Mike DeCourcy

1. Is it possible for Isiah Thomas to avoid controversy?

DeCourcy: Look, the media are not making this stuff up. They are not even goading him into being controversial. Thomas signed up for the job as head coach at Florida International, which isn't like taking over the 2009 Indianapolis Colts, but he can't even get through some inevitable blowout losses with dignity.

The first sign Thomas was out of his element came when FIU tried to muscle the promoters of the 2K Sports Classic into giving the team a road game at Ohio State rather than North Carolina. The Gazelle Group, which promotes the tournament, had arranged for FIU to get three home games as a result of its participation — but the school threatened to walk away from all that. FIU backed down when Gazelle refused to change the schedule.

What happened Sunday in FIU's 81-49 loss at Tulsa was equally ridiculous. With 10 minutes remaining and Tulsa well ahead, Thomas glared and shouted at Hurricane coach Doug Wojcik because some of Tulsa's regulars remained in the game, according to Tulsa World.

Wojcik told the newspaper he only had eight available scholarship players — and really, why should he have to defend himself? Tulsa's star players, Ben Uzoh (29 minutes) and Jerome Jordan (24), did not play an extraordinary amount.

Wojcik is one of college basketball's genuinely good men. Now we know for certain: Thomas wouldn't know class if it looked him in the eye.

2. How many good games can you cram into 24 hours?

DeCourcy: The NCAA Tournament has demonstrated the answer can be as many as 10 or 12, but that's probably not a fair comparison to ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

The network had to find teams willing to play at 6 in the morning. The NCAA just has to announce the name of a team and the team will show up to play at 3:52 a.m. in Poughkeepsie, if that's what it takes to play in the tournament.

ESPN will run games from 12 midnight until 10 p.m. Tuesday without a break. These are the highlights:

• Marquee appeal only: Kansas vs. Memphis, 10 p.m.
• Intriguing: Temple vs. Georgetown, 4 p.m.
• A curiosity, at least: Northeastern vs. Siena, noon.
• Potentially fascinating: Gonzaga vs. Michigan State, 8 p.m.

3. Is Northwestern done?

DeCourcy: After months of discussion about whether this would be the Northwestern team to end the program's NCAA Tournament drought, the Wildcats lost star Kevin Coble to a foot injury. He is facing surgery and expected to redshirt. It doesn't help, either, that reserve wing Jeff Ryan is gone for the year with an ACL injury.

The only good news for the Wildcats is its core players are all underclassmen. This was not like North Carolina's Marcus Ginyard missing his one true chance to be an active part of a championship team. In Coble's absence, Northwestern started only one senior Friday: career backup Jeremy Nash, who responded with 20 points in a 77-55 victory over Northern Illinois.

Core players Michael Thompson, John Shurna and Luka Mirkovic have eligibility remaining after this season, so the return of Coble and Ryan and the development of freshmen such as guard Drew Crawford could make 2010-11 Northwestern's year.

The Wildcats have waited 71 years to make it to the NCAA Tournament. What's another 16 months?

4. Should West Virginia fans be concerned about the absence of sophomore forward Devin Ebanks from Sunday's West Virginia game?

DeCourcy: West Virginia fans still are fuming about the touchdown awarded to Cincinnati's football team via replay reversal Friday. If those fans were looking for good news from their rising basketball program, this was not it.

Coach Bob Huggins said Ebanks missed Sunday's victory over the Loyola Greyhounds to deal with "personal issues."

As late as Friday, there was no sign anything was amiss with Ebanks, but he did not appear for the Loyola game, which WVU won without him, 83-60.

This does not happen with star players. When a player is absent, it's usually a sign he is unhappy with his role or playing time. But Ebanks is a star who'd recorded a double-double in an exhibition game a week earlier. He was a preseason first-team All-America selection by Sporting News and is rated as a 2010 lottery pick by DraftExpress.com.

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Ebanks played in every West Virginia game last season, starting all but one. By the end he rarely was coming off the court. Huggins said he was not certain when Ebanks would be back with the Mountaineers, which is not good.

5. What's the over/under on Arkansas' Rotnei Clarke vs. Louisville?

DeCourcy: The Cardinals aren't exactly Alcorn State, which surrendered 51 points to Clarke on Friday night and played the victim in Ohio State forward Evan Turner's season-opening triple-double.

It was a relief for Alcorn when Louisiana-Monroe smoked the Braves' D for "only" 82 points.

Clarke will see plenty of Cards' defenders Jerry Smith and Preston Knowles. Figure on them holding him to about 14 in a comfortable Louisville victory.

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