FanHouse Alabama Basketball

The roll call of eye-popping scores began with the start of the college basketball season. And there's a chance they won't slow down soon, for an important reason: this time, the names on the front of the jerseys tell less of a story than the names on the back.

The opening week's finals look like someone's idea of a joke. The opening acts, in exhibition season, should have warned everybody: LeMoyne 82, Syracuse 79, and Georgia Tech 84, Indiana (Pa.) 76 in overtime. Then, when the games counted: Texas-San Antonio 62, Iowa 50. Cornell 71, Alabama 67. Wofford 60, Georgia 57. Rider 88, Mississippi State 74. Cal State-Fullerton 68, UCLA 65 in two overtimes.

None of that includes Kentucky 72, Miami of Ohio 70, in Game Two of the John Calipari Era in Lexington; if not for freshman John Wall's heroics in, literally, the final second, that era would have been a carbon-copy of the start of the now-infamous Billy Gillispie Era (loss at home to Gardner-Webb in his second game).

For some godforesaken reason, some Alabama fans and media think they have a shot at landing Michigan State's Tom Izzo as the replacement for Mark Gottfried. Apparently, just because their football coach, Nick Saban, is a former Michigan State coach, he can just extend a phone call and land Izzo at the drop of a hat.

There are two problems here. First of all, Izzo has already built a situation superior to one he could build at Alabama. He's worshipped on campus, and his family is settled in the area. You aren't going to uproot your entire life unless bowled over by money. How much more money does Alabama have to spend on a basketball coach than Michigan State? Not near enough, if any at all.

Alabama junior Anthony Brock's turn from the grief of attending the funeral of his grandmother Saturday to hitting the game winning shot Sunday is the stuff of poorly written TV scripts. That's part of what makes sports so fantastic. These things really happen.

On Sunday, the Vols got knocked off by Alabama on a desperation shot from mid-court with time expiring.

Anthony Brock was the hero who took the shot, throwing Alabama into hysteria. Yet a day earlier Brock was gripped with sadness, as he was mourning the loss of his grandmother at her funeral. It wasn't until late in the night that he re-joined the team. With little sleep for an early afternoon game and a heavy heart, Brock scored 11 points and shot 3-of-3 from behind the arc, including the game-winner.

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Apparently, Tubby Smith's departure from Minnesota can't come soon enough in the eyes of the media. When Lute Olson retired at Arizona, Tubby was tied to the job through pure conjecture, and now it's happening again. Earlier this week, Mark Gottfried "resigned" from his post at the University of Alabama. Today, everyone's favorite talking heads -- Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon -- got the ball rolling.

I guess the fact that Tubby Smith's two previous head coaching jobs came in the same conference as Alabama make it a quasi-logical destination. Other than that, though, there is little substance here.

Is this some cultural thing in Alabama of which I'm unaware? Rather than admit that they are canning their coaches, Alabama programs are releasing awkward press releases claiming the coach has resigned. Completely voluntary, and out of the blue. Nothing else to see here, honestly.

The problem with the scenario is that the coach is getting the full buyout as if he was fired without cause. No program will just toss extra money to a former coach when it does not have to.

Mark Gottfried resigned as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team today, a move that will certainly draw plenty of discussion as to whether he resigned or "resigned."

Under Gottfried, the Tide made the NCAA Tournament for five consecutive years but have struggled recently. Word on the street is that Phillip Pearson will take over the squad as the university conducts a full search for a coach.

Update: Harris is "alert" but Gillispie isn't talking much about his condition.

Ramon Harris didn't play during the second half of Kentucky's 61-51 win over Alabama today. That's because he was en route to the hospital after collapsing outside the locker room right before halftime.

During his post-game radio show, Coach Gillispie said that Harris is resting at the local hospital. "They said everything looks good. They're concerned, obviously. He's alert. After he threw up he felt better," said Gillispie.

Well, I guess all the college basketball honks get what they wanted: Luke Harangody's Notre Dame Fighting Irish facing off against Tyler Hansbrough and the North Carolina Tar Heels for the Maui Invitational championship.

Notre Dame 81, Texas 80: Harangody poured in 29 points and grabbed 11 boards in the win for the Irish. Notre Dame had to watch an A.J. Abrams half-court heave hit the front of the rim before celebrating their hard-fought win. The Irish made this game closer than it should have been as they missed 11 of their 21 free throw attempts. This is the only one of the eight games played in the Maui Invitational to have a margin of victory under 18 points.

North Carolina 98, Oregon 69: The Heels jumped all over Oregon early with aggressive defense and an offense that, when ran the way Roy Williams wants, looks unstoppable. Danny Green led the way again with 21 points.