As Notre Dame reeled off season-saving win after season-saving win without injured star Luke Harangody to close the regular season, a once-unthinkable question surfaced in the minds of fans of the Fighting Irish.

Could Notre Dame actually be better without Harangody?

We now know the answer to that question is an emphatic "no" after watching Harangody lead the Irish to their biggest win of the season on Wednesday night. In just his second game back from a bone bruise in his right knee. Harangody came off the bench to score 20 points and grab 10 boards in 24 minutes, propelling Notre Dame to a 68-56 victory over Seton Hall that removed any remaining doubt that the Irish are at-large-worthy. 

If this victory brought sweet relief for Notre Dame, it will mean four anxious days for Seton Hall. The Pirates played their way into at-large consideration largely by winning the games they were supposed to this season, but they needed another marquee victory over a team like the Irish to feel comfortable at all about their chances. 

Seton Hall seemed to have a great chance to get that victory until Harangody checked into the game four minutes into the first half with tentative-looking Notre Dame already down 9-2. The senior ignited the Irish with his scoring, rebounding and hustle, posting 15 points and nine rebounds before the break to help give his team a 28-21 lead that it never relinquished.

With the Irish now safely in the field, take a few seconds to reflect on what they've done to get there.

After a Feb. 17 loss to Louisville, Notre Dame had an injured star, a 6-8 record in Big East play and no marquee wins besides a home victory over West Virginia in early January. Now the Irish have rattled off wins over Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Connecticut, Marquette and Seton Hall, a five-game win streak impressive enough that it might vault the Irish all the way to an eight or nine seed.

You can credit coach Mike Brey for slowing down the tempo, getting his team to work for better shots and better masking Notre Dame's defensive inadequacies. You can credit Harangody's co-stars Tim Abromaitis, Ben Hansbrough and Carleton Scott for shouldering more of the scoring load now that they couldn't simply stand around after dumping it inside. 

Just don't attribute Notre Dame's success to Harangody's absence. We learned today that with a healthy Harangody and an improved supporting cast, the Irish are more dangerous than ever.

It's probably safe to assume that DeMarcus Cousins hasn't watched too much Vanderbilt basketball in his lifetime.

Not only did Cousins question why Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings won SEC coach of the year over John Calipari, the Kentucky big man also admitted that he wasn't sure who Stallings was prior to Tuesday.

"John Wall was like, 'who is that?' And I was like, 'I don't know,'" Cousins recalled. "I thought it was the coach from Tennessee -- I mean Georgia. I don't know. That was crazy."

Stallings and Cousins could have an opportunity to get acquainted in the SEC title game on Sunday if top-seeded Kentucky and second-seeded Vanderbilt advance that far.

Of course, Stallings probably needs no introduction to Cousins: The Kentucky freshman abused the Commodores for a total of 40 points and 15 boards in the Wildcats' two victories this season.

"A lot has been made of John Wall, but I think Cousins ... is just as much of a factor," Stallings said earlier this season. "He's really becoming a dominant inside player, maybe the dominant inside player in our league."

If loving "One Shining Moment" is wrong, then I've never wanted to be right. But with the recent announcement that Oscar and Grammy winner/over-singer Jennifer Hudson will take over the song for this year's NCAA tournament, I may have to reconsider that position.

CBS announced this week that Hudson recorded a new rendition of "OSM" last month and that it will air at the conclusion of the men's national championship game on April 3. She will be the fourth artist to perform the song for the network, following singer/songwriter David Barrett (1987-1993, 2000-2002), Teddy Pendergrass (1994-1999) and Luther Vandross (2002-2009). 

It's a pretty obvious choice; Hudson is known for her soaring vocals and inspirational recordings, so "One Shining Moment" is right up her alley. Whether you like it or not, it's impossible to deny that the song is the height of schmaltz. My fear is that Hudson's voice will only intensify that feeling.

To me, the ultimate rendition was from Pendergrass. Even if you thought the song was cheesy, what were you going to do about it? Say something to Teddy P? I think not. (Eddie Murphy summed it up best in "Delirious." Warning: NSFW language on that link.)

Here's the classic Teddy rendition:

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That's smooth, silky and a little bit intimidating, sort of like a musical version of Randolph Childress. Considering that Pendergrass passed in January, running his version would have been a grand tribute. But, like I said, I get the Hudson thing. She's a big star. Plus, if the NCAA opts out of its contract and takes the tournament to ESPN, this might be the last time CBS shows "One Shining Moment."

