It is officially time to relearn tackling in college football.

Many programs already have been in the process, trying to break the habit of defensive backs and pass rushers of going high on unprotected receivers and quarterbacks. But now there is new urgency to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact.

Jadeveon Clowney and other college players now risk ejection for helmet-to-helmet hits. (USA Today Sports)The NCAA forced the issue this week by recommending a rule that will eject anyone who is flagged for targeting a defenseless player.

"The tool we have is playing time," said Rogers Redding, secretary-editor of the NCAA football rules committee and national coordinator of officials. "The committee said we've got to get this play out of the game."

It is a bold move by the committee because it will invite backlash – not now, but in the fall. The first time a star player gets the boot for a helmet-to-helmet hit, everyone will lose their minds.

[Also: Fight for future of American sports gambling begins]

Can you imagine the outcry if South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney gets

DURHAM, N.C. – In the midst of a strong start by underdog North Carolina Wednesday night, P.J. Hairston was fouled by Duke's Quinn Cook. On the way to the foul line, Hairston detoured by the Blue Devils bench to bark something.

I'm reasonably certain he was not expressing happy birthday wishes to coach Mike Krzyzewski.

On his first day as a 66-year-old, Krzyzewski showed some quickness in response. He sprang off the bench and did some barking of his own at official Karl Hess, who then spoke to Carolina's Leslie McDonald, who then spoke to Hairston.

The likely message: Pipe down and play.

Both sides did eventually pipe down and play, and the game was pretty good. Carolina played harder and tougher than it has this season. Duke, ranked first in the USA Today Coaches Top 25, exerted itself during a 12-minute stretch of the second half to take control and then hung on. Duke won, 73-68.

It was not a classic installment. Not all of them can be.

[Also: Nerlens Noel's fluke

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The screams were audible on press row.

Nerlens Noel, the projected first pick in the 2013 NBA Draft and the indisputable best player for the Kentucky Wildcats, was in agony beneath the basket. He clutched at his left knee, everything suddenly and painfully in doubt – for him and for his team. 

Nerlens Noel grimaces after his injury on Tuesday. (AP)That jarring development overshadowed Florida's 69-52 whipping of Kentucky. When Noel went down, the outcome of the game – which was already decided – became secondary.

Really, the outcome of Kentucky's season is secondary, although the injury – a torn left ACL that was confirmed by Kentucky on Wednesday and will require six to eight months of recovery time – increases the chances of the 17-7 Wildcats missing the NCAA tournament. The greater issue is Noel's future, and the way it is put at risk by a system that forced him to play college ball for a year instead of going straight into the NBA draft.

Noel may have gotten hurt in 2013 no matter where he was

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college basketball (parachutes sold separately at free-falling Mississippi):

STATE OF THE GAME: FLAWED BUT FUN

For everyone moaning about the state of college hoops, a better approach might be taking a page from the Mike Brey (1) playbook.

Did you see the Notre Dame coach Saturday night? Locked in a 3½-hour, five-overtime endurance test with Louisville, Brey ended every period clapping, smiling and laughing at the gloriously messy but undeniably entertaining extravaganza he was part of.

"We were having fun," Brey said. "It was awesome."

That's the message for the season as a whole: We are having fun. It may not all be awesome, but it has been really fun.

If you're too busy complaining to see that, well, sorry.

That's The Minutes' take after listening to a bunch of bellyaching about how bad the product is. Here is the truth: The teams are not as good as they once were, and they'll never be that

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a brief but damaging estrangement, it took the Indiana Hoosiers 55 seconds to reacquaint themselves with All-American center Cody Zeller on Sunday.

At the 19:05 mark of the first half against Ohio State, Zeller got the ball in the post. He turned and hit a jump shot.

Cody Zeller scored 24 points against Ohio State, matching his high in more than a year. (Getty Images)Thus a precedent was established. Cody Zeller wanted the ball. Cody Zeller got the ball. Cody Zeller posted up with vigor, drove with authority and shot with confidence. Cody Zeller played like the preseason National Player of the Year is supposed to play.

He took 11 shots from the field and 11 from the foul line and scored 24 points. The last time he scored more than that was Jan. 29, 2012.

Not coincidentally, Indiana won a big road game over the No. 10 Buckeyes, 81-73. It sure beat the result last Thursday, when Zeller went missing and the Hoosiers blew a game, the No. 1 ranking and the undisputed Big Ten lead at Illinois.

In the bounce-back game Sunday, Indiana had 66 offensive

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a rare quiet moment in the Vanderbilt war room Wednesday, Ava Franklin walked in and was overtaken by curiosity.

"What are the balloons for?" asked the impossibly cute, 5-year-old daughter of the Commodores' head coach.

For the National Signing Day party, she was told.

Ava thought for a second, then delivered the perspective-packed question of the afternoon, "What's Signing Day?"

You'll find out soon enough, kid. But if you must know now …

Signing Day is what has obsessed your father and his colleagues for months. It is what gets him into the office before you awaken, and gets him home after you go to sleep. It is a high holy day in the college football world, a festival of hope for fans and a culmination of dreams for players.

[Related: Rivals.com's top 25 recruiting classes]

And on Wednesday at your daddy's office, Ava, Signing Day went like this:

5:35 a.m.: Sean Spencer pulls into the parking lot at the McGugin Center with music

NO BLACKOUTS HERE

Welcome Gridlings, to basketball season. We know that many of you have been away for several months, watching football and listening to poor Steve Tasker try to handle the biggest in-game plot twist in Super Bowl history (similar to giving a toddler the steering wheel on the highway at 65 mph). We understand that you’ve been largely ignoring college hoops until now. But as the clergy like to say to folks who only go to church at Christmas and Easter, we’re happy to have you and hope you may become more regular visitors. Tom Crean. (Credit: USA Today)

In an effort to ease your re-entry, The Minutes has compiled a primer on what you’ve missed. That will be followed by a preview of what’s to come the rest of this month. Then before you know it will be March, and you’ll be howling at every block-charge call, parroting RPI stats and acting like you’ve been here

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Jordan Hulls threw the lob and immediately regretted it.

Victor Oladipo had 15 points in Indiana's victory over Michigan. (Getty Images)"I instantly thought turnover," the Indiana guard said.

His pass was intended for teammate Victor Oladipo, but it appeared headed for nearby Gnaw Bone, Ind. It was that far off-target.

Or so it seemed.

That's when Oladipo turned pterodactyl, soaring so high and stretching so far that he actually got his right hand on the ball and tomahawked it at the rim.

And off the rim. Oladipo couldn't quite finish the play. If he had, Assembly Hall would have imploded and the Big Ten should have conducted immediate testing for helium in the 6-foot-5 junior's veins.

"It was pretty crazy how high he got," Hulls said.

"I was even kind of excited," coach Tom Crean said. "That was unbelievable."

Oladipo was less dazzled by his Near Dunk of the Year.

"Think I need to do a few more squats," he said. "I don't know how I missed. I was so close."

[Also: Pitt's home dominance over top 10 foes continues