Great move by Minnesota to hire Kentucky's Tubby Smith as its new basketball coach Thursday. Smith is a proven winner and solid recruiter who immediately makes the Gophers relevant again. Michigan fans asking, 'Why not Ann Arbor?' should be flaming mad their university didn't step up and offer Smith a deal on par with the $1.8 million he'll reportedly make in Minnesota. Granted, the Gophers have new basketball facilities on the way and Michigan would have had to make similar concessions to lure a top-notch coach like Smith, but it would have been worth it.

I'm on the Lon Kruger-to-Michigan bandwagon - he's another proven winner with Midwest ties and wouldn't command a king's ransom to leave UNLV - but regardless it's imperative the Wolverines make a bold hire in their next coach. If they settle for a no-name or tease fans with another up-and-comer, you can take it to mean the university has accepted its mediocre lot in the world of college hoops. Kruger, Villanova's Jay Wright, Marquette's Tom Crean and Texas A&M's Billy Gillispie all would fit the mold.

It'll be interesting to see how the dominoes fall now that Smith is out at Kentucky, too. The university has always held Michigan State coach Tom Izzo in high regard, and while I don't think he'd go to Lexington without an NBA-sized contract, I do expect the Wildcats to at least inquire. Crean and Memphis' John Calipari are more likely candidates, and you might as well throw Louisville coach Rick Pitino's name in the mix, too.

A quick guess on the way things shake out: MSU hands Izzo another pay raise to keep him happy, Crean gets the Kentucky job, and when Izzo retires or heads to the NBA in a few years Jim Boylen takes over the Spartan program after guiding whatever school he ends up at — Utah? Marquette? — to a tournament or two. Michigan, meanwhile, keeps its cash in football and drives its once-proud basketball program further into the ground.

Last thing before I go, a few picks for tonight's NCAA games. In the West, Kansas survives Southern Illinois and UCLA smokes Pitt, and in the South A&M topples Memphis to set up a great Elite Eight showdown with Ohio State.