Coach Bob Knight, I mean reporter, Bob Knight. Bobby Knight or should I call him Bob Knight has just signed on with ESPN to do analysis of the upcoming NCAA tournament. While I believe his expertise will be fantastic and his charisma will shine through, I find it amazing that ESPN will eat this much crow to get him on board.

I hope they let him interview some of the coaches and that one coach gives him the same type of smart aleck answer he used to give. That could be very interesting television indeed.

Sticking with analysts, heard Jay Bilas going off on the flawed system the selection committee uses to select the teams for the tournament. While I agree with some of his comments, especially this over talk about “rpi “and last “ten games,” he needs to understand that the excitement of the tournament is generated by the underdogs who get a shot at the big boys on a neutral court. Contrary to what he believes, not everyone wants to see Duke in the Final Four eery year.

The day after Michigan State coach Tom Izzo blasted the Big Ten Network, his Spartans go blasted by Wisconsin. Izzo was complaining that their fans can’t see all of their games while the Network negotiates with the cable companies. Lucky for Coach Izzo fewer people can see his team.

Wisconsin put a pasting on the Spartans with Brian Butch leading the way. Butch connected on four three pointers. He seems to have continued his shooting touch from the game winning three at Indiana a couple of games back. Butch, who started the season 3-32 from behind the line has heated up in Big Ten action. Credit Coach Bo Ryan and his constant work with his post players to develop their scoring abilities away from the basket.

What once was a four team race for the title has turned into a three team battle royale between Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana.

Head coach Norm Roberts met with his athletic director Chris Monasch yesterday and was assured that he would be back next year. In four years he has had only one winning season and failed to make the Big East tournament last year.

However, he took over a complete mess from Mike Jarvis and inherited a program that was on probation. These days most coaches get three years to turn things around. If you are lucky you get four. In Roberts case he deserves five for taking on such a challenge. This year they have made progress while starting and playing as many as eight freshman.

On another note, heard Mike Jarvis on the radio the other day and it seems he has found God and wants another chance to coach. Should he be allowed to coach. Absoulutely!! But if college presidents are true to something other than the almighty dollar he should have to prove his desire to coach by starting in the lowest of levels. Maybe NJIT.

Here are some of the more intriguing NFL free agency rumors circulating the net right now:

- According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Saints are “very close” to acquiring Jets’ linebacker Jonathan Vilma. If healthy, Vilma could really upgrade the Saints’ undersized linebacker corps. He wasn’t a great fit in the Jets’ 3-4 scheme, but could be fantastic in the middle of New Orleans’ defense. (Once again, if he’s healthy.)

- More Saints news: NO has contacted the Giants about the availability of TE Jeremy Shockey. NY will probably rebuff, but remember all the talk following the Super Bowl about how the Giants might have been more focused without Shockey running his mouth? He would be fantastic in Sean Payton’s offense.

- NFL Network’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Michael Turner will visit the Falcons Friday. Turner would be a good fit in Atlanta with Jerious Norwood, but I can’t see them shelling out a ton of money early in free agency with so many holes to fill. The Lions are also reportedly interested.

Update: The Saints nabbed Vilma for a fourth round pick…A FOURTH ROUND PICK! Either his knees are shot or the Saints just got a hell of a steal.

- The story of the offseason thus far has been the Browns desire to sign QB Derek Anderson to a multi-year contract. They finally accomplished that feat Friday, inking DA to a three-year deal, which includes $14 mil in guaranteed money. Looks like the Brady Quinn era has been shelved for now.

- Cleveland also acquired Packers’ DL Corey Williams, who GB franchised last week. The Browns gave up a second rounder for Williams, but at least they fortified their d-line, which they were likely to do in the second round anyway.

- The Jets acquired former Carolina Panthers DT Kris Jenkins for a third and fifth round pick.

- The 49ers signed former Panther RB DeShaun Foster to a two-year, $1.8 million contract. I really like this move. With Frank Gore getting most of the carries, Foster should stay healthy and thus, productive.

- Redskins brought back their backup QB Todd Collins. He did very well down the stretch last season to get the Skins into the playoffs, but he was also best suited for Al Saunders’ offense. Will he fit in a West Coast scheme?

- New England re-signed “Mr. Patriot” LB Teddy Bruschi. It’s hard to think about the Pats’ LB corps getting even older next year, but even at 34, Bruschi can still play and obviously knows the scheme well.

The NFL’s free agency period kicked off Friday and I’m sure I’m not the only one geeked that another offseason is upon us. Are Michael Turner and Lance Briggs worth the big bucks? Who’s a sleeper in a brutal quarterback class? In my latest column for Bullz-Eye.com, I list the studs, duds and sleeper free agents for every position.

The Boston Globe blog is reporting that Sam Cassell has agreed to buyout terms with the Clippers and expects to sign with Boston once he clears waivers.

Reportedly, Cassell has no problem backing up Rajon Rondo and the C’s have said that they are looking for a veteran point guard. It seems like it would be a good fit, though it’s not clear just how much gas the 38 year-old Cassell has left in the tank. For the season, he’s averaging 12.8 points and 4.7 assists, so anchoring the Celtics’ second unit isn’t out of the question.

According to Rotoworld.com, Browns’ GM Phil Savage says that he’s fine with starting youngster Brady Quinn next season if Derek Anderson doesn’t accept the team’s multi-year contract.

