What's up this week

Auburn at Tennessee, Tuesday: The Tigers are struggling to put teams away and they'll be lucky to get a win in Knoxville. Tennessee can establish itself as the SEC favorite with a win. Michigan at Indiana, Tuesday: Wolverine fans have flooded ESPN.com with e-mails in support of Michigan. It will be deserved with a win in Bloomington. So, too, could a NCAA bid. Arizona at Arizona State, Wednesday: The Sun Devils need a high-profile win. This would easily qualify. Cincinnati at Louisville, Thursday: The erratic Cardinals have a chance to steal one from the Bearcats. This is likely only one of three chances the Bearcats have to lose in conference play. Kentucky at Miami (Fla.), Saturday: The Hurricanes would get a résumé-building win by beating the Wildcats at home. Kentucky has been a roll lately and a win here would send the Wildcats storming back to the top 15. Vanderbilt at Florida, Saturday: The Commodores could be the second team from Tennessee to pull off an upset in Gainesville. But beating the Gators twice in a season could be too tough a task. Arizona at LSU, Saturday: Remember the Tigers? They were one of the last four undefeated teams. They could re-establish themselves as a national player with a win over the Wildcats. Tulsa at Fresno State, Saturday: The Bulldogs blew a chance to make this a title game in the WAC by losing to SMU. Instead, it's a must-win for the Bulldogs to stay in the race. This could be Tulsa's only league loss. Seton Hall at Connecticut, Sunday: The Pirates would make themselves a player for the Big East title with a win in Hartford. Connecticut needs to re-establish its home superiority after losing two Big East home games. Virginia at Wake Forest, Sunday: Suddenly, this has tournament ramifications. The loser is in serious trouble while the winner lives for another week in the race for a top-four ACC finish.

Tennessee's overtime win at Florida deserves mention, too, in a week that showed why college basketball demands a fan's interest from the first minute of a game to the last.

But the close-call wins did more than potentially raise ratings. Miami followed the 'Nova win with a victory over Boston College and a spot in the Big East top four. Ohio State has catapulted to the top of the Big Ten -- again. Duke created some breathing room atop the ACC. And in the SEC East race, Tennessee gave itself a potential deciding edge with its road dominance.

Team of the week
Ohio State: The Buckeyes deserve the honor after knocking off Michigan State and St. John's in a three-day span.

Ohio State didn't handle its tough games early in the season, losing at home to Notre Dame, falling to Kansas on the road and buckling in the final seconds at Illinois. But since that loss to the Illini, Ohio State has established itself as a national player again.

If you want a reason, look no further than Scoonie Penn. Forget about his poor shooting percentages, no point guard can carry a team like Penn can when the game is on the line. A first-place matchup with Purdue awaits the Buckeyes next Saturday in Columbus.

Player of the week
Jaraan Cornell, Purdue: He started the week with three 3-pointers and 18 points in a win at Minnesota. Cornell then made six 3s and scored 25 points in a win over arch-rival Indiana on Saturday.

The Boilermakers, who fell off the national radar screen a month ago, are suddenly tied with the Buckeyes and Spartans atop the Big Ten. Purdue (13-5, 4-1) will have that spot tested this week with a road game at Wisconsin before visiting the Buckeyes.

Freshman of the week
Bernard King, Texas A&M: In the spirit of our look at the top freshmen this week (more to come later), we give you the King of them all, at least for Saturday. King scored 17 points, including two free throws with nine second left, in the Aggies' 64-59 upset over No. 12 Oklahoma State.

The Aggies were the talk of the nation last Saturday when they beat Texas Tech on a last-second shot that took the refs 45 minutes to determine if it counted (it did). Melvin Watkins just might have turned around the program with these two wins, especially now that he's crowned a king to lead his team.

Climbing up
Gonzaga: Yes, the Bulldogs are back. While they were dropped from the top 25 because they lost a few games against ranked teams, they shouldn't be forgotten.

Gonzaga has handled every challenge thrown at it in the West Coast Conference, racing to a 4-0 start (14-5 overall) for a first-place tie with Pepperdine (14-5, 4-0). Meanwhile, San Francisco -- an upstart during the non-conference season -- has slid near the bottom of the league at 1-3 (13-4 overall).

Falling down
North Carolina: This has become a weekly ACC honor. The Tar Heels, losers of four straight, may not get up after this latest loss to Florida State.

Playing without point guard Ed Cota (viral infection), the Tar Heels were beaten once again at home. It's the third loss this season for the Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center (Michigan State and UCLA were the others).

Right now, the program lacks energy and desperately needs an emotional lift. The Tar Heels (11-8, 2-3 ACC) face must-win games against Maryland (Tuesday) and at Georgia Tech (Saturday), two other ACC programs looking to get back on track.

Five worth tracking
1. Clarence Gilbert, Missouri: He scored 27 points in an upset over Kansas and didn't even play the final six minutes because of a turned ankle. He's leading the Big 12 in scoring at 22.4 points a game, after averaging 4.8 points a year ago.

Gilbert had six 3s against Iowa State, five against Colorado and Kansas State and three against Baylor. He had seven in the win over the Jayhawks, which suddenly put the Tigers (11-6, 4-1) in the thick of the Big 12 race.

2. Akron: The Zips beat rival Kent 69-64 on Saturday to take over first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division. Akron (14-4, 8-1) is two games up in the win column on Bowling Green (14-3, 6-1) and one in the loss column on Kent (14-3, 6-2). The Zips' only loss was at home to Miami (Ohio). Akron goes to Bowling Green on Saturday.

