Yes, despite all of the success he's had at Boston College.

Skinner's problem is that he is an exceptional coach but a terrible recruiter (even within the Eagles' strict academic constraints).

As a result of year after year after year of underwhelming recruiting classes, Skinner's cupboard is all but bare for 2008-2009.

Not Bill James, the famed baseball statistician.

"Non-expert" wins Pool o' Experts

Kansas wasn't the only one that rallied to win in the NCAA Tournament. Yoni Cohen of the blog YoCoHoops.com recovered from a shaky first round to win the fifth annual [Salon.com] Pool o' Experts.

Cohen had declared himself "not much of an 'expert' these days" upon turning in his bracket because over the last year he'd focused his attention on political work rather than writing about hoops for Fox Sports.

But he was one of only two experts, or at least two panelists, to have Kansas winning -- yours truly was the other -- and he was the only one who correctly identified Kansas and Memphis as the Championship Game contestants...

Cohen's prize is dinner at my house, home cooking or actual house neither implied nor guaranteed. Here are the final standings:

Expert Points

1. Yoni Cohen, YoCoHoops.com 1,260
2. NCAA Selection Committee 1,100
3. King Kaufman, Salon 1,010
4. Jonah Keri, ESPN/N.Y. Sun 1,000
5.Grant Wahl, Sports Illustrated 990
6. CBS SportsLine users 980
7. Stewart Mandel, Sports Illustrated 950
8. Tony Kornheiser, Washington Post 940
9. Seth Davis, CBS/S.I. 900
10. Luke Winn, Sports Illustrated 860
11. Gregg Doyel, CBS SportsLine 800
12. Barack Obama, D-Ill. 780
13. Michael Wilbon, Washington Post 720
14. John McCain, R-Ariz. 710
15. Buster, Coinflip 4 Kids 390

But I can't shake the feeling that the Mountaineers are a more likely Final Four participant than most pundits are today ready to admit.

This afternoon, Georgia defeated Arkansas to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament -- and leave only three bids for the pundits' final seven teams.

After the game, ESPN's Joe Lunardi updated his bracket, replacing Virginia Tech with Georgia. Yahoo Sports' Mike Huguenin and Bob McClellan also updated their bracket, replacing Oregon and Virginia Tech with Georgia and St. Joseph's.

The selection committee then went to work, inviting Oregon, St. Joseph's and Villanova to participate in March Madness at the expense of Arizona State, Illinois State, Ohio State and Virginia Tech.

The result?

All 65: ESPN's Joe Lunardi correctly guessed all 65 teams.

64 of 65: CBS Sports' Gary Parrish, Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy and Yahoo Sports' Mike Huguenin and Bob McClellan missed Oregon. Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel missed Villanova.

Wise men agree, at least implicitly, that seven teams are competing for the final four bids. Georgia, however, could steal one of the final four bids by beating Arkansas to win the SEC Tournament. Similarly, Illinois could steal a bid by beating Wisconsin to win the Big Ten Tournament.

Five bubble teams appear to be sitting pretty.

Seven teams appear to have had their bubbles burst.

In his second year at Temple's helm, Dunphy guided the Owls to (at least) 20 wins and a second place regular season finish in the Atlantic 10.

Roy Williams' experienced Tar Heels were my preseason pick for the national title. But during the second half of last night's game at Duke, the Tar Heels didn't demonstrate the heart of a champion.

Yes, North Carolina won. At Cameron Indoor. For the ACC regular season title. After shutting the Blue Devils down for the final five minutes plus.

But Mike Krzyzewski's club wanted it more. A lot more. For most if not all of the second half, the Blue Devils outhustled the Tar Heels.

Now we know why Tyler Hansbrough is known as "Psycho T." It is because his inspired play, last night included, stands in stark contrast to "lethargic UNC."

I started feeling guilty.

I felt bad that I had yet to go public with the following admission.

I enjoy hearing Steve Lavin.

I have for quite a while.

I appreciate Lavin's analysis more than any other ESPN personality.

Color me heartened, therefore, that Nolan is drawing interest from Arkansas State.

The story out of Tucson is not good. Apparently, there is a major fraction in the basketball program over the return of Lute Olson, according to a source close to the situation. Interim coach Kevin O'Neill, who was announced as Olson's successor whenever Olson retires, wants the gig next season. Athletic director Jim Livengood will have a tough decision to make between Olson, who said when he took the leave of absence that he'd return next season, and O'Neill, according to the source.

The Cats have lost six of eight and still have to go to the Oregon schools this week, which could put them in the precarious position of being on the NCAA Tournament bubble despite the No. 1 strength of schedule. This should make for an interesting couple of weeks in Tucson.

My advice to O'Neill is simple. Stop trying to land Lute Olson's job for next season and worry about this season. The Cats have not improved markedly on defense, which was supposed to be O'Neill's forte, and they have lost six home games.

For Boeheim, it would be a second consecutive absence. For Williams, it would his third absence in four years.

Syracuse is 17-2 overall and 7-9 in the Big East. With an RPI of 57, the Orange are 1-5 in the last month, 1-7 against the RPI Top 50, and 4-7 away from home. Their only great win, over Georgetown on Feb. 16, is cancelled out by their only terrible loss, to South Florida three days prior.

A loss at Seton Hall on Wednesday would all but pop Syracuse's bubble. A win at Marquette on Saturday would keep the Orange on life support heading into the Big East Tournament.

Maryland is 18-12 overall and 9-7 in the ACC. With an RPI of 58, the Terrapins are 2-4 in the last three weeks, 1-6 against the RPI Top 50, and 5-6 away from home. Their only great win, over North Carolina in mid-February, is cancelled out by two bad losses, to American and Boston College a month prior.