We'll be keeping a keen eye on the Washington Huskies, who are flirting with a top-10 ranking, over the next few months.
So far, the Dawgs have been earning their bones.
Last season, they lost their first five Pacific-10 Conference games, only to rebound with 12 victories in their final 13 league contests.
Coach Lorenzo Romar also mixed in a savvy late-season game at North Carolina State, which Washington lost by five points, to prime the Dawgs for the postseason, and they lost to Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament finale.
Then they were beaten by Alabama-Birmingham in a 102-100 thriller in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
This season, 12th-ranked Washington, rated sixth in the country by one Ratings Percentage Index gauge, might be the pride of the Pac-10.
It defeated Utah, Oklahoma and Alabama to win the Great Alaska Shootout, and it avenged that loss at North Carolina State by beating the Wolfpack in Seattle last month.
And the Huskies, who play at UCLA on Saturday night, have won their first three league games.
Nate Robinson, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, has been dubbed the most exciting player in the country. He entered the week second in his conference in scoring, second in assists and fourth in steals.
But we don't want to overlook Tre Simmons, a 6-5 senior guard who is the only Pac-10 player among the league's top 15 scorers and rebounders, and top 10 in field-goal, free-throw and 3-point shooting.
Washington's game against Arizona in Tucson on Jan. 27 has been circled on the office calendar for weeks.
Last season, the Vikings lost their regular season finale to the Cardinals on a last-second touchdown pass, in Arizona, which put the Packers in the playoffs.
"Nothing could be worse than what happened last year with the Cardinals," Hannan said. "I'm used to that stuff, man."
The Packers have beaten the Vikings twice this season, and the two teams meet Sunday in a playoff game in Wisconsin. Hannan said it's been easier being a Vikings fan since coming to Las Vegas.
However, he was home for Christmas Eve, when Green Bay beat the Vikings on a last-second field goal at the Metrodome. The following day, Hannan hopped on a flight back to Las Vegas.
"Well, I left for church with about two minutes left," Hannan said. "The Vikings were driving and I thought the game was over, that we'll hit a field goal to win it. I got back and was pretty disappointed.
"But I'm glad I didn't have to watch the live version. It was typical Vikings. If I were home, I'd be furious reading the papers. It's easier to get over a loss like that when you're flying out the next day."
Mike Dunlap, a former assistant coach at Southern California, Iowa and Loyola Marymount, spent three years coaching pro ball in Australia before landing at the Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Since then, Division II hoops hasn't been the same as the Roadrunners have played in seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments, winning two and advancing to four Final Fours.
Metro State is currently 11-0.
Dunlap, who once ran a 100-mile marathon and likes his teams to run, is well respected in the industry, and Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell has raved about him for years. But Dunlap has always been picky when it comes to career advancement.
He and his wife, Mollie, have three children, and all adore Colorado. However, if Dunlap is hoping for the Colorado gig to open up, Buffaloes coach Ricardo Patton might make him wait a long time.
This is Patton's ninth full season as Colorado's coach, and Patton has guided it to an 8-3 record. It entered the week at No. 33 on the all-important RPI, then beat Richmond on its own court Tuesday.
Patton doesn't get high marks for accommodating the media, but he has a winning record (151-117) in the football-crazed Big 12 Conference. He also has a contract through the 2006-07 season.
In the meantime, D-II dynasty is developing in Denver.
In five defeats, he's averaged 13.8 points on 39 percent shooting, with 8.4 boards, four assists and 13 turnovers.
O-dot, those other guys on the court wearing the same uniform color as yours? Get it to them a bit more frequently.
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