That’s the way the polls work. Why? Because so many voters are lazy, that’s why. Whether the voter is a media member, a coach, a sports information director voting for his coach, an assistant coach voting for his coach, a secretary representing the coach – or whoever – the easiest thing to do is move No. 2 to No. 1 in that situation.

You could train chimpanzees to do the same thing. But why take the time? Kentucky emerged Monday as the unanimous pick in both The Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN Top 25. Kentucky got all 65 votes in the AP and all 31 votes from the coaches. Not one original thinker in the bunch. Not one brave soul willing to go against the grain and risk being asked to explain that decision.

So the Wildcats are definitely No. 1, right? Maybe. But are they the best team? Are they playing the best basketball against the toughest opponents? I don’t think so. And I say that fully understanding it may damage my relationship with Ashley Judd. I’d hate for that to happen, but the truth is I’ve never met her. (Note to wife: I really have no interest in meeting her. Honest.)

This has nothing to do with which team has the best player. Kentucky freshman John Wall may be the leading candidate for Player of the Year, but he doesn’t have it wrapped up. It also has nothing to do with which team has provided the most entertaining spurts during games on national television. The Wildcats were sensational for stretches against North Carolina, UConn, Louisville and others. At times, the Wildcats have looked unbeatable. But it takes more than that to be the best.

“They don’t understand that 40-minute thing yet,” Kentucky coach John Calipari told the AP. “There’s games where they’ll play 20-25 minutes and the other 15-20 minutes the other team beats us. We’ve got to learn it before late February, starting into March, we’ve got to be more consistent.”

I realize Calipari has to say something like that in an effort to keep his young players somewhat level headed. Actually it may be too late for that. A few of the Wildcats have been talking since December about going all season without a loss. If they want to talk amongst themselves that way, it’s fine. But don’t go public with that. It only puts a bigger target on your back.

Calipari should understand targets from his days at UMass and Memphis, where he was the hunter more often than the hunted he is at Kentucky. That’s why his comment is a good warning to his players.

It seemed ironic that the polls were released Monday afternoon and then, within hours, the Big Monday schedule showcased No. 4 Syracuse against No. 7 Georgetown and No. 2 Kansas against Missouri, a team receiving votes in both polls. Two great rivalries, so expectations were high for two great games. Both turned out to be snoozers.

With the color orange everywhere in the Carrier Dome, Georgetown jumped to a 14-0 lead on Syracuse. Trouble? Not for the Orange. Jim Boeheim’s team never showed any sign of being rattled and stormed back to win 73-56. Andy Rautins and Kris Joseph each scored 15 for Syracuse, now 20-1 with a loss only to Pittsburgh.

In Lawrence, Kan., center Cole Aldrich had 12 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots as he continued to sharpen his game for March. Marcus Morris (17 points) and Aldrich realized early they had a tremendous advantage inside. The Jayhawks hounded Missouri defensively, dominated the boards and got their transition game going as they moved to 19-1, with only a loss to Tennessee.

Syracuse and Kansas might be the two best transition teams in the country. Both play terrific defense and that ignites their offense. They are efficient and athletic and that led to two surprisingly easy victories.

It appears Bill Self has settled on a starting lineup and it has to include Brady Morningstar, who is playing so well. If Tyshawn Taylor doesn’t become a huge distraction, Kansas should be in good shape.

I’ve been covering Syracuse games since Andy’s dad, Leo Rautins, was playing for Boeheim. Syracuse’s Hall of Fame coach has never had better personnel to execute the 2-3 zone defense. The Orange bench has been very productive too.

After watching both Monday night, it’s hard to say which is better. In my book, they are No. 1 and No. 1A right now. Villanova and Kentucky are the other teams I would reward with top seeds if the NCAA Tournament started right now.

Kentucky has games remaining against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, but the Wildcats are not going to face opponents as good as Georgetown and Missouri in the SEC. According to the RPI released by the NCAA Monday, the Big 12 had eight teams (Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Missouri) ranked in the top 50. The Big East also has eight (Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, Georgetown, UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Cincinnati). The SEC has four (Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Mississippi).

Numbers don’t tell you everything, but take a look at where Kansas, Syracuse and Kentucky rank in this week’s NCAA statistics.

Kansas (RPI 2, Strength of Schedule 12): Kansas leads the nation in scoring margin (23.5), is third in scoring offense (84.9), third in field-goal percentage defense (36.3), and fifth in assists per game (18.4).

Syracuse (RPI 1, SOS 5): Syracuse leads the nation in field-goal percentage (53.4) and assists per game (20.3). The Orange is fifth in scoring offense (84.1), fifth in scoring margin (18.9) and fourth in steals per game (11.2).

Kentucky (RPI 7, SOS 85): Kentucky leads the nation in won-lost percentage (100) and rebound margin (10.4). The Wildcats are not in the top five of any other category. They are sixth in field goal percentage (49.8) and sixth in blocked shots per game (6). They are seventh in scoring margin (17.6).

Three excellent teams, each capable of winning the national championship. Don’t count out Villanova, or Texas, or Duke, or maybe four or five others. But don’t put too much stock in the polls. Remember, Syracuse wasn’t even ranked when the season began. And this is college basketball – not football. The championship is determined the right way.

See you in Indianapolis.

But the experts who tell you they have it all figured out are wrong, not to mention extremely out of line. How can you tell someone else how to live their life, especially when most of us don’t know exactly what is wrong?

UConn announced Tuesday that Calhoun would be taking a medical leave of absence. It was effective immediately. There is no timetable for his return. Until Calhoun wants to tell us the medical issues that have sent him home – not to a hospital – we won’t know for sure. UConn has only told us that it isn’t a cardiac problem and it isn’t related to any of Calhoun’s previous cancer battles.

That’s great news.

Calhoun left the Huskies in 2003 for surgery, after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He has been treated twice for skin cancer, most recently in 2008 when he needed surgery and 33 radiation treatments to help fight off the nasty dreaded disease. He has missed all or part of 22 UConn games, including Wednesday’s victory over St. John’s, since 1990 with some form of illness.

I can’t think of any other school in the NCAA that provides a page of health records on their head coach in the game notes. UConn did Wednesday night. It’s not funny. It’s just different – and necessary, given the circumstances.

In the past, Calhoun has elected to be very transparent with the public. It wasn’t always easy, but he wanted UConn fans, and college basketball fans across the nation to understand anyone can get cancer – and it doesn’t have to kill.

