NCAA Basketball...BIG Monday!!!

In the most important Big East game of the year, #4 pitt knocked off #1 UCONN 76-68 in Hartford. In a true heavyweight bout, 6-7 Pitt. F DeJuan Blair had his best game of the season, scoring 22 points, while grabbing 23 rebounds, and slamming Hasheem Thabeet early in the first half, setting the tone for the rest of the night. More importantly, he effectively used his wide-body to neutralize 7-3 UCONN C Thabeet, who had just 5 points , 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Moreover, Thabeet was plagued by foul trouble, playing just 23 minutes, and eventually fouling out. The Panthers also got major contributions from Sam Young, who had 25 points, including 4 three's, and PG Levance Fields, who had 10 points - all in the final 3 minutes - on two threes and 4-4 from the foul line. 

It was UCONN's first loss without G Jerome Dyson, who's out for the season after undergoing knee surgery on Monday. Even though, Pitt. was the better team Monday, it's hard to definitively say they're better than UCONN - even with Dyson out. Huskies G A.J. Price stepped up to the plate, putting in 18 and dishing out 8 assists, and Freshman G Kemba Walker looked great, scoring 13 points, and getting two steals off Levance Fields - who almost never turns the rock over - in the final two minutes. And despite Thabeet having his worst outing of the season, the Huskies still managed to remain within striking distance until the very end of the game. 

While there's no way to say who's better just yet, we do know that both teams deserve #1 seeds and will be among the most dangerous teams  in March.

Memphis "FedEx" Uni's Nixed...

What would have been just a run of the mill Wednesday night Memphis steamrolling of an in-conference opponent nearly turned into a grand and unsightly commercial for FedEx. 

On "FedEx Appreciation night", the Memphis Tigers were granted NCAA permission to wear FedEx's colors (but not their logo) against SMU. Upon further review, though, and among a few complaints, Memphis decided to stick with the traditional blue and white. Sorry, SMU. You'll get no visual distraction while you're being gutted.

The plan was scrapped because of both Memphis and FedEx, according to Gary Parrish at CBS Sports, "fearing a backlash both locally and nationally about an NCAA team blurring the lines between amateur sports and commercial revenue."

See Joe Lunardi's latest bracket projections and this week's new Top 25 rankings.

Via: rivals.com & ESPN