Catching up with the top storylines from men's college basketball season

Was there ever really a doubt Duke's heralded freshmen wouldn't be special? Entering play Tuesday, RJ Barrett (22.9 points per game), Zion Williamson (20.2 ppg), Cam Reddish (12.8) and Tre Jones (8.8) are the top-four scorers for the No. 1 Blue Devils. Barrett has lived up to the hype as the top recruit in this year's class, while Williamson is arguably the most exciting player the college game has seen in years.

Duke's 6-foot-7, 285-pound Williamson has shown he's more than a dunking machine. But his dunks are fun to watch. However, the front-runner for national player of the year and potential 2019 top overall pick in the NBA Draft can obviously rebound and also ranks third on the team in assists. His all-around athleticism might be enough to lead the Blue Devils to a national title. 

Then there were three. Entering this week, No. 2 Michigan, fourth-ranked Virginia and No. 17 Houston are the only undefeated teams left in Division I. The three schools are a combined 43-0, and each squad is holding its opponents to fewer than 60 points per contest, led by the Cavaliers giving up 51.5.

Of those three remaining unbeaten teams, Houston (15-0) is probably the least likely to be sitting in that position. To put things in perspective, the other Cougars squad to win its first 15 games was the 1967-68 group led by Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney. That team went 31-0 before losing to mighty UCLA in the national semifinal. 

It was 30 years ago this spring that Michigan won its only national title. Interim coach Steve Fisher guided the Wolverines on a somewhat improbable run through the NCAA Tournament, concluding with an overtime win against Seton Hall. The reigning national runner-ups have the look of a champion this season while winning 29 of their last 30 dating to 2017-18.

Michigan avenged its 2018 national title game loss with a 73-46 road rout of Villanova on Nov. 14. The Wildcats opened the season ranked ninth but also have losses to Furman and Penn. It was not supposed to be easy for Villanova this season, not after losing a good chunk of talent. However the Wildcats have won three in a row and are 2-0 to open Big East play, so Jay Wright's team might be heating up.

It would not be wrong to call Villanova one of the early disappointments this season, but there are plenty others who have underachieved thus far. West Virginia (8-6), UCLA (9-6), Oregon (9-5), Purdue (9-5) and Kansas State (10-4) also began the season in The Associated Press Top 25, and now some of those schools are just hoping to earn an invite to the Big Dance. 

It wasn't totally surprising that UCLA fired coach Steve Alford following a four-game losing streak and 7-6 start, culminating with a home loss to Liberty on Dec. 29. Alford went 124-63 and guided the Bruins to three Sweet 16 trips, but that's not usually enough in Westwood. The focus now is on who will succeed Alford full time at UCLA. 

Word on street is that Rick Pitino's name is being associated with the opening at UCLA. However, he would likely create a huge PR nightmare for the school, and Pitino himself was dismissive in regard to being a possible candidate. While he remains a pariah on the U.S. college basketball scene, Pitino recently won his first game as coach of Greek club Panathinaikos of the Euroleague.

UCLA is just one of a handful of disappointing programs in the Pac-12, a conference that does not have a single team currently in the Top 25 after three (Oregon, UCLA, Washington) were ranked to open 2018-19. Also, none of the league's teams has fewer than four defeats. It's almost hard to believe, but could it be that the Pac-12 earns only one bid to the NCAA Tournament? 

So if the Pac-12 is the worst power conference in the nation than which is the best? For the time being it appears to be the ACC, which has six teams ranked in the Top 25 — three of which reside in the top 10 (Duke, Virginia and Virginia Tech) and all within the top 15. Don't overlook the Big 12, which has five ranked squads this week. The Big Ten and SEC each has four.

There have been a number of injuries to key contributors this season, but none likely bigger than Kansas losing 7-footer Udoka Azubuike (13.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) for the season with a hand injury. Oregon also lost its own big man, Bol Bol (21.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg), after he underwent season-ending foot surgery. Other notable injuries include Kansas State star Dean Wade (foot), Michigan State's Joshua Langford (ankle) and West Virginia's Sagaba Konate (knee).

