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My column this week about Sam Bradford drew some interesting responses. I said Bradford was an excellent freshman quarterback, but if he could improve into a playmaker, an improviser on occasion, Oklahoma football would take a big step up.

One reader wrote, “He cannot become a ‘playmaker’ until the coaches allow him to improvise. Thus sayeth the ‘Wednesday Sports’ at Carrinos.”

Well, I’m never opposed to some good Italian. But this isn’t on the coaches. The definition of a playmaker is someone who is not limited by such constraints. Any shackles put on by the OU staff was because Bradford wasn’t ready to take on anything else. Not that he should have been.

Lonnie wrote, “Sam will have to improve on his ability to think outside of the box. OU’s 300-plus offensive line is slow to provide the time Sam requires to deliver the football to a receiver. Sam and the offensive line will have to improve their quickness; 300-plus offensive lineman is OK in the pros, not in college, unless he has the frame to carry the 300 pounds. The young man with a beer belly weighing 300 pounds looks like a buffoon playing football. He may be able to bench press his weight plus and may have speed for a few yards. Watching OU’s offensive line trying to provide Sam some sort of protection was a lost cause in the games they lost. Strength and quickness overcomes weight and lead feet. I do not see Sam as a sophomore improving his touchdown numbers. He may improve his ability in reading the defense quicker than he did as a freshman. Also he needs to improve his decision-making and, if he can, his mobility. Sam has proven if given enough time he will put the ball where needed. OU may have an 8-3 year in 2008.”

Well, Lonnie, OU’s not going to be 8-3. They might go 11-3 again, but they’ll beat 8-3. And when did this turn into a referendum on the Sooner offensive line? I’d say OU’s line protected pretty darn well. The West Virginia blitz was not the fault of OU’s front wall.

Stacy agreed with me. “As good as Bradford was last year, I was surprised several times by his lack of improv/playmaking ability. I thought he was supposed to be more athletic than what he showed. Overall though, no OU fan really can complain. Even though I think I just did.”

Well, I don’t know what football fans do if they don’t complain. But that said, Bradford was billed as a good golfer and a good basketball player. I don’t know how that’s supposed to make him all that much more mobile. Bradford’s athletic ability will not get much better. His instincts and decision-making should improve greatly.

Bob wanted to talk about something else, a pet peeve of his concerning Bradford, “Your article regarding Sudden Sam was spot on. I have one small pet peeve which is annoying. Sudden Sam (great moniker) was not a freshman. First = Freshman. Second = Sophomore. Third = Junior. Fourth = Senior. Fifth = 5th-year player. Sixth = Jason White, Edwardo Najera and Longar & Longar (age & experience is invaluable). Bradford was a sophomore. There is a huge difference between a freshman and a sophomore. Using your interpretation (which is most common) is very misleading and unfair to the true freshman, who might be compared to a redshirt.”

Sorry, Bob, but I don’t buy it. First of all, unfair is the wrong word. Unfair is some 18-year-olds fighting in Iraq and some 18-year-olds having celebrations because they chose a certain college. I think what you meant is misleading. And it’s not misleading. Particularly when you talk about a quarterback. The No. 1 attribute for a quarterback is playing time. Game experience. And nothing else even deserves to be 2 or 3. Bradford right now is a much more experienced QB than is Joey Halzle, who is about to enter his fifth year of college. Bradford was a freshman in 2007. An absolute freshman. He never had played college football. He had gone through a year of practice, but truth is, his repetitions weren’t much in that year of practice. Quarterbacks with no chance of playing don’t get a lot of reps.

And Earl dismissed my thesis entirely. “Sam Bradford not a playmaker? Let’s see, Sam Bradford set a freshman record with 36 touchdowns, and as QB every play starts through him, but he is not a playmaker? What an idiotic article this was. You are hanging around Jim Traber too much. This article is the same nonsense as when Traber said that Nate Hybl had no part in the Rose Bowl win when he was named the Rose Bowl MVP.”

Earl, Earl, Earl. First of all, get your facts straight. Traber bounced Hybl after the Big 12 title game, not the Rose Bowl. a victory in which Nate was not named MVP. But thanks for bringing that up. I love Nate Hybl; he’s a friend of mine, after we got to know each other working together on the radio, and long before that I was a big fan. I thought Hybl was a very good quarterback. A solid quarterback. But he wasn’t a playmaker. He was much like Bradford was in 2007. Solid. Dependable. Probably never going to get you beat. But probably never going to win the game for you. That’s what Bradford must change to take the next big step as a quarterback.

