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Player of the Week
 Rashad McCants, G, North Carolina
The freshman guard was simply sensational throughout the week in New York. McCants took it right at Kansas with a power dunk early in the first half and finished with 25 points on 10 of 15 shots. McCants led the Tar Heels to the Preseason NIT title with 18 points on 7 of 11 shots in the championship win over Stanford. McCants picked up the hardware for MVP of the tournament. His no-nonsense game had some hot dog displays after a few plays, but it was not without cause. He is having the time of his life just ballin' and leading the Tar Heels back into the top 25.
Past players of the week
Team of Week
Indiana
The Hoosiers were underrated throughout the preseason. Even going into the Maui Invitational, they were a second-tier team, expected to lose to Gonzaga in the semifinals. But wins over UMass, the Zags and Virginia proved the Hoosiers' run to the national title game wasn't all about Jared Jeffries' scoring and Dane Fife's defense. The core of the Hoosiers is back and better than last season with the guard play -- Tom Coverdale, Bracey Wright and Kyle Hornsby -- as good as any threesome in the country. The interior can score, rebound and defend in Jeff Newton and George Leach. And few coaches are on as much of a roll as Mike Davis is right now. This is looking more like a consistent top-10 or top-five team, rather than a borderline preseason top 20 team.
Past teams of the week
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Supporting Cast
TOM COVERDALE, Indiana: He is the glue and the Hoosiers MVP  and quite possibly a legit candidate for national player of the year. Sure, he went 0 for 6 against Virginia in the Maui title game but he scored 16 crucial points against Gonzaga in the semifinals and 20 in the opening win over UMass. He scored 17 in the win Sunday against North Texas, too.
JAMEER NELSON, Saint Joseph's: Nelson followed up his 22-point game at Boston College in the Hawks' opener with two solid efforts this week: 20 points in a road win over Canisius and 21 in a home win over Old Dominion for the undefeated Hawks. Nelson is making himself into one of the top 10 point guards in the nation yet again.
EMEKA OKAFOR, Connecticut: The once offensively-challenged center  scored a career-high 25 points, grabbed 11 boards and had three blocks in a win at Vanderbilt on Sunday night. Okafor has become the inside post presence on the offensive end that make the Huskies tough to beat. Beating Vandy on the road was the Huskies first real test of the season.
DALRON JOHNSON, UNLV: The Runnin' Rebels center scored 20 points and grabbed 11 boards in a win over a weak Washington club. But the numbers still tell the story of one of the most under-hyped players in the country. He's a legit candidate for player of the year in the MWC.
KYLE KORVER, Creighton: Korver scored 24 points and grabbed  10 boards in the Guardians Classic title game victory over Notre Dame. He made 7 of 11 three-pointers and is shooting a gaudy 68 percent from behind the arc in four wins (23 of 34). He's averaging 20.5 points, five rebounds and 3.2 assists for the undefeated Bluejays.
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Freshmen Watch
BRACEY WRIGHT
 Indiana
The guard is leading the Hoosiers in scoring with 16 points a game and put up a game-high 21 in the win over North Texas on Sunday. Wright shows no fear and has deep range like Coverdale. His 21 against Virginia led the Hoosiers to the Maui title.
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ANTOINE WRIGHT
Texas A&M
Melvin Watkins' most heralded recruit scored 25 in a loss at Miami, but then put up 22 and grabbed seven boards in an upset win over LSU in Houston this week. He made eight shots each night, a total of 10 3s and played over 35 minutes each game.
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JASON FRASER
Villanova
He still struggles in big games (see: five points and five boards in the win over Michigan State). But Fraser was sensational in the first-round Great Alaska Shootout win over Loyola Marymount. Fraser scored 24 points and grabbed 15 boards to lead the Wildcats.
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J.J. REDDICK
 Duke
The sharp-shooter led the Blue Devils with 20 points in the win over UCLA. He made 5 of 10 threes and is leading Duke in scoring with 16 points a game. He was billed as one of the best shooters to enter Duke and so far he's not disappointing anyone.
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On Our Radar
Jason Keep, San Diego: The former Oklahoma State center scored 30 points and grabbed 16 boards in the upset win at UCLA. He followed up that night with 18 points and six boards in a win at UC-Riverside for the undefeated Torreros.
Ryan Iversen, Delaware: The 6-3 senior guard had a triple-double against Long Island University in just 28 minutes off the bench. Iversen scored 12 points, grabbed 17 boards and dished out 11 assists. He actually gathered all those numbers in 23 of those 28 minutes.
Tyrone Tiggs, Oral Roberts: The senior guard scored 24 in the win over Wichita State and 18 in an upset win over Arkansas. He was also a perfect 10 for 10 at the free-throw line in both games for undefeated Oral Roberts.
Troy Wheless, College of Charleston: The MVP of the Great Alaska Shootout scored 13 in the win over Wyoming, 17 in the semifinal upset of Oklahoma State, and then 22 in the championship over Villanova. Not bad for a 6-3 senior guard who wasn't a known name prior to Saturday night.
Good Wins
Creighton 80, Notre Dame 75: Creighton needed a win over a Big East team to help its power rating throughout the season. The Irish should be a top 50 RPI team throughout the year.
