What we learned this week in NCAA basketball

1. Hasheem Thabeet might be the most dominant force in the country. After recording a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 10, yes, 10, blocks in a blowout win over Providence, Thabeet went for 17, 12, and six yesterday against Michigan. Not only does he block shots, but he alters countless others and simply prevents teams from coming inside against Connecticut (the Wolverines attempted 29 threes yesterday; that right there pretty much tells the story).

2. Notre Dame is cooked. The Irish had one more chance to right the ship yesterday at UCLA, but instead got waxed by 26. Luke Harangody put in a miserable performance (he finished with five points off of 2-of-12 shooting and grabbed only one rebound), as did the entire Notre Dame team. They looked like a squad that had nothing to play for, and now they don't.

3. Georgetown might be, too. The Hoyas fell to Cincinnati yesterday, and it will now take some kind of run for Georgetown to get into the tournament. The one thing the Hoyas do have going for them is that they do have some good wins, beating UConn, Syracuse, and Memphis. The question is whether or not they can break this losing skid. If they can win five or six of their last seven games, they will probably make it, but with the way G'Town has been playing lately, that is no small order.

4. Cincinnati has entered the NCAA Tournament picture. After defeating Georgetown yesterday, the Bearcats find themselves right in the thick of the race to get to the Big Dance. They have several significant wins, including sweeping the Hoyas. Cincy also took down UNLV on the road and beat UAB and Notre Dame. They still have some work to do, but the 'Cats will get plenty of chances with games against Pittsburgh, Louisville, West Virginia, and Syracuse remaining on their schedule.

5. Texas is in trouble. If you would have told me before the season started that the Longhorns would be in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament at this point of the year, I would have said you were nuts. But, that's exactly the predicament Texas finds itself in with about a month left in the regular season, losing three straight, all to Big 12 teams, to drop to fourth place in the conference. Texas would more than likely be in the tourney if the season ended today, but if it doesn't snap out of this funk, it might not be so likely come Selection Sunday.

6. Florida State has all but clinched a bid. The Seminoles were already in good shape going into yesterday, but then they rallied from 19 points down at Clemson to essentially wrap a tourney bid up for themselves. FSU canalso lay claim to having wins against Florida, Cincinnati, California, and Western Kentucky. It would really take a major collapse for Florida State not to get an invite to the Big Dance.

7. The SEC is pretty bad. There really isn't a single team in this conference that has locked up an NCAA Tourney bid yet. It looked like Tennessee had turned things around with wins over Florida and Kentucky, but then the Volunteers turned around and lost to Auburn yesterday. The Gators have a gaudy 19-4 record, but the only notable victories they have are over Washington and South Carolina, whom they split with. Speaking of South Carolina, the Gamecocks look like they could very well be the SEC's best team. They have won five of their past six contests (including wins over Florida and Kentucky) and will probably cement themselves a bid if they can complete a sweep of Kentucky or take out Tennessee in early March. They still do have to win the games that they should win, of course (Alabama, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, etc.). The only other SEC team that is really in serious contention to make it to the Big Dance is LSU, but, much like Florida, they have a great record with not much substance behind it. If the season ended today, I would say that Florida, South Carolina, and LSU would be in.