Rather than tolerating the groveling by defending champion Connecticut for concessions stemming from its scholastic shortcomings, the NCAA should possibly consider the alternative and make allowances for quality teams boasting textbook student-athletes such as Harvard and Northwestern.

UConn, barred from the 2013 tourney due to years of sub-par academic results, requested a waiver. The Huskies' plea-for-mercy proposal reduced the number of regular-season games they will play next season from 27 to 23, forfeited the revenue awarded to the Big East Conference for participating in the playoffs and prohibited coach Jim Calhoun from meeting off-campus with prospective recruits during the fall 2012 contact period.

UConn's bottom 10 academic ranking among the 300-plus DI schools had it creatively trying to swap games and money for academic integrity prior to the school hiring a new athletic director. Meanwhile, Harvard (ranked #1 this year in U.S. News College Compass among the nation's best colleges) and Northwestern (#12) were excelling on and off the court.

Harvard, which has supplied more U.S. presidents (seven) than Lincredible NBA players (three), should have received an at-large bid last season despite losing an Ivy League playoff game in the waning moments. This year, the Crimson is a cinch to secure its first NCAA berth in 66 years, going to Lin-finity and beyond. In non-conference competition, Harvard and Princeton defeated Florida State, which is challenging for ACC supremacy after beating North Carolina and Duke.

Northwestern, struggling to secure its first winning record in Big Ten Conference competition in 44 years, is in a more precarious situation than Harvard as the Wildcats aspired to participate in the NCAA playoffs for the first time. But Northwestern might have a shot for an at-large berth if it reaches the 20-win plateau for the third straight season.

While UConn struggled to appear in this year's tourney, let alone 2013, school president Susan Herbst lauded the "great strides in our academic approach over the past few years." We're taking for granted she isn't including suspect signee Nate Miles, who described a cynical and broken system of big-time recruiting. According to Miles, MOP Kemba Walker's original college roommate before he was expelled after a female assault twice received standardized test assistance from a UConn booster.

Amid the Linsanity of the New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin becoming Harvard's first NBA player in 58 years (he scored 30 points in a narrow loss at UConn two seasons ago), it's pretty safe to say anyone comparable to Miles isn't on the rosters for Harvard and Northwestern. Wouldn't it be refreshing to raise the tenor of the debate by being assured the nerds were rewarded instead of wondering what classes UConn's players are steered to these days to raise the program's grade-point average? Surely, the NCAA realizes that the average fan makes a point of appreciating colorful institutions with traditional classroom excellence more than those still trying to get their mercenaries to color within the lines.

Basketball simply doesn't have borders any longer. The top two scorers for Horizon League champion Valparaiso this season - Ryan Broekhoff and Kevin Van Wijk - are not North America natives. No school has benefitted more from an influx of foreigners over the years than the Crusaders, who are also getting significant support from New Zealand product Richie Edwards.

Valpo's spanning-the-globe foreign invasion has included: Lubos Barton (Czech Republic), Ali Berdiel (Puerto Rico), Broekhoff (Australia), Antonio Falu (Puerto Rico), Benjamin Fumey (Germany), Joaquim Gomes (Angola), Raitis Grafs (Latvia), Samuel Haanpaa (Finland), Shawn Huff (Finland), Mohamed Kone (France), Calum MacLeod (New Zealand), Moussa Mbaye (Senegal), Roberto Nieves (Puerto Rico), Stalin Ortiz (Colombia), Marko Punda (Croatia), Michael Rogers (Jamaica), Oumar Sylla (Mali), Van Wijk (Netherlands), Antanas Vilcinskas (Lithuania), Zoran Viskovic (Croatia), Hrvoje Vucic (Croatia), Ivan Vujic (Croatia) and Cameron Witt (Australia).

Barton, Berdiel, Gomes, Grafs, Ortiz and Viskovic were all-conference selections in the Mid-Continent Conference before the school switched to the Horizon League. The Crusaders' foreign aid next season will include redshirt center Vashil Fernandez from Jamaica.

