That No. 1 spot in the college rankings is proving to be just as slippery for basketball players as it was for their football counterparts. Tennessee beats Memphis (-6.5), then loses to Vanderbilt (+2)? Inconceivable.

Actually, this is what you get when there are so many outstanding basketball programs at the top of the Division I food chain. Sorting out which teams to support and fade during March Madness is going to be a little more difficult this year. Time to get to work.

If you haven’t done so already, parcel some time out of your schedule to get up to speed on the 2007-08 season. Arrange your workspace efficiently in order to pack in as much study as possible; the Internet is, quite frankly, a godsend for research of any kind. But you still have to use it properly. Consider investing in some of those pay services like ESPN Insider; you’re very much in their demographic.

Bobby Knight has moved on. So have six other Division I men’s basketball coaches this season. Kelvin Sampson may be next; at press time, Indiana was reportedly on the verge of purging Sampson over allegations of improper recruiting.

Then you have Tim Welsh. Chances are Welsh will be looking for a new employer soon; his Providence Friars are near the bottom of the Big East standings at 4-10 (13-13 overall, 10-14 ATS), and everyone from the local papers to Athletic Director Bob Driscoll is preparing a pink slip for Welsh after a decade at PC.

Welsh first head coaching gig was at Iona, where he took over for his father, Jerry. That was a successful transition; the same cannot be said in Stillwater, where Sean Sutton’s OSU Cowboys are 13-12 (7-10 ATS) and going nowhere since the living legend Eddie Sutton “retired” two years ago. Let’s hope things work out better for Pat Knight at Texas Tech.

Sure, football is over for another season. But this isn’t the handicapping abyss by any means. The segue between the Super Bowl and March Madness is hardly a chore when there are so many great conference rivalries on the schedule.

Few things burn with more intensity than the ACC’s Battle of Tobacco Road between UNC and Duke. The Blue Devils (+4.5) marched on Chapel Hill last week and beat the Heels by 11 points; how crazy will Cameron Indoor Stadium be when the rematch goes down in the season finale?

Meanwhile, this week’s Big Ten gauntlet sees the Indiana Hoosiers host Wisconsin, Michigan State and Purdue – all ranked teams. The Boilers are Indiana’s traditional rivals dating back to 1901; Purdue leads the all-time series 107-83, although Indiana has been far more successful in modern times. The Hoosiers are always guaranteed a sea of red at Assembly Hall, so ESPN will be there for both Indiana-MSU and Indiana-Purdue.

Easily the biggest college basketball game of the week sees the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (19-1 SU, 12-6-1 ATS) visit the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-1 SU, 15-4 ATS). Odds weren’t available at press time, but judging by the overnight line from Vegas, North Carolina will be favored. Duke, however, is in fourth place in the efficiency rankings, while the Heels are seventh and pessimistic about point guard Ty Lawson’s status following Sunday’s sprained left ankle at Florida State.

While those two storied programs fight it out on ESPN, Saturday’s matchup between the Evansville Aces (6-15 SU, 8-11 ATS) and the No. 15 Drake Bulldogs (20-1 SU, 14-3 ATS at press time) gets squat for television coverage. The Bulldogs are the most profitable team in the nation, but Drake’s run might be getting a little too chalky; the Missouri Valley leaders are No. 24 in efficiency, nine spots below their ranking in the coaches’ poll.