These days, there’s so much going on. It’s impossible to keep up with everything but let’s see what’s on my agenda anyway. In no particular order:

1.There’s a lot of talented freshmen in men’s college hoops right now but is anyone better than Kansas State’s Michael Beasley?  The 6-9 235 pound athletic lefty forward is averaging 25.7 PPG (fourth in nation) and 12.6 RPG (leads nation) for the 18-6 Wildcats in the Big 12. In a recent 37-point blowout win over Missouri, Beasley went for 40 and 17 rebounds. Just ridiculous.

This kid’s a beast. He can beat you inside and out. There’s no way to guard him. He’s the best player in the nation. I even have to agree with my Hard Hits colleague John “JPG” Giagnorio when he calls Beasley much better than former Texas standout Kevin Durant. They’re different players. One’s an athletic scorer who isn’t a wide body who gets many rebounds while the other is a house and projects even better in the NBA.

Teammate Bill Walker isn’t bad either netting over 16-a-game and nearly seven boards. Together, they’ve combined to lead the No.24 ranked Wildcats to an 8-2 conference record- tied for second with Texas half a game behind fourth ranked Kansas.

It should be interesting to see how Beasley and Co. fare down the stretch as March Madness arrives.

2.Just imagine if this Jason Kidd deal to Dallas didn’t get done and the NBA All-Star had to stay in New Jersey. To think that a two bit scrub like Devean George was holding it up. Now he’s been replaced by retired former Net Keith Van Horn and Trenton Hassell. Only in the NBA.

3.Is a soon to be 35 year-old Kidd really enough to put Mark Cuban’s Mavs over the top? Unless Dirk Nowitzki magicly turns into a dominant inside force, they’re still a soft perimeter oriented team. Also, how can both Kidd and Jason Terry co-exist? The other problem is that the West is so loaded that any of the higher seeds could get bounced out in the first round.

4.The trade for Mike Bibby was a smart move by the Hawks adding an experienced guard to a young athletic roster. It’s still amazing to think that a team seven under .500 is “going for it.” When was it exactly that the East became this bad? You have to cringe everytime you check the standings.

The sixth seeded Wizards, seventh seeded Nets and eighth seeded for now 76ers are a combined 16 under (71-87). The Hawks (21-28) have dropped four straight. Sadly, the 10 under Bulls and 11 under Pacers are still alive. When the 15 below Bucks and Bobcats are within four games, it speaks to just how pathetic it’s become.

Maybe the NBA needs to re-assess the playoff format and seed the top 16 teams. It would be a heck of a lot more fair to those much more competitive Western teams such as Houston and Portland who could be on the outside looking in.

Here’s what I say. If you can’t field a roster which finishes at least .500, then you don’t belong in the playoffs. It’s a joke just to even be 41-41 and qualify. That’s being generous. It’s high time David Stern stopped worrying about what his employees wear to games and started figuring a way to improve the playoff format. You just can’t take it seriously anymore.

5.Speaking of playoff formats which need addressing, how is it exactly that not one Southeast team will have more points than the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds. Figure the Flyers to get untracked too and wind up with more points than whoever wins that mediocre division. Maybe it’s time for everyone’s favorite weasel Gary Bettman to consider rewarding teams who have better regular seasons than division winners. If butt buddy Stern could do it, then why can’t the NHL commish?

6.Andy Pettite handled himself well earlier today during a one-hour conference call with reporters down in Tampa but can he please stop with the God references already?!?!?!?!?! Enough’s enough.

He’s still a lot more likeable than former buddy Roger Clemens but when you put that stuff into your body and lie, you automatically give up the right to talk about religion. We might’ve argued about much on a heated show last night but three of my co-hosts: Giagnorio, Nate Sousa and Rob Davis were right on the money about that.

7.Wonder how Clemens feels now about getting his day in court against Brian McNamee. How arrogant could you be?

8.I love all this talk about the Mets being the team to beat over Jimmy Rollins’ Phillies. That’s cause they are. Especially when you add Johan Santana to their roster. On paper at least anyway. They still got to beat the Phils on the field. Something they never did last September. Let’s wait until some real games are played.

