No, the interesting thing here is not which team will win -- Texas will, easily -- but the margin of victory therein. In past years, Iowa keeps this competitive. At the best times in the Steve Alford era, they might even have beaten some of Rick Barnes' Texas teams.

These are not the best times for Iowa. After three of Todd Lickliter's best players (the term best being used relatively here, because Iowa was bad in 2008-09, too), things are looking very down for Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 1-2 on the young season. The season debut was a loss to Texas-San Antonio by 12 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The next game was also at CHA, when Iowa lost 52-50 to Duquesne. The Hawkeyes managed to bounce back and handily beat Bowling Green on Friday night, but those two early losses don't bode well. And any observer can look at the 2009-10 Hawkeyes and see a team made up of sophomore Matt Gatens and absolutely nothing else.

Meanwhile, Texas is ranked No. 3 in the country. They're loaded with returning and transferred talent, and have one of the best recruiting classes in the country. In other words, they're Texas.

Which means there's an awfully good chance Iowa gets absolutely crushed. The current Vegas odds -- not that anyone would gamble on collegiate sports, of course -- have Iowa at +15.5, which seems drastically low. Texas could win by 40. The disparity in talent is just that great.

So, go ahead, math whizzes. Predict the final outcome in the comments, and get a respectful nod from yours truly after the fact if you manage to call the final score correctly. Either way, this could get ugly.

Last year's record: 23-13, 9-7 SEC

2009-10's toughest games: at UCLA, Kentucky, at LSU, Tennessee

Primary attraction: As Rick Stansbury deals with Renardo Sidney (or the lack thereof), can the Bulldogs fulfill their promise?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Re-nar-do! Re-nar-do! Re. Nar. Dooooooo! Uh, Renardo? Much of the 2009-10 season will hinge on whether Rick Stansbury's great gambit -- signing Renardo Sidney amidst eligibility suspicions after Sidney's attempts at landing at USC and UCLA failed -- works or not. Thus far, things aren't looking good. The Bulldogs are two games into the 2009-10 season, and Sidney is still ineligible. The NCAA wants more documents from the Sidney family in order to prove they weren't receiving money for their mortgage while they lived in California; meanwhile, Sidney's lawyer, Don Jackson, seems more intent on making a name for himself than doing right by his client, whose best interests involve playing basketball as soon as possible. Whether Sidney can't get eligible and Jackson knows it or Jackson is merely stalling in an attempt to raise his own profile is as yet unknown. What is known is that the Bulldogs need Sidney, and Sidney needs the Bulldogs. They need each other, and soon.

2. Meanwhile, MSU's frontcout is just fine. Of course, Sidney would merely be the icing on an already pretty tasty Bulldog frontcourt cake. Mmm. Bulldog frontcourt cake. This cake is primarily composed of Jarvis Varnado, who led the country in blocks and block percentage last year. Varnado is a future NBA draft pick who -- get this -- offered to give up his scholarship, play his final year as a walk-on, and pay the $5,000 or so for tuition so Stansbury could have enough scholarships to sign Sidney and fellow center John Riek, a four-star recruit in 2008 who couldn't play at Cincinnati last year thanks to academic issues. Varnado's family's selflessness gave Stansbury the chance to load his team just in time for his senior's final farewell. At least Riek is cleared to play; Varnado's gift hasn't been a complete waste.

3. Distractions. Already, distractions. Look at the content of this Hunt. Thus far, the interesting things have been about Rick Stansbury and Jarvis Varnado's equally risky decisions to open their Bulldog arms to a player who may or may not even be eligible to play. This is a shame, because the Bulldogs -- with or without Sidney -- are legitimate SEC contenders. Only Kentucky and Tennessee have better talent, and Varnado's ability to change team's game plans defensively, along with a trio of outside three-point shooters (Barry Stewart, Ravern Johnson and Phil Turner combined for 36 percent from the field last season), give the Bulldogs a legitimate chance at SEC supremacy. Look at it this way: Mississippi State returns all five starters, and the only Bulldog anyone talks about might never put on the uniform.

Stansbury did this to himself. He tweaked the formula, got greedy and went for it all. Let's see if it pays off.

Bonus: This is what Jarvis does.

Varnado is the sort of shotblocker who can stop powerful drives with either hand, and who doesn't just try to swat the ball into the stands. He does only what it takes to stop the shot, and then he gathers it if possible. Your high school basketball coach would love Jarvis Varnado. Then again, who wouldn't?

It was just a few weeks ago that Syracuse fans were lamenting a loss to Division II LeMoyne in an exhibition game. Friday night, they watched as the Orange not only beat but beat up North Carolina, the No. 4 team in the country. This win was just after Syracuse's demolition of the No. 12-ranked Cal Bears. Neither game was close, and if ESPN didn't have those little numbers next to each team's name during broadcasts, casual viewers could be forgiven for thinking the Orange were the best team in the country. For two nights, they looked the part.

Are Syracuse fans appropriately excited? Why, yes. Yes they are. Allow Sean at Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician to show you the ways:

We're really f***king good, you guys.

See? Told you they were jacked.

Honestly, right now there isn't a team with a better resume so far than the Orange.  Because of the stupid preseason polls and the way everyone is a moron about them, the Orange will end up ranked No. 12 or something like that on Monday.  But as far as I'm concerned, they're the No. 1 team in the nation.  Kansas, Duke, Michigan State...they haven't done jack sh*t compared to Wes Johnson and the Orange.

