What's up this week

BYU at UNLV, Monday: The Cougars have established themselves as the second-best team in the Mountain West during non-conference play. But the Cougars haven't proven anything in the league. UNLV has Lou Kelly eligible for this game and needs to get on a run to create a buzz about the Rebels again. BYU ends the week by hosting Utah in a critical MWC game Saturday. Miami at Seton Hall, Tuesday: The Pirates can start to distance themselves from the middle of the Big East pack with a 3-0 start. Seton Hall (10-2, its best start since '94-95) hadn't won at Georgetown since '87, but they got a big lift from freshman Samuel Dalembert and his nine blocks in its 65-62 OT win Saturday. The Hurricanes could use an upset to get back in the hunt. Xavier at Dayton, Tuesday: The Musketeers lost momentum from their win over Cincinnati by losing to Marquette, while the Flyers have been quiet since their upset over Kentucky. The winner has the edge in the race for the Atlantic 10 West title. Indiana at Michigan State, Tuesday: The best matchup of the Big Ten comes early as the Hoosiers try to unseat the Spartans. Mateen Cleaves will likely start while the Hoosiers need to play more physical to win the battle of the boards. LSU at Florida, Wednesday: The Tigers were the "it" team earlier in the week but the loss to Tennessee humbled the first sellout crowd in Baton Rouge since '95. LSU's week starts off at Florida and ends at Vanderbilt, where the Tigers could easily fall back to earth in the SEC. North Carolina at Wake Forest, Wednesday: The Demon Deacons have a make-or-break week in the ACC. They have to beat the Tar Heels, with next Sunday's game at N.C. State looming. The Tar Heels follow this trip with a home game Saturday against UCLA, which traditionally doesn't fare well on the East Coast. SMU at Hawaii, Thursday: Hawaii was humbled in losing at UTEP but can stay in the WAC race by beating the Mustangs. SMU has to sweep this trip -- at Hawaii and San Jose State -- to stay with Tulsa. Ohio State at Wisconsin, Thursday: Get this straight -- the Badgers didn't upset Illinois Saturday. It's not an upset when a Big Ten team like Wisconsin wins at home (regardless of Illinois being ranked) -- especially after beating Texas and Temple at home earlier this season. The Buckeyes could fall out of the race for first with a loss here while the Badgers can continue to improve its NCAA résumé. San Francisco at Gonzaga, Thursday: This is the best game almost nobody will see with the Dons and Bulldogs the likely top two teams in the West Coast Conference. They both played like NCAA teams in non-conference games. A Don win and the Bulldogs will be in trouble of not winning the league. Temple at St. Bonaventure, Saturday: Yes, the Bonnies are a threat to win the Atlantic 10 if they beat the Owls. Temple will be on a two-game swing, starting at Fordham earlier in the week. Butler at Detroit, Saturday: The race for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference title could be decided here between the two preseason favorites. Oklahoma at Texas, Saturday: The Longhorns begin the week at Connecticut but come home for a crucial Big 12 matchup. Oklahoma hasn't had this tough a road game yet.

The stakes are higher now that teams know their every move goes into determining their chances for an NCAA bid. What does that mean? There are no more given wins. Coaches know everybody's strengths and weaknesses. Gimmick defenses start to show up. Trying to run the fast break gets harder, and half-court play becomes the norm.

Check out the standings after one week: Arizona has the early edge in the Pac-10 with a win at Stanford, the same day USC completed a road sweep over the Washington schools. The SEC has already seen its share of telling games, with Tennessee winning at LSU, Florida losing at Vanderbilt and South Carolina beating Arkansas.

Connecticut lost at home to Notre Dame, Syracuse won at Miami (Fla.) and Seton Hall won at Georgetown in the Big East. St. Bonaventure continued to be a sleeper in the Atlantic 10 by winning at UMass. Tulsa rose to its latest challenge by beating TCU in Fort Worth in the WAC.

In the Big Ten, Wisconsin protected its homecourt by beating Illinois two days after the Ilini beat Ohio State. Michigan followed a loss at Minnesota by beating Purdue. The ACC proved just as unpredictable -- Florida State started the week by beating Wake Forest, Virginia nearly upset Duke, N.C. State beat Maryland and the Cavaliers closed the week with a win over Georgia Tech.

Conference USA has a new contender in Louisville, after the Cardinals beat Tulane and Southern Mississippi. And don't forget how teams in the Mid-American and Missouri Valley conferences will keep beating each other up, making it harder to tab a favorite.

Keeping up? That's just one week.

Team of the week
Arizona: This wasn't even close. The Wildcats came from behind to beat Cal on Thursday and then upset Stanford on Saturday to start Pac-10 play 2-0, an even sweeter start because it came on the road (last year, 'Zona lost both games in the Bay Area). Three minutes into the Cardinal win, starting small forward Richard Jefferson suffered a stress fracture in his foot. He may be gone for a month, but that had no bearing on the Wildcats' quickness advantage on the perimeter.

