1. The biggest game of the week likely has been BYU’s victory against San Diego State, re-emphasizing that the Cougars are kings of the Mountain West until the Aztecs find a way past Jimmer Fredette and company. And according to Fredette’s brother and his rap song, the Aztecs have their hands full with the Amazing One, who put up 43 points Wednesday night
2. Fox Sports Detroit.com’s Dave Dye observes the state of Sparta after Michigan State dismissed Korie Lucious for conduct detrimental to the team, the latest setback in a season full of adversity. As Dye points out, the troubles actually started before the season even started.
3. Think it’s frustrating to sit in traffic for three hours and move only two miles (see our retweets below)? In addition to Towson not making it from Prince George’s County, Md., to Fairfax Va., for a game against George Mason Wednesday, the Tigers received a public chastising from the CAA office for failing to plan ahead, according to the Associated Press.
4. At least the Tigers were simply stuck going nowhere on the ground. North Carolina and Massachusetts players can commiserate after the Tar Heels had a harrowing flight into Miami Tuesday and the Minutemen had to land in Albany, N.Y., on the same day after smoke filled the cockpit.
5. Missouri won’t have the services of highly regarded recruit Tony Mitchell, a power forward from Dallas whom the NCAA ruled academically ineligible, according to Matt Jones for CBSSports.com. Mitchell apparently didn’t log enough core classes to qualify for Division I basketball this season.
6. What was Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels doing Tuesday night around 9 p.m. Eastern time? Not watching the State of the Union address, SI.com reports. Can’t blame him with Purdue in a huge — and ultimately unfulfilling — match up with undefeated Ohio State.
7. Former UCLA Bruin Ed O’Bannon is trying to stick it to the NCAA for reaping the rewards of players’ likenesses in commercial products without repaying the players. And now, Yahoo Sports.com’s Dan Wetzel reports, O’Bannon has enlisted the support of the Big O: legendary Cincinnati Bearcat Oscar Robertson.

1/24 
• Notre Dame 56, Pittsburgh 51
• Mississippi Valley State 89, Texas Southern 76
• Furman 73, Wofford 68 OT

1/25

• Seton Hall 90, Syracuse 68
• Ohio State 87, Purdue 64
• Connecticut 76, Marquette 68
• Kansas 82, Colorado 78
• Richmond 70, Dayton 61
• Florida 104, Georgia 91 2OT

1/26

• BYU 71, San Diego State 58
• Providence 83, Villanova 68
• Texas 61, Oklahoma State 46
• Georgetown 77, St. John’s 52
• Louisville 55, West Virginia 54
• Memphis 77, Central Florida 61

1/27

• Michigan 61, Michigan State 57
• Duke 84, Boston College 68
• VCU 82, Hofstra 67

Game day tweets and retweets from Phil Kasiecki’s season-long tour:

Colgate has really shot the mid-range jumper well in the half. Question is, can they keep that up in the second?

Stats: Colgate 57.1% from the field, Holy Cross 48.1%. Each team 3 turnovers. Yaw Gwayu and Joe Hoban have 11 each for Colgate.

Watching them tonight, it’s hard to believe Colgate shoots 38 percent for the season coming into tonight and has topped 45 percent just once

TowsonTigerAD Mike Waddell
Towson @ George Mason men’s basketball for tonight has been postponed due to snow in Fairfax/DC area – Game will now be played Thursday 4 pm

TowsonTigerAD Mike Waddell
I was just on the phone with Coach Kennedy and their bus has only moved about 2 miles in the last 3 hours – Total Gridlock

Closing in on tip-off at The Dunk with Villanova-Providence. Considering it’s a snowy night and will get worse, a surprisingly good crowd.

Villanova isn’t trying to involve the big men enough, and PC is just keying on the guards by shutting off penetration.

Providence is going to win this one going away, as they just went up 74-56, giving fans a reward for coming out in the snow storm.

That’s exactly what I was thinking. @RIHawks #PC students about to rush the floor…Smh. Act like you’ve been there before. #2-6

1/29: 
• Louisville at Connecticut
• Georgetown at Villanova
• Syracuse at Marquette
• Missouri at Texas
• Kansas State at Kansas
• Minnesota at Purdue
• Wisconsin at Penn State
• Georgia at Kentucky
• Xavier at Richmond
• Butler at Valparaiso
• Mississippi Valley State at Jackson State
• Montana at Montana State

1/30:

• Duke at St. John’s
• Washington at Washington State
• Northern Iowa at Missouri State

The conference features BYU, the No. 1 team in RPI as of Jan. 27, and the No. 1 scorer in the country in Jimmer Fredette. But unless you get Versus as part of your cable sports allotment, you probably don’t get to see much of the Cougars and their Mountain West running mates.

And that’s too bad. The lack of exposure for the Mountain West, which ranks better than the SEC in Ken Pomeroy’s conference efficiency ratings, engenders an unhealthy amount of disrespect, especially from major conference aficionados. However, true hoops fans know the competition level among the Mountain West’s top teams is perennially on par with the major conference’s elite teams.

This season, San Diego State made it all the way to Provo with a 20-0 record before the Cougars ended the Aztecs’ perfect season. Fredette dumped 43 points on San Diego State, which is only 16 points off his average of 27.4 points per game. However, Fredette isn’t a selfish player jacking up bad shot after bad shot. No, Fredette dishes out 4.2 assists per game and shoots nearly 50 percent from the field. After you factor Fredette’s contribution to the Cougars’ points total through assists, he’s accounting for more than 40 percent of the team’s 85 points per game.

That level of offensive efficiency is unquestionably elite. Just ask the Aztecs, who have an excellent defense, ranked No. 21 as of Jan. 27, according to Pomeroy’s efficiency ratings. The Aztecs play a methodical game; the Cougars sprint up and down the court. The contrast of the Mountain West’s top teams serves to highlight the different paths to success that the conference’s teams can take.

Yet come March, the hoops pundits will still label BYU and San Diego State as dark horses candidate for the Final Four. Both these teams will be in the running for a No. 3 seed or better, which should pretty much end any conversation about them being a dark horse for the Final Four. They would become one of 12 favorites.

And that’s exactly what people should think about the Mountain West’s top teams: legitimate championship contenders.