Yesterday, the Gang of 500 reached consensus about a new No. 1 team. Don't worry, they're the same old Connecticut Huskies.

Then, I introduce you to the real BracketBusters. The mid-major mafia won't be happy.

Finally, advice for coaches Dino Gaudio, Mike Krzyzewski, and Tubby Smith. Step One: Buy a garbage can. Step Two: Remove the lid. Step Three: Toss the tape of yesterday's crushing loss to Miami, Clemson, and Michigan State, respectively.

Hey sports fan. Isn't it time you started reading about somebody other than Michael Phelps?

This is yocohoops. Let's get right down to it.

Blake Griffin has taken himself out of the running for the NBA Draft. But as Sports Illustrated's one and only Luke Winn suggests, Griffin's sentiment "is not surprising, because it's what every college player says up until the point where he actually declares."

Griffin's judgment was thrown into doubt when in 2006 he explained his decision to matriculate at Oklahoma rather than Kansas: "I'd love to help [the Sooners] win a national championship." Had Griffin become a Jayhawk, Bill Self would have already put on a ring on him. (Question: How long before we see an "Oklahoma Ladies" parody of Beyonce's "Single Ladies?"). (Fact: Oklahoma last played in the national championship game in 1988, losing to -- you guessed it -- Kansas).

In his mailbag, Griffin explained his decision: "As it stands right now, I plan on coming back."

Or, as Ole Miss' Andy Kennedy might put it: "This is going to be a national incident, sir."

Of course, the main national incident is Griffin becoming the heavy favorite for National Player of the Year. So reported the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette's Michael Rothstein, whose Indiana straw poll (take that, Iowa) of 50 voters for college basketball's various POY awards shows Griffin far ahead of the competition. Blake received three times as many first place votes as Stephen Curry, Jeff Teague, Tyler Hansbrough, and Luke Harangody combined.

Now, I am not a big "national consensus" kind of guy. In the pre-season, I never hopped on the Tyler Hansbrough as inevitable POY bandwagon. But even I must admit, Griffin is head and shoulders above his peers -- though perhaps only because of his conference peers. Former Maccabi Ra'anana player (and current ESPN analyst) Doug Gottlieb persuasively argues that Blake Griffin might not be so prolific if he played in the Big East rather than the Big 12.

Forgive me if you are a fan of Connor Atchley, Marshall Moses, Robert Lewandowski, Chinemelu Elonu or Kevin Rogers, but the Big 12 big men are simply not up to snuff. Compare the competition Griffin would see if he were in the Big East this season: Arinze Onuaku, Luke Harangody, DeJuan Blair, Samardo Samuels, Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet, Lazar Hayward and Greg Monroe might pose quite a different challenge for the most dominant player in the college game.

Nation: The Player of the Year race should not be over.

I was afraid the Gang of 500 was going to be tough, because of newspapers' sad decline and the readership and advertising incentives inherent to controversial sports punditry. But our nation's ink-stained wretches embraced Griffin and folded like origami tax forms that they forgot to fill out.

If this were 2006, Player of the Year voters would be falling all over themselves to ask each "Who's the Best?" The answer? Neither Adam Morrison nor J.J. Redick, both of whom are averaging under six points a game in the NBA.

I am telling you, it is only a matter of time until Bob Knight quits the booth, after it is revealed he has been secretly coaching Texas Tech all along.

So yes, folks, things are looking better for Connecticut and it is about time. The Huskies lost to Georgetown, the Big East's 10th best team, if you believe the conference's standings. (I don't). Last March, the Huskies were upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by San Diego. The year prior, Connecticut didn't even receive an at-large bid. In Storrs, dumbfounded students stumble around Connecticut's cafeterias hoping images of Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor will appear in their grilled cheese sandwiches.

Right now, the conventional wisdom is that Connecticut is the nation's No. 1 team. And you can tell because even Rick Pitino couldn't stop gushing about the Huskies after they demolished his Louisville Cardinals.

They are truly the number one ranked team in the country and are very deserving of their ranking.

Thankfully, Connecticut is far from perfect. For starters, the Huskies force their opponents to commit very few turnovers. Connecticut's interior scoring drops off significantly if either Jeff Adrien or Hasheem Thabeet get into foul trouble. Indeed, Jim Calhoun relies heavily on his starters, which may drive him mad in March if one or more has an off night.

Elsewhere, the real BracketBusters aren't likely to be teams you'll see in the WWLIS' made-for-TV (and must-see-TV) games. Instead, they will be power conference teams like Providence and Kansas.

Say what? Hasn't the Friars' bubble all but popped? Aren't the Jayhawks all but a lock for an at-large bid? Yes and Yes. So why should we care about their performance down the stretch? Because the better Providence performs, the better case Northeastern, Baylor, Saint Mary's, and Boston College will have before the committee. All four bubble teams defeated Providence in 2008. The worse Providence does, the less impressive those "quality wins" become. Ditto Kansas for Arizona and Syracuse. The better the Jayhawks close out the season, the more impressive the Wildcats' and Orange's victories over Bill Self's club become. The more Kansas struggles down the stretch, the less significant those wins become.

Finally, a word to the wise in Winston-Salem, Durham, and Minneapolis: Fuhgetaboutit. Yesterday's crushing losses came by such large margins, your players would be mentally better off focusing on the future rather than watching tape and breaking down the painful past. Move on and prepare for Boston College, Miami, and Ohio State, respectively.