COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tom Izzo was standing by the Michigan State team bus at the Schottenstein Center, downplaying another brilliant game plan in a career full of them.

"It wasn't anything Einstonian," he said with a shrug.

Yeah, well, Einstein – or Einstone, in the Izzo nomenclature – couldn't defend the pick-and-roll. So it's all relative. Ahem.

Fact is, Izzo approaches genius level when it comes to devising a plan for a big game. It has helped carry him to one national title and six Final Four appearances. The latest evidence is Michigan State's surprisingly authoritative 58-48 victory over Ohio State on Saturday night.

The Buckeyes had won 39 in a row in this building and were facing a Spartans team that was overachieving wildly to be second in the Big Ten coming into this game. Now that Spartans team is tied for first, at 20-5 overall and 9-3 in the league, and with plenty of room to keep improving.

How did they do it? Let's go to the Einstein Playbook and catalog the ways.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – It was nearly midnight on Wednesday. Doc Rivers had to go.

He needed to hightail it back to Boston, where the Los Angeles Lakers are waiting to take on Rivers' Boston Celtics on Thursday night. But that reality could wait a sweet moment longer. Right now, Doc was not an NBA coach. He was a deliriously proud dad. And he was not leaving the Dean Smith Center until he had a chance to embrace his son, Austin, after he had the basketball moment of a young lifetime.

Finally, Austin emerged from the Duke locker room in sweats and walked 20 feet, back behind a black curtain, to see his family. They briefly relived the shot that became an instant classic in Blue Devils lore, the long 3-pointer that swished after the buzzer and shocked North Carolina 85-84 in one of the wildest installments in this endlessly compelling rivalry.

Then it was time. Austin had to get on the bus back to Durham. Doc had to get on a plane back to Boston.

"I'm taking off," Doc said, wrapping his arms

If there ever were a time I'd love to hear Jim Calhoun speak publicly, it's today.

That won't happen, of course. The coach is dealing with a spinal issue that has forced him to miss Connecticut's past two games, so he's off-radar and presumably recuperating and/or being treated. Hopefully, he gets well soon because we need to hear from him.

We need to hear Jim "Not A Dime Back" Calhoun, of all stubborn souls, give voice to the remarkable groveling his university is doing on behalf of his basketball program to save it from a 2013 NCAA tournament ban. An Associated Press story Wednesday said UConn has petitioned the governing body of college athletics to change its rules and let the Huskies play in a tourney they're currently ineligible for.

I would love to hear the eternally unapologetic Calhoun feign penitence for the academic underachievement of his program – underachievement profound enough that it has the Huskies falling short of NCAA Academic Progress Rate minimums in order to be

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There is one college basketball team that has played the top three teams in the nation. That team is the Florida Gators, and they have the tire tracks across their reptilian backs to show for it.

The Gators played third-ranked Ohio State in Columbus in November. They lost 81-74.

The Gators played second-ranked Syracuse in Syracuse in December. They lost 72-68.

And now the Gators have played top-ranked Kentucky in Rupp Arena. They lost 78-58 Tuesday night.

First thought: Schedule from hell.

Second thought: Who better to rank the big three teams that have separated themselves from the national pack than Florida coach Billy Donovan?

I asked. He answered.

"In terms of star power, in terms of talent, one through six or seven, I think Kentucky has the most of anybody," Donovan said. "Ohio State is kind of a three-headed monster with [Jared] Sullinger and [William] Buford, and I love the point [guard] Aaron Craft. Syracuse just has incredible depth.

"I don't know necessarily

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Even if they never play again after this season, Missouri fans gladly will continue hating Kansas until basketballs no longer are bounced on this Earth. Kansas fans will eagerly return the disfavor. Their Midwestern mutual enmity has the same half-life as radioactive uranium.

But if Saturday night was the last time the Tigers' faithful got a chance to hate the Jayhawks in person and in their own building, well, it could not have been any sweeter. Whenever alums of the future SEC member get together over a beer at Harpo's, Booches or the Field House, they'll giddily remember the events of Feb. 4, 2012.

The lovely Columbia parting gift fourth-ranked Missouri bestowed on its biggest rival was a stunning 11-0 run to the buzzer for a 74-71 victory that blew the roof off Mizzou Arena. Kansas has dominated this age-old series but also has taken some gut shots in Columbia over the years – and this one might have been the worst.

The eighth-ranked Jayhawks had an eight-point lead

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Sitting in a conference room in the Tennessee basketball offices, I looked across the table at Tyler Summitt and saw myself.

He’s a more mature college sophomore than I was. Smarter, more polished, seemingly more secure. The son of Pat Summitt was raised in a celebrity coach’s world, where lessons are learned early about how to carry and present yourself. He does those things well.

But beneath the impressive persona is a regular guy with regular-guy problems. The biggest problem: His mom has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s Type.

That’s where I can relate.

In 1984, when I was a sophomore at the University of Missouri, my family in Colorado got the official diagnosis that my mom was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s. She was 60 – the same age as Pat Summitt today.

We knew something had been wrong for a few years – not just forgetfulness and confusion, but random mood swings and a gradual inhibition of her effervescent personality. Lynn Forde

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For a guy who just endured a year-long white-knuckle ride, Tennessee coach Derek Dooley seemed remarkably composed Wednesday afternoon.

White shirt pressed, orange tie knotted, dark hair perfect, Dooley sank into a deep leather chair in his office and pronounced National Signing Day a success.

"This is probably the best I've felt in the 24 months since I got here about where we're headed," he said.

The reality is that the Volunteers must head in the direction of immediate improvement, or someone else might be sitting in that leather chair a year from now. The last thing Tennessee athletics needs is more tumult and turnover, but there is urgency in the Smoky Mountain air. A third consecutive losing season – something the football program has not endured since 1909-11 – could be a fireable offense.

Dooley knows that. He's not like that Italian cruise ship captain, blithely unaware that he's charting a course for trouble. He's a legendary coach's son with a law degree

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Here is the inconvenient truth, America: When Anthony Davis is playing like this, everyone else is playing for second place.

In the SEC and in the nation.

Davis, Kentucky's freshman center, is making his national Player of the Year case one blocked shot, snatched rebound, alley-oop dunk and – breaking news – swished jumper at a time. He's doing everything now, just the way John Calipari envisioned when he signed the nation's No. 1 high school player. Davis very much looks the part of the top pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

"When you have a guy like that, they come along once in a lifetime," Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin said after watching Davis drop 18 points, eight rebounds, seven blocks and three assists on the Volunteers in a 69-44 drubbing in Rupp Arena on Tuesday night. "He just changes the game for you."

Calipari disagreed with Martin, saying Davis is a twice-in-a-lifetime talent for him. He referenced Marcus Camby, who led Calipari's 1995-96 Massachusetts team to