Speaking of Wes...wow.  The rumors?  True.  The potential?  There.  The excitement?  Palpable.

Yes, 'Cuse fans are mighty pleased, as they should be. Their favorite college basketball team is your Week 1 winner -- and a pretty good argument for waiting to rank college hoops teams until the fourth or fifth week of the season. Oh well. The basketball is good enough.

Villanova 79, Ole Miss 67: Villanova was the best team in Puerto Rico, and for most of the tournament, they played like the best team in Puerto Rico. Still, winning this preseason tournament is good result for a team that expects to win the Big East in 2009-10; nothing about Villanova's performance over the past week insinuates the team will perform otherwise. Anyway, Scottie Reynolds had 21 for the Wildcats Sunday night, while Corey Stokes had 18 and Antonio Pena had 17 points and 16 rebounds. The Wildcats had 79 points on 83 possessions and rebounded 41 percent of their misses on the offensive end, which was the deciding factor in the game. Given how high-octane the Wildcats will be in 2009-10, rebounding at that rate offensively will make them incredibly dangerous. Let's see if they can keep it up.

Kansas State 83, Dayton 75: Speaking of teams justifying their preseason hype in Puerto Rico: Dayton. The Flyers entered the season ranked higher (at No. 18) than they have at any time in recent history. They have some proving to do. And they did so in our fine sunny commonwealth to the south, beating a Derrick Favors-led Georgia Tech team before losing a close game to Villanova and Sunday night's loss to Kansas State. Dayton will have to beat teams like K-State if it expects any sort of late-season tourney seed love, but it would also be nice if the selection committee took into account the fact that Kansas State shot an 84 percent free throw rate last night; they went to the line 28 times in the second half and 44 times overall. To illustrate, behold this chart, which tracks the four factors of winning:

Dayton could have done more on the offensive rebounding front, but they didn't play that poorly. They just ... gave up a ton of free throws. It happens, I guess?

Georgia Tech 85, Boston U. 67: Hey, there's the Georgia Tech we all know and love. A team with Derrick Favors, one of the best recruits in the country, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. A team with depth, with Zachery Peacock, who scored 22 points off the bench. A team willing to play pressure defense. And so on. Georgia Tech's stock might have slid after their loss to Dayton Thursday, but there's still plenty of time for this team to figure things out. Once they do, look out. Derrick Favors is totally going to dunk on your head.

Elsewhere: Indiana fans are starting to kind of/sort of freak out about their team's three losses this weekend, as the Hoosiers fell 69-66 to George Mason Sunday night ... Louisville played a perhaps-too-offensive game with Morgan, winning 90-81 ... Iowa State continued its high-flying ways, scoring 95 on Missouri Valley State ... James Madison handed another loss to Isiah Thomas and FIU ... and Purdue easily handled St. Joe's in the Virgin Islands. But I want to go to the Virgin Islands! Totes not fair, you guys.

It's just after 4 p.m. on the east coast on the 12th day of the college basketball season and, so far, members of the Big East conference have yet to lose a game. Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, South Florida, St. John's, Syracuse and Villanova: They're all undefeated, a collective 36-0 so far in the young 2009-2010 season.

Yeah, a lot of those games have been played against the standard early season cupcakes like Marist and Prarie View A&M, but for an entire 16-team conference to play 36 games without a blemish is still an impressive feat. And it's not like every game was a guaranteed victory: Louisville beat Arkansas, Syracuse beat Cal, South Florida beat Virginia, Georgetown beat Temple, Villanova beat George Mason and, most impressively, DePaul (winless in the conference last year) stunned defending Missouri Valley champs Northern Iowa.

We wanted to post this now because given this evening's slate of games, there's a good chance the Big East won't make it to the weekend without a loss. Villanova just tipped off against No. 21 Dayton, while Syracuse plays tonight against the defending national champs, North Carolina.

The Cram Session is a semi-daily melange of last night's most important hoops action.

Syracuse 95, California 73: A couple of weeks ago, Syracuse lost a game to Division II LeMoyne Dolphins. Yes, it was just an exhibition game, but the loss was emphatic -- how disorganized would the Cuse have to be to lose to such an inferior outfit? And what, if anything, did the loss mean for the Orangemen going forward? Turns out not much: Syracuse crushed No. 13 California at Madison Square Garden last night, and it was never close. The Cuse's offense was especially impressive, scoring 95 points in 80 possessions and firing off an effective field goal percentage of 64.3 percent. Wesley Johnson's game (17 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks, had a lot to do with that, but really Syracuse was dominant everywhere and on both ends -- pressing and stretching Cal on defense and making efficient and gorgeous use of possession on offense. If it wasn't safe before, now it is. LeMoyne was a fluke.

