UConn 63, Syracuse 49

Yeah, nothing cheers a guy up like watching the Cuse get manhandled. Not that it'll make me feel any better Saturday afternoon, while I watch the Hoyas get manhandled BY the Cuse, but for one night it was fun.

After the game, Jim Calhoun called Hasheen Thabeet "the most dominant force in America right now." I assume he meant "in college basketball in America," thus exempting forces such as LeBron James, Barack Obama and American Idol, and I therefore agree with him. When Thabeet is as motivated as he apparently is right now, there's just not another team in the country with anybody who can play him.

Some bad news for the red-hot Huskies today, though, as Jerome Dyson is evidently out for the season with a torn knee ligament. My first reaction is to say they'll just slot the hyper-athletic Kemba Walker in there and not miss a beat, but Walker's been such a vital jolt of energy off the bench, you wonder if that translates into a starting role.

With Walker, A.J. Price, the terrifying Jeff Adrien and so many other talented players around Thabeet, I have to imagine UConn will still be fine, and a candidate for the national title. But they were starting to look as if they might run away and hide from everybody, and now you have to wonder how such a major injury will affect them.

Tonight's only conference game is Louisville at Notre Dame. The Irish have lost seven in a row and are grasping furiously for a ripcord. Can't imagine they find it tonight against T-Will and the Cards.

Back tomorrow with a recap of Louisville, if it's interesting enough, and maybe a preview of Saturday's Syracuse-Georgetown matchup, if I feel masochistic enough.