Dayton 75, Cincinnati 69: It doesn't matter that this game was at home. Dayton had to beat a high-profile team to improve its RPI come February and give anything the Flyers do the rest of the way even more credibility.
Stanford 69, Florida 65: Regardless of what happens in the Pac-10, the Cardinal should have two of the best non-conference wins among its rivals. Beating Xavier last week and then Florida this week gives the Cardinal two potential top 10 wins.
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Bad Loss
Boston College 70:, Holy Cross 71: The Eagles continue to dig themselves a huge whole three games into the season. Holy Cross might end up being an NCAA team but BC is giving itself little margin for error.
UCLA 81, San Diego 86 (OT): The Torreros are off to an undefeated start but they still might not be an NCAA team. This loss really hurts the Bruins for RPI, confidence and overall self-esteem purposes even in early December.
USC 71, Rhode Island 73: The Rams aren't an NCAA team (see: losing at Buffalo after this game) and the Trojans can't afford bad losses if they end up being a bubble team.
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Caught Our Eye
 Inside the Top 25: We're not sure how good Duke is just yet, but this much is certain -- Chris Duhon has become a true playmaker. He played 39 minutes, scored 14 points, dished out eight assists, had three turnovers and three steals in Duke's win over UCLA. If he can do that then the Blue Devils will be just fine by leaning on freshmen for the bulk of scoring.
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 Outside the Top 25: The Yellow Jackets are getting balanced scoring from B.J. Elder (24 ppg), Chris Bosh (20 ppg) and Marvin Lewis (19.5 ppg) and the point guard play needed from freshman Jarrett Jack (7.3 assists a game). Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt should get the Yellow Jackets into the top 25 if not this week then within the next few.
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BYU: The Cougars are undefeated and smokin' hot as the one of the favorites in the Mountain West -- something that wasn't thought possible during the preseason.
MICHIGAN: Can it get any worse for the Wolverines? They're 0-4 after losing to Western Michigan -- their worst start since 1933.
ALASKA-FAIRBANKS: Cheers for the first Division II school to win an eight-team tournament with seven Division I schools. Fairbanks had a hard time getting teams for the Top of the World Classic this season, don't be surprised if D-I schools are shy about heading up north after this run.
UCLA: The Bruins lost to Duke. OK, that's not so bad. But they still haven't won a game yet -- two exhibitions losses and the opening defeat at home to San Diego. UCLA coach Steve Lavin is preaching patience. The choir may not be listening long.
PURDUE: Gene Keady shrugged off any talk about leaving after last season because he said he didn't want to leave Purdue down. He's got them flying high after beating Miami of Ohio and then Louisville on Saturday for a 2-0 start.
GEORGIA: The Bulldogs must really need Steven Thomas. But he better get his grades in order after Georgia lost to Georgia Tech and at Minnesota this week.
ORAL ROBERTS: Beating Wichita State and Arkansas should serve notice to Tulsa that ORU is on its heels for interest in the city.
ZONE DEFENSE: It worked for Stanford and Virginia this week, so expect more schools to use it early in the season. Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said teams simply aren't ready to play against a zone offense.
ST. JOHN'S: Poor PR move to let Grady Reynolds play with allegations of beating up a female student against him. This is a lose-lose situation in the court of public opinion on a diverse college campus.
STANFORD: Picked seventh in the Pac-10? That was a mistake after the Cardinal beat Xavier and Florida in the Preseason NIT. Rob Little and Justin Davis are two inside players who can bang with any other pair in the Pac-10.
MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans aren't playing Michigan State defense and left Alaska with two losses. They're turning the ball over too easily and are still struggling to find another scorer with Kelvin Torbert not 100 percent and Maurice Ager still out with a similar ankle injury.
KENTUCKY: The Wildcats looked like they were going to leave Maui 1-2 before punishing Gonzaga in the second half. Kentucky fans have to be calm while the Wildcats wait to be whole again when Cliff Hawkins (academically ineligible), Erik Daniels (NCAA suspension) and Antwain Barbour (broken hand) return.
BALL STATE: Theron Smith announced he would sit for the season and then the Cardinals get rocked by Butler 71-45, scoring 18 points in the second half.
PORTLAND: Michael Holton is turning around the Pilots faster than anyone thought with wins already over San Diego State and Portland State.
HOUSTON: The Cougars lost at the buzzer to Baylor, but they're still 0-3 and have a loss against Prairie View on their ledger.
TULSA: The best team that few people see took apart Arkansas in preparation for next week's colossal game in Tulsa against Kansas.
MINNESOTA: If the Gophers continue to get the kind of roll that Michael Bauer's shot had against Georgia then this might be their season.
PENN STATE: Yale won at Penn State for the second straight season. That's not good. No, that's not good for the winless Nittany Lions.
VIRGINIA: The Cavs got to the final of Maui and were spent. Their zone worked, they got offensive balance and they have the look -- again, early -- of a potential NCAA team.
WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos are 3-1, including a four-point win at Michigan. That win will help in the state but more importantly is another sign that Western Michigan is a legit sleeper in the MAC.
WESTERN KENTUCKY: No Chris Marcus, no Todor Pandov ... still the Hilltoppers won two games this week, beating VCU and Auburn.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Watch, a look back at the week and a preview of the week ahead, runs every Monday.
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Thursday