North Carolina 77, Ohio State 73: You know it's a good hoops game when it gets the roommate stamp of approval. When I can sit in the living room and watch and when a roommate wanders through on a Thursday night, he doesn't ask how I feel about watching our DVR'd episodes of "Parks and Recreation" and "Community"; he just sits down and starts watching the game. Last night's game -- in which Ohio State and Evan Turner cut a large UNC lead down to size in the final minute, pushing the Tar Heels to the brink -- was one such affair. Evan Turner was both the cause of and solution to all of Ohio State's problems; he had 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists and also 10 turnovers, which is way too many for a putative point guard. (To put this in reference, Ohio State only had 16 total turnovers. Turner is dominating the ball, and not always for the best.) The Heels were more balanced, with four scorers in double figures offensively, while Ed Davis shone especially bright. Davis's touch around the rim seems to get better every game.

Villanova 69, George Mason 68: Poor George Mason. A 13-point lead in the second half. Several VIllanova contributors fouled out. A reserve who'd never shot a ball in a 'Nova uniform before shoots the ball in the final seconds, and yep, you guessed it: he makes the shot, George Mason loses, and the Wildcats escape an upset bid from Jim Larranaga's team. Scottie Reynolds had 18 points but eight turnovers, so he can join Team Turner on the island of misfit turnover-prone point guards for a night. The win could have put Mason back on the map -- we had a whole "George Mason is the new George Mason" post ready to go -- but failing that, it's still an awfully good loss for GMU, one that portends success throughout the 2009-10 campaign. This isn't the last you've heard from Larranaga.

Kentucky 102, Sam Houston St. 92: John Calipari's not happy about this. While the Cats scored 102 points on 82 possessions -- good for an otherwordly 1.24 points per possession -- they didn't play a lick of perimeter defense, allowing Sam Houston's Corey Allmond to break a Rupp Arena record for made three-pointers with 11. Allmond finished with 37 points and Sam Houston scored 92 in 82 possessions against the Cats, a win that feels more like a loss for Kentucky fans who expect their defenses to smother and destroy (especially a defense featuring this much athleticism). Calipari's teams have always figured it out, but is this one too young? (I don't think so, but sometimes rhetorical questions increase the suspense. And they're fun!)

Everywhere else: As previously noted, Dayton got a big win over Georgia Tech in the middle of the day, even though nobody saw it ... UNC-Wilmington topped Penn State, which does not bode well for Talor Battle and company's bid to follow last year's NIT win into the NCAA tournament this year ... Ole Miss had no problems with a lackluster Indiana squad ... Wofford followed its win over Georgia Tech with a thrashing of some school I've never, ever seen before ... Boston U. fell to Kansas State in the first round in Puerto Rico ... and No. 1 Kansas rolled over Central Arkansas at home, 94-44.

Last year's record: 30-7 (11-5, ACC)

2009-2010's toughest games: Arizona State, NIT final/consolation vs. Connecticut or LSU, at Wisconsin, vs. Gonzaga, at Georgetown

Primary attraction: Because no matter how much you can't stand them, you know you can't turn away.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. It's Duke -- Before you comment about any perceived anti-Duke bias, remember this: The Hunt set out to find "the most interesting team in the world" and this Duke team isn't very interesting. They're going to be good, yes. But there's little to separate this version of the Blue Devils from the other editions from the past quarter-century. They'll be fundamentally sound. They'll play smart basketball. They'll win 25 games. They'll get more calls than they don't. Coach K will scowl. The Cameron Crazies will be alternately obnoxious and clever. Kyle Singler is going to be an All-American. Dick Vitale will talk about how much he loves Steve Wojciechowski and will then comment that it's a crime J.J. Redick doesn't get more PT in the NBA. Somebody will slap the floor. We've seen this movie before.

2. Holes? -- Listening to some of the people hyping Duke this year, you'd almost forget that the Blue Devils lost its best player (Gerald Henderson), an up-and-coming guard (Elliot Williams) and a senior starter-turned off the bench threat (Greg Paulus). But the departures of the latter two create some serious thinness at guard for Coach K. Jon Scheyer isn't a true point and Nolan Smith has been streaky, at best, during his two years in Durham. Things are a better in the frontcourt, where Singler will line-up with 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek and freshman Mason Plumlee (when he returns from injury), but the forward-heavy lineup may force Krzyzewski to do the unthinkable and play some zone defense at Cameron.

3. Ending the drought -- It's been five years since Duke played in a regional final. For a team has the greatest college basketball coach of all-time (yeah, I said it) and starts more McDonald's All-Americans than entire conferences, that's a stunning statistic. Though the aforementioned holes might give Duke some trouble during the regular season, I have a feeling that this is the year the Blue Devils get out of their NCAA tournament funk.

Duke basketball in 90 seconds: I made it seven seconds before turning it off. How long can you stand it? This should have been a Fear Factor competition.

You probably didn't see the game. I know I didn't. For whatever reason, our friends at ESPN decided to go with Colin Cowherd on ESPNU, and none of the Full Court packages were carrying the game, either. Which means that No. 18 Dayton played No. 21 Georgia Tech in Puerto Rico, and nary a person saw it. Is this like the rule people make about cheating on their significant others when they're on vacation? If the game happens on an island, does it really count?

To the eventual NCAA selection committee, yes, and certainly to Flyers fans, whose team just topped a very talented Georgia Tech squad in rather impressive fashion. The Flyers lead for almost the entire game, and despite a second-half push from Tech mustered a 63-59 win. Sophomore guard Chris Johnson led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets' Derrick Favors was slightly disappointing, at least according to my handy box score; Favors had 10 points and seven rebounds, but only attempted six field goals and four free throws in 40 minutes of basketball. If Favors plans to be a star worthy of his hype -- and his top NBA draft status -- he'll need many more looks than that. And if Georgia Tech plans on saving Paul Hewitt's job this season, it'll need to do a better job getting Favors those looks. 

