To know list: 6 things to make you an instant expert this week

[1] THE MAIN EVENT

Prep school reps are on the line

As they drew a collective deep breath before beginning their long sojourns into July recruiting, plenty of college basketball coaches got a chance to exhale when they saw the NCAA's list of 16 prep schools from which the organization will not accept core credits.

Not a lot of heavy hitters on there, for sure.

More important, the NCAA released a "watch list" of 22 schools whose prospects will be cleared for entry in the 2006-07 freshman class, although those schools still face some issues in this evaluation process. That list reads like a who's who of prep school basketball--it includes Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg, Mass; The Patterson School of Lenoir, N.C.; St. Thomas More of Oakdale, Conn.; Fork Union Military of Virginia; and, indeed, the granddaddy of them all, Virginia's Oak Hill Academy.

Players who competed at those schools and are scheduled to be freshmen this year will not face any scrutiny beyond that customarily paid to test scores and core courses. The list of players includes Paul Harris (Syracuse), Tywon Lawson (North Carolina) and Hashim Bailey (Memphis).

Whether this will cause any problems for players attending these prep schools and high schools in 2006-07 is unclear. The NCAA says these schools "cooperated in the review process" but that question remains. This is no small issue.

The NCAA has done well with this evaluation process. It has not taken the slash-and-burn approach it used with similar projects in previous years, such as the implementation of Proposition 48 and the introduction of the eligibility clearinghouse. The idea itself is sound, given what various news outlets have told us about the legitimacy of some prep schools.

Oak Hill and Fork Union are not the sort of places that truly need investigation, and they are not pleased to be put in a sort of limbo. But whatever the NCAA's remaining questions are, it's better to inform incoming freshmen and the programs accepting those players that everything is fine for them. When the NCAA finishes its work, you can expect that many of the schools that remain under examination will be in the clear.--Mike DeCourcy

[2] WORLD CUP

Coming to America?

With the completion of this year's World Cup, we've likely seen the last of three megastars on soccer's biggest stage: Zinedine Zidane, who was disgraced with a red card ejection in ostensibly his final game for France; David Beckham, who has given up his captaincy of England's team; and Ronaldo, who, though he'll be only 33 in 2010, looked overweight and out of shape.

But American fans always can dream about the possibility of seeing one of these players at a nearby stadium--think of it like Magic, Bird or M.J. headed overseas in the twilight of his career. Beckham says he has entertained the thought of playing in America in a couple of years. There were recent rumors that the New York Red Bulls of the MLS unsuccessfully tried to lure Ronaldo to the States with a $120 million deal. And last Sunday, The New York Times reported Zidane might reconsider his retirement plans and join the Red Bulls.--Benson Taylor

[3] YOU HEARD IT HERE

The good

'My money remains on the Pistons.'

--NBA Insider Ira Winderman (page 76)

The bad

'What is Greg Anderson hiding? We don't have to be thought readers to figure it out.'

--Dave Kindred (page 80)

And the ugly

'Some guys just pee down their leg out there practicing. Hell, I do it.'

--Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder (page 52)

[4] TELEVISION

A plan only a (remote) control freak could love

For the couch potato who has everything comes DirecTV's new Titanium package. A mere $7,500 a year gets you everything that airs on the satellite TV service. That's every out-of-market sports package, every pay-per-view event, every regional sports network. Oh, and you get all the pay-per-view movies and adult programs, too--diversions you might not mind having at your disposal once you've tired of Ultimate Fighting Championship events and a dozen different regional FOX Sports Net channels playing Best Damn Sports Show at the same time.--Seth Elkin

[5] QUICK CLICKS

You wanna make a free and legal bet?

Make things interesting without putting any money on the line at PicksPal.com. The site offers a free same in which you make picks about what will happen in sports events. There are some straight points-spread picks, but the baseball on the site is dominated by details: Which team will hit the first homer of the game? Which starting pitcher will have more innings pitched plus strikeouts? Will Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter both get a hit in the first inning?

You're given 1,000 points to wager with each day, and if you accumulate enough points in a week, you can win sports or concert tickets from TicketsNow.com. During the NCAA Tournament, PicksPal gave away a 42-inch plasma TV. The site also lets you set up leagues, so you can invite friends and nobody has to wait for March Madness to play a quick and easy pick 'em game.--S.E.