“I’m a private person and when we were first dealing with this, I didn’t want Jim to go public,” his wife, Pat, said in 2008. “But if just one person listened and is helped by this, then it makes it worthwhile.”

This time, Calhoun’s primary-care physician has simply said he recommended a medical leave from his coaching position to “address some temporary medical issues.” That has led to speculation that the problems are stress related. We know coaching is a stressful job. Those who have watched Calhoun know he is fully immersed in his job. The man hates to lose and the Huskies were on a three-game losing streak when he called associate head coach George Blaney and gave him the news.

“The doctor told him to take time off,” Blaney said. “[Calhoun] said, ‘He finally told me I needed to do this. So I’m listening for once.’ ”

I’ve known Calhoun since 1985. I covered UConn basketball as the beat writer for The Hartford Courant during Calhoun’s first 11 seasons with the Huskies and I’ve been around the program quite a bit since then. We’ve had a professional relationship. He has been mad at me; told me he never wanted to speak to me again. He ripped me in a national magazine. I got mad at him. But we’ve always talked things out and moved on. I have enjoyed watching him win two national championships.

When Calhoun was 45 or 50, he wouldn’t have listened to his doctor. He would have kept going. But he knows better now. One of Calhoun’s closest friends told me the doctor’s orders are to stay away from the team, stay away from the office, and that probably meant an order not to watch the Huskies on TV. That sounds crazy, but what good would this leave of absence be if Calhoun is pacing in front of the TV as he team plays. That’s only going to delay his return – and I guarantee you Calhoun wants to be back as soon as possible.

I imagine his wife took the remote control away Wednesday night. Maybe she unplugged the TV or had cable service cut off. Jim and Pat are two of the most intelligent and charitable people around. Maybe they caught up on some reading Wednesday night. Maybe they talked about the future. Calhoun might have taken a phone call or two from one of his sons, with updates on the score from the XL Center in Hartford.

When Calhoun left Detroit after losing to Michigan State in the Final Four last year, I thought he might retire. He had been deeply hurt by some things written about him and allegations of recruiting violations that popped up during the NCAA Tournament. But he quickly decided that he would return to UConn. Even though an NCAA investigation still looms as a possibility, Calhoun has not expressed any real concern and the impact of that remains to be seen.

You can read the ridiculous theories on the message boards online. Some UConn fans are urging Calhoun to walk away for good. Not sure why. Don’t those fans understand that Calhoun is UConn basketball? When he retires, UConn basketball will not be the same and I don’t care who is hired to follow in his footsteps. Many in the UConn athletic department have been quietly worried about that for the past two years or so.

Some have advanced the theory that Calhoun is faking these medical conditions to inspire his players to do better. What a bunch of garbage. Calhoun is at his toughest when things are down. That makes him work harder. And he loves to push his players in practice. That’s what makes them better, not walking away in some publicity stunt.

This is a man who fell off is bike during a charity event last June, broke several ribs but kept on riding. He crossed the finish line, fainted and was taken to the hospital. He could have killed himself. When I saw him in August, hitting a golf ball off the tee at another of his charity events, he admitted he started golfing with Blaney before he was supposed to. I simply told him it confirmed what everyone already knew. He’s the toughest SOB on the planet. We both laughed.

Stress can manifest itself in many ways. When Calhoun wants us to know exactly what is going on, he will talk. Until then, I urge my fellow media members to think before they write.

UConn’s last loss before the leave was Sunday at Michigan. A writer in Detroit actually wrote this Wednesday: “While the medical leave is concerning, especially given his history with cancer, it’s more interesting on another degree of separation, how it will affect the Wolverines. . . . It will be interesting to see how the NCAA tournament selection committee handles Calhoun’s leave.”

Really? That certainly is another degree of separation. I’ll agree with that.

On the other extreme, a well-known national college basketball writer has come out and said Calhoun should retire after this season. Based on what? A leave of absence where no one has given, us the reason. Sorry, can’t agree there.

Let Calhoun retire on his own terms. He deserves that after everything he has been through and everything he has done for UConn and the State of Connecticut. The man has coached 1,164 games, more than any other active Division I coach. Blaney picked up victory No. 817 for Calhoun on Wednesday night. Only Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Phelan have more.

But Calhoun also is a husband, a father and a grandfather. The fact he has taken this leave of absence is another indication that his family comes first. They will help him make the decision to retire – whenever that might be.

UConn guard Kemba Walker says he wouldn’t be surprised if Calhoun returns for Saturday’s game against No. 1 Texas. I don’t think that will happen, but with Calhoun it’s never say never. Whenever the doctor clears him, he will be back.

I know Calhoun will do the right thing because of something he told me in 2008. During his radiation treatments, I spent several hours with him one morning. We rode to the hospital together. I watched him take his treatment. I talked to his doctors and nurses. We had a conversation I will never forget. He shared a great deal with me that day.

On the ride back from the hospital, this is what he said. And this is why I know Jim Calhoun will do the right thing.

“I don’t want to be the guy with the most victories in the graveyard, the guy with the most money in the graveyard. I just don’t want to be in the graveyard. Eventually, like every one else, my time will come. But the way I feel about my family and the way I feel about my life, the way I feel about a lot of things that I can still do, and the joy I get out of living . . . I’m not willing to give any of that up. I have no desire to do that.”

A few more fans probably took notice last weekend. Still suffering from their college football bowl hangover and realizing that the BCS championship game had resulted in an Alabama victory, these fans discovered basketball was about to begin conference play. Others – the ones who worship the NFL – won’t tune in until after the Super Bowl.

As a public service, we want to help everyone get up to speed. Well, everyone except those NFL devotees. They are on their own.

If you want to know who has been winning and would like to identify the top teams, check out the rankings. But don’t put too much stock into the polls right now. Last week, 15 of the teams in the Associated Press poll lost at least once. Thank goodness the polls don’t factor into championship decisions in this sport.

Do understand this much: There are no great teams this season. Kansas, Texas and Kentucky still look like Final Four teams. Kansas went into a funk and suffered its first loss at Tennessee Sunday. The Longhorns replaced the Jayhawks at No. 1. Kentucky remains undefeated after a poised performance at Florida Tuesday night. What team is most likely to join those three in Indianapolis? Take your pick from Villanova, Purdue, Syracuse, Michigan State, Duke, and West Virginia. Or maybe it will be a surprise team like Pittsburgh or Brigham Young.