3. Indiana State: The Sycamores have parlayed their win over Indiana into a legitimate conference title run. Indiana State (13-5, 6-1) has won four straight to earn first place in the Missouri Valley, ahead of second-place Evansville (14-4, 5-2). But the Sycamores' stamina will be tested this week at Wichita State and at Drake. Indiana State's last and only time in the NCAA Tournament was in 1979 with a kid named Bird.

4. Seton Hall: The Pirates (12-3, 4-1) continue their run to the top of the Big East a year ahead of schedule (a top-two recruiting class arrives on campus next season) by beating St. John's earlier in the week. Their game at Syracuse on Saturday was postponed due to a campus dormitory fire which killed three students. It has been rescheduled for Feb. 7.

5. Hofstra: The Flying Dutchmen picked up a key win at Maine for their fourth straight victory. Hofstra (11-5, 6-1) is suddenly atop the America East standings, with a one-game lead in the loss column over Delaware (14-4, 6-2). The Blue Hens, who were still smarting at week's end from a loss at Northeastern, are hoping to be full strength later this week with Daryl Presley's return.

Question these five
1.DePaul: The Blue Demons look rather mortal again, losing at Louisville and at home to Saint Louis to drop to 3-3 in Conference USA. Any thoughts of catching Cincinnati should end. DePaul (12-6) still has to ensure it can finish second, with two games left against the Bearcats and one at Marquette. The Blue Demons venture out of conference this week, but it's no picnic -- Florida comes to the United Center on Wednesday.

2. Illinois: OK, so the Illini stopped the bleeding with a win over Penn State, but they're still 2-3 in the league and 10-6 overall after a three-game losing streak. Now, 6-foot-9 center Marcus Griffin is gone for 3-6 weeks with a knee injury, taking his 12.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and his aggressive attitude out of the lineup. Road games at Iowa and Michigan State are up next for a team still needing to build its résumé for the tournament.

	Gary Williams and Maryland just snapped a three-game losing streak.

3. The ACC: Duke and N.C. State are clearly the class of the league. But the rest of the group is muddled in mediocrity. Florida State (8-8, 3-2) and Virginia (12-5, 3-2) deserve credit for joining the second tier, but the problem is it extends too deep in the conference, ending just above ninth-place Clemson.

Why is it that mid-major conferences get hurt by beating each other up but a high-major conference doesn't? The ACC may be the first high-major league to refute that theory. Maryland (13-5, 2-3), Wake Forest (11-7, 2-4) and North Carolina are all scraping to get to challenge Virginia and Florida State for third. Remember, only three ACC teams went to the NCAAs a year ago.

4. UCLA: Unfortunately, the Bruin players were right in their own assessment of their team. Earl Watson said the Bruins would probably be criticized if they lost to Arizona, even though they beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He's right. UCLA is now 2-3 in the Pac-10 and out of the race for first. The Bruins are 11-5 and still need to get seven more wins to feel secure about their NCAA chances. Traveling to Oregon State and Oregon this week won't make that any easier.

5. Xavier: Losers of two straight heading into Sunday's game against La Salle, the Musketeers had no luck breaking out of their slump. An 80-49 loss to the Explorers dropped Xavier's record to 11-6, 2-3 in the A-10. Looming next is a date against Temple on Tuesday at the Apollo. The Musketeers, even with their win over Cincinnati, have little room for error in a conference that may be too even for the NCAA selection committee to pluck many at-large bids.

What worked last week
Tennessee without point guard Tony Harris: He fouled out before overtime, yet the Volunteers beat the Gators for their record sixth-straight road win in the SEC. The Volunteers looked lost without Harris in a loss to Tulsa in Puerto Rico. They've obviously learned how to play without him.

Kaspars Kambala's menacing look: The UNLV center shaved his head and then cleaned up on New Mexico, scoring 32 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the Rebels' 85-73 win. Kambala's head may be the lumpiest dome since Uncle Fester.

USC's belief in itself: The Trojans, now without leading scorer Sam Clancy and reserve Jarvis Turner for the season due to injury, beat Arizona for a 5-0 start in the Pac-10 -- their best since 1978-79. The Trojans (12-5) will have a tougher test the second half of the Pac-10 season, with five of their final nine games on the road (including tough road swings to Arizona and the Bay Area).

Desmond Allison's 3-point shooting: The Kentucky guard was 1 for 10 against Mississippi, but came back with six 3s and scored 23 points in an overtime win over Vanderbilt to give the Wildcats the season sweep.

SMU's rebounding: The Mustangs, known as a guard-oriented team, crushed Fresno State on the boards in their win Saturday. Jon Forinash had 14 rebounds, seven offensive, as SMU outrebounded Fresno State 58-29. The Mustangs had 33 offensive boards, scoring 35 points off putbacks.

And what didn't work
Eddie House's shooting: The Arizona State guard was humbled in a loss to USC. He was 5 of 21 for a mere 13 points.

Temple's offense: OK, so the Owls beat Penn. But they won 44-40 and shot 3 for 20 on 3s.

Notre Dame's defense: One night, the Irish shut down Connecticut, but the next, Rutgers' Todd Billet scores 31 and the Scarlet Knights make 13 3s.

N.C. State's interior defense: While Justin Gainey's timeout call (when the Wolfpack had none left) was costly, the Wolfpack made an even worse decision when they didn't step in to stop Duke's Chris Carrawell from driving in the lane for a crucial layup in the final minute.

Bob Knight's postgame press conference: The Alford-Knight rift became the story because of Knight's press-conference tirade, rather than the excellent game which had just concluded.

Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.