If the Big 12 race ended today, OU would be seeded seventh for the conference tournament. And the Sooners might be going down instead of up.

OU’s malaise continued with its second straight 45-point performance, a 62-45 loss at Nebraska, on the heels of a 63-45 loss at Texas. OU wasn’t very good in the game before that, needing a miracle finish to beat Baylor 92-91 in overtime at Lloyd Noble Center.

Truth of the matter is, OU is riding its strong December — victories over Arkansas, Gonzaga and West Virginia — in its NCAA Tournament bid. In conference, the Sooners have shown to be mediocre and unworthy of the NCAAs. But the good news is, that non-conference swing carries weight. OU will not be judged solely on its Big 12 finish.

If the Sooners can get to 8-8, they’ve got a shot at the NCAAs. But go 7-9, and no way. That’s why the Texas A&M game at LNC is huge. The Aggies are a kooky team. Play great for a stretch, then stumble for awhile. Get hot again, go cold. A&M beat Texas Tech by 44 points Wednesday night, so it would appear the Aggies are back on track. If they beat OU on Saturday, it will be the Sooners who will be labeled cold. Cold and on the outside looking in at an NCAA Tournament bid.

Another funny situation tonight. OU’s women are at Texas Tech, and the game is being televised by Sooner Sports Network. OU’s men are at Nebraska — a far more important and intriguing game than the women — and it’s not on TV.

I wondered why, so I asked. An OU official told me that the Sooners tried to get the Nebraska game on television here in Oklahoma, but Nebraska initially declined. That’s NU’s right, but it makes no sense. Showing the game here wouldn’t affect the crowd in Lincoln. OU was told it something about space for announcers, which seems rather flimsy. The Big 12 has a sort of gentleman’s agreement that allows schools to televise road games, the official said, but Nebraska didn’t follow through.

Later, Nebraska said it was going to televise the game and OU could pick up the feed, but that didn’t happen, either. Meanwhile, Tech officials said fine, televise the women’s game. So there you have it.

And while I’m griping, how about a thumbs down on these ESPNU telecasts. That’s the network that carried OSU-Missouri on Tuesday night, and I don’t have ESPNU. I see no reason to pay for a network I’m going to want to watch three times a year. Same as the NFL Network. Let’s see. OU-Texas women the other day, and OU-Colorado men, and now OSU-Missouri men have been on ESPU. That’s the sum total of my desire to watch ESPNU.

I’m not paying extra for that. I’ve got the money. It’s not about the money. It’s about the principle. Keep adding all these tiers of cable channels, and it will never stop.

The move of Texas A&M-Texas to Thanksgiving night opens an ABC slot on Thanksgiving Friday. Wonder if there’s any thought to moving Bedlam there?

Bedlam has been a Thanksgiving Saturday staple most of the last decade, and the games have been mostly entertaining. Let’s see, every Bedlam game in Stillwater the last 10 years has been dramatic. In Norman, the last three have been routs, but 2001 was a classic. So that’s about a 60 percent return on good football the last 10 years.

For some reason, ABC is married to the Big 12 on Thanksgiving weekend. The Big Ten finishes before that. The SEC is on CBS. The Big East is the Big East. So that leaves the ACC and the Pac-10. Morning games are out for the Pac-10, and the marquee matches in the ACC and Pac-10 for that weekend — USC-Notre Dame and Florida State-Florida — are available to ABC only every other year.

So ABC loves the Big 12 on Thanksgiving weekend. In 2007, Missouri-Kansas was added to the mix, with a Saturday night showdown, and it became one of the most important games of the year. But does ABC want to risk a big-time window with Mizzou-KU, which frankly has been a clunker most of the last 40 years?

I would expect at least discussions about moving Bedlam to Thanksgiving Friday, where OU-Nebraska was played nine times in the ’70s and ’80s.

Sean Sutton’s Cowboys have gone from contending for last place two weeks ago to now contending for a first-round Big 12 Tournament bye. And some are asking if OSU can somehow make the NCAA Tournament.

