The brackets have been released for March Madness, and there are already teams lined up out the door that want to take their swipes at the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee for leaving them out of the field of 65. All of these teams have one thing in common, though. They all lost when it really counted and all had holes their resume. Here’s our March Madness edition of our Weekly Rap Sheet.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week

Connecticut Huskies HC Jim Calhoun while watching his team crash out of the Big East Tournament to St. John’s.

It feels like this is a weekly ordeal, but at last, it’s finally over with. The 2009-10 Connecticut Huskies are no more. Poor HC Jim Calhoun had to sit there and watch his team blow it out its you know what against the Johnnies on Wednesday at the Big East Tournament. UConn turned the ball over 19 times in defeat. G Kemba Walker shot just 4/17 from the field, but at least it looked like he was trying out there. G Jerome Dyson, on the other hand, looked like he quit on his team. The superstar turned the ball over nine times and was just never mentally in the game. With their season hanging in the balance, the Huskies came up flat against a bad team and lost 73-51 to fall completely out of consideration for the NCAA Tournament.

Not only are we going to take a swipe at the Rhode Island Rams, but we’re going to go after all four bubble teams in the Atlantic 10 as well. None… Not one of you put together enough of a resume to even be considered one of the last four teams left home from the dance. URI looked alright until getting smashed to bits 57-44 by Temple. Even a close loss might’ve made the Rams look like a potential NCAA Tournament team. As for the Charlotte 49ers, Dayton Fliers, and St. Louis Billikens… C’mon guys. You really didn’t think you had a chance of reaching the big dance when you didn’t even qualify for your league semifinals, did you? Charlotte, we’re especially pointing the finger at you. You screwed up by losing to 12-20 Massachusetts on your home court to end your season with losses in seven of your L/8 games.

Yeah, Mississippi State Bulldogs, I hear you moaning as well, especially after you were just a matter of a few tenths of a second from winning the SEC. You’ve got a heck of a lot better gripe about going to the dance after playing the Cats tough, and your win over Florida in the SEC Tournament paired with two wins over Ole Miss should’ve been good enough to go dancing, right? Sorry… Tournament teams don’t lose to Rider on opening night at home by two touchdowns. You should’ve known that your season was over right then and there.

The Virginia Tech Hokies has a nice little gripe, right? After all, 23 wins, ten of which came in the ACC should’ve been good enough to get into the NCAA Tournament, right? Wrong. Play somebody. Brown, UNC-Greensboro, Campbell, Delaware, Iowa, Georgia, VMI, Penn State, Charleston Southern, Maryland-Baltimore County, Longwood, Seton Hall, and North Carolina Central. Those were your out of conference wins. Give me a break. Don’t fall flat on your face against Miami in your first ACC Tournament game, and you’re dancing. For now, don’t complain.

Nineteen turnovers, 37.5% shooting from the field, and a bitter 22-point loss to a 13th place team in the Big East later, and the 2009-2010 Connecticut Huskies effectively watched their season come to an abrupt end on Tuesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

This UConn team is going to be one that is remembered for all of the wrong reasons. For starters, this was a squad that was in the Final Four a year ago. Who could forget when a young, promising G Kemba Walker dropped 23 points on the Missouri Tigers in the Elite 8 or when F Stanley Robinson ate up Purdue for ten points and 11 boards in the Sweet 16? The only major piece to this puzzle from last year’s team that didn’t come back was C Hasheem Thabeet.

Sure, Thabeet was the #2 pick in the NBA Draft that next season, and if he was still on this UConn team, the story could be completely different. But let’s be real here. This is Connecticut. Finishing 17-15 isn’t acceptable.

While watching television on Tuesday night, ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb mentioned that HC Jim Calhoun may not even want to take this bunch of Huskies to the NIT, assuming that they are invited.

Originally, I thought this was crazy. But upon further thought… why would Calhoun want to play with this bunch of kids anymore?

