We're on the verge of some big, big college basketball games this weekend. Xavier plays Saturday night at George Washington. The emerging landscape in the Atlantic 10 would suggest that Xavier needs to win this game if it wants to win the conference champioship. "GW" is just a game behind the Muskies and Rhode Island, who are both just a half game out of first

Indiana and Ohio State will both make the Tournament. But it's all about seeding. Ohio State has a Saturday game against Purdue....Indiana plays Illinois. And Kentucky's Saturday night game at Rupp against Florida will give the Wildcats a good indication if their recent solid play is for real. UK could play Florida three times this season, counting the SEC Tournament.

Finally at .500, Miami plays Ball State in Oxford and UC is trying to finish with dignity, having lost ten of its last eleven. The Bearcats are at Rutgers.

And there's an intriguing game in Athens, where the Ohio Bobcats take on Northern Illnois. Ohio is two games back of Akron in the MAC East. Akron has lost once in conference play, to Ohio. Northern Illinois is dead last in the MAC West, 5-17 overall.

A wild week for the Reds ended Friday without a wimper. But on Tuesday and Thursday, the Reds were spending freely. Between Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo, the Reds have invested $71 million over the next four years. Four year deals for pitchers can be dicey (see Eric Milton who only signed for three). But for quality arms, it's the price of doing business these days.

The Reds are paying a little more now, to avoid paying a lot more later. Harang still had two more years before becoming a free agent. But his arbitration salary could have increased to the nine million dollar range next off season. Arroyo still had two years to go before his current contract expired. He too, could be in that seven to nine million dollar range. As scarce as quality pitching is, and with the Reds trolling for even more, these deals make a lot of sense. But get this: the Reds payroll was just a little under $61 million in 2006. In 2007, six players, Ken Griffey, Jr, Eric Milton, Adam Dunn, Kyle Lohse, Harang and Arroyo will earn a total of $45.5 million.

If you're scoring at home, or just lonely, pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota one week from tomorrow. The first workout is Monday, February 19.

"The" game is underway. Nice touch with a tribute to Bo Schembechler before the game. Justifiably so, as Bo played for Woody at Miami, Ohio and was an assistant under Woody at OSU....wow, Michigan running well early on OSU....Bo would've loved that....and a running touchdown to open the game....you think anyone is sweating in Columbus?

University of Kentucky is talking contract extention with the under achieving Rich Brooks....you think maybe that should wait until we see how UK does against Louisiana-Monroe today? UK is trailing by a point, in a shootout, third quarter, 34-33....what is UK doing playing a team like Louisiana-Monroe this late in the season....memo to UK, get real with your scheduling....