Savage doesn’t expect Anderson to return if he passes on the three-year proposal currently on the table. The Browns don’t plan to match any deal Anderson gets in restricted free agency. “We can look in the mirror and know we put a strong offer out there,” Savage said. The Browns would be happy to take the first- and third-round picks they’d receive when Anderson signs an offer sheet, and appoint Brady Quinn as their 2008 starting QB.

This is quickly turning into the most intriguing offseason situations in the league. Reports have surfaced that Anderson wants a six-year deal, but the Browns don’t want to make that kind of commitment after trading a first rounder for Quinn last year. So the question becomes: Is any team willing to give up a 1st and a 3rd for Anderson?

For the last few years, Bill Simmons has been promoting himself as a GM prospect, claiming that his expertise in basketball (which he apparently developed by being a Clippers season ticket holder) and his willingness to take chances would make him a terrific GM. He started campaigning to be the Milwaukee Bucks’ next GM in a recent column and since then “dozens of emails” have “poured in” from fans in Wisconsin supporting his candidacy.

Maybe I won them over by describing their plight as “a cross between indifference and hell,” or by pointing out that “You couldn’t do worse!” Maybe they were inspired by my Obama-like rhetoric (“Vote Simmons in 2008! Yes We Can!”) or because I like Milwaukee and have always wanted to live there. These poor Bucks fans were like castaways drawing an SOS in the sand: In their beaten-down minds, a sports columnist who fancies himself the “Picasso of the ESPN.com Trade Machine” was their most appealing alternative in years.

Running an NBA team comes down to two things: patience and common sense. For instance, you can’t destroy your cap space by overpaying role players. That’s exactly what the Bucks did, spending more than $100 million on Bobby Simmons, Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric. And you can’t build for the present and the future at the same time. The Bucks did that, too, when they drafted Yi Jianlian last summer. Trying to juggle two agendas at once—contending and rebuilding—is, more than anything else, why the team is floundering now.

I lead the league in patience and common sense. I watch as much hoops as anyone. I won’t get suckered by tremendous upside potential, bad character guys, contract runs, lethargic big men or anyone with the same sour puss that Bunk had when McNulty started to rig the homeless murders on The Wire. I care about chemistry and body language as much as talent; you’d never see me roll the dice with the likes of Zach Randolph or Vince Carter, and you’d never see me overpay the likes of Mo Williams just because he was putting up big fantasy numbers on a bad team.

I am, on the other hand, partial to rookies who played for winning programs, produced in college or do one thing exceedingly well (say, rebounding or long-range shooting). I wouldn’t care if a prospect looked great in a workout; isn’t a 30-game college season the only workout anyone needs to see? I wouldn’t care if someone was two inches too short or 15 pounds too heavy, just that he was good. Kevin Love isn’t even a lottery lock these days, but so what if he can’t run or jump? He’s a surreal cross between Wes Unseld and Bill Laimbeer. Why pass on him for some project who looks good posting up a chair?

As for my other credentials, in 2005 I wrote that the Bucks should take Chris Paul instead of Andrew Bogut. In 2006, I won the NBA Cares Celebrity Fantasy League. In 2007, my preseason prediction (San Antonio over Cleveland in the Finals) came to pass. This year, I mastered the Trade Machine to the degree that it sent me an automated e-mail begging, “Leave me alone, I’m worn out.”

This may or may not have started out as a joke, but it seems to me that Simmons really thinks that writing a column for ESPN and being a fan of the NBA qualifies him to run a team. Or at least he’s starting to believe those emails.

Let me throw my hat into the ring. I’m actually from Wisconsin (Pewaukee, to be exact), played four years of college ball for Bo Ryan (the current Wisconsin coach) at UW-Platteville, started on his team that went undefeated to win the 1995 D3 National Championship, and was an Academic All-American my senior year. I also hold a degree in engineering (so I should be able to figure out the salary cap). Maybe I can’t compare Charlie Villanueva to a character on “The Wire” as quickly as Simmons can, but I’m more qualified to run a NBA team than he is.

Last night I got to see the Purdue Boilermakers up close for the first time in over a month. Last time I broadcast one of their games was on the road at Iowa. Yesterday they looked even better. Coming off the Indiana loss and 8 days to prepare and re-energize, the Boilermakers came out and took away anything Minnesota tried to do.

This is an average Minnesota team that Tubby Smith has led to the verge of an NCAA tourney bid. (They still need that marquee win. They have one shot left at Indiana.) However, Matt Painter’s crew showed the defensive tenacity that has them in the running for the Big Ten title. Starting the youngest line up in the country with four freshman doing most of the damage they have even exceeded his expectations.

Three more wins and the Boilermakers will have their 22 Big Ten title. For my money, Matt Painter is the National Coach of the Year hands down. No other coach has taken this many freshman (and none are one and done guys) and molded them into a team that can beat any one, anywhere. Just ask Wisconsin!

Moving down the road to South Bend, Luke Harangody has put up numbers for Notre Dame team that is threatening to win the Big East. He is averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. The only one who have better numbers are Hansbrough and Beasley. The former has a better supporting cast while the latter’s team is not doing as well. Don’t sleep on Harangody. If you do he may just knock the snot out of you.

Two coaches moving out, Mark Slonaker and Dean Keener. Slonaker was fired this week only two months removed from a road upset at USC. Keener will resign at the end of the year after failing to get James Madison moving in the right direction.

Speaking of firings, the Big Sky has suspended the three officials who worked the Idaho State-Montana game for one game. Are you kidding? After blowing the call they should be banned for the year. What do they lose? One game!! And they’ll just pick it up doing a game in another conference. Meanwhile, coaches lose jobs and careers. When are we going to start making officials accountable!!!