The answer is yes, but it will be hard. There are two ways, and winning the Big 12 Tournament is the LEAST difficult of the two:

1. Winning the Big 12 Tournament. Not nearly as crazy as it sounded awhile back. If OSU can go 3-1 down the stretch, finish 8-8, the Cowboys likely will be seeded fifth or sixth in the tournament. That means Colorado or Iowa State in the first round, then Kansas State or Texas A&M or somebody in the quarterfinals. KSU would be a load for OSU, but not unbeatable, and the Cowboys probably would be favored against all others in that. Then a semifinal against Kansas or Texas, followed by a final against the other. Nothing easy about that. But crazier things have happened. By far OSU’s toughest game would be Kansas in Kansas City. KU is a bad matchup for the Cowboys; OSU survived the Jayhawks on Saturday because they exploited another matchup, point guard Byron Eaton, but all those foul shots Eaton shot in Gallagher-Iba Arena aren’t likely to be available in KC.

2. Win out in the regular season, then make a run in the tournament. OSU goes to Missouri, then hosts Nebraska and OU, and finishes at Texas. The Cowboys can win those first three. Winning at Austin seems unlikely. But if OSU somehow pulls that upset, you’re looking at a new resume’. OSU would be 18-12 overall, with a 9-7 Big 12 record. OSU would be fourth in the standings, get a first-round bye, and play A&M (probably) or OU or Baylor in the quarterfinals. Win that game, then beat Texas on a neutral court, and even a loss to Kansas would leave the Cowboys at 20-13, with closing victories over Kansas, Texas twice, A&M twice (probably) and OU. And only two of those victories would have come in Stillwater.

It’s still a long, long shot for OSU, and it starts with winning Tuesday night at Missouri. But it’s possible. And that’s all the Cowboys can ask for.

Interesting day in Big 12 basketball, thanks to two stunning results. OSU’s upset of Kansas at Gallagher-Iba Arena and Nebraska’s shocking victory at Texas A&M. Here’s what the day means.

* Do you realize OSU is only one game behind OU in the Big 12 race? The Cowboys are 5-7; OU is one of four teams at 6-6. The Sooners have a slightly easier schedule, primarily because while both teams have two road games, one of OSU’s is at Texas, where the ‘Horns aren’t likely to fall. But OSU gets OU in Stillwater on March 5, and the Cowboys have what appears to be the easiest road game left among the OSU/OU trips, at Missouri. 

Oh, heck. Let’s just give each team’s full remaining schedule. OSU is at Missouri, hosts Nebraska, hosts OU and goes to Texas. OU goes to Nebraska, hosts Texas A&M, goes to OSU and hosts Missouri. If the Cowboys somehow catch the Sooners, especially after the hat-and-rabbit wins of OU against Texas Tech and Baylor, it would be an amazing story, and Sean Sutton’s coaching job would be irrefutable.

* Texas is in supreme shape to win the Big 12 title, or at least secure the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The ‘Horns have a game lead on KU and own the tiebreaker.

* The South Division again is superior to the North. It’s clear. The bottom two teams in the league are from the North: Colorado (2-10) and Iowa State (4-8).  Five of the top seven teams are from the South, and sizzling OSU isn’t included. It’s possible all six South schools could finish at least 8-8, which come to think of it, will help the NCAA Tournament arguments for the likes of OU and Baylor.

Let me vent. For the second straight Saturday, the OU and OSU men’s basketball games go head-to-head on television. Last week, OSU played Texas A&M on ABC, with a start time about 20 minutes before the OU-Texas Tech game on the Big 12 Network. Today, it’s OU-Texas on ABC at 2:30 p.m., with OSU-Kansas at 3 p.m. on CBS.

That’s ridiculous. A ton of basketball fans would like to see both games. Last week, I tried something crazy — and it worked. I TiVo’d both games, but watched them at the same time. I started out with OSU, since the Cowboys tipped off first. After the OU game started, when a commercial arrived in the OSU game, I would jump to the OU game (from the start). So I would fast forward through commercials of both games and go back and forth. It certainly kept me on my toes, but I got to see both games in their virtual entirety.

This week is not so easy. Not that that was. Today, I’ll be at the Bedlam women’s game, which starts at 1 p.m. I thought about taping both men’s games, driving home from Lloyd Noble Center, write my column from home while watching both men’s games. But no way that would work. You can’t write AND watch two basketball games simultaneously. I don’t think.