9.It’s now nine and counting for Jim Calhoun’s UConn Huskies. The more I see of A.J. Price and emerging big man Hasheem Thabeet, the more I believe this team could go very far next month.

10.Remember when the Knicks had an actual watchable basketball team? Neither do I.

11.I sure wish I could find a way to score some tix to the Foo Fighters for tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden.

12.I like how our government can investigate Pats coach Bill Belichick for this Spy Gate nonsense but never really consider examining if there’s a steroid epidemic in the NFL like they have with baseball. Oh wait. That’s right. Football players are perfect. Almost forgot.

13.When does that same government with all these great politicians start fixing our inner ghettos? Would any of these elitists even step foot in those places? How come nobody ever wants to do anything about that problem? Because they’re either too scared or would rather ignore it like the plague. I’ve driven through a couple of poor areas to get to games down by St. George Ferry Terminal and it saddens me.

14.Four months till the Baby Bombers open up at Richmond County Bank Ballpark for their 10th season.

15.Remember the last time St. John’s had a good college basketball team? I kind of do but it feels like forever.

16.Somehow, the Devils are tied with Ottawa and Montreal for a share of the Eastern Conference lead. Amazing how things never seem to change over there. As long as Marty Brodeur is in goal, they will always remain competitive. 

17.It’s kind of amazing to think that Ted Nolan has his banged up team sitting only a point out of the final spot. They’re leading scorer is Mike Comrie, who will never be confused with Sidney Crosby. Bill Guerin’s performed very well as team captain notching a couple of more assists in a come from behind 3-2 home win over the Sharks today. Rick DiPietro might be cocky but he’s also a heck of a goalie.

It’s still hard to see that team getting in. Especially with the blueline suffering and not much firepower. How is it possible for a team which has scored 24 fewer goals than they’ve given up to be right there? It’s the coach.

18.If these Rangers continue to play the way they did this weekend, they’re still a team nobody would want to draw in the playoffs. Especially if King Henrik has it back together now that he’s got his brand new contract.

19.I still say the Canadiens have the best shot to knock off the Sens and come out of the East. They’re only one of the deepest teams in the conference with quality forwards, an underrated blueline and two capable goalies. Alexei Kovalev is playing some inspired hockey these days. Maybe that motorbike incident was a reality check.

Find me a more versatile center in the conference than Tomas Plekanec. Ditto for Long Island product Chris Higgins who can play center or wing. Those Kostistyns are pretty good around the net. Andrei Markov’s the best defenseman nobody talks about. And Roman Hamrlik was a suitable replacement for the injured again ex-Hab Sheldon Souray.

This is the best team Les Habitants have had since that 1993 team which Patrick Roy carried all the way to the Original Six franchise’s 24th Stanley Cup. It ironically is still the last Canadian team to win the Cup. Maybe that finally changes this year by the same team. Who would’ve ever considered it a possibility at the beginning of training camp?

20.Staten Island Moore Catholic product Kyle McAlarney continues to make a name for himself starring in the Notre Dame backcourt. Read SI Advance writer Cormac Gordon’s latest article on the 20 year-old junior guard whose averaging better than 15 points along with 3.7 assists for the Big East’s third best team which is ranked 21st in the country. He also shoots it 45.1 percent from downtown. He’s come a very long way since last year.

21.Just in case you missed St. Peter’s thrilling three-point comeback from 14 down over Curtis to win the SIHSL championship again, you need to check out the Advance’s video. It looked like a great game. Glad I can catch it anytime over on Digital Time Warner. That’s the cool thing about living out here. They always do a splendid job covering HS sports. It gave kids like McLarney exposure and gave it that extra appeal which made it- particularly that tournament all the more special.

22.If the Hoosiers were going to fire Kelvin Sampson for recruiting violations, it would’ve happened already. Kind of hypocritical from the same university who axed legendary coach Bob Knight. He might’ve been a hot head but the former IU coach who led the school to three national championships ran a clean program.

23.Wouldn’t it be ironic if Santana replacement Livan Hernandez somehow wound up with more victories than the Twins’ former lefty ace? Not to Mets fans.

24.Jason “DH” Giambi. Doug Mientkiewicz. Shelly Duncan. Morgan Ensberg. Wilson Betemit. Who’s on first again for the Pinstripes?