by Jeff Goodman

Updated: December 1, 2008, 9:14 PM EST 11 comments

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1. This is turning out to be a brutal freshman class thus far -- guys like DeMar DeRozan, B.J. Mullens and Devin Ebanks haven't so much as registered a blip on the national scene. Samardo Samuels, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Greg Monroe and Scotty Hopson have all made contributions, but none of them have made a major impact.

2. Let me get this straight. A player, DeAndre Liggins, refuses to go in the game one night and then gets 20-plus minutes the following night? What kind of message is Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie sending to his team?

3. The NCAA didn't need to punish former Indiana assistant Rob Senderoff as harshly as it did. Senderoff was a first-time offender and the only reason he received three years of significant recruiting restrictions is because he worked for Kelvin Sampson.

THE GOODS (Player, Coach or Team of the Week): This one is easy. I'm handing it to Western Kentucky coach Ken McDonald, who knocked off Louisville in Nashville just a few days after beating Southern Illinois at home. McDonald is a rookie head coach who didn't exactly inherit a ton of talent when he got the gig, either.

REAL DEAL: James Harden. Arizona State couldn't get past Baylor, but it wasn't because of the Sun Devils' talented sophomore wing. Harden scored 32 points and had nine boards against the Bears and followed it up with 40 points and eight rebounds in a win against UTEP. He's averaging 27 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4 assists while shooting 57 percent from the field and 44 percent from long range.

THE IMPOSTER: Louisville. I had the Cardinals as a clear-cut top-five team in the country, but Rick Pitino's team isn't quite there yet. They dropped one to Western Kentucky out in Nashville and still need to get used to playing with freshman big man Samardo Samuels.

MID-MAJOR TEAM OF THE WEEK: Wichita State. With a young group and not a single player who played for Mark Turgeon, the Shockers came out of Orlando with a victory over Siena — and also plenty of confidence after battling Michigan State for most of the game.

AS ADVERTISED: Wake Forest. The victory against Baylor in the title game out in Anaheim cemented the fact that the Demon Deacons are a legitimate Top 25 club already. Dino Gaudio's team has plenty of weapons. Jeff Teague, James Johnson, freshman Al-Farouq Aminu and L.D. Williams all had impressive performances against the Bears on Sunday night.

BETTER THAN ADVERTISED: Florida State and Illinois. Leonard Hamilton's club has plenty of inexperience, but the Seminoles have started the season undefeated after a couple of wins out in Vegas against Cal and Cincinnati. The Illini, who were expected to struggle without Jamar Smith and Alex Legion, beat two quality mid-majors: Tulsa and Kent State.

HE'S BACK ... OR IS HE? Tyler Hansbrough, after a dominant effort against Notre Dame in the title game out in Maui, sat out a blowout victory against UNC-Asheville with a sore shin. As I said before, this will be an important injury to watch all season — largely because of how hard Hansbrough plays and also practices.

PATSOS WATCH: A week ago Loyola (Md.) coach Jimmy Patsos sat next to a water cooler for 30 minutes and handed over his team to his assistants. This past week he had two defenders stay with Stephen Curry no matter where he was on the court. What did he get in return? A 30-point loss.

SIGNATURE WIN: Despite being embarrassed against Georgetown, you still can't completely discount Maryland's upset victory over Michigan State in the first round of the Old Spice tournament in Orlando. But for the victory against the Spartans to mean anything, Maryland will need to finish at least .500 in ACC play.

STINKER: Rutgers losing at home to Lehigh. Scarlet Knights head coach Fred Hill has tried to downplay the young talent he's got, but there's no reason Rutgers should be losing at home to a Patriot League club. Not if they want to see the postseason of any kind.

PROVING A POINT: Ty Lawson. North Carolina's speedy point guard is the Tar Heels most critical piece and he brought his game to Maui. The junior went for 22 points and 11 assists in a fairly easy win against Notre Dame in the title game.

CLOSEST CALL: Michigan needed overtime to get past Savannah State. I don't need to say much more than that, do I?

WORST SLIP-UP: Temple's loss at Buffalo. The Owls have an opportunity in the A-10, especially with the struggles of Charlotte and UMass of late. But they can't lose to the Buffalo Bills, I mean, Bulls.

TOUGHEST LOSS: Siena to Wichita State. The Saints had the game in hand and let it slip away. Fran McCaffery's team headed back home with three losses in Orlando rather than at least getting one against the Shockers.

CREDIT: Notre Dame's Kyle McAlarney put on a show in the loss to North Carolina, hitting 10 trifectas — many of them to keep the Irish within striking distance.

WEEK TO FORGET: Charlotte. The 49ers got swept out in Anaheim, losing to Baylor, Providence and Cal State Fullerton. Bobby Lutz' club was supposed to contend for the A-10 crown, but that doesn't look like a reality now.

Six pack on tap

1. North Carolina vs. Michigan State in Detroit, Wed. at 9:15 p.m. ET — The Spartans didn't play particularly well in Orlando, but they could still give top-ranked UNC a test.

2. Duke at Purdue, Tues. at 9 — The Blue Devils don't play a ton of "true" non-conference road games against Top 25 clubs. This will be a good barometer of where both teams stand.

3. UCLA at Texas, Thurs. at 9 — The Bruins took a hit against Michigan and will have a chance for redemption against Texas.

4. Wisconsin at Marquette, Sat. at 9:30 — Fierce in-state rivalry pits new Marquette coach Buzz Williams against veteran Bo Ryan.

5. USC at Oklahoma, Thurs. at 7 — It'll be an interesting matchup for athletic Trojans big man Taj Gibson against arguably the nation's top player, Blake Griffin.

6. Ohio State at Miami, Tues. at 7 — Should be interesting at the very least. Miami will need to rebound from its loss to UConn, while the Buckeyes could use this for their resume come March.