F Jerome Dyson had a miserable game against St. John’s on Tuesday. He turned the ball over nine times and shot just 2/6 from the floor before getting benched for lack of production. I might not be some college basketball guru, but even I can tell that he pretty much gave up on this team.

The aforementioned Kemba Walker shot 4/17 from the floor and was taking some ill-advised shots. I’ll give him this: Walker was fighting the whole way through, which is why Calhoun let him keep playing. But this was a case of a youngster without much experience ultimately trying to put the whole team on his back instead of playing team basketball to try to erase a huge deficit.

Calhoun’s health issues are well-documented. It felt like his leave of absence really took any potential momentum away from this team. Even when he came back from his hiatus, a miserable 60-48 loss to Cincinnati at home was called “an embarrassment” by the head coach.

Three straight wins were nice after that, but a 78-76 home loss to Louisville might’ve marked the end of the season. Losses got progressively worse. Dropping to Notre Dame without F Luke Harangody was disgraceful. Losing at South Florida was appalling. Wrapping it up with a 22-point defeat to St. John’s just has no description.

Calhoun has reportedly been offered a new contract by the university, but he is going to strongly consider whether or not he wants to take the Huskies up on it or not. After winning 822 career games and two National Championships, the sixth most winningest coach in NCAA Division I history has nothing left to prove.

It’s pretty clear that the Connecticut Huskies are still a long ways away from being able to compete in the rough and tumble Big East again. If Jim Calhoun is smart, he’ll realize that it’s time to step away and let the Huskies fend for themselves.

The college basketball season is starting to pick up full steam and is picking up a lot more attention now that college football regular season is in the books. One of the common themes around the nation is that there is a ton of new and rising talent on the hardwood making big names for themselves heading into 2010. Among the headlines this season, we like to point out a group of guys that are shaping out to be a very good class at the point guard position. Of course not to get the confused with shooting guards, these are the guys directing the game and opening up opportunities for their players. Sometimes they do not post the big numbers as do the scorers, but they are equally as valuable. We bring to you a look at the Top 10 point guards in college basketball based on what we have seen thus far in the year.

Be sure check back as we will break down the top 10 shooting guards in our next preview…

#10 – Greivis Vasquez (Maryland Terrapins)

Greivis Vasquez got off to a terrible start this year, but has turned that around over the past few games. Vasquez averaged just 7.5 points through the first 4 games of the year, but has rallied averaging 17 points over the past 5 games. The Maryland Terrapins senior have averaged over 17 points in his last two seasons and is carrying a solid mark of 5.8 assists per game this year. The problem with Vasquez is that he is very inconsistent and just shooting 35% on the year. However, the biggest problem is that he has a big problem with ball control as he has given up 32 turnovers in just 9 games and that part of his game must change.

#9 – Devan Downey (South Carolina Gamecocks)

Devan Downey is a feisty little guy that has not gotten off to a great start this year, but is an excellent player. Downey has carried South Carolina over the last two year’s despite any big success as a team. Downey averaged 20 points, 5 assist, and led the SEC with 3 steals per game last season. Downey is currently averaging 17.6 point per game which is not bad at all considering he has struggled a bit in his most recent outings. However, he still has a good chance to reach 2,000 career points and flirt with 500 assist for his career. Keep an eye on this guy as his stock will rise before all is said and done.

#8 – Kemba Walker (Connecticut Huskies)

Kemba Walker is a guy that understands what it takes to be a point guard. He runs the Huskies offense very well and gets the ball to the right guys. Walker had a decent freshman campaign averaging 9 points and 3 assists per game, but he should improve those numbers a good bit this year. Walker has already had a couple big performances this year and is averaging 5.6 assists and 15 points per game not to mention shooting 50% from behind the arc. He has hinted that he can be a big time player, but may need to develop into a bigger scoring threat before he can really show all his potential.

