Rick Pitino’s bunch is athletic and talented, and may be the deepest team of any of college basketball’s true contenders. Louisville has been great of late, but were the early season losses just blips on the radar, or a sign of things to come?

As successful as they’ve been in league play, Pittsburgh is still searching for NCAA Tournament validation because no one on this team – player or coach – has ever advanced past the Sweet 16. This is Pitt’s best team in the Howland/Dixon era, but can they silence their March demons and make it to Detroit for the Final Four?

Oklahoma is led by everyone’s All-American Blake Griffin, a double-double machine as well as a slew of good guards. The Sooners are one of college basketball’s most talented teams, but will they be able to overcome their relative lack of experience, and make a deep run toward a championship?

UConn is currently tied atop the Big East, and amazingly has yet to lose a road game, despite playing the college basketball’s toughest conference. But with the recent news that the Huskies have lost starting guard Jerome Dyson for the year, UConn will be short-handed heading into March. Is the injury enough to keep Calhoun and his team from winning their third National Championship in the last decade?

Welcome to March, truly the most wonderful time of year for college basketball fans. For the third time in three weeks, we welcome a new No. 1 to the Power Rankings and a fresh, but familiar face into the top 10.

My Contender Report series is back by demand, as we start counting down the days, hours and minutes until the NCAA Tournament kicks off in mid-March. First up, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

With only two weeks left in the regular season, many high profile games have yet to be played, as we get to set to turn the calendar to March.

Oklahoma gets their turn with the bulls eye on their chest, as they have two very tough games in the next week.

For the first time in a month, our No. 1 team- the Connecticut Huskies- held onto the top spot for a second straight week.

Maybe it’s because of the stagnant economy or an increasingly aging fan base, but the crowds aren’t turning out like they used to. Good seats are still available for virtually every game, even match-ups with ranked opponents. UConn women’s basketball fans seem to all have hit autopilot and said, “Wake me up when it’s time for the Final Four.”