But the real hype-fulfillment scenario here is Dayton, who are ranked in the top 25 for the first time in ages. Today, the Flyers their first step toward justifying it.

Tuesday and Thursday's college basketball schedules were like the two halves of a delicious, toasted everything bagel. Wednesday was like the nasty hazelnut cream cheese spread in the middle. (Sorry, I'm projecting. That happened to me this morning. I still haven't gotten over it. Who buys hazelnut cream cheese and tries to pass it off as regular?)

Anyway, today's sked features Georgia Tech-Dayton, North Carolina-Ohio State and Syracuse-California. Yesterday's had Butler-Northwestern. But, as always, The Dagger can always find the bright side of any dreary college basktball day:

Cornell 74, Massachusetts 61 -- Cornell. Ever heard of it? You better, because the Big Red are for real. Wins over Alabama and Massachusetts bode well for the team's bid to win a third straight Ivy League title and bring the conference its first NCAA tournament win since 1998. For UMass, Ricky Harris had a historic night, moving past both Julius Ervin and Marcus Camby on the Minutemen's alll-time scoring list (he's now 12th).

Cincinnati 92, Toledo 68-- Lance Stephenson was much better in his second game, dropping 16 points in an easy Bearcat win over Toledo.

Oral Roberts 83, Stanford 81 -- Since beginning his head coaching 10-0, former Duke star and Mike Krzyzewski disciple Johnny Dawkins has seen his Stanford squad go 11-16, including two early 2009 losses to San Diego and Oral Roberts. Dominique Morrison scored 31 for the Golden Eagles, while Landry Fields got 28 in defeat.

Last year's record: 23-11, 10-8 Big East

2009-10's toughest games: Purdue, Ohio State, Louisville, at Villanova

Primary attraction: Future lottery pick Devan Ebanks leads Bob Huggins back to the top.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. The Huggins days of yore. It wasn't all that long ago that Bob Huggins was at the top of the college coaching profession. His Cincinnati teams were almost always national contenders, as Huggins pieced together junior college transfers and high-profile recruits to create one of the best programs in the country. But Huggy Bear's style has its fair share of deficiencies. For one, Huggins's players were never known for their academics, and his program's infamous zero percent graduation rate was a frequent story. Which is fine when you're winning, as long as you're staying out of trouble. But Huggins wasn't, and didn't. A 2004 DUI -- in which Huggins gave cops the classic "Do you know who I am?" while vomit lined his Lexus door -- was the beginning of the end of his career at Cincinnati.

Now Huggins has a whole new lease on coaching life. He's commandeered his alma mater in the wake of John Beilein's defection to Michigan, and he's done so in classic Huggins style: with talent. 2008-09 was the year that talent revealed itself in a crowded Big East. This year, West Virginia wants more.

2. His name sounds like the name for a bank some start-up guy could have thought of in 1995. If the Mountaineers are going to get it, it will be thanks largely to how dominant Devin Ebanks is. Make no mistake, this will be Ebanks's last year on campus, as he's projected to be a top five pick by many draft experts. That makes sense: Ebanks is a super-athletic, versatile three guard who can shoot from the outside almost as well as he flies to the rim. Ebanks had a breakout year in 2008-09. Whether WVU does more in 2009-10 will be largely up to how much he's improved in the summer since. Either way, enjoy it while it lasts. (And in the meantime, keep an eye out for Ebanks, who missed WVU's first game with "personal problems." Such is the curse of Huggins-ness.)

3. Casey Mitchell. At the risk of relying too heavily on name jokes, no, Casey Mitchell isn't a character from a b-movie about minor league baseball. Instead, he's Huggins's major recruit of 2009. Mitchell was the National Juco Player of the Year in 2008-09, averaging 21 points per game for Chipola Junior College; his recruitment was huge for a team that lost its three-point specialist, guard Alex Ruoff. The Mountaineers are set in the frontcourt, with Ebanks and senior leader Da'Sean Butler. What they needed was another guard, and what they got was a good one.

Bonus: Bob Huggins's finest hour.

Let he who has not shown up to a fundraiser with a gigantic shiner -- suffered while walking to the bathroom late at night -- cast the first stone.

Bob Huggins is tremendous.

The Wofford Terriers are making a different case. Tuesday night, Wofford -- a tiny liberal arts college in Spartanburg, S.C. -- upset Georgia in Athens, 60-57. That would be case enough for a little Wofford love, but all right, I get it. You're skeptical. "Georgia's rebuilding," you say. "Anyone could have upset them at home," you say. I disagree.

But, for the sake of argument, I also present to you last Friday's 63-60 loss to Pittsburgh. The Terriers held a 13-point lead in the second half over Pitt before things began to unravel, but still, the point stands. In their two games thus far this season, Wofford has beaten one power-conference school and barely lost to another. If this is the time of the year that only college hoops die-hards really care about -- that pre-Thanksgiving outpost when, while the rest of your friends ignore college hoops, you scout from a distance in preparation for March -- file Wofford away. The Terriers just might have more for us in a few months' time.

