I thought The Reluctant Fundamentalist was exquisite.

  The U of L basketball team received its highest ranking of the summer thus far when CBS Sportsline's Gary Parrish pegged the Cards as the second best team in the country in his ridiculously early top 26. While I wouldn't expect us to be ranked quite this high when the actual polls start coming out (five seems about right), this does raise what will likely be the biggest question of the inevitable and equitable "North Carolina and the Pips" preseason: Who's numero dos?

If Pitt gets Mike Cook for another year then I'll probably become a Jamie Dixon and the gang lean, but there are no less than eight or nine team that you could make legitimate cases for.

If you just pretend Hansbrough, Lawson, Green and Ellington all left, then things are a lot more fun.

   The news is decidedly less exciting on the football front, where the team has lost two more players. Defensive lineman - and Michigan transfer/Central High product - James McKinney has been dismissed from the program, and offensive lineman C.J. Millenbaugh has left the team for "personal reasons."

  Harry Douglas signed a four-year deal with the Falcons over the weekend, the financial terms of which were not disclosed. Douglas is reportedly already generating quite a buzz in Atlanta, and the coaching staff is coming up with more ways to incorporate him into the offense at the slot.

I miss Harry.

   The Louisville/Duke lawsuit story has been covered by every blogger in the world looking for an easy joke, but this headline did make me chuckle.

   The Big East Basketball Report has a, uh, report of 2010 recruit Tobias Harris' recent visit to Louisville. The Half Hollows Hills West (NY) forward is also looking at Arizona, Indiana, Connecticut, Maryland and St. John's, among others.

  Like teammate Justin Marks, co-Big East Player of the Year Chris Dominguez is spending his summer playing in the elite Cape Cod League. The burly third baseman has produced consecutive multi-hit games for the Hyannis Mets.

  And finally, Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman has a comprehensive list of Division-1A transfers (UALR Solomon? Really?). He also expects former Indiana guard Armon Bassett to wind up with Huggy Bear in Morgantown.