It’s easier to pick the top players so far. The AP preseason All-America team included Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson, Duke’s Kyle Singler, and Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich of Kansas. As we head into the second half of the season, we give you our Midseason All-America team – based purely on first-half performances.

Kentucky guard John Wall: The freshman point guard has provided the headline for this season. The word most often used to describe Wall is explosive. He has the speed to drive past anyone on the court. Then, if anyone happens to be waiting for him at the basket he has the ability to leap to the basket and score. Wall wowed everyone at Madison Square Garden when the Wildcats played UConn.

He is averaging 17.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 2.1 steals and he is shooting 49.7 percent from the floor. It’s hard to find fault, other than the turnovers that can come in large numbers. But he has the unique ability to take control of a game whenever his team needs that. That puts Wall in a special category. He has been the best player in the game this season and there’s no doubt he will be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

Duke guard Jon Scheyer: Offensive efficiency is such an important part of the game. Scheyer’s play defines that aspect of the game and, in large part, explains why Duke is off to a 14-2 start. The 6-5 senior isn’t the flashiest passer around but he averages six assists per game with an assist-to-turnover ration of 4.80 (best in the nation). Scheyer has become Duke’s most important player, averaging 19.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, shooting 45.1 percent (FG), 90.3 (FT) and 39.5 (3-point). If there were a stat for good decisions, Sceyher would likely lead the nation.

Notre Dame center Luke Harangody: West Virginia coach Bob Huggins says it is “almost impossible” to defend against Harangody. Notre Dame’s big man had 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting and added five rebounds as the Irish defeated West Virginia 70-68 last week. Harangody gets overlooked because Notre Dame hasn’t had the type of success other teams have had. But coming back as a senior, he has expanded his game. He can shoot the three and instead of just backing people down inside, he can face up and score off his dribble. He’s averaging 24.9 points (best in the Big East) and 9.5 rebounds. Any coach would welcome that type of production.

Texas forward Damion James: Notice something unusual? James is the third senior with high grades on our midseason report card. Texas has talented freshmen. Texas has tremendous depth. But without James back in the lineup, Texas wouldn’t be the No. 1 team in the nation. He has shown constant and steady improvement in the Longhorn uniform, averaging 17.3 points this season, up from 15.4 last season and 13.2 as a sophomore. He is grabbing 11.2 rebounds (among the top 10 in the nation) and averaging almost one block per game. James plays his best when the competition is the best. The Longhorns look to him for energy.

Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson: Many transfers need an entire season to get situated, just to fit in with their new program. Johnson was Syracuse’s main man by the fourth game of this season when he scored 25 points in a victory over North Carolina. He was averaging 17.3 points at that stage and he hasn’t slacked off a bit. His stats reflect an all-around player. Johnson is averaging 17 points, nine rebounds 2.2 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.8 steals. He is shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range and 55.4 percent overall. That’s in 32.9 minutes per game. Johnson is a perfect fit on the back line of Jim Boeheim’s zone defense. And the Orange are climbing like Johnson’s NBA stock, from No. 25 in the nation all the way up to No. 5 as they head into Saturday’s big game against West Virginia.

Kansas guard Sherron Collins, Ohio State swingman Evan Turner: These are my top two guys off the bench. Kansas is so balanced offensively, it might appear Collins isn’t living up to his hype. Wrong. He is better than ever. There isn’t a better competitor in college basketball and he showed that again when he saved the Jayhawks in a near loss to Cornell. If there is a tougher guy than Collins, it might be Turner. He was having a Player of the Year season until that frightening back injury on Dec. 5. Turner only missed six games and Monday night he was sensational scoring 32 in a comeback win at Purdue. Keep an eye on him the rest of the way.

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon: The Panthers opened the season needing to replace Levance Fields, DeJuan Blair, Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs. That probably explains why everyone thought this would be a rebuilding year for Pitt. Think again. After defeating Connecticut 67-57 Wednesday night in Hartford, the Panthers are 14-2 overall (losses to Texas and Indiana) and tied for first in the Big East with a 4-0 record. This Pitt team has a little more quickness than previous Pitt teams, but all the toughness you’ve come to expect from Dixon’s teams. At this point, I say Dixon is the Coach of the Year. Dixon loves his team, but he’s steady as ever and not surprised. “ I’ve said from the beginning that we hadn’t lowered our demands or our expectations. Nothing has changed for us,” Dixon said. “I know other people may look at us differently. I believe any team that commits to one another and commits to playing together can be as good as they want to be.”

I’ll take these players and Dixon’s commitment to toughness and execution. Put it all together and we might go undefeated.

ONE LAST THING

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Haiti, their families and friends, who are suffering after this week’s devastating earthquake. So many people are impacted by this. I just want to get a shout out of concern and best wishes to former UConn basketball player Jeff Adrien, who is playing ball in Spain. Adrien grew up in Brookline, Mass., but is Haitian-American. His mother was in Port-au-Prince when the quake happened. She is OK, but Adrien went through the same horrifying experience so many have endured this week. Jeff sent me this text in a Facebook message Wednesday:

“Man it’s very crazy. She’s right in the city. She’s been there on vacation for about 2 weeks visiting family. I didn’t talk to her until the next day at 7 their time , 1 pm Spain time. It was a tough night for me couldn’t sleep didn’t go to practice. I was very lucky to talk to her. She picked up when I called. She said there’s people dying and that she was ok and helping the needy. She had to go but wanted me to tell my sister that she’s ok. I haven’t talked to her since. I know there [are] after shocks still going on so it’s still not safe. I just want her to be safe and to go home. Thanks for your concern. Go huskies.”

Just one example. So many more out there.

Larry Brown had coached Kansas to the national championship in 1988 and then, in his itinerant ways, decided to leave Lawrence to coach the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. He left behind more than the championship trophy. The NCAA was investigating the recruitment of Vincent Askew, a guard at Memphis State who considered transferring to KU but never actually played for the Jayhawks.

The NCAA found Kansas guilty of “improper recruiting inducements.” At the top of the list was a $364 plane ticket Brown purchased for Askew. Brown said the ticket was for Askew to return home to see his dying grandmother. As a result, Kansas became the first program barred from defending its own title. The NCAA told the Jayhawks they were banned from the 1989 NCAA tournament. In addition, a scholarship was taken away. And, of more concern to Williams, on-campus visits for potential were taken away for an entire year.

It was Halloween when the ruling was handed down. Williams was out trick-or-treating with his children when he got the news. It was 1988. No cell phones. No text messages. The wife of athletic director Bob Frederick got in her car and drove around the neighborhood to find Williams and give him the message that Frederick needed to meet with the coach.

