The New "SAINT" John

Former UCLA coach and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin was hired yesterday as the newest head coach of St. John's. Lavin replaces Norm Roberts, who could not bring the Red Storm to the dance in six seasons as head coach.

Lavin coached six seasons at UCLA after replacing Jim Harrick in November of 1996. Lavin compiled a 145-78 record with the Bruins, and took his teams to the sweet 16 five times, and the elite eight once.

Florida coach Billy Donovan, former Boston College coach Al Skinner and Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt were all in consideration for the job after Roberts was fired, but after Donovan and Hewitt said no, St. John's turned to Lavin.

Lavin may not be the number one choice for St. John's fans, but the Red Storm got what they wanted, a semi-big name coach with a high-profile personality. Lavin should easily challenge MTV's The Situation and Pauly D for who uses the most hair gel at one time.

Lavin has one thing going for him that every Big east coach needs, experience. Lavin started out as an assistant at Purdue under legendary coach Gene Keady, and then moved back out west to coach with Jim Harrick in 1991 at UCLA. It's one to thing to say you want to win, but Lavin knows what it takes to win.

Lavin has been to a total of 13 NCAA tournaments as a coach, and guided the Bruins to six years of 20 plus win seasons. Lavin is also 10-1 in the first two rounds of the tournament as a head coach.

Most importantly, Lavin can recruit, and being in New York will certainly help his job. At UCLA, Lavin compiled seven McDonald's all-Americans on his rosters including NBA players Trevor Ariza and Baron Davis. If Lavin can higher a few New York assistants, maybe someone like former Duke star Jay Williams, then the newest head coach of St. John's should have Madison Square Garden rocking next year.

There is no doubt St. John's is in the best shape of any college team in the New York/New Jersey area. Rutgers decided to keep Fred Hill Jr. as its head coach, even though Hill is 44-77 overall in four seasons with the Scarlet Knights. If the state University of New Jersey is in trouble, Seton Hall may be in even worse shape. The Pirates recently fired Bobby Gonzalez after four seasons and hired Iona's Kevin Willard as its new coach. Three players have already declared for the NBA draft, leaving Seton Hall with few scholarship players.

St. John's returns 94 percent of its offense from last season, a team that went 17-16 overall with a first round loss in the NIT. It is not a given that Lavin will be the next Lou Carnesecca, but the Red Storm now have an experienced coach, with an experienced team, playing in the world's most famous area, the future looks bright for St. John's.

Women's Basketball in Need of "Miracle in March"

The Conneticut women's basketball team is on a 69-game winning streak and one win away from tying a record for most consecutive victories, set by the Huskies from 2001-2003. But what women's college basketball needs most is their version of the 1980 U.S. Hockey team. For as unbelievable as the streak is, this year's UConn team winning the NCAA title will not help the sport of women's basketball.

On Monday, UConn capped off their regular season with a 76-51 win over No. 8 Notre Dame, finishing this year 30-0. Tina Charles surpassed Nykesha Sales as the school's all-time leading scorer and Rebecca Lobo as the Huskies all-time leading rebounder in the game against the Irish.

If the record of 69 wins in a row isn't enough, how about winning each game by double figures? UConn has established their dominance in the women's game and it doesn't seem like anyone will contest them for their year's crown.

What should the NCAA want? Do they want the streak to continue and want the Huskies to continue to blowout team after team? Do they want the tournament to become an event to see who will finish behind the Huskies? The NCAA needs a women's basketball Cinderella this year, now more than ever.

There is almost no doubt UConn will get to the final four, and most likely play for another national title. The NCAA can hype up the streak as much as they want, and ESPN can play all the highlights from the UCLA dynasty, but UConn losing in the title game is just what women's basketball needs.

This sport needs their own miracle on ice. People will watch the championship game if (when) UConn gets there. But people will be turned off if Geno Auriemma's squad blows out another Top Ten team. People will start to call the sport a joke, and start to blame Auriemma for the lack of parity.