Perhaps I'm being unfair to Ms. Hudson though. Maybe I just miss Teddy P. Maybe I have an inherent bias against people who didn't even finish ahead of this guy on their season of "American Idol." Or maybe Hudson was so good in "Dreamgirls" that I'm unfairly projecting my disdain for Effie upon her. It's probably a combination of the three. Hudson is a great singer. Though she won't bring the raw, yet delicate, machismo to "OSM" that Pendergrass did, I'm sure she'll do fine.

So you go ahead, Jennifer. Sing the hell out of "One Shining Moment." And like always, I'll be watching with goosebumps. (Unless your version airs over clips of Duke celebrating a title. Then we'll have problems.)

Earlier this season I wrote how I thought Butler just wasn't all that good.

As usual — all together now! — I'm an idiot.

Since I wrote that post the Bulldogs won 13 in a row. Oh, and they had won seven straight before that. Nobody enters the NCAA tournament with a longer winning streak than this team. It's possible Butler is very, very good. Wright State was a sneaky upset pick in Tuesday night's Horizon title game, but it stood no chance. Butler completed its perfect season in the league by roughing up the Raiders, 70-45. This group was the class of the league and proved so by kicking the last team into its grave with authority. Who knew Butler could blow someone out so effectively!

Butler has moved up alongside Xavier and Gonzaga to create the troika of mid-major teams that have become a staple in March. The school has made the Sweet 16 twice since the tournament expanded in 1985 (2003 and 2007), but is this the year when it can get to the Elite Eight? Some might consider it a dark horse for the Final Four. But with the style they play, winning four straight games is a tall task.

Player to know: Gordon Hayward. The sophomore is the team's best player (no disrespect to Matt Howard) and has such a high ceiling that he could be a First Team All-America by his senior year. Hayward puts up a team-best 15.4 points per game while snaring 8.5 rebounds and making 83 percent of his foul shots. A big man who can hit the freebies? Clutch.

The Vitals: 

»Record: 28-4, 18-0 Horizon
»Team colors: blue and white
»We're thinking: a 4-seed
»KenPom ranking: 25
»RPI: 17
»Best win: @ Ohio State (24-7)
»Worst loss: Minnesota (18-12)
»Notable stat: If the 20 consecutive wins doesn't do it for you, how about the defense across the board? Butler allows 59.7 points per, and that's 13th best in the country. Plus, it keeps foes to 30 percent from the 3-point line and 41 percent from the field. If you can't get out of the 50s, you're not going to win against this team.
»Most recent tournament history:
-2009 (9-seed): L first round to LSU, 75-71.
-2008 (7-seed): W first round over South Alabama, 81-61; L second round to No. 2 Tennessee, 76-71 (OT).
-2007 (5-seed): W first round over Old Dominion, 57-46; W second round over No. 4 Maryland, 62-59; L Sweet 16 to No. 1 Florida, 65-57.

What defines "north" in Texas? Denton. That's the town these guys are from. Denton's 50 minutes north of Dallas. If North Texas rings a faint, hazy bell it's because you correctly picked Memphis to beat it three years ago, when it was a 15-seed. This season, the Mean Green (again, terrific nickname) reeled off 11 straight wins to end their Sun Belt season and catapult into the NCAAs. A win isn't likely, but never completely write off a team that's made a habit of collecting W after W in February and March.

North Texas took out Troy, which also owned a 13-5 record in conference, in Tuesday night's title game. One of the closest championship games so far this week, it was Josh White who lifted his team to the win. White hit a pull-up jumper from just beyond the foul line to give the Mean Green a 65-63 lead with 20 seconds remaining. Good, good game, and we hope you didn't miss it.

Player to know: White's the most dynamic player on the team, but he also was on the leaderboard for most turnovers per game in the Sun Belt. White shoots it well from the free throw line (83 percent) and will have to play at a level above what he's shown, most likely, to give UNT even a puncher's chance next week.

The Vitals: 

»Record: 24-8, 13-5 Sun Belt
»Team colors: green and white
»We're thinking: a 16-seed
»KenPom ranking: 166
»RPI: 120
»Best win: @ Western Kentucky (21-13)
»Worst loss: Florida International (7-25)
»Notable stat: Two players shoot better than 55 percent from the floor. George Odufuwa (61 percent) and Eric Tramiel (56 percent) pay rent in the paint and make the most of their chances. And Tuesday night they combined for 27 rebounds. How often do you see a mid-major team with effective bruisers down low? We've got some here.
»Most recent tournament history (two total appearances):
-2007 (15-seed): L first round to Memphis, 73-58.