Extra Onions is a roundup of college hoops stuff from around the 'Webs. As always, email or follow me on Twitter to send along links I should see.

• Everybody loves Josh. Josh Pastner's introduction to the public could have gone a lot worse: Pastner's coaching performance was reserved, competent, and had Stone Phillips-level gravitas. It was easy to forget Pastner is merely 31 and in his first head coaching role (that is, until a roommate walks in the room and says, "What is this guy, 14?"). In any case, the world is signing Josh Pastner's praises today, from old-school guys like Alexander Wolff to our bloggy friends at Deadspin, who deem Pastner "last night's winner." Look at Josh. All grown up!

• Meet Scottie Reynolds. Again. Scottie Reynolds is awesome on the basketball court. His family story -- which is new to me -- is pretty awesome, too.

• "Possibly never -- Digger Phelps." Yet Another Basketball Blog's Dan Hanner has the must-read recap of yesterday's marathon.

• Evan Turner: Good at basketball. This is an obvious statement, but Seth Davis's breakdown of exactly what Turner is doing to the positional nature of college hoops is interesting stuff all the same. Before the season's over, Evan Turner could lead a revolution.

Briefly: Storming the Floor posts last night's chat; Searching For Billy Edelin takes note of what has thus far been a disappointing start for the SEC; Gary Parrish notes that tonight Rhode Island will be the 347th of 347 teams to play a 2009-10 basketball game this season; UM Hoops is happy to see Manny Harris get some love; and Casual Hoya hands out a set of very sardonic awards for the Hoyas after last night's near-disaster against Temple.

But if we do tire of Isiah Thomas, college coach, it won't be Zeke's fault. Exhibit A: The following quote, taken after last night's game, an 88-82 FIU win over NAIA team Florida Memorial:

“It feels great,” Thomas said. “Every coach, when he or she starts, especially after you’ve lost three games, you start wondering if you’re ever going to win a game. I told the guys at halftime, ‘I don’t care how we win. I just want to win the game, go home, rub my dog, wake up in the morning and see the sun.”’

Here comes the sun ... do do do dooo ... here comes the sun ... and I sayyyy ... it's all right ... do do do do do. I feel you, Zeke. Isiah feels like George Harrison, just before and after the Beatles broke up. With considerably fewer hallucinogens, probably.

Here's another example. Tuesday night, star freshman forward Thomas Robinson -- whom Rivals called one of the elite rebounders in his class -- played a mere two minutes. Why? Because the man in front of him, Cole Aldrich, is too good to take out of the game. Per Bill Self:

"Thomas didn’t get a chance to play because if he played, then Cole can’t, because he (Robinson) can’t chase a guard around," KU coach Bill Self said. Cole Aldrich, who earned MVP honors, scored 18 points with 11 rebounds and five blocks in 30 minutes.

OK, so there is obviously strategy involved here. Robinson is a bit more of a lumberer than is Aldrich, and Memphis was throwing four and sometimes five guards at the Jayhawks, because Memphis's team is primarily made up of guards. Adding Robinson would have been a liability. I get that.

Still. Robinson would be a starter at almost any other school in the country. Heck, most of Kansas's bench would, and that includes fellow top recruit Elijah Johnson and bench forward Markieff Morris. These are really good players, and the fact that Bill Self can take them off the bench to sub in for guys like Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich, and Xavier Henry is a luxury few college basketball teams have. Not just in 2009. Like, ever.

Now they just have to play like it. Easy, right?

The Cram Session is a semi-daily melange of last night's most important hoops action. I just turned on my TV, and there are no college basketball games on. The marathon is over already? But it just started to get good!

Michigan State 75, Gonzaga 71: Gonzaga basketball will be just fine. Anyone worrying that the Zags were due for a down year -- and missing Josh Heytvelt, Jeremy Pargo and lottery pick Austin Daye means those fears were well-founded -- can relax. Gonzaga went in to Michigan State and played with the Spartans for 40 minutes, losing only because Michigan State has a very, very good point guard named Kalin Lucas. Perhaps you've heard of him. Lucas scored big basket after big basket down the stretch for the Spartans, and Durrell Summers had a career-high 21 points, as the Spartans escaped with a win in front of a typically insane Breslin Center crowd. But Gonzaga? Yeah, the Bulldogs will be OK.

Kansas 57, Memphis 54: Speaking of looking OK, how about Memphis? It's unusual to see a Memphis team with inferior talent take the court, but this Memphis team wasn't just inferior to Kansas. They will be inferior to plenty of teams this year, at least until they get into the gooey warmth of that C-USA schedule. But it works. Memphis works. They're still chaotically organized on offense, and they still rely on guard play -- Memphis has few bigs to speak of; at times, Cole Aldrich looked like he stepped on to the wrong court -- but it worked. Memphis's Achilles heel under John Calipari has always been outside shooting, but with the plethora of guards on the floor at any time, if Memphis makes deep shots like they did in the second half Tuesday night, they'll be just fine, too.

Meanwhile, Kansas didn't play all that well. Like, at all. They'll blow out teams better than Memphis this year; the whole was ugly, but there were plenty of flashes in the meantime.

