.

Inside the ballot

This week's AP ballot Rank School 1. Memphis 2. Kansas 3. Tennessee 4. North Carolina 5. Duke 6. UCLA 7. Indiana 8. Washington State 9. Georgetown 10. Michigan State 11. Wisconsin 12. Texas 13. Marquette 14. Villanova 15. Xavier 16. Dayton 17. Rhode Island 18. Pittsburgh 19. Stanford 20. Arizona State 21. Texas A&M 22. Drake 23. Butler 24. Vanderbilt 25. Mississippi

Frankly, I wish I only had to put about 12 teams in my Top 25 this week. How does Marquette get blown out at Louisville and UConn and still end up at No. 13? Beats me -- except if you go down the rest of my ballot, every one of those teams has at least one bad loss, many of which came in the past week.

Because this is the time of year where any road win is so hard to come by, I am probably guilty of over-rewarding teams for road wins and under-punishing them for road losses. I also prefer to reward teams that have a quality win. So Marquette still gets tons of credit for winning at Wisconsin, and even its close loss to Duke in Maui looks good in retrospect. Whereas Vanderbilt, which had its best win at home against UMass, is No. 24.

I also gave Villanova the biggest boost, from unranked to 14th, based on its win at Syracuse. And get ready for a bunch of hey-look-how-good-Drake-is stories. The Missouri Valley might not be quite as strong as it has been, but for the Bulldogs to be unbeaten in league play to this point is extremely impressive. Their only loss to date came on the road at St. Mary's -- no shame there. This is the first time I've put them on my ballot. They finished 22nd in this week's poll.

I was tempted to put USC back in the rankings based on the Trojans' win at Pauley Pavilion, but I wanted to wait another week to see if that looked like a fluke. Also on my almost receiving votes list: Baylor, Kansas State, Oregon, UMass and Louisville. Based on the way things are going, there should be some openings for those teams to climb up next week.