#7 – Jon Scheyer (Duke Blue Devils)

Blue Devils senior guard Jon Scheyer may like some of the god gifted ability as some of our other guards on our list, but makes up for it with a great knowledge of the game and accurate shooting stroke. Scheyer is the only guy outside of Kyle Singler that returned to the Blue Devils roster this season that had quality playing time last year. So far Scheyer 16 points per game and a very solid 5.3 assists. Another interesting aspect that is growing attention is the fact of how well Scheyer handles the ball. Scheyer has just 5 turnovers in the Blue Devils first 8 games which should have Coach K pleased.

#6 – Nic Wise (Arizona Wildcats)

Despite a disastrous 4-5 start by the Wildcats, Nic Wise has continued to play well. Wise has posted 16 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game this season. The Wildcats senior is one of those guys that just goes out and puts up consistent numbers while rarely having any horrible performances. At the end of last year, Wise scored at least double digits in 14 of his last 15 outings. Wise also sports a career 3 point percentage over 40% which will help his draft status at the end of the year if he continues to play well.

#5 – Jerome Randle (California Golden Bears)

Jerome Randle is a 4 year starter that has reached his prime for the Golden Bears. In fact if California was among the top teams in the nation, Randle may be a household name. Randle not only led the team averaging 18 points last year; he also leads the team this season averaging nearly 20 points per game. Not only is Randle have an excellent touch of the ball, he really finds ways for his guys to get high percentage shots and carries a 5 assists per game average. It is also worth mentioning that Randle leads all of college basketball averaging 93.5% from the free-throw line.

#4 – Scottie Reynolds (Villanova Wildcats)

Scottie Reynolds is a guy that for some reason or another has not received a ton of praise in the national spotlight. Not to say he has not been given credit, but perhaps not as much as he deserves. Reynolds got really hot at the end of last year as has recently started getting hot again. On the year, the Wildcats senior is averaging 16 points, 4.2 assists, and 2 steals per game. Add to the fact Reynolds has scored at least 22 points in each of his last 3 outings, he may be a reason Villanova is another Cinderella type story again in March.

#3 – Kalin Lucas (Michigan State Spartans)

Kalin Lucas holds the top point guard spot in the Big Ten and his importance to the Spartans success is critical. Lucas now in his junior year is averaging 17 points per game with 4.5 assists. Lucas also not known for posting tremendous scoring numbers has shot the ball well this year especially behind the arc where he has knocked down 44% through his first 9 games. It was the Spartans last year who made a late charge in the NCAA Tournament capturing a shot at the National Title before falling to North Carolina. It was also Lucas has knocked down right at 20 points in both of the big games against Connecticut and Kansas during the tournament. Lucas has proved time and time again he is the guy to carry the Spartans when they need it as he will be for the rest of the year.

#2 – John Wall (Kentucky Wildcats)

John Wall is without any doubt the biggest impact freshman in the country and heads up an amazing group of youngsters at Kentucky that could contend for a National Title in John Calipari’s first year as coach. Wall has averaged 18 points per game and ranks 4th in the nation with 7.1 assists per game. Wall has the frame for like a small forward at 6’4, but excellent ball handling skills and ability to slice to the lane quickly. It also is worth mentioning that he has had some great performances against top notch competition like North Carolina and a season high 25 points in a 3 point win over Connecticut. Known a year ago as the #1 recruit in the nation, Wall is on his way to becoming the #1 player in the nation. The freshman has had a great start, but let’s let him prove he can keep it going.

#1 – Sherron Collins (Kansas Jayhawks)

Sherron Collins entered the season as the number 1 point guard in the nation, but he is feeling a lot of pressure from John Wall. However, Collins is an experienced senior that has proven himself in the big games and there is still a long season to be played. Collins is a following a junior campaign in which he averaged 19 points and 5 assist per game even though he is just averaging just 13 points and 4 assist through his first 9 games this season. The thing is that Collins has not had to do much yet this year with Xavier Henry shooting the ball so well, but expect that to change as the season progresses. Also, Collins is still the most complete point guard at this time and understands the game at the college level better than anyone.