Tennessee 124, UNC-Asheville 49: As my colleague Chris said via email last night, this is one fascinating box score. The halftime score was 66-14. Read that again. Tennessee opened an 18-0 lead to begin the game. Asheville didn't score a field goal -- get this -- until three minutes left in the first half. Did you read what I just wrote? Asheville scored exactly 14 points in 20 minutes of basketball. I didn't watch the game, so I can't confirm there was actually 20 minutes of basketball played, but Tennessee's tally seems to confirm it. And even when Bruce Pearl took his starters out early in the second half, the points kept coming. I have no idea how this sort of thing happens; there is no way UNC-Asheville is 75 points worse than Tennessee, right? Right?

Louisville 96, Arkansas 66: Is Rick Pitino not merciful? ESPN's Pat Forde asked when, exactly, Pitino would take his starters out and ease up on Arkansas's Mark Pelphrey, who is playing with depleted eight-deep lineup in the wake of rape-allegation-related suspensions. Pitino didn't really ease up until there were five minutes left, which is not the most diabolical thing in the world; coaches often like to twist the knife a bit longer. Perhaps Pitino feels a big of scandalized solidarity with Pelphrey. Either way, his team hit 16 threes and doesn't look like it will miss all that much with the losses of Earl Clark and Terrence Williams.

Sundry others: If there was a theme Tuesday night, it was power teams struggling against lesser foes; such was the case with Georgetown, which struggled to a 46-45 win over Temple ... Likewise with UConn, who needed a friendly call or two and some Stanley Robinson goodness down the stretch to pull away from Hofstra ... Duke is already in March shape, as the Devils steamrolled Charlotte at Cameron ... Binghamton, who you might have forgotten about by now, got an unfortunate close-up in a big loss to Pittsburgh. Go ahead, dive in. It's all there for you.

Which is why Roy Williams is having a sudden crisis of scheduling confidence. Roy, say it ain't so:

North Carolina coach Roy Williams admitted he might have over-scheduled his young team. The last game he took was the Dec. 19 game at Texas in the first college basketball game ever at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“As it gets closer, I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have done that,’’ Williams said Monday.

Of course, that game will be the first ever college hoops game played in Jerry Jones's billion-dollar pleasure palace. If I may, I think it's safe to say Williams is experiencing the same sort of buyer's-remorse-y feeling you get when you buy yourself a bottle of very expensive gin. It seems like a good idea at the time, but it ends up doing more harm than good.\

Where to begin? What's the ugliest part? Is is the monstrous mid-court basketball with markings that makes it vaguely resemble an omega sign? How about the gigantic, slanted font that looks straight out of WordArt in Windows 95? Or perhaps it's the basketball fill inside the three-point line.

For me, it's the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup logo in front of the free throw line. Ads should be conspicuous, but there's a line, you know?

And in case you get thirsty while eating Reese's during the game, be sure to wash it down with Bud Light, because nothing goes better with chocolate than watery light beer. (And why are there even ads for beer on a court used for college basketball in the first place?)

This looks like something a fourth-grader would design when playing on the computer during indoor recess. The court is the polar opposite of the "less is more" approach. 

The Hall of Fame Showcase is a two-game event played in St. Louis. Arkansas and Louisville were first on, with Memphis and Kansas headlining afterward. For some reason, this tournament (which, again, is being played in the midwest) benefits the basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. If viewers can regain their vision after watching four hours of basketball played on the court, it's as good a cause as there can be. Except for all those actual good causes. 

Last year's record: 18-14

2009-2010's toughest games: vs. Vanderbilt (at Maui Invitational -- possible future opponents: Maryland, Gonzaga, Arizona, Wisconsin) at Xavier

Primary attraction: Can Lance Stephenson help the Bearcats get back to the tournament for the first time since Bob Huggins was run out of town?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Lance -- You don't hear too much about Lance Stephenson anymore. At the end of last spring you couldn't make it through any college basketball discussion without talking about where the uber-hyped, troubled Coney Island native would play his freshman year of college. But after his saga ended with a whimper -- a surprise commitment to Cincinnati that didn't make nearly as many headlines as his pursuit -- Stephenson has become overshadowed by John Wall, Xavier Henry and Renardo Sidney. Is he still worth following? If Cincinnati can get on an early run and make some noise before the Big East season starts, perhaps. But the Big East is deep and it's possible Stephenson and the Bearcats could become a forgotten story real quick.

2. The proven commodity -- Stephenson gets the headlines, but this is Deonta Vaughn's team. The senior could become the second all-time leading scorer in Cincinnati history behind Oscar Robertson, but hopes to distribute more to a frontcourt including Yancy Gates and Oklahoma State transfer Ibrahima Thomas.

3. Hot seat -- It's not Mick Cronin's fault the team he took over was a mess. But he's now in his fourth year coaching a once-proud program that hasn't made an NCAA tournament appearance since 2005. The Stephenson signing was a big deal, but it could also go down in flames.

Cincinnati history: I don't know about the use of Nelly, but I do know that I loved me some Steve Logan:

After Miami's last-second loss to Kentucky and John Wall last night, a game the RedHawks might well have deserved to win, a reporter decided to ask Miami coach Charlie Coles how the game got away from him. Coles, being a grizzled old man with a low tolerance for guff (I assume this is the case and have yet to see any evidence to the contrary), does not take too kindly to that question. Hilarity ensued:

If I may make an analogy, Charlie Coles is to Kentucky as that reporter is to Miami (Ohio). Except this time, the game wasn't even close. Oof.