Among other squads counting on multiple foreigners in order to enhance their national postseason tournament prospects are:
California - Jorge Gutierrez (Mexico) and Emerson Murray (British Columbia, Canada)
Creighton - Gregory Echenique (Venezuela) and Jahenns Manigal (Ontario, Canada)
Gonzaga - Elias Harris (Germany) and Kevin Pangos (Ontario, Canada)
Miami (FL) - Raphael Akpejiori (Nigeria) and Kenny Kadji (Cameroon)
New Mexico - Cameron Bairstow (Australia) and Hugh Greenwood (Australia)
Rice - Ahmad Ibrahim (Lebanon) and Arsalan Kazemi (Iran)
Saint Louis - Cody Ellis (Australia) and Rob Loe (New Zealand)
Saint Mary's - Matthew Dellavedova (Australia), Jorden Page (Australia), Kyle Rowley (Trinidad), Clint Steindl (Australia) and Mitchell Young (Australia)
Syracuse - Kris Joseph (Quebec, Canada), Bave Moussa Keita (Senegal) and Fab Melo (Brazil)
UNLV - Carlos Lopez (Puerto Rico) and Brice Massamba (Sweden)
Vanderbilt--Festus Ezeli (Nigeria) and Jeffery Taylor (Sweden)

You can work on your geography by assessing the comprehensive list assembled by CollegeHoopedia.com of foreign players impacting college basketball.

Magic Johnson was untouchable as a tall player offering monumental matchup problems for opponents by showcasing the unique skill set of a point forward. Johnson (6-9) averaged 17.1 ppg and 7.9 apg while shooting 46.3% from the floor in his two-year college career before leaving Michigan State early for the NBA.

Royce White of Iowa State might be a poor man's version of Magic, but the 6-8, 270-pounder, a transfer from Minnesota after a couple of theft incidents, certainly has "borrowed" some Magic-rich traits with his adroit ballhandling and smooth moves to the basket. When isolated, White is incapable of being stopped from getting to the goal. He is the nation's only player to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocks. But White, who takes medication for an anxiety disorder, makes Cyclones fans overtly anxious when he tries to shoot away from the basket, hitting less than half of his free-throw attempts. In a recent home game against Texas Tech, he birthed a couple of unplanned nothing-but-air deliveries from the less-than-charitable stripe as unsightly as most Planned Parenthood workers.

Fab Five ringleader Jalen Rose (6-8) of Michigan was a similar point-forward player but didn't carry near the weight of White. An overlooked versatile player in this rare category is 6-9 Louis Dunbar, who paced Houston in assists as a senior in 1974-75 before becoming a long-time Harlem Globetrotter known as "Sweet Lou." Unlike White, mid-range shooting wasn't as much of a problem for Dunbar, who averaged 22.3 ppg and shot 48.2% from the floor in his "sweet" three-year college career with the Cougars.

UCLA is counting on a comparable point-forward phenom, Kyle Anderson from renowned St. Anthony High School in New Jersey, to turn the Bruins' fortunes around next season.

An announcement about Memphis joining the Big East Conference in 2013-14 means that the Tigers will have been members of five different leagues in 42 years (Missouri Valley 1968-73, Metro 1976-91, Great Midwest 1992-95 and Conference USA 1996-2013). But there have been other schools, including fellow MVC/Metro/Great Midwest/C-USA members Cincinnati and Saint Louis, with even more wanderlust. Consider:

• Texas Christian - five different leagues in 18 years from 1996 to 2013 after a 73-year stint in SWC (WAC 1997-2001, Conference USA 2002-05, Mountain West 2006-12 and Big 12 2013)

• Towson - five in 21 years from 1982 to 2002 (Northeast 1982, East Coast 1983-92, Big South 1993-95, America East 1996-2001 and CAA 2002-12)

• Saint Louis - five in 23 years from 1974 to 1996 and six in 33 from 1974 to 2006 (Missouri Valley 1938-74, Metro 1976-82, Midwestern Collegiate 1983-91, Great Midwest 1992-95, Conference USA 1996-2005 and Atlantic 10 2006-12)

• Louisiana Tech - five in 28 years from 1987 to 2014 (Southland 1972-87, American South 1988-91, Sun Belt 1992-2001, WAC 2002-13 and C-USA 2014)

• Nevada - five in 34 years from 1979 to 2013 (WCAC 1970-79, Big Sky 1980-92, Big West 1993-2000, WAC 2001-12 and Mountain West 2013)

• Cincinnati - five in 37 years from 1970 to 2006 (Missouri Valley 1958-70, Metro 1976-91, Great Midwest 1992-95, Conference USA 1996-2005 and Big East 2006-12)

• North Texas - five in 40 years from 1975 to 2014 (Missouri Valley 1958-75, Southland 1983-96, Big West 1997-2000, Sun Belt 2001-13 and C-USA 2014)

Stripping away the veneer, it was difficult for the average Missouri fan to invest much time exhibiting an abundance of faith in Frank Haith after he was hired as coach to replace Arkansas-bound Mike Anderson. Mizzou followers were dismayed after coach Matt Painter didn't leave his alma mater (Purdue) to accept the job and Haith's good-guy reputation was tainted by strip club partying with a Ponzi schemer booster at Miami (FL), where he never had a winning ACC record in seven seasons with the Hurricanes (43-69 overall league mark).