Kansas had told Williams about the investigation during the interview process. But the impression was that the violations were secondary and that penalties would not be severe.

“I was dumbfounded and very scared to be honest with you,” Williams told me in a 2008 interview for my book on the history of Kansas basketball. “I didn’t now if we were going to be able to get it done.”

Williams thought the recruiting limitations would damage the program for at least three years. It didn’t, due in large part to the incredible recruiting energy of Williams and his staff. Williams coached at Kansas for 15 seasons and by 1991 they were in the NCAA Final against Duke, with three more Final Fours and one more NCAA runner-up before he left for North Carolina in 2003.

But almost 20 years later, the heartache Williams endured telling his team could still be heard in his voice. That interview with Williams came racing back to me on Sunday when the news broke that USC had imposed sanctions on its own men’s basketball program for NCAA rules violations related to O.J. Mayo, the one-and-done star for the Trojans who now plays for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.
USC announced a ban on postseason competition at the end of this season, including the Pac-10 conference tournament; a reduction of one scholarship for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years; a reduction of off-campus recruiting by coaches; and a reduction of recruiting days next year from 130 to 110.

Given the circumstances of the Mayo recruitment, the blatant disregard for NCAA rules, the public knowledge of the violations as they were happening, and the involvement of Rodney Guillory, a known runner for sports agents, the action took by USC this week is an insult to college basketball, everyone who follows the sport and the NCAA – especially the organization’s Committee on Infractions.

This lame attempt by USC to avoid further NCAA sanctions is offensive in many ways. The recruiting sanctions aren’t nearly severe enough. But there are two objections that stand above all others. First, coach Kevin O’Neill and this season’s players are being penalized more than anyone else at USC – and they didn’t commit any of the violations. Second, athletic director Mike Garrett escapes with no blame – and he is more responsible than anyone.

The ridiculous affair with Mayo played out under the direction of coach Tim Floyd. Unlike many of these cases, Floyd did not escape untouched. He quit in June after allegations that he gave $1,000 cash to Guillory to help steer Mayo to the Trojans. Floyd is now an assistant coach in the NBA. Have a look at an interview Floyd did with the PTI guys on ESPN after Mayo signed with USC.

Here is where Garrett comes in. When the AD heard that Mayo was connected to Guillory, he should have put his foot down and told Floyd to stop recruiting Mayo. Why? Because in 2000, when Guillory was working for a so-called sports agency in Las Vegas, he gave plane tickets to USC guard Jeff Trepagnier. The NCAA stepped in and suspended Trepagnier for nine games. Did Garrett forget? He was the AD then. And is it too much to expect someone with a college sports resume that includes a Heisman Trophy to do the right thing?

The NCAA likes to talk about institutional control. Has there ever been a greater example of a lack of institutional control than the proceedings at USC? Many are suggesting that the USC administration has used basketball as a sacrificial lamb, with the hope that the NCAA now will take it easy on the Trojans’ football program. Don’t forget that the Reggie Bush case must still play out in the courts and in the halls of the NCAA. Truth is, the NCAA could move its understaffed enforcement department to Los Angeles and still have a hard time getting all the facts on USC’s top programs.

This is a mess. And all the lame responses from Mayo to Garrett are a joke. Don’t be surprised if this develops into landmark case in NCAA history. Those who love college sports shouldn’t be satisfied until Garrett pays the price. He has no place in college sports.

Was Mayo really worth all this? This Trojans finished 21-12 (11-7 Pac-10) in his only season. USC lost to Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

This year, in a down season for the Pac-10, the Trojans had been good news on the court. Floyd’s resignation and all the other bad news last summer was supposed to derail the program. O’Neill, a good coach and a good man, had led USC to eight straight wins, a 10-4 record and a 2-0 start in the conference. Then he had to deliver the bad news, the same way Williams did back in 1988.

“Nothing changes in our daily lives; it’s just unfortunate that our last game is March 6th,” O’Neill was quoted saying Sunday. “It will test our mettle but I’m convinced they’ll respond very well . . . or as well as you could.”

Williams didn’t have to deliver the news in January. The 1988-89 Jayhawks found motivation in the probation ruling. They won 13 of their first 14 games, climbed to No. 16 in the AP rankings, but then injuries and bad breaks resulted in an eight-game losing streak and final record of 19-12.

Williams and his players will never forget that season. Twenty years from now, O’Neill and his Trojans will likely have a similar set of memories – even though it’s not their fault.

Year after year, I remember joining my father and my grandfather in the living room to watch the big games. We’d start with the Cotton Bowl, then switch from channel to channel for the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Rose Bowl – and any others that might be included in the Jan. 1 lineup. You would eat a little, nap a little and, for those of us in Big Eight territory, the climax would always come with a conference team playing in the Orange Bowl.

When it was all over, we would sit around and argue about who should be named national champion. If the polls were split, we’d have more to argue about, for days and days to come.

The tradition has changed dramatically.

Thanks BCS.

Up until four years ago, when I was still in the newspaper business and the national championship game had been created, my new tradition meant cutting New Year’s Eve short so that I could get up early, head to the airport on New Year’s Day, and then travel to the championship game site.

This year, I can’t even tell you which games are played on New Year’s Day without looking at the schedule. Let’s see . . . there is the Outback Bowl (Northwestern vs. Auburn), Capital One Bowl (Penn State vs. LSU), Konica Minolta Gator Bowl (West Virginia vs. Florida State), Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi (Ohio State vs. Oregon), and the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Cincinnati vs. Florida).

Not a bad lineup. But the AT&T Cotton Bowl is Jan. 2 this year, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl is Jan. 4, and the FedEx Orange Bowl gets played Jan. 5. Before we can watch the Citi BCS National Championship game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas on Jan. 7, there’s something called the GMAC Bowl (Central Michigan vs. Troy) on Jan. 6. Bet you are psyched up for that one.

It’s been hard to get into this bowl season. The matchups haven’t been that special. Few of the games have resulted in exciting contests. Most people I know are looking forward to just one game and that’s the last one.

And, if you haven’t noticed, the big headlines have been coming away from the field. The focus has shifted to the coaches. Coaches taking different jobs, coaches resigning, then not resigning, coaches suspended, coaches threatening legal action, coaches abusing their players, coaches getting fired and then more allegations filed against coaches by former players.