Bubble teams got good news on Tuesday night when Butler crushed Wright State to snatch the Horizon League's automatic bid and leave an at-large spot for somebody else.

By my count, 57 of the 65 spots in the NCAA tournament are accounted for right now, either by automatic qualifiers or teams almost certain to earn at-large berths. About 20 teams are still in contention for the eight remaining at-large bids. 

Here's a look at the bubble picture as it stands on Wednesday morning:

Last Five In, First Five Out

61. Illinois (18-12, 10-8, RPI: 75) Although it's hard to imagine a team with victories over Clemson, Vanderbilt, Michigan State and Wisconsin not making the field, Illinois is in jeopardy as a result of its bloated RPI and poor finish. The Illini have to avenge Sunday's loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals, or Selection Sunday will be very dicey.  

62. Washington (21-9, 11-7, RPI: 50): The Huskies finished a game behind Arizona State in the Pac-10 standings, but victories over Cal and Texas A&M are more impressive than anything on the Sun Devils' resume. A Pac-10 title game appearance is a must for Washington, meaning the Huskies will probably have to defeat Arizona State in the semifinals to get there.

63. Seton Hall (19-11, 9-9, RPI: 54): The best aspect of Seton Hall's profile is no losses to teams outside the top 75 in the RPI, a trend that continued Tuesday as the Pirates survived a late Providence comeback bid in the first round of the Big East tournament. Up next for Seton Hall is a classic high-stakes bubble matchup against Notre Dame, likely a must-win for the Pirates if they want an at-large bid. 

64. San Diego State (20-8, 11-5, RPI: 36): Unlike other bubble teams, San Diego State's NCAA tournament hopes can be summed up fairly simply. A win over likely Mountain West semifinal opponent New Mexico would put the Aztecs solidly in the field, while a quarterfinal or semifinal loss would likely knock them out.

65. Georgia Tech (18-11, 7-9, RPI: 44): Can a team that finished below .500 in the ACC and lost eight of nine road conference games make the NCAA tournament? This season, absolutely. The Yellowjackets' victory over Duke is keeping them afloat right now, but they need a first-round ACC tournament win over North Carolina at minimum and perhaps a quarterfinal victory over Maryland on top of that. 

------- CUT LINE --------

66. Arizona State (22-9, 12-6, RPI: 55): Eight wins in their final 10 games earned the Sun Devils second place in the Pac-10 and a spot on the bubble, but their most impressive victories are over bubble teams Washington and San Diego State. They must beat the Huskies again in the Pac-10 tournament semifinals to merit legit consideration.

67. Mississippi (21-9, 9-7, RPI: 56): It took a late surge to get to 9-7 in the SEC for Mississippi to give itself a chance to make the NCAA tournament. Non-conference wins over Kansas State and UTEP will help the Rebels' cause, but without a quarterfinal victory over Tennessee this week, Ole Miss is probably NIT-bound. 

68. South Florida (20-11, 9-9, RPI: 65): A second upset of Georgetown on Wednesday would give South Florida a case for an at-large berth, but it would probably take a quarterfinal Big East tournament victory over Syracuse for the Bulls to feel confident. Unlike Seton Hall, South Florida suffered bad losses out of league to Central Michigan and South Carolina. 

69. Memphis (23-8, 13-3, RPI: 46): Memphis' RPI is solid because it played strong non-league competition, but the trouble is that the Tigers didn't win any of those games this season. They'll need to get to the Conference USA title game by perhaps beating Alabama-Birmingahm for a third time and then hope that other bubble teams continue to falter.

70. Mississippi State (21-10, 9-7, RPI: 68): No bubble team endured a more damaging week last week than the Bulldogs, who lost at Auburn and then got torched at home by Tennessee. The Bulldogs face a must-win SEC quarterfinal against fellow bubble team Florida and then depending on how other bubble teams fare, they may still need one more win after that. 

Wednesday's Bubble Look-ahead

• South Florida vs. Georgetown — The Bulls already beat Georgetown once this season behind 29 points from star Dominique Jones.

