College basketball awards season

With the college basketball season winding down, it's time to look at who most deserves the hardware. Yep, it's the first-annual NCAA NutSAK Awards!

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma
Rationale: With him, OU is a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Without him, I think they're a #4 or a #5. When he went down to a concussion, a bunch of complementary players had to do a ton more to carry the team. They couldn't do it, but when he came back, the Sooners were booming again.

Sorry...: DaJuan Blair (Pitt), Tyler Hansbrough (UNC)
Not sorry...: Hasheem Thabeet (UConn), more on him in a little while

COACH OF THE YEAR: Keno Davis, Providence
Rationale: Everyone's clamoring about Bill Self and how he has Kansas contending for a Big 12 championship. He's done well, yeah, but Kansas won a national title last year and had several key role players come back. Keno Davis came in from Drake and revitalized a Providence team that had not been nationally-relevant in a decade. They've won 10 games in Big East play, and they should make the tournament as a result. It's close, yes, but give me Davis' one-season rebuild over Self's one-season reload.

Sorry: Self, Russ Pennell (Arizona)

MOST OVERRATED: Hasheem Thabeet, C, UConn
Rationale: Is he a great defensive player? Yes. He's 7'3", and his wingspan makes him one of the most natural shot-blockers around. However, if you call him great on offense, you lower the bar ten feet. The only offensive plays designed for him are alley-oops, and for a 7'3" guy, he is AWFULLY soft, as DaJuan Blair proved on every possession of their game a few weeks ago. That game showed he's just another cog in the UConn machine, and if I had a choice of UConn big men with weird names, I'd take a college-age Emeka Okafor over present-day Thabeet in a heartbeat.

Bill Raftery compared Thabeet to Bill Russell a few weeks ago, and I almost fell out of my chair laughing. He's going to be a lottery pick by virtue of his size and reach, but anyone expecting him to round into a force shouldn't hold their breath. He has trouble with bangers like Blair, and if he runs into Blake Griffin at any point in the NCAA's, he will be exposed once again. I see him as Samuel Dalembert, Version 2.0. He'll be a very good defensive player, but one who is hard-pressed to average ten points per game, at the next level. If Jim Calhoun is smart, he'll talk Thabeet into eating something between now and the tournament, as he REALLY needs to start filling out.

MOST UNDERRATED: Patrick Mills, PG, St. Mary's
Rationale: Remember how early in the season, people were comparing Mills and Stephen Curry? Then Mills broke his shooting hand and missed a month? In that time span, St. Mary's went from NCAA shoo-in to a team that may need to win its conference tournament, all because Mills wasn't there.

This was a guy Coach K said may be the best true point guard in the world at the Olympics last summer. And not only is a tremendous distributor, he can't be left open, as he averages 18 points per game. Yet where is the national attention Curry gets? Nowhere, because he's been hurt. Do not sleep on this team; if they get into the dance, they'll make some noise.

MOST LIKELY BIG-TIME TEAM TO GO DOWN EARLY: UCLA
Rationale: If UCLA gets a five-seed, which is looking more and more probable with every ranked team that loses, bet the house on the twelve they're playing. UCLA has truly been unimpressive this year, and they're indicative of the fact that the Pac-10 is REALLY bad this year. Washington is OK, as is Arizona State.

However, UCLA is riding on prestige at this point. Just because they're the third-best team in a traditionally-strong conference and won a ton of titles under John Wooden doesn't mean they're good this year. Nothing about them scares me, and they bring home the honors in a category no Big Six team wants to win.

(Dis)Honorable mentions: Duke, every team from the SEC

MOST LIKELY CINDERELLA TEAM: Siena
Rationale: I absolutely love the Saints. Last year, they shocked Vanderbilt before giving Villanova a game in the second round. They lost two players from that team, and everyone else is REALLY talented. They're all fast, they can shoot the lights out, and Fran McCaffery is a very underrated coach.

This isn't to say they're a TREMENDOUS team. They overscheduled, and don't have many true quality wins. However, they gave Pitt, Kansas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma State tough games, and if overestimated, they'll run a big-name team out of the gym.

MID-MAJOR CONFERENCE TO WATCH: Atlantic 10
Rationale: This conference is better than the SEC and Pac-10 this year. If it was up to me, four teams from this conference would get into the tournament: Xavier, Dayton, Rhode Island, and Temple. As it stands now, two, maybe three, will. Xavier and Dayton have been ranked at times, Rhode Island has won 22 games, and Temple, led by Dionte Christmas, has ten wins in conference and is extremely gritty.

If it was up to me, I'd shift the SEC and Pac-10's automatic bids here. These teams can play, and it's time they be recognized as a premier conference after producing quality teams year after year.