If this is the new tradition, count me out. My son is home from college during semester break. We haven’t sat down together and watched one football game, start to finish. Instead, we have watched all the breaking news and all the updates about Florida coach Urban Meyer and Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.

This just in . . . Tommy Tuberville has expressed his interest in another job opening. . . . details coming on the late edition of SportsCenter.

We were led to believe Meyer would resign as coach of the Gators. I’ve got the Florida e-mail to prove it. Then the next day, Meyer said he had changed his mind and would simply take a leave of absence. We should expect to see Meyer coaching his team in the Sugar Bowl. And you thought the top storyline would be Cincinnati playing without coach Brian Kelly. (You remember that guy, don’t you? The coach who left for Notre Dame and sparked angry a debate over loyalty and promises when called out by his angry Bearcat players?)

The Meyer soap opera was a lot to absorb in one week. And then things starting boiling over at Texas Tech. It turns out Leach wasn’t such a lovable pirate captain after all. The administration at Tech obviously believed the allegations made by wide receiver Adam James are serious enough (and true enough) that Leach had to be suspended. James, son of ESPN analyst and former football star Craig James, says he was locked up in an electrical closet as punishment for missing practice because of a minor concussion.

Leach’s insubordination evidently then took care of he rest. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard such strong words from a university chancellor as the ones used by Tech’s Kent Hance to describe his coach’s actions.

It appears Tech had no choice. Leach may have rendered himself unhireable again as a college coach. What a strange outcome for a man who won several national coaching awards last season. Leach turned Tech into a winning program, brought expansion to the Tech stadium, raised the academic performance of the football players and created a new image for Lubbock. But none of that was the total story.

Just weeks ago we saw a similar story unfold with Mark Mangino at Kansas. Another national coach of the year is out of work after reports of abusive behavior toward players. There have been other allegations this week. At least one player from Texas A&M claims coach Dennis Franchione abused players at that school.

Is this the reality in college football today? Is this going to be the new trend? Will litigation replace the joy of the bowl season? Are attorneys going to step in and turn the world of college coaching upside down? Will more players come forward? Are university presidents and chancellors taking matters into their hands after years of shelling out huge contracts to high profile coaches?

Meyer spent a lot of time the other day talking about the stress that goes along with coaching. Seems those stress levels may be going up in the coaching fraternity if there are more secret “sheds” and other abusive behavior that has gone unreported.

Let’s hope this isn’t a trend. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Bowl time is supposed to be a happy time, but this New Year’s Eve college football is sporting a big-black eye. And it will take some time to recover.

Don’t mess with my Madness!

There, I said it. I could have typed that all uppercase to give the impression of screaming, but take my word for it. My brain was screaming as I typed those words. I could have replaced “mess” with a stronger, more explicit word – and I did consider several alternatives. But after personally witnessing Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun drop the F-bomb on one of his players Sunday and hearing more than 13,000 people in Hartford’s XL Center express their sudden shock and dismay, I have made an early New Year’s resolution to clean up my language.

But back to the original point of this blog: Don’t [blank] with the Madness! (My resolutions never do last very long.)

I’m talking about March Madness, my favorite time of year. There have been reports in recent weeks that the NCAA will consider expansion of the men’s basketball tournament. The popular theory is that the current field of 65 teams would increase to 96 teams. Another week of competition would be added. The top 32 tams would receive byes. One explanation I read said the move has been “characterized as folding the NIT into the NCAA tournament.”

Really? Well, fold this.

The basketball tournament is the best championship event in college sports. Big-time college football doesn’t even have a real championship event and look at how divisive that issue has become in our sports society. Now the NCAA wants to dumb us all up again and tell us that a 96-team tourney would be better than what we’ve already got.

What we have right now is the coolest, purest, most perfect system of all. We get all worked up over the automatic bids that go with conference tournaments. We speculate for weeks and weeks about who’s in, who’s out, and who is on the bubble. We all gather around the television on Selection Sunday with the anticipation of the greatest payout in lottery history and we fill out our brackets as the field is announced.

That is followed by three weeks of great drama. After more than 30 years of covering the tournament, that first weekend still boggles my mind. We start on Thursday with 64 teams and by that first Sunday we are down to the Sweet 16. A week later we have our Final Four. In my book, Final Four Saturday is the single most exciting day on the sports calendar. And then on Monday night we have a championship game.

Why in the world would we want to mess with that? Why? Why? Why? If the Church Lady still made appearances on Saturday Night Live, she would undoubtedly try to convince us that Satan is behind this expansion move. It’s not Satan, but it is the next worst thing.

Money.

The NCAA tournament selection committee supposedly took an exhaustive look at expansion four years ago. From that point on, committee chairmen and committee members have told us the tournament is just fine. Even under the intense heat and scrutiny in 2007, after Syracuse was left out of the field, we were told there would be no expansion.

The reality of expansion talk now is that it is tied to TV revenue. The NCAA has been a partner with CBS for as long as most fans can remember – 1982 to be exact. The key to that relationship is the 11-year, $6 billion deal with CBS. But the NCAA can opt out of that deal after the 2010 Final Four.

Do you think maybe ESPN would be interested in the men’s tournament? ESPN was built on college basketball coverage, but the cable giant doesn’t have the NCAA tournament. And let’s face it, boys and girls. . . . ESPN wants to be king of everything. ESPN wants what it doesn’t have.

More games equals higher rights fees. More games equals more scheduling opportunities and more advertising and more revenue. More, more, more . . .

Maybe the most disturbing part of this story is the timing. The NCAA doesn’t have a president right now. Myles Brand passed away in September and the process of finding a new president will likely take longer than any expansion talks. By the way, Myles Brand was opposed to expansion.

Another scary thought is that so many coaches support expansion. Their justification is simple. Job security. Make the NCAA tournament and keep your job. More tournament spots, more job security.

I totally supported Boeheim in 2007. The Orange should have been in the tournament that season with a 24-11 (10-6 Big East) overall record. But that wasn’t an argument for expansion. That was an argument for making more information and better information available to the selection committee so that they may do their job the right way.

And, finally, to those who want to let every Division I team into the tournament, please get real. The way things are right now, every team is already in the tournament and your chance to make the field of 65 starts with the season opener. Do well in the regular season, do well in the conference tournament, schedule the right way, win games, and you will make the tournament.

Ever hear of earning your way into something good? All it takes is a little work. A lot of work has gone into making the NCAA tournament the best championship around. Let’s not destroy it just for a few more bucks.

Don’t mess with my Madness!