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 22-13, 12-9 Pac-10

2009-10's toughest games: at Texas, Tennessee, at Georgia Tech, at Cal

Primary attraction: Like a beautifully rendered post-apocalyptic landscape, you won't be able to help checking in on the Trojans.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Boom. These are not last year's USC Trojans. The reasons for this are obvious: Tim Floyd resigned his position amidst a Yahoo! Sports report that he had a very dirty hand in O.J. Mayo's recruitment, and Floyd chose not to fight the impending NCAA investigation into USC's entire athletics program. Instead, he fled, leaving his players to transfer and recruits to choose elsewhere. USC, with its brand-new stadium and shiny uniforms and big-program sheen will look an awful lot like D.C. in "Fallout 3." What was here before was beautiful, but the destruction has an attraction of its own.

2. Me Kevin O'Neill. Me grumpy! It's never a good sign when the first thing anyone writes about you, after you land a rebuilding job like USC, is how abrasive you are. That's exactly what happened to Kevin O'Neill, who was the recent subject of this Memphis Commercial-Appeal profile that made him seem like one of the worst people on the planet. The truth is probably not that simple, but O'Neill will have plenty of reason to be grumpy in 2009-10. And when grown men with short tempers get angry, we all win.

3. Dwight Lewis. O'Neill won't have much talent to work with this year, but he did retain senior shooting guard Dwight Lewis. Lewis is a 6-foot-5 guy who has never been the Trojans' most talented player -- that honor goes to O.J. Mayo and then DeMar DeRozan -- but he can score, leading the Trojans in points last season. He'll get plenty of looks this year. By default. But still, looks. For a guy suddenly contemplating the next level, there are worse fates in the world.

Bonus: What Tim Floyd is doing with his free time.

Floyd didn't just retire to Mississippi, his home state. No, he stayed in SoCal. Why? So he could be around when all hell breaks loose at the Morongo casino in the middle of the day. The man is nothing if not vigilant.

The Cram Session is a semi-daily melange of last night's most important hoops action. If this is a college hoops marathon, we're at the part where your chest begins to chafe. I always forget the tape! (Like I run marathons. Get real.)

Cal-State Fullerton 68, UCLA 65: It did not take long to get to our first big upset of this week's college hoops marathon; UCLA and CSU-Fullerton were more than happy to oblige. Really, UCLA did most of the work. Thanks UCLA! What do I mean? At Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins shot 26-of-84 from the field, including -- get this -- 5-of-29 from three, giving them a grand total of 31 percent from the field on the evening. The Bruins also missed nine of their 17 free throws. This is not how you win games, not against anybody, and Fullerton made Ben Howland's squad pay (despite chucking up a 40 percent shooting night of its own) with a double-overtime loss on national television. Aaron Thompson was the Fullerton star, scoring 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting -- apparently UCLA was not taking notes -- while also grabbing nine rebounds. Bust out the The Gun, kids. It's time to do some pre-practice chucking.

Kentucky 72, Miami (Ohio) 70: See here. Kentucky has some serious defensive work to do, but that athleticism will win out eventually. They'll be OK.

Duke 74, Coastal Carolina 49: It's a bit of a mystery as to why this was chosen for ESPNU's 6 p.m. slot. Perhaps Duke just does good ratings, no matter what the opponent? Either way, fans without the knowledge or willingness to find the Kentucky game on ESPN360 or a variety of less-lega online TV pirate sites were left watching Duke storm Coastal Carolina's shores (sorry) with a dominant 23-and-11 performance from Kyle Singler. Freshman Andre Dawkins had 13 points but missed eight of his 11 threes. Wait until he starts making them.

Indiana 69, USC-Upstate 61: This is a game of no note ... except for one thing: Christian Watford's line. The lanky freshman forward scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds against a sizable Upstate front line. Watford is way too weak to be a dominant player any time soon, but the reasons he was recruited so heavily are readily apparent.

Elsewhere: There's no point in trying to catch up. Basketball is all around you; I'm watching basketball even as we speak, and tweeting along the way all day. Keep your dials tuned and your blog-reading spectacles handy. Today's like Christmas, but with less nagging and, regrettably, no bourbon. Yet.

WATCH OUT! Well said. In case you feel bad for missing it live, don't worry. Something tells me Stanley will afford these opportunities quite frequently.

Oh, and P.S.: Poor Colgate. That's just ... unfair.

Monday night's Kentucky-Miami (Ohio) game could have been a disaster. Here were the ultra-talented, ultra-hyped Wildcats not only in a close game but losing, losing, down by five in the second half to a supposedly cakey RedHawks team. When you let teams like Miami hang around, bad things happen. They did: The RedHawks hit a three with five seconds left to the tie the game at 70, and it appeared that Kentucky would have at least another five minutes of too-close basketball with a vastly inferior opponent.

Then, John Wall happened.

Wall took the inbounds pass -- Kentucky coach John Calipari didn't call a timeout -- and sprinted down the court. Miami didn't have time to rush an extra defender Wall's way, and he had a pretty good look at a step-back jump shot from the wing. He made it. Now, after 19 points and five assists and a spectacular game-winner, the legend of John Wall begins.