Gonzaga fared well without talented junior forward Killian Tillie, who finally made his season debut against Santa Clara over the weekend after undergoing ankle surgery. The return of the 6-foot-10 Tillie (12.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg) in 2017-18) should provide a major boost for the Zags, who enter the week 14-2 and winners of five in a row following losses to Tennessee and North Carolina.

Speaking of Gonzaga, the best game of the season to date came in the final of the Maui Invitational the day before Thanksgiving. It looked as if No. 1 Duke would run away with another Maui title, but the third-ranked Zags had other ideas. Mark Few's group shot 10-of-19 from three-point range and received a huge effort from Rui Hachimura to hold on for an 89-87 victory.  

The Zags also featured in another of the season's memorable contests, though the result wasn't as pleasant in a 76-73 loss to then-No. 7 Tennessee. With 30 points from Admiral Schofield and 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists from Grant Williams, the Vols upset the top-ranked Bulldogs. Tennessee, now ranked third, suffered its lone defeat to Kansas in overtime and is definitely a team to watch come March.

Both Tennessee and Gonzaga could be in the hunt for two of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Sure, there's still more than two months to go before Selection Sunday, but it's never too early to start thinking about who will grab the top four spots. At the moment Duke and Michigan seem like locks, and Virginia certainly is in the conversation. If Kansas can overcome the loss of Udoka Azubuike it might also have a chance.

Based on talent and past success, Gonzaga should no longer be considered a mid-major, the same for Nevada at the moment. So in the true definition of the moniker, Buffalo (13-1) could be the mid-major to make the loudest noise in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulls, who upset Arizona in the Big Dance last year, already have wins at West Virginia and Syracuse and feature one of the nation's top players in senior guard CJ Massinburg. 

Last season, Loyola, Chicago was the darling of March, making a Cinderella run to the Final Four. While the Ramblers have been inconsistent this season, there is a team to keep an eye on the rest of the way. North Texas won the College Basketball Invitational last season and begins the week 15-1 while boasting six players averaging double-digit points. Could the slipper fit?

Furman was one of the early surprises of the 2018-19 season, starting 12-0 and earning some Top 25 love. The Paladins' victory at Villanova on Nov. 17 was the biggest upset of the season, and their own Jordan Lyons has the highest-scoring game among any player thus far on the campaign. The junior guard scored 54 points in a 107-67 rout of Division II North Greenville two days before the Villanova win. Lyons went a ridiculous 15-of-34 from beyond the three-point arc.

If anybody knows Campbell's Chris Clemons is the nation's leading scorer, entering this week averaging 29.3 points per game, then give yourself a gold star. The Camels senior guard, who is shooting a career-high 48.2 percent, still has a chance to become the second player in three years to average at least 30 points per game. He's already scored 30 or more five times this season.

The NCAA continues to investigate corruption in college basketball, but it does not expect to have any results or make any major announcement into its findings until after the Final Four. In October, Adidas employees Merl Code and Jim Gatto, along with agent Christian Dawkins, were found guilty on multiple accounts that included wire fraud in regard to the paying of recruits and their families.

In other developments involving the fraud case, former USC assistant coach Tony Bland pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery while Emanuel "Book" Richardson, an ex-assistant at Arizona, agreed to a plea deal in the fraud case that continues to overshadow the game of college basketball. 

While it would not be surprising to see some current college basketball head coaches involved in the sport's fraud case, at least one other might have some issues controlling his temper on the sidelines. Penn State's Patrick Chambers was banned one game for shoving a player last week. On a somewhat lighter scale, Samford coach and former Kentucky star Scott Padgett found it  kind of comical that referee Karl Hess aggressively "stepped" to him during a confrontation this month.

Five seasons ago, Kevin Ollie was guiding Connecticut toward its most recent national championship. Now the former UConn player and coach is suing the school, claiming his dismissal in March, in response to allegations against the program, was based on racial discrimination. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as Dan Hurley and the Huskies move on. 

Penny Hardaway's first season as Memphis coach has been up and down, but his future got a whole lot brighter when 7-foot local product James Wiseman committed to the Tigers in November. The perfect blend of size and versatility, Wiseman has a chance to elevate Memphis to a serious contender in the American Athletic Conference next season.