JC hearts MA

Is there a fellow head coach that John Calipari loves more than Mike Anderson?

First, Anderson takes the head coaching job at Missouri in 2006, leaving the UAB program in the hands of the incompetent Mike Davis, thereby making possible Memphis' ridiculous 57-game conference winning streak. And tonight, Anderson's new team at Missouri knocks off Oklahoma at home, leaving the Sooners barely clinging to a #1 seed and setting up Memphis for a remarkable return to the top seed line (that would be 3 in 4 years). Louisville and Michigan State might get a say in this before all is said and done, but Calipari's Tigers are as well-positioned as anyone to take advantage of Oklahoma's recent struggles. It can't be long before Fed Ex CEO Fred Smith starts offering jobs to Anderson's relatives and William Wesley starts throwing a few high school recruits his way.

Frankly, I heart MA myself. He's my pick for Big 12 coach of the year.

As for Oklahoma, they've finally been exposed a bit. I don't think they were ever as good as their one-time 25-1 record, which was built on a so-so schedule. Unfortunately, we couldn't draw any conclusions from their subsequent losses to Texas and Kansas because Blake Griffin was out of action. But now, with Griffin back in the fold, they got smacked around pretty good by (an admittedly underrated) Missouri. I wouldn't be surprised to see Oklahoma get stopped on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. At the least, if they're going to make a run, they'll need to play with more interest and intensity than they did tonight and get a lot more production from Griffin's supporting cast.