Creighton Blue Jays turn some heads

Every year in college basketball, several teams are given the title of "Cinderella." With the pride of their mid-major partners at stake, these teams embark on a journey full of traps and landmines facing the major conference powerhouses in the NCAA Tournament. It is up to these teams to prove to the Selection Committee that their entry to the big dance was validated and that they belong among the elite teams in the nation.

Many of the mid-major conferences are good enough to have two members admitted to the NCAA Tournament, but usually their lack of strength of schedule is what ultimately dooms these "Cinderella" hopefuls. This year, the play of one mid-major team has people forgetting about the "Cinderella" label though. In the tradition of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Creighton Bluejays have broken into the top 10 of the polls, despite being in one of the smaller conferences in the nation.

Creighton University is a small school in Omaha, NE, destined to ruin office pools around the country come March. The Bluejays, who have the highest ranking of a mid-major school (9th in ESPN/10th AP as of last week's polls) as part of the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC), are led by potential All-American Kyle Korver. Korver is averaging 19.2 points per game and shooting over 50percent from behind the arc, while leading the nation in three pointers made. He also leads the team in rebounding and steals and is second in assists.

Creighton seems to be this season's Gonzaga _ a team that will most likely enter the NCAA tournament as more than a Cinderella story, but less than a contender. After suffering a bitter defeat to their conference rival Evansville Aces this week, the team was knocked out of the top 10 in the polls.

While the Bluejays look like a lock to win the MVC Tournament in early March, they should be worthy of an at-large bid to the tournament even if they aren't able to win their conference tournament. There are several other mid-major teams that are having great seasons on the national contender scale, including Butler, perennial-power Gonzaga, and Kent State.

In other action, the Duke Blue Devils continued one of their worst skids in years. After losing to defending national champions Maryland and falling from their lofty number 1 ranking, Duke was completely outplayed in the second half at NC State and fell in its second consecutive ACC. It was the first time Duke had lost back-to-back ACC games in a row since 1997. Fortunately for the Blue Devils, they were able to rebound on Saturday with a 91-71 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

In one of the biggest games on the NCAA calendar, preseason number one and two, Arizona and Kansas, met in one of the best non-conference games of the season. While Arizona hasn't disappointed anybody this season, Kansas played poorly to start the season. As of late, Kansas has won consistently, and rose to number 6 in the rankings to make this matchup that much more important for both teams.

Even though the game was on Kansas' home court, the play of Salim Stoudamire and his Arizona teammates was too much for the Jayhawks as the Wildcats cruised to a 91-74 victory. After shooting 65 percent in the first half and leading by 13 points at the break, Kansas was outscored 52-22. Arizona was lead by sophomore sensation Salim Stoudamire with a career high 32 points and All-American Jason Gardner with 23 points.

Florida (5th ESPN/ 5th AP as of last week's polls) is emerging as one of the true contenders in the nation. Coming into this season, the Gators had one of the most hailed recruiting classes in the nation. Freshman Matt Walsh has already been showcased as one of the team's leading scorers and assist-leaders, but it is the play of Denmark native Christian Drejer that everyone is dying to see.

Coach Billy Donovan has been slow to give Drejer any significant minutes after he returned from his ankle injuries, which which has made fans even more eager to find out what this 6-8 freshman guard can do. This March, Florida will be one of the top teams in the NCAA Tournament, but the Gators and the rest of the contenders will all be looking over their shoulders for Creighton and the rest of the mid-major powerhouses.