St. Mary's received four years of probation from the NCAA on Friday for recruiting violations by a former assistant coach. The Gaels could struggle to schedule well enough to get at large bids in the future because of this.

In observing tonight's game, I watched the Zags struggle far more than usual - but still close out like so many other top teams were unable to do this week. THat's why they should be tops in the country.

Mid-major players were well-represented among the Naismith Top 30. At least Bucknell's Mike Muscala finally got some attention, while another surprising name made the list. We run down the seven representatives.

Gonzaga is starting to make us worried with their high ranking from the computer. The last couple of teams that made this exalted level didn't follow through on their numbers. So what should we think of this Bulldogs squad?

Creighton was never able to put it all together long enough to be a serious threat to Saint Mary's in a tough road loss.

Gonzaga is bucking the trend among the mid-major ranks as teams try to establish themselves in the minds of the NCAA Tournament committee. Then again, that should be no surprise. The full rankings from 1 to THE GRAMBLING.

A laundry list of problems doomed Saint Mary's, as all the emotion and effort they could muster wasn't enough to overcome the match-up problems and size deficiencies that were present on paper.