Dick Harmon: How wide-spread is Jimmer's popularity?

"That's the best thing, you can tell how good a player is, I mean I remember Illinois' coach talked about one of his players got a lot of publicity and it ruined him. That's not Jimmer."

Today's TCU-BYU game will be interesting on another Jimmer front.

The last time BYU played the Frogs in Provo, TCU's best athlete, Ronnie Moss, guarded Fredette and did a great job, holding the Cougar to 21 points on 6-of-16 shooting. However, Moss got kicked off TCU's team since then. How will that impact today's game?

Another issue: How will officials manage Fredette's defenders? It came into focus this past week after Air Force and Utah got physical with the national player of the year candidate. That physicality seemed to escalate after Fredette made all 16 free throws against UNLV in Provo.

Experts, including coaches and veteran officials, admit Fredette is a tough player to officiate.

I asked BYU coach Dave Rose if Fredette's size works against him — people don't knock him off a line easily.

"I think it's a combination of his size and strength and his agility, his ability to get between people," answered the coach.

"I think the most frustrating thing for him is when he kind of slides through guys and there's a second and third defender and there's contact. The initial contact, I think he really of expects it, but when he gets hit when trying to finish, hopefully he's protected."

Good answer.

But I know four people in Dallas who won't know about it or care.

e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com