But Haith's timing was impeccable as he quickly turned a faith-building corner by impressing brothers Flip and Matt Pressey to stay with the Tigers rather than tagging along with Anderson, the college roommate (at Tulsa) of their NBA father (All-American Paul Pressey). Haith rewarded the gifted guards with significantly more court time and the Presseys responded accordingly.

Haith, giving his seven-man rotation an average of more than 25% additional playing time than they had their last year under Anderson, laid the groundwork to win one of the national coach of the year awards. The potent Pressey pair enjoyed almost 50% more minutes between them than they did in 2010-11.

Overcoming a major obstacle, Haith was forced to deploy a four-guard lineup after 6-8 forward Laurence Bowers incurred a season-ending knee injury. The previous year, Bowers paced the Tigers in rebounding and was runner-up in scoring.

Upon earning national acclaim, Haith joined the following list of five coaches who did so in their debut season for a school after serving in a similar capacity the previous year with another DI institution: Eddie Hickey (Marquette '59/after leaving St. Louis), Tom Davis (Iowa '87/Stanford), Eddie Sutton (Kentucky '86/Arkansas), Kelvin Sampson (Oklahoma '95/Washington State) and Matt Doherty (North Carolina '01/Notre Dame).

The prospects for Missouri reaching its first Final Four hinged on the Tigers securing another faith-building milestone - a "home state" berth in the St. Louis regional. It was "Home Sour Home" for Mizzou 30 years ago when the #2 seed Tigers, featuring All-Americans Ricky Frazier, Steve Stipanovich and Jon Sundvold plus national coach of the year Norm Stewart, failed to capitalize on a St. Louis venue and lost in the 1982 Midwest Regional semifinals, 79-78, against Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma contingent in the debut season for Hakeem Olajuwon with the Cougars.

Here's to you, Mr. Robinson! Kansas junior forward Thomas Robinson, making incredible strides since an inauspicious freshman season two years ago, seemed to be the consensus mid-season choice as national player of the year. In a "Beasts of the Baseline" battle, he could gain an edge over Kentucky center Anthony Davis with a big game against Missouri when Allen Fieldhouse welcomes equally physically-imposing Ricardo Ratliffe, who was leading the nation in field-goal shooting (73%).

Robinson, a native of Washington, D.C., was anything but the country's most dominant player in 2009-10 when he averaged an anemic 2.5 points per game. If Robinson emerges as national player of the year, he will have posted the lowest first-year scoring average for any such honoree since the initial award by UPI in 1955.

Robinson, overshadowed last season (when he averaged a modest 7.6 ppg) by twins Markieff and Marcus Morris (combined for 30.8 PPG and 15.9 RPG before leaving school early to become NBA first-round draft choices), is a classic example why fans shouldn't put too much stock in freshman statistics. But Robinson is in plenty of good company among players who endured growing pains before blossoming into stars. He could be on the low end of the following list of nine national players of the year who averaged fewer than eight points per game in their first varsity campaign:

Shane Battier, F, Duke (7.6 ppg as freshman in 1997-98)
David Robinson, C, Navy (7.6 ppg as freshman in 1983-84)
*Sidney Wicks, F-C, UCLA (7.5 ppg as sophomore in 1968-69)
Marques Johnson, F, UCLA (7.2 ppg as freshman in 1973-74)
Jimmer Fredette, G, Brigham Young (7 ppg as freshman in 2007-08)
Danny Ferry, F-C, Duke (5.9 ppg as freshman in 1985-86)
Gary Bradds, C, Ohio State (4.7 ppg as sophomore in 1961-62)
Ed O'Bannon, F, UCLA (3.6 ppg as freshman in 1991-92)
Kenyon Martin, C, Cincinnati (2.8 ppg as freshman in 1996-97)
* Junior college recruit.