Sully's court

Observations:

More on the beast: Saw Michael Beasley of Kansas State in the Disney World tournament and he's for real. He's got a great left-handed shot and can free himself up from 15 feet and in. Might knock down a few 3s too. He's a natural, aggressive rebounder. His team is too young to win anything this season and he could be gone for the NBA in June.

Dynamic duo: Butler's backcourt, Mike Green and A.J. Graves, is one of the best in the nation and they proved it again in winning the Great Alaska Shootout. Butler won the NIT tip-off tournament last season, a nifty exacta.

Basketball oddity: The championship and third-place games of the Disney World tournament had the same score, 69-68. N.C. State beat Villanova in the championship game with the help of an official's whistle. Trailing by one, the Wolfpack had to go the length of court in a little over two seconds. They attempted the Duke/Christian Laettner play and a foul was called on Villanova, whose coach, Jay Wright, was remarkably composed considering what had happened. George Mason beat South Carolina in the third-place game. As far as I'm concerned, George Mason is already in the NCAA field and teams will want to avoid the Patriots.

Surprise from Down Under: Saint Mary's point guard Patrick Mills, a muscular 5-foot-10-inch point guard from Australia, announced his arrival with a huge game against Oregon. He plays fearlessly, has a great handle, is a good defender with a knack for a steal, and hits his free throws. A serious candidate to be on the All-Sully team.

Discipline, maybe: Southern Cal coach Tim Floyd benched his star freshman O.J. Mayo and his star sophomore big man Taj Gibson in yesterday's matchup against tough Southern Illinois. Both came off the bench and Southern Cal won easily. Nice move. Floyd told the LA Times he benched them to start the game to foster a sense of team unity and to help accelerate the development of their replacements, freshman Angelo Johnson and junior Keith Wilkinson. Go, team, go.

Uniform typo: Cal Irvine, nicknamed the Anteaters, just has EATERS (without an apostrophe) on its uniforms this year. Doesn't anyone else find this funny?

Brazilian bomber: Jonathan Tavernari, a 6-foot-6-inch swingman for BYU, might be the most unconscionable shooter in college basketball. He never hesitates to fire away. He's exciting and his approach helped upset Louisville but could not overcome North Carolina in the Las Vegas tournament.

Five on the rise:

Baylor: This program was in tatters just a few years ago but the Bears won the eight-team Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands and are 5-0.

Duke: Maybe the Blue Devils are back after winning the Maui tournament.

Duquesne: 5-0 for the first time in four years. Northeastern transfer Shawn James broke the school record with 12 blocked shots vs. Oakland.

Miami of Florida: Picked near the bottom of the ACC, the Hurricanes won the Puerto Rico tournament and are 5-0.

Minnesota: I've always thought Tubby Smith was a good coach unfairly maligned. He has the Gophers at 3-0. Meanwhile, Kentucky lost to Gardner-Webb.

Five on the decline:

Alabama: The Tide went out in a loss to Belmont at home.

Gardner-Webb: Back to reality after the big upset of Kentucky. GWebb lost to Clemson 86-67 after losing twice in New York in the Tip-Off NIT.

Northwestern: Bill Carmody was a great coach at Princeton but the grand experiment hasn't worked in Evanston, Ill. The Wildcats lost at home to Brown Saturday. Brown is coached by Craig Robinson, a former Carmody assistant and Princeton player.

Penn State: The Nits looked awful while finishing last in the eight-team Disney World tournament including losses to Rider and Central Florida. How are they going to fare in the Big 11?

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights lost to St. Peter's of Jersey City for the first time since 1978

This week's George Mason (the best mid-major): How about George Mason? The Patriots are a threat to win a few NCAA games.

This week's Final Four: Georgetown, UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas.

This week's national champion: Georgetown