Stanford's guards couldn't keep up with Jason Gardner, and its forwards couldn't finish (Mark Madsen missed six of seven shots, most of those coming right at the hoop) as the Cardinal suffered its first loss of the season. Two years ago, the Wildcats halted the Cardinal's 18-0 start by beating them at Maples Pavilion.

Arizona's depth may be depleted even more with Jefferson's injury, but they're out front in the chase for the title thanks to a rare road sweep in the Bay Area.

Player of the week
Eddie House, Arizona State: It's a Weekly Watch sweep for the state of Arizona. House lit up Cal with 61 points, making 18 of 30 field goals, 7 of 10 3-pointers and 18 of 19 from the line. He also had seven rebounds, four steals and converted two free throws in the final 2.9 seconds of the second overtime in ASU's 111-108 win.

House, who is averaging 24 points a game overall, actually had a 0-for-16 game in a loss last month at Brigham Young. But House's heroics have righted the Sun Devils (9-4, 1-1) and put them in position to make a run for the NCAA Tournament.

Getting the Bay Area split (they lost to Stanford on Thursday) gives them the momentum needed to stay in the race for a top-four finish. House has become much more than just a scorer in the last month -- he's proving to be a winner.

Climbing up
Louisville: The Cardinals (10-3, 2-0 C-USA) were prematurely put in the "falling down" category when they lost by 30 to Kentucky last month. Since then, the Cardinals have been on a tear (winning 10 of 11), ripping through Tennessee State, North Carolina, Tulane and Utah before beating Southern Mississippi on Marques Maybin's layup with five seconds left.

The Cardinals looked out of sync at the Great Alaska Shootout but have found their groove the last few weeks. Now, they can't find a team that can run with them.

The schedule is kind to the Cardinals over the next month. They follow a two-game swing to UAB and Marquette with a homestand against DePaul, UNC Charlotte and Cincinnati.

Even though they're undersized, the Cardinals are getting balanced scoring from Nate Johnson (17.3 ppg) and Tony Williams (17.3) while Reece Gaines is starting to give them some stability at the point.

Falling down
Georgetown: The Hoyas looked promising in Maui when they nearly upset North Carolina. They haven't regained that energy and their offensive production has taken a step back. The Hoyas lost at Providence and then at home to Seton Hall to fall further back in a muddled middle in the Big East.

Kevin Braswell and Anthony Perry are tough to stop in transition, but they're not hard to guard when they shoot from the perimeter. Braswell and Perry are clanking away at 24.5 and 27.5 percent, respectively, on 3-point attempts. The Hoyas (8-5, 0-2) could fall to 0-4 this week with a road trip to St. John's and a home game against Miami (Fla.).

Five worth tracking
1. The Missouri Valley race: Southwest Missouri State, fresh off a non-conference win over TCU, is 3-0 atop the standings but Evansville (3-1), Indiana State (2-1) and Bradley (2-1) are just a game back in the loss column. Southern Illinois (2-2), Northern Iowa (1-1), Drake (1-1) and Creighton (2-3) are all legitimate contenders. But without two dominant teams, multiple bids could be harder to earn.

2. The Mid-American chase: This will be the toughest call for the selection committee. Akron (11-3, 5-0 MAC), Bowling Green (11-2, 3-0), Kent (10-2, 2-1), Marshall (11-2, 3-2), Eastern Michigan (9-3, 3-0) and Ball State (10-2, 2-1) could all end up with decent records. But only Kent and Ball State have cracked the top 20 in the power ratings. Eastern Michigan is suddenly a dark horse after upsetting Ball State in triple overtime Saturday, ending the Cardinals' 10-game winning streak. The best game of the week arrives Wednesday when Eastern Michigan hosts Kent.

3. Maine: The Black Bears are the surprise mid-major so far. Maine (10-3, 4-0 in America East) upset Delaware at home and has four double-figure scorers who could or already did play at a high-major -- Nate Fox (17 ppg), Huggy Dye (16.3 ppg), Andy Bedard (14.1 ppg) and Julian Dunkley (12 ppg). Fox and Bedard were at Boston College, and Dunkley started his college career at Temple. Maine coach John Giannini could become one of the hotter commodities this spring if this team earns a postseason bid.

4. New Mexico State: The Aggies are in position to earn an at-large bid out of the Big West if they continue their tear but fail to win the conference tournament. NMSU (9-3) has swept New Mexico and UTEP and has wins over Washington and Texas Tech. The Aggies' only losses were at Arizona, SMU and Colorado. On Sunday, the Aggies were sixth in the RPI. Lou Henson wanted to upgrade the schedule for this very reason and it could pay off with a bid.

5. Kentucky: The Wildcats are starting to look scary again. Jules Camara was so upset earlier in the week that he considered transferring, but he got more time and scored 15 points in a win over Georgia Tech. The Wildcats then turned their attention to defense in the win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Commodores' Dan Langhi, who scored 31 in a win over Florida, was held to 14 by the 'Cats. A trip to Auburn on Tuesday and South Carolina later this week will show how far the 'Cats have come since losing four of their first eight.