Yes, players like Charles only come once in a lifetime. But if UConn continues to dominate, expect more once in a lifetime players to appear on the Huskies roster. Not that players like Lobo, Diana Taurasi, and Sue Bird aren't once in a lifetime players also.

It is unclear which team can challenge the Huskies. Teams like Stanford, Notre Dame, Texas, and Duke have all been thrashed by UConn this season. It will take a miracle for this year's Huskies team to lose, but it's something women's basketball needs.

If a team can knock off UConn in the title game, it will not just be one of the greatest upsets of all-time, but it may spawn some high school players to look elsewhere other than Hartford, CT.

It's time for March Madness

Even the weather today in New Jersey was pointing to signs of better times. With February here and gone it's time for the best month of the year in sports, March Madness. Cue up the CBS music, the bands, the cheerleaders and of course the Cinderellas. Get your brackets ready and enjoy the best month in sports.

The regular season is winding down and one thing is for sure, there is no favorite to take home the title this year. This past weekend alone showed the crazy carousel that is college basketball.

Former No. 1 Kansas lost to Oklahoma State 85-77 and showed the country the Jayhawks may not be top dog in the Big 12. Kentucky was at No. 2 last week before losing to Tennessee 74-65. There is no doubt John Wall is the best player in the country, but DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Paterson are going to need to step up for the SEC tournament.

Purdue may have had the worst week of any team in college basketball after losing star player Robbie Hummel to an ACL injury as well as falling to Michigan State 53-44. It will be up to E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson to pick up the slack for the Boilermakers.

Syracuse is the new No. 1 this week and may be the favorite to be the top seed in the tournament if they can survive the Big East tournament. The Orange were able to crush No. 8 Villanova 95-77 in front of a record crowd of 34,616 at the Carrier Dome. Jim Boeheim has him team on track at the right time as March Madness nears.

Many "bracket experts" love to focus on the potential Cinderellas but who knows who the next George Mason or Valpo will be? So here are a few more top 25 teams to look out for in March.

No. 7- Ohio State (23-7)

This Big Ten team may have been overlooked by many in the beginning of the season, but Evan Turner has certainly opened the eyes of many college basketball fans. With a core set of guards the Buckeyes are poised to make a run deep into the tourney. Thad Matta's team stumbled early against North Carolina and Butler, but his team has stepped up recently with wins on the road over Illinois and Michigan State.

No. 10- New Mexico (27-3)

Too bad the Lobos huge win over No. 11 BYU will be over shadowed by Steve Alford's potty mouth. Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez can score at will and should help push the Lobos past the first two rounds. This should be one "mid-major" team that can take care of business and represent the Mountain West well.

No. 16- Temple (24-5)

With signature wins over Villanova, Seton Hall, and Xavier, the Owls may be the best Atlantic-10 team in the field of 65. If Lavoy Allen can start scoring more, it will help out the likes of guards Ryan Brooks and Juan Fernandez. The Atlantic-10 is getting loads of respect this year but the Owls will have to be the team to carry the conference in March.

No. 23- Maryland (21-7)

Gary Williams was on the hot seat early after losses to Cincinnati, Villanova, and William & Mary, but the late surge by the Terrapins has put them right behind Duke in the ACC. Greivis Vasquez is averaging 19.5 ppg, but the senior will need help from a depleted bench in order to score more points. Maryland has key wins over Virgina Tech and Florida State, but the Terrapins will be tested if they are matched up in the tourney against a team with size down low.

There is no doubt March Madness is my favorite time for sports. On any given day a team can salvage their season or have it come crumbling down. As the next weeks move on, more teams will creep into the top 25 and over and over again we will hear the term bracket buster and Cinderella. The best part about March Madness is that it is unpredictable, it is the ultimate Craps shoot and I can't get enough of it. As Gus Johnson says, it time to "RISE AND FIRE".