The ES returns from a stint in Washington DC to listen on the radio to his Spartans taking a nap and slipping past Joe Pa last night, 67-65. Huh?

Still, MSU plays the Yellow Bellies in the season finale for a chance at a repeat Big Ten championship. Tipoff is 4 pm... WHITE OUT, yes, wear White.

ES wuz a bit disappointed at the #11/#12 ranking this week... but rankings really don't matter this late in the season other than: you are a GREAT team, you are a GOOD/TOURNEY team, you are a NIT team, and you are a BAD team. Here's your AP poll, with Ohio State at #6 leapfrogging Purdon't.

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Syracuse (59)	27-2	1,618
2	Kansas (6)	27-2	1,550
3	Kentucky	27-2	1,493
4	Duke	25-4	1,415
5	Kansas State	24-4	1,377
6	Ohio State	23-7	1,232
7	Purdue	24-4	1,169
8	New Mexico	27-3	1,151
9	Villanova	23-5	1,143
10	West Virginia	22-6	1,024
11	Michigan State	22-7	960
12	Butler	26-4	762
13	Vanderbilt	22-6	741
14	Brigham Young	26-4	633
15	Wisconsin	21-7	625
16	Tennessee	21-7	615
17	Pittsburgh	22-7	612
18	Gonzaga	24-5	554
19	Georgetown	19-8	548
20	Temple	24-5	547
21	Baylor	22-6	393
22	Maryland	21-7	249
23	Texas A&M	20-8	210
24	UTEP	22-5	124
25	Xavier	21-7	101

Others receiving votes: Texas 94, Richmond 44, Northern Iowa 32, Oklahoma State 24, Marquette 21, Missouri 13, Illinois 10, Utah State 9, Virginia Tech 8, Mississippi State 7, UAB 6, Cornell 5, Louisville 4, Notre Dame 1, Old Dominion 1
Dropped from rankings: Texas 21, Richmond 23, Northern Iowa 25

THE BIG 16? MORE BIG TEN EXPANSION TALK
The ES opened the pages of ESPN this week and saw another article on Big Ten expansion that seems to keep the blinders on Big Ten faculty. A third party firm which completed a report for the conference found that it would make money... but only if a "loyalty fee" of $5 million or more would be paid by new schools. The report considered all the likely schools talked about by the ES and others: ND, Pitt, Mizzou, 'Cuse, and Rutgers.