• Seton Hall vs. Notre Dame — The surging Irish lock up a bid with a win; The Pirates need a win just to stay alive.

Tuesday's Bubble Recap

• South Florida 58, DePaul 49 — The Bulls slogged to a win over the Big East's last place team to stay alive for an at-large bid.

• Saint John's 73, UConn 51 — A fitting conclusion to a disastrous season for the underachieving Huskies.

• Seton Hall 109, Providence 106 — The Pirates nearly let a 29-point second-half lead slip away in a must-win game.

• Dayton 70, George Washington 60 — At minimum, the Flyers need an Atlantic 10 title game appearance to make up for an 8-8 conference record.

• Rhode Island 87, Saint Josephs 76 — Another must-win game awaits the Rams in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals against Saint Louis.

It's OK if I'm completely honest with you, right? I only saw Oakland play one time this year, and that one time was Tuesday night. Can you blame me? The Summtt League is never on television. So I can only go off what I saw and the numbers on paper tell me. What I do know: The Golden Grizzlies (the smaller schools have the best monikers) absolutely dominated the Summit this season. Ooeey-Pooey (IUPUI) was no match for Oakland on Tuesday night (76-64), and while IUPUI would've been more fun to discuss for the next week, the right team got into the field. We're seeing a lot of that this year: The teams who owned the regular season are getting the job done in the conference playoffs.

Player to know: Yeah, I'm going to go with the guy who had 36 points and nine rebounds with a tournament berth on the line. That would be Derick Nelson, who still hasn't gotten his nose completely healed yet after getting it broken in Oakland's first game of the conference tournament.

The Vitals: 

»Record: 26-8, 17-1 Summit
»Team colors: gold and black
»We're thinking: a 14-seed
»KenPom ranking: 147
»RPI: 61
»Best win: @ Oral Roberts (20-13)
»Worst loss: Eastern Michigan (17-14)
»Notable stat: Does five blocks per game do anything for you? That's not spectacular, but it was good enough to lead the Summit. Also: The team has a .500 NCAA tournament record! You'd never guess that, right? Well, here's the catch ...
»Most recent tournament history (one total appearance):
-2005 (15-seed): W opening-round game over Alabama A&M, 79-69; L first round to North Carolina, 96-68.

The smoke is still slowly and quietly emanating off the now-dead pyre that is the 2009-10 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball season.

Anybody got a theory as to what this team was for the past five months?

UConn fell in the first round of the Big East tournament earlier today, 73-51 to St. John's, in the most embarrassing way possible: without a care in the world. The Huskies committed 20 turnovers, though if you watched the game that number felt double the amount. Jim Calhoun's team looked as uninterested with the game of basketball as a bunch of church-going grandmas on a Sunday morning. The Huskies fans who made the trip to the Garden began to file out with more than five minutes remaining. 

If do-or-die urgency couldn't get this team's adrenaline going, then it wasn't worth saving. It all changed so quickly for UConn, which is now 17-15 and could very well miss the NIT tournament. Before the Big East tournament began, some wondered if UConn made the tourney final and lost if it would still receive an at-large bid. If it could become the first 15-loss team in modern tournament history to do so.

We'll never know, and it's probably better that we won't.

And yet, less than two weeks ago UConn was coming off a home win against West Virginia and thrown back onto the better side of the bubble by most prognosticators.

Calhoun - who openly said he has every intention to coach next year; just gotta take care of that little thing called a contract - had no problems admitting he didn't know what to do with this team. Jerome Dyson, a senior starting shooting guard who scored just four points for the second straight game, played only 26 minutes and continued to get the cold shoulder from his coach. Dyson and the rest of his friends who will graduate from the University later this spring never found out what it was like to experience winning a Big East tournament game.

UConn's drought is now extended to five years. The last win came in 2005, in the first round, against Georgetown.

On a quiet, mid-March Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan a 2009 Final Four contender's season ended without the prospect of getting a return trip back to college basketball's biggest stage. But I guess it could be worse. They could have had North Carolina's season, which lacked the peaks the Huskies occasionally had.

We'd also be remiss if we didn't point out the irony of it all: how UConn's season came to a crumbling end the day after its women's team set a new record for continued success.

It wasn't just added motivation that Saint Mary's gained from falling in the West Coast Conference title game last year and then getting snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.

The Gaels also learned they can't leave their fate in someone else's hands.