Anyway, I wish these games were more spread out. But oh well. I’ll figure something out.

Today, we turn over the Blog to OSU basketball fans, who can’t seem to agree on the status of Bill Self. Some say I am only trying to stir up trouble by suggesting OSU decision-makers even want Self, while others say I am nuts for suggesting that no way would Self leave Kansas at this point in his career. So I don’t know which it is. I’ll let the fans hash it out.

John in Tulsa writes, “How many times are we going to try to turn the obvious into some kind of deep analysis? Geez! Must be a slow day in the newsroom. Only a few delusional OSU fans actually harbor this hope.”

If it’s only a few, they’re all writing to me, like Will: “Being the OU hondo that you are, I know it scares all of you down there at the Daily Disappointment to even think of OSU getting Bill Self as head coach. Obviously, based on your article, you have no clue what you are talking about. Bill Self will come, and he will come soon. I know it’s hard for you sportswriters to take (seeing as that you know everything).”

Actually, we don’t know much. All we know is what people tell us. And people tell us all different kinds of things.

Jerry says: “According to your sources, Sean Sutton may not be the head basketball coach at OSU next year, but nobody knows for sure.  I do and he will.  100% certain: no guesswork involved.  Go ahead and write stuff to sell papers but forget the other options because they do not exist.”

So there you have it. No way Sean is out of a job. No way Self won’t come. I have no idea what’s going to happen. I just know I believe Self will stay at Kansas for the foreseeable future. More on that.

Another Jerry writes, “OSU fans are delusional. Boone’s money has created no sense of reality. Self coaches at a basketball power now. OSU used to be an above average program but has slipped even further. Self leaving KU and going to OSU would be like Stoops leaving OU and going to Kansas State. On another note I can understand why a change might be made. Sean looks like a deer in the headlights and seems to be way over his head.”

Robert agrees with my take that Kansas is a high-reward job void of the kind of pressure found at other elite basketball schools: “The pressure on the head coach at KU is minimal compared to UNC and UK. I lived for a time in Kentucky, and those people can get nasty about UK basketball. And UNC ran off Bill Guthridge, who had taken them to two Final Fours in 3 years. I live in the KC area, and on some of the local talk shows I have heard that the KU coach is on the hot seat, but it’s not true. There was grumbling during Self’s first year when he dumped the secondary break and had KU walk the ball up the court. But Self wised up, restored the break in the middle of the season and KU went to the Final 8. But the two first round upsets didn’t trigger a lot of dissatisfaction.”

Now wait a minute. I said Kansas fans were sane. I didn’t say they were angelic. I think Self caught a lot of grief for losing to Bucknell and Bradley. And some still say Self is not all that enamored with KU. Or KU with him.

John writes, “I grew up in Kansas and am a lifelong Kansas basketball fan along with my entire family that sill lives there, although I attended OSU and am also an OSU fan. I think your column makes sense on a superficial level. OSU is a nice job but you don’t leave OSU or anywhere for that matter for Kansas. Regardless, I don’t think it is as farfetched for Self to leave as you think, and I say that as a lifelong Kansas fan who knows how crazy it sounds. Bill Self is not beloved in Kansas. People are still angry at Deputy Dog for leaving for North Carolina. Self came in and managed to have even more disappointing tournament losses than Roy Williams. Williams at least lost to schools you had heard of in the tournament. For whatever reason, Self has never fit in at Kansas and there has always been a feeling there among fans that he was an OK coach but no Roy Williams and certainly replaceable. Self is respected at Kansas but he is not loved and is in no way an institution there. At OSU he would be all three and then some. He would always be the hometown kid who left Kansas to come coach OSU. Self will always be a couple of off seasons from being shown the door at Kansas. That fact, more than T-Boone Pickens’ money, will entice Self back to OSU. If Self wins the title this year, something Williams never did, then everything changes and he is an institution there and I don’t think he ever leaves. But if KU doesn’t at least make the Final Four this year or suffers a devastating tournament loss (which nearly anything short of a Final Four loss would be), I would say Self coming to OSU is a bigger possibility than you think, like maybe 50-50.”

I don’t necessarily buy that, but it’s an interesting opinion, submitted by someone who obviously is sharp. I clean up some of this writing — not a lot — but John’s dispatch was very well-penned. I tell you, this is one interesting job I have. Anyway, here’s an opposite take.