No one knows exactly what happened in that diner on the final night of “The Sopranos.” We do know the strange guy sitting at the bar gets up and shoots a glance at Tony on his way to the bathroom. Meadow struggles to park her car and then heads for the entrance. As Meadow opens the door, Tony looks up and boom – everything cuts to black.

So, what has Tony been doing? Has he stayed clean? It could be real busy these days in waste management. Or maybe he’s just hanging with the boys at the Bada Bing.  You figure Silvio Dante has had enough time to snap out of that coma. Imagine what you will, but it seems the perfect job just opened up for Tony and Silvio. It’s time for them to take a little trip to Chicago, visit the Big Ten Conference office and use their power of persuasion with commissioner Jim Delany.

All on behalf of Rutgers University, of course.

The wheels of expansion and realignment are rolling through college athletics again. Based on history, it’s about time. The last major shakeup came in 2003 when the ACC raided the Big East, sending ripples all across the college landscape.

Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez let it slip the other day and then the Big Ten followed with an official statement Tuesday saying the conference will conduct a “thorough evaluation of options for conference structure and expansion.” Somewhere between those events, the rumors and speculation began. The Big Ten says recommendations will come over the next 12 to 18 months, but it’s pretty easy to figure out a handful of institutions that will be likely candidates for that 12^th spot.

Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Notre Dame are among those in the bowl of speculation.

We can save everyone a lot of time and money. The State University of New Jersey would be the best choice. (In case you didn’t know, that’s Rutgers).

Rutgers has already issued an official response, one that was accurately described by the Newark Star-Ledger as “brief and totally non-committal.” Said Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti: “We are a proud member of the Big East Conference. It is not our place to speculate on the expansion plays of any other conference.”

No one asked Pernetti to speculate on the Big Ten’s plans. We want to know the level of Rutgers’ interest. And since Pernetti didn’t tell the Big Ten to go away, we can only read between the lines. The Scarlet Knights are willing to listen, Commissioner Delany.

The Big Ten’s confirmation came as the Rutgers football team boarded a flight to the St. Petersburg Bowl, where the Scarlet Knights will play Central Florida. Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger wrote in a column Wednesday that he could envision Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano “pounding on the cockpit door “ and asking to re-route the plane to Chicago.

But as Politi wrote, it might be too much trying to negotiate with 80 players and a pep band. That’s why I suggest the two-man team of Tony and Silvio, two of Jersey’s most recognizable faces and two guys who get what they want – or else. And don’t forget James Gandolfini, who played the part of Tony Soprano on the HBO series, may be the most visible Rutgers graduate on the planet.

Let’s back up a moment. For all those laughing at my statement that Rutgers would be the best choice, understand that comes with a qualifier. Everyone knows the most desirable program is Notre Dame. South Bend fits nicely into the Big Ten geographic footprint and it preserves rivalries such as Notre Dame vs. Michigan and Notre Dame vs. Michigan State. The Big Ten has been waiting on Notre Dame to give up its independent status ever since Penn State joined to form that awkward 11-team conference.

It’s not happening. Notre Dame isn’t joining a conference. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick reiterated that to the Chicago Tribune this week.

After years of resisting expansion, the Big Ten got the ultimate wake-up call this football season. Once again, the Ohio State-Michigan game didn’t carry the typical national implications. Then the Big Ten had to sit idle and watch the Big 12 and SEC bask in all the attention given to their championship games. Florida vs. Alabama. Texas vs. Nebraska.

There is a greed factor. Money is always part of these decisions. The SEC championship game reportedly generated $14.3 million in shared revenue last season. That translates into $1.2 million per team. When the ACC added Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College, there was hope for a financial bonanza. But the ACC title game has been a disaster and has only generated about $5 million. That’s because the ACC expansion was poorly conceived. The new schools didn’t fit the geographic or institutional molds. And Big Ten football is much more relevant than ACC football.

Rutgers basketball is a bottom-feeder in the Big East, but expansion is always about football – not basketball. Rutgers just spent $102 million to renovate its football stadium. And Rutgers is just down the road from the new stadium opening next season for the Giants and Jets–more than 80,000 seats and a few million TV homes just waiting for a Big Ten championship game.

Schiano is considered one of the bright young coaches in the country. The team has had some high profile wins over the last few years.

The Scarlet Knights went 8-4 this season and the Big East bowl deal landed them in the St. Pete Bowl. Michigan State played a 6-6 record out of the Big Ten all the way to the Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2. Don’t expect a lot of loyalty from Rutgers to the Big East.

New Jersey has been part of Big Ten recruiting geography for a long time. Just ask Penn State coach Joe Paterno. Rutgers offers a large state university that is a member of the Association of American Universities, a research consortium that is important to the Big Ten. There is a true collegiate atmosphere on campus and when it comes to TV market, what could be better than the New York City market?

Out of all the other schools we mentioned before, only Nebraska comes close to Rutgers in most elements. But the Cornhuskers can’t match that enormous TV market.

And Rutgers is the birthplace of college football. Wouldn’t that interest any conference?

All other conferences should be on alert, especially the Big East. This time the Big Ten sounds serious and one move always leads to more. If the Big East loses Rutgers, or any other member, could Villanova be convinced to upgrade its football program to I-A? Could East Carolina or Central Florida fill the spot of Rutgers? Or will the Big East football schools finally be forced to split away from original conference members such as Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Providence?

Will the Pac-10 make a move, perhaps pursuing Colorado? What if the Big 12 lost Missouri or Nebraska?

And if Tony Soprano gets involved, will we finally learn the ending of that last show? Maybe it wasn’t Meadow walking in the door of that diner. Maybe it was Jim Delany with a new logo for the Big Ten (Plus Two).

Fade to black. And don’t stop believing. This time the Big Ten means business.

The World’s Most Famous Arena is celebrating 75 years of college basketball this season and a ceremony was held during halftime of the Georgia-St. John’s game Wednesday night. The top 10 college basketball moments at MSG were officially announced. Robertson, Russell, Washington, Berry, John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca and others waved to the crowd and took their bows as highlights were shown on the video board.

Four hours later, there might have been a Kentucky fan or two suggesting that top 10 list needs revision already. Forgive them. Big Blue Nation has a severe case of John Wall Fever, a joyous infection that is rapidly spreading throughout college basketball and threatening to take control of the season.

It’s very possible you had heard John Wall’s name prior to Wednesday night’s baptism at The Garden. After Kentucky’s 64-61 win over Connecticut, you can’t get the freshman phenom out of your mind. Take a look at some of his highlights from Wednesday.

