Top Prospect Will Be A Tar Heel

The rich will get richer in college basketball next year. The North Carolina Tar Heels recently received a commitment from Ames, Iowa product Harrison Barnes. Barnes, a 6'8 small forward, is near unanimously considered to be the top prep player in the country this year and holds the top spot in the ESPNU Top 100. He considered Duke, UCLA, Kansas, and Oklahoma before deciding that he would bleed Carolina blue. Barnes will join the currently talented North Carolina as a member of a 2010 recruiting class that also includes highly ranked guards Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall. Barnes' commitment means that the Heels now have pledges from three of the country's top 20 high schoolers.

Here's a look at the top prospect in action....

Heisman Watch (Week 11)

At this point, I'm only including two candidates on my Heisman watch. I refuse to include Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy for their name recognition, and I absolutely will not stand for Jimmy Clausen's fraudulent candidacy that has been based simply upon the fact that he is the starting quarterback for Notre Dame. There are really only two candidates for the award and only one candidate can actually win it. The Heisman race has been a runaway...by default

THE LIKELY WINNER 
Mark Ingram (So.) RB - Alabama
1297 Rushing Yards
10 Rushing Touchdowns
25 Receptions
225 Receiving Yards
3 Receiving Touchdowns

• Ingram hasn't done anything that warrants him being a runaway winner, but he has been the most consistent player on a team that is currently undefeated and controls their destiny in the national championship race. If Ingram can lead the Tide past Florida, there is no one who can take this award away from him. That would make the sophomore the best skill position player on the undefeated and nearly undisputed top ranked team in the country. It would also eliminate the idea of Tim Tebow receiving the award as a lifetime achievement award due to a lack of worthy candidates.
  

THE RUNNER-UP WHO SHOULD BE THE FRONT RUNNER
Case Keenum (Jr.) Quarterback - Houston
4194 Passing Yards
31 Passing Touchdowns (6 Interceptions)
103 Rushing Yards
3 Rushing Touchdowns
155.8 Passer Efficiency Rating
69.7% Completion Percentage

• Case Keenum has posted amazing stats against quality competition all year, and even in his team's two upset losses, Keenum has posted Heisman worthy efforts. Unfortunately for him, it is highly unlikely that a player will receive the Heisman with losses to UTEP and UCF stashed in his otherwise stellar portfolio. Keenum could have one more chance to impress on national TV if Houston can advance to the Conference USA Championship. However, that opportunity is not in Keenum's able hands. The SMU Mustangs lead the C-USA West Division by a game and must lose to either Marshall on the road (possible) or Tulane at home (very unlikely) to vault Case's Cougar's into the spotlight one more time. If Keenum can find his way into the C-USA championship game and give an unbelievable performance...something along the lines of 450 yards and 5 touchdowns (and this is very possible)...He may be able to make this a debate again.
  

Now Showing: College Hoops Marathon on the ESPN Family of Networks

College basketball season is now beginning to press down on the throttle. For the second straight year, ESPN will be broadcasting a 24-hour college hoops marathon that for the entire calender day of Tuesday. The hoop fest will be highlighted by a primetime double header. (2)Michigan State and Gonzaga will play at 7pm, followed by a rematch of the 2006 National Championship when (1)Kansas and Memphis take the court. Here's the rundown of what will take place over the next 24 hours.

• The marathon starts off in Westwood at 9pm PST when UCLA meets Cal State Fullerton. This game is being played as I write this.
  
• At 11pm PST, San Diego State tips off at St. Mary's. This game will feature Matt Dellavedova of St. Mary's. The freshman guard is the next big time Australian import in college basketball. Fans hope that will make the Gaels forget that Patty Mills should still be in a St. Mary's uniform. JUCO transfer Malcolm Thomas is also a big time newcomer that will suit up on the opposite end for the Aztecs.
  
• At 11pm Hawaiian Standard Time, the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii will host Northern Colorado.
• In one of the days more interesting tip times, St. Peter's (NJ) will tip off against Monmouth at 6am EST in the first game that actually starts on Tuesday in the time zone that it is being played in.
• Drexel tips off against Niagara at 8am EST in what may be a sleeper pick to be the marathon's best games.
• At 10am EST, (23)Clemson will travel to Liberty and will breathe a sigh of relief when they realize that Seth Curry is no longer there. 
• The noon EST game will showcase top mid-major Siena against Northeastern. This will be a great opportunity to see one of the nation's best kept secrets play before march.
• Another NBA lottery prospect takes the court at 2pm. Don't miss the chance to watch dominating center Jerome Jordan suit up for Tulsa at home against UA-Little Rock.






• The marquee games begin at 4pm when Temple goes to (20)Georgetown in a game that will have tournament implications five months from now. Temple will breathe much easier on Selection Sunday with an early win over the Hoyas in their back pocket.
• After over 15 hours of hoops on ESPN, ESPN2 gets into the action when Pittsburgh hosts a depleted Binghamton squad in the College Basketball Experience.
• At 6pm, the Pre-Season NIT kicks off on ESPN from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
• At 6pm CST, ESPNU shows the ladies some love when the Lady Vols of (8)Tennessee go on the road to play the Lady Raiders from Texas Tech.
• At 7:30pm EST, (22)Louisville host Arkansas and their hired gun Rotnei Clarke on ESPN2. If you haven't switched to college basketball mode yet, you already missed Clark's 51 point outburst that included 13 three pointers in the opening game of the season.

• The action gets serious at 8pm on ESPN when (2)Michigan State faces an early test against Gonzaga and their highly touted German import Elias Harris.
• Another Big Ten team takes the floor at the same time one time zone over at 7pm CST as Illinois host in-state opponent Northern Illinois on ESPN360.com 
• Duquesne, a very solid program out of the Atlantic 10, will try to knock off a down Iowa team in Ames. That game tips off at 8pm CST on ESPNU
• More ladies action, this time on ESPN2, when (1)Uconn squares off against (14)Texas at 8:30pm CST on ESPN2.
• In the marathon's headlining matchup, Memphis plays (1)Kansas on a nuetral floor in St. Louis as a part of the Hall of Fame Showcase. This will be a good litmus test for the Memphis program under new coach Josh Pastner. 
• The Marathon will close with a 8:30pm MST Pre-Season NIT matchup that will be played on the campus of Arizona State.

If you think this marathon won't include any quality basketball, UCLA and Cal State Fullerton are playing double overtime at Pauley Pavilion as we speak.