Question these five
1. Tulane: The Green Wave were on a high last week after beating SMU, but they've come back to earth in Conference USA. Tulane lost its first two league games, at Louisville and Houston. The Wave could crash again this week against Cincinnati in New Orleans on Wednesday before possibly dropping to 0-4 at Southern Mississippi on Saturday.

2. Arkansas: The Hogs went 1-2 last week, starting with a loss at Memphis before bouncing back with a win over Mississippi. But they were stunned Saturday with a loss to South Carolina -- their third at Bud Walton Arena this season. Arkansas has winnable road games this week at Georgia and Alabama but could easily fall back to 1-3 in the SEC.

	Missouri has struggled at times under Quin Snyder this season.

3. Missouri: OK, letting Cyclones point guard Jamaal Tinsley put up a triple-double in a loss at Iowa State was acceptable, but not showing up against Winthrop at home was inexcusable. The Tigers shot 5 of 30 (16.7 percent) on 3s and 25 percent overall in the 51-46 loss. Missouri has lost three straight since beating Iowa and Illinois.

4. Fresno State: The Bulldogs spent 10 days preparing for Utah State. They knew all their plays. But they still were taken apart by the Aggies' offense, losing 83-66. Courtney Alexander scored 12 points in the first half, but only two in the second. Jerry Tarkanian was 10-0 at Utah State before losing last week. The Bulldogs start fresh in the WAC, but with a 10-6 overall record, may not be able to afford more than two league losses if they want a bid.

5. Mississippi: The Rebels had a tough start to the SEC with a road game at Arkansas and a home date against Florida, but going 0-2 doesn't help their cause in proving they belong in the league's elite. Mississippi has a brutal stretch upcoming with Mississippi State, at Tennessee, at Kentucky and Auburn over the next 10 days.

What worked last week
Tony Harris' shooting: Harris seems healthy for the first time in weeks. He was only 1 of 3 in the second half in a win at South Carolina but then scored 17 of his 18 points in the first half in the Volunteers' victory at LSU. Tennessee (14-1, 2-0) should be considered a legitimate favorite in the SEC. The Vols host Vanderbilt on Wednesday in what has become a key game in the SEC.

Rashad Burno's playmaking: The DePaul point guard has made a complete recovery from his knee injury, dishing off 14 assists in the Blue Demons' win over UNC Charlotte. Burno's play at the point is critical to DePaul's chances of staying in the top two in Conference USA.

Kansas' defense at Colorado: The Jayhawks' offensive efforts on the road have been maligned but their defense came through in Boulder, shutting down the Buffaloes' Jaquay Walls. He was 0-for-9 from the field after scoring 45 points in two games against the Jayhawks last season.

Jake Voskuhl grabbing rebounds: After essentially a no-show against Notre Dame (two rebounds, both defensive), Voskuhl finally lived up to his own hype by grabbing eight boards in a victory at Pittsburgh. Voskuhl was a non-factor against the Irish's zone but was more at ease against the Panthers. He'll have his hands full Monday against Texas' Chris Mihm but should have an edge (at least in size) against St. John's next Sunday.

Syracuse's road toughness: Forgive us for putting the Orangemen, who hadn't left upstate New York, on the spot. But Jim Boeheim was right to feel at ease after Syracuse's convincing win at Miami (Fla.) in the Orangemen's first venture away from the Carrier Dome. They are the last undefeated team in the nation, but that doesn't mean they should be No. 1 (that honor will go to one-loss Cincinnati). Syracuse's road swing continues with games at South Carolina (not looking as easy as it once did) and West Virginia this week.

And what didn't work
Utah's defense: The Utes, normally known for their suffocating defense, couldn't run with the Cardinals in Louisville. Utah was outmatched despite having its team healthy. The quickness problems inside could stay with the Utes when they get into the NCAA Tournament.

Cal's chances of staying near the top of the Pac-10: The Bears lost to Arizona in the final minutes of regulation and then fell to Arizona State in double overtime. Losing two home games puts the Bears at a decided disadvantage in their quest to beat out Oregon, UCLA and Arizona State for a spot behind Arizona and Stanford in the conference.

TCU's defense on Tulsa's David Shelton: The Golden Hurricane's secret weapon is Shelton, a junior college forward who comes off the bench. The Horned Frogs let him go off for 20 points in 25 minutes. Production from someone like Shelton was missing from Tulsa's offense a year ago.

Ohio State's last-second defense at Illinois: ESPN analyst Bill Raftery had the comment of the season when he said, "You've got to get back and guard," after Ohio State's Brian Brown tipped in the apparent tying basket with a few seconds left. As Raftery finished his statement, Illini point Frank Williams raced down and got a clear view at a 3-pointer to beat the Buckeyes 80-77 at the buzzer.

N.C. State's defense on North Carolina in the second half: The Wolfpack, who finally got the victory they had missed for years when they beat Maryland at home Thusday, got burned once again in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels shot a blistering 79 percent in the second half and coasted to the 83-75 win.

Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.