Steven wrote, “Will you please stop writing all this mumbo jumbo about Bill Self and all this speculation about him coming to OSU? Message board posters brought it up, not Self or any person of substance at OSU. It’s a joke and makes you look like a joke. Write things you have facts on. Sean Sutton will be the coach at OSU for the next few years, at least! It’s people like you that fan the flames of hatred and keep crap like this going. It’s OK to have an opinion, but good Lord, quit insulting the state’s finest basketball program with this stuff just because they are going through a rough spot. This is an insult to OSU, their alumni, their fans and is nothing more than an attempt to sell papers. Quit raiding the internet message boards for stories!”

I am guilty of many things. None of them are raiding, reading or even knowing how to find message boards. I wrote about Bill Self because OSU people are talking about Bill Self. One of Mike Holder’s ex-golfers, Andy Dillard, got on the radio the other day and called for OSU to go get Self as soon as this season is over. OSU also has a man in charge (Boone Pickens) who wants to win and now. And OSU has an athletic director who did not put the Sean-succession deal in place; that came from the previous administration. I think message boards are mostly therapy; people finding an outlet to discuss what’s eating at them, sort of the way Tony Soprano could only turn human by sitting in that shrink’s office. But while much of the message boards are nonsense, I’m told you can find a little truth in them. Remember, just because something is on the message boards doesn’t mean it’s not true.

Zach said I probably was right but I could be wrong. Hopefully he splinters out of his pants from straddling the fence: “I think you are probably right about Bill Self. However, I also feel you are underestimating the power of loyalty one has to their own home state and alma mater. Bill Self is an OSU graduate, is from Oklahoma and his family all lives in Oklahoma. You can win an NCAA national championship in hoops at OSU. I know KU is a better program than OSU but please remember that OSU and KU have the exact same number of basketball NCAA championships. I think the Kansas job is a Top 10 job, tradition, coaching stability and a great arena its best attributes. I would put UCLA, Kentucky, UNC, Duke, Florida, Indiana, Louisville, maybe Arizona, maybe Syracuse, above KU. Also money talks, always.”

First off, ranking coaching jobs — basketball, football, pro, college, high school, doesn’t matter — is one of my favorite pastimes. Second, anyone who would rank Florida above Kansas has been paying attention for about 15 minutes. The Gators recruited well, won two straight NCAA titles and remained in the shadows of their football team. Coaches without big egos can emotionally handle being ultra-successful at a football school; but finding coaches without big egos is darn near impossible. I can see Kansas falling to No. 6; I think there are six jobs above the others. UNC, UK, Duke, UCLA, Kansas and Indiana. But those others are a step below. As for loyalty, I can’t think of one example of a coach in his prime who left a better job for his alma mater. I’m not saying there isn’t one. I’m saying all the examples I remember are guys down and out in their career. Eddie Sutton didn’t leave Kentucky for OSU. Bob Huggins didn’t leave Cincinnati for West Virginia. Tarkanian didn’t leave UNLV for Fresno State. Circumstances took them down that road. Now, Jim Boeheim has stayed at Syracuse when he likely could have gone elsewhere, but he’s been at Syracuse virtually his entire adult life. Gary Williams left Ohio State for Maryland, but I would consider that a lateral move. Actually, I would consider Maryland the better basketball job.