The kid began the night by scoring six points in a 12-0 Kentucky outburst that worked the Garden into a frenzy in the first four minutes. He finished things off by scoring 12 of Kentucky’s final 15 points, including a game-winning three-point play with 30.8 seconds left that showcased his skill, his speed, his strength – and his ability to carry this young and talented group of Wildcats.

“Coach wants me to make plays, so I was just trying to make a basket,” Wall said. “I just try to be a point guard.”

Television cameras caught the Kentucky players filing out of their locker room and heading onto the floor before the game. In the background, on the hallway wall, there was a photo of Elvis in concert. How appropriate. Before Wall left the building and headed back to Lexington, coaches and players spoke of him the way people talk about rock stars.

“He’s phenomenal, one of the best players out there,” said Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson, who has All-American written all over his abilities too. “Pretty much when we need baskets we know who to get the ball to.”

His speed, his ability to elevate, his desire to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line – and his poise – all set Wall apart.

“He’s Derrick Rose-esque,” said UConn’s Gavin Edwards, speaking of the NBA star who played for John Calipari at Memphis.

“He’s all of that,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “Whatever that is, he is all of that.  . . . He’s no freshman. He’s a great player; that’s what he is. He won the game.”

Calhoun, like every other major college coach in the country, saw Wall play in high school. He wasn’t surprised by anything the 6-foot-4 guard from Raleigh, N.C., did against his Huskies. But it is different. Noww Dick Vitale is screaming every time Wall touches the ball. Writers and columnists flocked to the Garden Wednesday night as if the national championship game had suddenly been shifted to 7^th Ave. and 32^nd St. in mid-December.

Wall did not disappoint. Despite early foul trouble, his 25 points were the most of his short eight-game college career. He was 10-for-16 from the field. He only had two assists to go with seven turnovers but six steals (third most ever by a Kentucky freshman) seemed to wash away that little bit of negativity. Fourth-ranked Kentucky is 9-0, off to its best start since 1992, very athletic, very talented, and still growing. After back-to-back wins over North Carolina and UConn, this rock band has the hottest act in college hoops. But the next tour stop is Bloomington, Indiana. Playing in front of a hostile crowd of Hoosier fans in a traditional rivalry game could bring out the unreliability that scares coach John Calipari.

“We just do stuff and you’re like like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Calipari said. “We drank the poison in the first half. We listened to all the hype about our players, and John Wall, and all this stuff. So we don’t pass the ball. We go up 12 and they’re celebrating like we just won a national title. I’m trying to calm them down and all of a sudden Connecticut makes a run like you know a well-coached team is going to do and it’s on.”

The No. 14 Huskies did make a run, a 24-6 explosion that gave them the lead. Calhoun is searching for pieces and waiting for 6-11 Ater Majok to become eligible on Dec. 20. But UConn made great strides in this terrific basketball game.

These are two teams that will continue to grow. It would be great fun to see them meet up again in March, on another neutral floor in the NCAA Tournament.

On this particular December night, New York desperately needed a game like this. St. John’s, despite the local connection, and Georgia played before empty seats and silence in the warmup game. It was sad.  By the time the main event took place, the house was rocking. Elvis was in the building.

UConn’s rocket-quick point guard, Kemba Walker of the Bronx, said he would love a that second chance to play Wall.

“He’s legit,” Walker said. “The kid is good. I tried my hardest. I made him work for every play he made, so I can’t complain.”

Wall will make a lot of opponents feel that way this season. The front of the Kentucky media guide displays this headline:  One World, One Big Blue Nation. Right now, it’s John Wall’s world and everyone else is along for the ride.

(Give me a moment to recover from that opening statement. I can’t believe I just wrote those words.)

Two years ago, I never would have endorsed the Cincinnati football coach for anything – especially not a major promotion to South Bend and the land of Touchdown Jesus. Two years ago, I basically thought Brian Kelly was . . . a jerk.

Kelly and I first met in July 2007 at Big East Conference media day in Newport, R.I. You might say we got off on the wrong foot. It was Kelly’s fault, he embarrassed me, and I didn’t appreciate it. Hate is a strong word, so I’d never say I felt hatred toward Kelly. But I certainly didn’t like him much until I figured out his actions had nothing to do with me. I was just one piece in a complicated chess game and Kelly had planned one of his biggest moves before that interview session in Newport.

It’s funny how things work out. Kelly’s behavior that day ticked me off, but now it’s the foundation of my argument that he could turn things around at Notre Dame.

The Cincinnati Enquirer hired me as a stringer to report the news from that media day. It was a cost-cutting measure, but Kelly wasn’t interested in the economic woes of the newspaper industry. The only thing important to him was that not a single Cincinnati media outlet – print, TV, radio or online – had sent a staff member to cover the event.

The Bearcats were conference loners in that distinction. Kelly, making his debut as Cincinnati coach, decided he needed to send a message.

And it wasn’t going to be a postcard of Newport harbor.

When the question-and-answer period began, I was the first one to the Cincinnati table. I introduced myself to Kelly, told him I was representing the Enquirer, and he promptly told me he wouldn’t answer my questions. He said something about my credibility and I have to admit I was stunned and confused. I just wanted to do my job and I had never experienced anything like this.

I pressed on, not sure if he had been joking or what. I tried to ask about his offensive philosophy. That’s when it became clear he was serious. By this time others were listening. Some of my peers at the Connecticut table had turned their attention to the confrontation. Other reporters had gathered around the Cincinnati table and instead of awkward silence, they went on with their questions.

“We’re going to make it clear that if you want to review the movie, you’ve got to go see it,” Kelly said. “If you’re going to be a credible source of information, you need to be around those that are in the know. Don’t tell me you don’t have the budget. Don’t tell me that you’re on vacation. You’re either in or you’re out as a credible source.”

The little stunt worked to perfection. He didn’t need to talk about his starting lineup, the philosophy he was bringing with him from Central Michigan, or the need for improved practice facilities. His priority that day was getting everyone’s attention and he did.

Soon, attention was definitely paid.

In Newport, Kelly did tell me not to take it personally, but of course I did. It’s never good when a writer becomes the story but I guess I was. Well, actually, Brian Kelly was the story and soon I heard about the columns that were written back in Cincinnati. And I heard about the discussions on talk radio. Kelly had made the Bearcats relevant in the local media again and it was only July.