Before Saint Mary's played Gonzaga in last year's WCC title game, coach Randy Bennett sensed his players had relaxed a bit because most bracket projections had the Gaels in the field. This year, Saint Mary's players knew better than to rely on what they saw on TV or read on the Internet, instead summoning the intensity they lacked a year ago to crush top-seeded Gonzaga, 81-62, in Monday night's title game and earn an automatic bid.

"We saw what can happen if you leave it to chance," Bennett said. "Last year, it looked like we were in and then all of a sudden there were some upsets in the conference tournament and we were out. So this year, when we lost to Portland and Gonzaga on the road, I told them, fellas, we're out. Don't believe anything else. Just assume we're out. That's where i think our experience last year really helped us."

If missing the field last year was a bitter disappointment for Saint Mary's, earning a bid this year is an unexpected surprise. Junior guard Patrick Mills entered the NBA draft and senior Diamon Simpson graduated, leaving hard-working big man Omar Samhan and a cast of role players and newcomers to fend for themselves.

The Gaels (26-5) exceeded expectations this season because Samhan developed into a superstar, junior Mickey McConnell elevated himself from a fringe rotation player to an all-conference guard and freshman Matthew Dellavedova proved ready to contribute as a freshman. Samhan averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds a game and won the WCC's defensive player of the year award, while McConnell and Dellavedova averaged 13.7 and 12.5 points respectively.

"We had a lot of players improve," Bennett said. "From last spring until now, guys have made a huge jump. Six of our top 11 players are freshmen, so we're young, but the guys who had experience came through as players and leaders. They had to be about perfect, and they did it."

Although most bracket projections again had Saint Mary's in the field entering Monday's game, the Gaels could easily have been left out with a loss. They had fallen to Gonzaga twice already this season and their best non-conference victories came against San Diego State and Utah State, both fringe at-large teams at best.

With perhaps their best performance in Bennett's nine-year tenure, Saint Mary's made certain history would not repeat itself. They outscored Gonzaga by 18 in the second half, ending their long run of futility against the Zags, capturing their first WCC tournament title in 13 years and returning to the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons.

Since the Gaels weren't scheduled to leave Las Vegas until Tuesday morning, Bennett let his players have a night in Sin City to enjoy their hard-earned title. 

"It's hard to get in that game and it's hard to win it," Bennett said. "I wanted them to stop and enjoy it for a second."

The Monarchs. By the name alone, you know they're not messing around. The Monarchs picked up their fifth conference title last night by holding off good ol' Bill & Mary in the CAA title game, 60-53. The low-scoring affair was nothing new for ODU. Nobody from the CAA played better defense than these guys. Fifty-seven points per game allowed. Less than 30 percent beyond the 3-point line. Held opponents to 40 percent from the field. Whichever team draws the Monarchs in the first round is going to let out quite the audible groan. Get ready for a street fight, because this team will beat you the Wisconsin way. In fact, though it wouldn't be the best television watch, we'd love it if, somehow, the Badgers and Monarchs managed to meet up later this month. The hardwood equivalent to a pitcher's duel.

And ODU is going to be a trendy pick. Beating Georgetown at the Hoyas' campus will do that for you. Sometimes, time flies. We can't believe it's been three years since we last saw this team dancing. Seems like Greg Gumbel calls out their name almost every Selection Sunday, but that's not been that case. We think it's safe to say this is the best Monarchs team in quite some time.

Player to know: Gerald Lee puts up 15 points per game in an offense that doesn't need him to do so in order to be proficient. Like a lot of mid-majors, ODU is a sum-is-greater-than-the-parts type of team. Four guys in the starting lineup contribute to five top-10 categories in the CAA. But Lee's name will be the one getting the most ink on opposing teams' scouting reports.

The Vitals: 

»Record: 26-8, 15-3 Colonial Athletic Association
»Team colors: slate blue, silver and light blue
»We're thinking: a 9-seed
»KenPom ranking: 34
»RPI: 33
»Best win: @ Georgetown (20-9)
»Worst loss: @ George Mason (17-14)
»Notable stat: In every game but two this season, if a team scored 70 points on the Monarchs, it won. Keep the tempo up and the game could get away from these guys.
»Most recent tournament history (10 total appearances):
-2007 (12-seed): L first round to Butler, 57-46.
-2005 (12-seed): L first round to Michigan State, 89-81.