Scott also touches on the how-good-are-these-jobs subject and offers some very interesting research: “As an OSU fan, I wish other OSU fans would get over the Self fantasy. Even if the school is going to try for him, which I find unlikely, we couldn’t get him. Even if we are willing to pay him a ridiculous account,
Kansas isn’t exactly broke. They can match or come close enough for it not to matter. I was wondering — did you have a source that they are, or is it more a counter of speculation? Is it just message board yahoos and rogue boosters spouting about it, or is there someone with real insight into the program who says we will, or might make a go of it? A great story might be to see if anyone employed by OSU or influential with the athletic department is even entertaining the notion. The other thing I thought, reading your article, is that you speculated that KU is a place a coach is a LOT more likely to win a title than OSU, and that’s true. But the right coach can win it at OSU, and that shouldn’t be minimized. Consider the last 15 or so years (from Roy Williams’ first season), KU has been better, never missing the NCAAs and going a little deeper on average. But when it comes to contending for the title? OSU has not been far behind as people might think to winning it all over the modern era. I think to be considered to have been an actual threat, you have to have gone to the Elite 8. Most years, any team that does that can potentially win it. If you consider any Elite 8team to be a threat, KU has threatened seven times, OSU three. That does not put OSU on KU’s level, but it also says that a coach winning it in Stillwater is not an outrageous possibility. Self in Stillwater could win it, not as easily as he could in Lawrence, but he could. It would be more likely than winning it in most other Big 12 programs (OU and Texas would be about the same and have similar records over the same period of time). KU is the only elite program in the conference, but a great coach like Self at Texas, OSU, OU or maybe Mizzou can win the title. I know that you don’t say it’s impossible to win the NCAA Championship in
Stillwater, but the tone of the article sounds as if you think that’s the case. You can win the title in Stillwater, but you aren’t as likely to. OSU is a job where you aren’t a KU, UCLA or Kentucky, but you can attract an elite coach and have a chance to keep him. You just won’t attract one like Self, who’s already at a better job.”

Excellent research. I would agree with Scott’s parameters, that an Elite Eight appearance is a good qualification for NCAA title contention. And his numbers are interesting. KU 7, OSU 3 over the Sutton era. The only trouble is this. While OSU is a very good job, and you can win in Stillwater, the stark truth is that over the last 40 years, Eddie Sutton is the only guy who’s done it. Sutton is a fabulous basketball coach with few peers. Do we know if others can win in Stillwater, or just someone as special as Sutton? I think it’s the former, but I don’t really know. We know just about any good coach can win big at Kansas. We don’t know if just about any good coach can win big at OSU.

Steve offered good insight, too: “I am a fan of Bill and Sean and believe Sean will do a great job. One thing that Self might do is follow in Larry Brown’s (still very close to Brown) footsteps and try the NBA. He has told people close to him of his interest. I doubt it happens, but I would not be surprised either.”

As I wrote, if Self wants to get back to Oklahoma eventually, he almost surely will have the Sonics (or whatever we call them) as a possibility. But I’ve always thought San Antonio might be a destination for Self. Spurs general manager R.C. Buford is an old pal of Self’s.

ESPN is counting down the top 25 college basketball players of all time, and here’s how you know the list is political. Michael Jordan is No. 13.

Young whippersnappers will say, why so low. Anyone with a clue will say, don’t you mean 113? No way is Jordan one of the greatest college hoopsters of all time. No one ever thought he was when he played at North Carolina back in the early ’80s, and to include him now is simply revisionist history. Jordan’s unparalleled NBA career often lifts his stock in other areas. He was one of the greatest NBA players of all time, so naturally he must be able to hit a baseball (he was ineffective at Double-A), run an NBA franchise (disaster) and have had an epic college career (it was great, but no greater than 100 others).

I don’t think Jordan is the best North Carolina player in history. I would put ’70s point guard Phil Ford at the top of the list. Maybe some others, too.

Anyway, here’s the list so far, with my take:

13. Jordan

14. Elvin Hayes, Houston: A wonderful player. An epic collegian and one of the most underrated pros of all time. Hayes’ game against UCLA and Lew Alcindor in the Astrodome ranks as one of the biggest events in college hoops history.

15. Magic Johnson, Michigan State: Hard to put someone with a two-year career any higher. But maybe you should. Earvin Johnson indeed was magic.

16. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown: About right. If you weren’t paying attention from 1982-85, it’s hard to believe that an individual player could cast such a huge shadow on the game for four years. Played in three NCAA title games.

17. Tom Gola, LaSalle: A throwback pick, star of the 1954 NCAA championship team. And a solid pick. Gola was a great, great player.

18. Ralph Sampson, Virginia: A bogus selection. He came in with unbelievable hype, he got Virginia to a Final Four as a sophomore, but he never was as dominant as the guys we’re talking about. I’d rank him about even with Jordan. And not even close to Patrick Ewing, yet here he is two slots away from Ewing.

19. Elgin Baylor, Seattle: Another throwback, from the ’50s. Baylor was a wonderful player. If he came along today, he wouldn’t sign with Seattle U. He would sign with UCLA or Arizona, play one year, probably lead that team to the NCAA title then become an NBA superstar immediately. Think Carmelo Anthony. Only Baylor played three college seasons.

20. Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M: Wonderful to see ESPN recognize Henry Iba’s great center from the 1940s. Kurland changed the game (does goaltending ring a bell?) and delivered two NCAA titles and a Red Cross benefit victory over NIT champ DePaul that helped lift the NCAA to supremacy in the tournament battle.

21. Tim Duncan, Wake Forest: Hard to pick a fellow who never made a Final Four, though Duncan was a wonderful player and one of the last stars to stay four years in school. I saw Duncan in the 1995 East Regional and you could tell he was on Superstar Boulevard. But is he one of the 25 best collegians ever? Doubtful.

22. Austin Carr, Notre Dame: There’s nobody like him today. Nobody. In some ways, he’s a poor-man’s Pete Maravich, but in some ways, not even Maravich did what Carr did. In three years at Notre Dame, 1968-71, Carr averaged 34.5 points a game. In seven NCAA Tournament games, Carr averaged 41.3 points a game, including 52.7 in three NCAA games in 1970. These days, you’re lucky if a team reaches 52 in an NCAA game. Carr is too low. He’s a top-15 guy.

23. Calvin Murphy, Niagara: The little guy who could. Murphy was 5-foot-9, which frankly is no big deal now. All kinds of little guys are stars now, starting with Allen Iverson. But in 1970, no one believed a sub-six-footer could excel. Murphy made them change their minds. An absolute college star. He belongs on the list.

24. David Robinson, Navy: I love Robinson, who grew into an aircraft carrier center at the Naval Academy, and he single-handledly got Navy to an NCAA regional final, a remarkable feat. But I can’t buy Robinson as one of the 25 best collegians of all time.

25. George Mikan, DePaul: Good to see the great big man from the ’40s on the list, but even better to see him listed below Kurland, his great rival. Kurland was the better college player. But they were both mountain peak performers in college basketball.

OK, so who’s left to fill out ESPN’s top 12? The way I see it, there are 11 easy picks:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Alcindor in college), Maravich, Bill Walton, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, David Thompson, Larry Bird, Christian Laettner, Jerry Lucas, Bill Bradley and Danny Manning.

Heck, I’ll rank those for you.

1. Jabbar, UCLA: You know the old saying, “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore?” They truly don’t make ‘em like Jabbar anymore. A skilled, athletic 7-footer who could shoot and move and knew how to play. Except for that one day in the Astrodome, the game was over when he walked into the gym.

2. Pete Maravich, LSU: Unbelievable numbers. Unbelievable. 44.2 points per game over three years. One of the best shooters of all time, maybe the best, yet a better passer and dribbler than a shooter. Same goes with Pistol Pete. We’ve really not seen anything like him since. Not even close.

3. Bill Walton, UCLA: Just as dominant as Jabbar, just not quite as good. Great defender, great passer, great rebounder. Tough. Smart. Oh, and he could shoot a little too. Made 21 of 22 one night. Against Memphis. In the NCAA championship game.

4. Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati: I’m still not ready to say Jordan was better than the Big O as a pro. And as a collegian, Robertson was a three-time player of the year, averaged 35.1, 32.6 and 33.7 points a game.

5. Bill Russell, San Francisco: The Russell you saw with the Celtics was the Russell you saw with the Dons, an unknown team that exploded onto the national stage for two NCAA titles and 55 straight wins.

6. Larry Bird, Indiana State: He played in the shadows, in the little school at Terre Haute, until that winter/spring of 1979 when America discovered the most amazing player, who could shoot, rebound, pass and scratch out your eyeballs unlike anything they ever had seen. His NCAA title duel with Magic Johnson remains the most compelling championship matchup we’ve ever had.

7. Jerry Lucas, Ohio State: Bobby Knight, his old teammate, calls Lucas the greatest player ever, and while Knight can be full of it sometimes, he’s not far off on this one. Lucas was a great scorer and rebounder.

8. David Thompson, North Carolina State: Here’s how great was Thompson. He took down the UCLA dynasty, and Bill Walton, in the 1974 Final Four.

9. Danny Manning, Kansas: He’s been gone 20 years from KU, but who in this territory can forget Manning’s wondrous all-around ability. He cost OU the NCAA title with his Danny and the Miracles performance; no NCAA title team ever so much depended on one player.