Prepare to hear Brian Kelly’s name a lot this week. He is at the center of a very exciting weekend in college football. Every update on Notre Dame’s coaching search will include a mention of Kelly until he says he is not a candidate – and you will notice he has not done that yet. On Saturday, the Bearcats put their 11-0 record on the line against Pittsburgh. Kelly says his team is focused on Pitt and trying to win a second consecutive Big East title. If the Bearcats win they will likely play in the Sugar Bowl, one year after a trip to the Orange Bowl. If they win and Nebraska somehow knocks off Texas in the Big 12 championship game, the Bearcats could rise up in the BCS standings and find themselves playing Florida or Alabama in the national championship game in Pasadena, Jan. 7.

In that case, would Kelly be coaching the Bearcats or would he be with Notre Dame at the GMAC Bowl? That’s a tough decision.

Kelly is an Irish Catholic and from Boston. (Not part of the job description, but it has to help.) He’s the son of an alderman and has dabbled in politics. The death of Sen. Ted Kennedy earlier this year hit him hard. He worked that Big East media day in Newport like he was running for election. He has revitalized a dormant fan base in his short time at Cincinnati. His spread offense turned the Bearcats into the best college team in Ohio. The development of quarterbacks Tony Pike and Zach Collaros has to rank as one of the top coaching jobs this season. The man can coach and handle all the PR responsibilities too.

At Big East media day at Newport this past summer, I went straight to the Cincinnati table again. I shook Kelly’s hand, told him I was working for SI.com, and asked if he would talk to me.

“I can talk to you all day,” Kelly said, sounding like a true politician. Then he stood up and summoned his director of sports communications to take a picture of him flanked by Enquirer reporter Bill Koch and me. That brought a round of laughter from everyone who remembered what happened in 2007.

Something tells me Kelly won’t be in Newport next year. Cincinnati will miss him, but Notre Dame needs him. And I guarantee you the Irish won’t find a better fit.

Everyone was talking about the University of Connecticut football team and Saturday’s 33-30 double-overtime victory over Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Guglielmo, a State Senator from the 35^th district in eastern Connecticut, thought he had taken a wrong turn and exited somewhere in the Deep South.

“These are not football fans – well, maybe one or two,” Guglielmo said Tuesday. “I just came from Thanksgiving dinner at a senior housing center and I was sitting at a table with a lady from Louisiana. She said going to games at LSU was part of the fun of growing up.

“I’m not saying we’re ever going to be like Louisiana – or Penn State even. But if you can generate interest from people who are not sports fans, then you can raise the profile of the whole university – and it’s nothing but positive.”

It was quiet on the UConn campus in Storrs Tuesday. The students had left on holiday break even before the football team returned from South Bend, so there was no raucous campus celebration. The players didn’t go home. They are going through their regular weekly schedule – without classes – in preparation for Saturday’s home game against Syracuse.

Coach Randy Edsall held his regular weekly meeting with the media and was asked if anything was different about this week.

“Well, you know, the smiles,” Edsall said. “You can smile now. But really, we haven’t changed a thing.”

Finding the ability to smile again is a pretty big thing for this football team. The Huskies (5-5) were smiling Oct. 17 after beating Louisville 38-25 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. But hours later, Edsall was called to a hospital to identify the body of junior cornerback Jasper Howard. Howard had been murdered, stabbed to death during an altercation near the Student Union, where a homecoming dance had been held.

That’s when a coach becomes a father. That’s when players turn to each as brothers, when smiles are replaced by tears, and lives are changed forever.

Saturday’s win couldn’t bring Howard back to the Huskies. But ever since that senseless act that took him away, the UConn players had been trying honor his memory with a victory. They came up short – painfully short – against West Virginia, Rutgers and Cincinnati. They lost those three games by a total of 10 points.

So when they finally broke through, and celebrated in that shrine known as Notre Dame Stadium, Edsall looked into the NBC camera and dedicated the win to Howard. Edsall has earned so much respect while hugging his football sons. He has paced them through all the candlelight vigils, all the memorials, and a trip to Florida for a funeral.

So, when UConn beat Notre Dame, Randy Edsall had tears in his eyes. Why wouldn’t he?

“Little No. 6 was up there looking down on us today,” Edsall said of the departed teammate known as Jazz.

From a purely football standpoint, UConn’s win over Notre Dame wasn’t a huge upset. Even so, Edsall didn’t hesitate to label it the biggest win in school history because it was. Ten years ago UConn was still playing in Division I-AA (now the FCS). The Huskies didn’t become a full member of the FBS until 2002. They didn’t join the Big East until 2004.

Those recent milestones explain Edsall’s reference to “little ol’ Connecticut” when he talked about the weight of the win. And if you are like Tony Guglielmo, who played on two Yankee Conference championship teams before graduating in 1962, you know any talk of UConn ever beating Notre Dame could have gotten you “carried away in a straitjacket.”

Forget the Notre Dame part. There were Connecticut residents just 10, 11 or 12 years ago who simply didn’t get the whole infatuation with football. They said the upgrade to I-A would never work and that UConn should drop the sport instead.

Ironically, that’s what Northeastern did Monday. UConn and Northeastern met 23 times between 1935 and 2000. The announcement from Boston that the 74^th season would be the last for Northeastern brought back memories of UConn’s eight-year struggle to upgrade and plan for a stadium. Guglielmo always agreed with the concept of upgrading, but he was part of a temporary legislative roadblock during the stadium debate.

“I voted against building a new stadium,” Guglielmo said. “I thought it would be a good idea to renovate and play in the Yale Bowl [in New Haven]. Lew Perkins [the AD who since moved to Kansas] thought it was the worst idea ever. Lew was so mad he didn’t talk to me for a while.”

All of that is in the past. This week, Guglielmo has been getting e-mails from his former UConn teammates, who remain in various degrees of shock over beating Notre Dame. The Huskies can become bowl eligible with a win over Syracuse Saturday or South Florida on Dec. 5. After everything they’ve been through, that would be special.

Of course, Edsall didn’t want to talk about that Tuesday. His focus is totally on Syracuse now. Not Notre Dame. Not the possibility of a bowl bid. He wasn’t even willing to admit that the days of being “little ol’ Connecticut” are officially over.

Beating Notre Dame pretty much took care of that, don’t you think?

“I said that because we’re relatively new, but I think we’re a pretty good football team,” Edsall said. “More so, I think we have a very good football program. But those aren’t things that I would answer. That’s for other people to decide.”