10. Christian Laettner, Duke: I don’t like Laettner. Don’t like him at all. But he was a big-time college basketball player. Great player and even greater in big games. Went to four Final Fours and won two NCAA titles and hit maybe the most famous shot in college basketball history, the turnaround 19-footer that beat Kentucky at the second overtime buzzer in the 1992 East Regional final.

11. Bill Bradley, Princeton: Took an Ivy League team to the Final Four, 1965.

So that leaves one spot. Who will ESPN go with?

I assume Wilt Chamberlain, and anyone who reads me knows I’m the personal historian of Wilt’s greatness. If this is an NBA list, Wilt ranks No. 1 and the floor is not open for discussion. But this is college, and Wilt’s two-year career falls a little short. Maybe he was a victim of too much hype. But he didn’t win an NCAA title, he never really was happy at Kansas and he lorded over outmanned foes in hamlets like Ames and Stillwater and Columbia. Wilt gets hit with that tag in the NBA, that he didn’t have anyone to stand up to him, and it’s not even close to the truth in the pros. But in college it was. I would have put Wilt somewhere between 15 and 20 on this list.

Jerry West? I think that’s a little Michael Jordanism. Out of this world pro, but not one of the top 25 collegians ever. Isiah Thomas? I don’t see it. Others are way more fired up about his college career than I am. Bob Lainer, Cazzie Russell, Bob Pettitt, Rick Mount?

How about Wayman Tisdale? The only player to make first-team All-American as a freshman, sophomore and junior. But Mr. T never made the Final Four, and while he’s an Oklahoma icon, I don’t see him as one of the top 25 players ever.

Here’s who I go with. Hakeem Olajuwon. Took Houston to three straight Final Fours during an era when parity blossomed. Shot-blocking dirvish who changed the game. I’d put Olajuwon in the top 12, if I was ESPN.

So here’s my top 25 players of all time:

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

2. Pete Maravich

3. Bill Walton

4. Oscar Robertson

5.  Bill Russell

6. Larry Bird

7. Austin Carr

8. Jerry Lucas

9. Patrick Ewing

10. David Thompson

11. Danny Manning

12. Bob Kurland

13. Bill Bradley

14. Elvin Hayes

15. Christian Laettner

16. Magic Johnson

17. Elgin Baylor

18. Wilt Chamberlain

19. Calvin Murphy

20. George Mikan

21. Phil Ford

22. Rick Mount, Purdue

23. Tom Gola

24. Bob Lanier, St. Bonaventure

25. Hank Luisetti, Stanford

Funny scene Tuesday night at Lloyd Noble Center, where OU beat Baylor 92-91 in overtime, one of the darndest games I’ve ever seen. Anyway, at halftime in the press room, we’re standing around watching the last minute or so of Indiana-Purdue, which just might be Kelvin Sampson’s last game.

Indiana pulled away for a comfortable lead, when a guy stuck his head in the door. It was referee Curtis Shaw. The ref locker room is down the hall from the press room, so those guys walk by every night, before and after the game, plus halftime. Anyway, Shaw peered at the television screen, then left, but we heard him holler at his comrades, “Hey, Indiana’s about to beat Purdue.”

I found it fascinating. Sometimes, we, at least me, think of refs as these arbiters who are not fans. Guys who sort of know the names of teams only because it helps them remember where they are. I sort of think of them as not knowing that Michael Beasley is a freshman beast, and that Memphis has all these great penetrators, and that Sean Sutton is Eddie’s son and now running OSU basketball. The opposite is true, of course. They know all these things.

I don’t know if they are fans. Don’t know to what interest level they take this sport. But interested they are. Interested enough to want to know the IU-Purdue score in the middle of Oklahoma-Baylor.

I don’t know that that’s a bad thing. Don’t know that it’s a good thing. I do know that it’s a human thing.

I’m reminded of old baseball stories and umpires who know the players well. Know their names, know their tendencies. What else could result? Think about it? Umps see the teams and ballplayers many nights a year in the summer. Same with these refs. Mark Whitehead, Steve Welmer and Shaw were the OU-Baylor refs, and we see them in Norman and Stillwater all the time.

Of COURSE they know what’s going on in college basketball. They know the teams and the personalities better than the rest of us, truth be told. They know the trends and the tendencies.

They just happen to be blowing the whistles.