The hype for Wall's entree into college basketball was already off the charts, but a shot like this cements it. A Kentucky loss would have meant the Wildcats weren't ready, that they haven't congealed, that talent doesn't always trump solidity and experience. It would have meant a calmer, more somber UK fan base. Instead, Kentucky's win is an early season coronation for Wall and Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins, Calipari's freshmen phenoms. The John Wall hype is bad enough already, but it's about to get worse. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Hype is fun when it's deserved.

In the meantime, Kentucky has its fair share of problems to address. Transition defense was really ugly. Miami was able to handle the dribble-drive at times. Wall's primary contributions came from the free-throw line and not within the flow of the game. And so on.

Wall's story begins one way; Kentucky's begins another. Calipari has plenty to fix. In the meantime, he can rely on John Wall. Like a last-second win over Miami, there are worse fates.

Last year's record: 21-14 (9-9, Big Ten)

2009-2010's toughest games: vs. Creighton in Old Spice Classic (possible later opponents: Marquette, Xavier, Florida State, Baylor), vs. Boston College, at Utah, at Kansas, vs. Connecticut

Primary attraction: Last year they went dancing for the first time since 1998. Can John Beilein's squad finish the rebuilding effort in Ann Arbor by turning the Wolverines into Big Ten contenders?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Manny being Manny -- As Manny Harris goes, so do the Wolverines. In Michigan's last seven losses of 2009, the guard averaged 10.1 points per game. In the team's final seven wins, he doubled his scoring output with 20.5 per game. With an off-season emphasis on improved ball-handling and a stated goal of going to the line more, expect Harris to get his points. If he can get his teammates involved when opponents are keying in on him, however, expect even more Ws for Michigan this year. Harris had a triple-double in Michigan's first win of the year.

2. John Beilein -- In his third year at West Virginia, Beilein's team came within an overtime of going to the Final Four as a No. 7 seed. This is his third year at Michigan. His guard-centric offense came into its own last year and should see some perimeter help from freshman guard Matt Vogrich. But the inside presence will still need another player to step up in rebounding. DeShawn Sims can only do so much in the paint.

3. Fans -- Michigan will always be a football school, but with Rich Rodriguez's squad mired in another disastrous season, the Wolverines basketball team should have no trouble getting headlines early in the season. Now the question is, can the basketball team score more than the football team allows?

The Fab Five Four: No truth to the rumor that Chris Webber was originally in this photo until the NCAA made Michigan airbrush him out:

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.  <[>Last year's record: 24-8, 12-4 Mountain West

2009-10's toughest games: Arizona State, Nevada, Arizona, Utah

Primary object of attraction: Dave Rose's thus-far-successful battle with pancreatic cancer dovetails with BYU's chance to break out of the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in his tenure.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Dave Rose. Rose could probably supplant this entire post. He was a member of the 1983 Houston squad that became known as "Phi Slama Jama" and eventually lost to N.C. State in one of the most memorable national title games of all-time. (The last-second shot, Jim Valvano searching for a hug, etc.) Rose also had a tumultuous offseason: He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June and has since beaten the disease into remission. In the meantime, Rose also happens to be one of the best non-major coaches in the country; he has had immediate and consistent success at BYU, the sort of success that gets you a bigtime coaching gig sooner rather than later. Coincidentally, Rose also just extended his contract another five years, which will keep him in Provo until 2013-14. Perhaps that bigtime coaching job can wait.

2. Cracking the first round. The reason Rose signed that contract is because his teams are very good. BYU has been to three straight NCAA tournaments and won three-straight Mountain West titles, and Rose has yet to have a sub-20-win season since he took over in 2005-06. There is one hurdle, though: BYU has yet to make it out of the first round of the tourney in three straight years, losing all three times. Last year's team was a tempo-free darling, but it flamed out with a surprising loss to Texas A&M. This is BYU's quest in 2009-10: Crack that first round code. After that, the deep tournament run is sure to follow.

3. Jimmer Fredette. OK, so not only is Jimmer Fredette named Jimmer Fredette -- Jimmer Fredette! How does college basketball manage to attract so many strangely named people? --  he's also the Mountain West's only returning all-conference selection, and he's an all-around joy. Fredette averaged 16.2 points, 4.1 assists, and a steal and a half per game while manning the point for an incredibly efficient Cougars offense. Fredette is one of four returning starters on BYU's 2009-10 team, and he's its most important. Get used to the name Jimmer Fredette. Jimmer Jimmer Jimmer Fredette. After a while, it rolls right off the tongue.

-----

There was some disheartening news for the fighting Northwestern basketball Wildcats this weekend. Star forward Kevin Coble, a versatile scoring presence that makes Northwestern a dangerous offensive team, suffered a potentially season-ending foot injury. Coble is hands-down the Wildcats' best player; this is a fatal blow for Northwestern's outside chance of making the 2010 NCAA tournament, something the program has never done and something Bill Carmody very desperately needs.

But hark! Carmody has a plan, and no, it doesn't involve inventing a crazy new offensive scheme wherein he starts shifting lines every 30 seconds like a hockey team. (Though that could work.) Instead, Carmody says he's spoken with Coble -- a long-shot NBA draft pick -- about redshirting and staying for a fifth year. Now this is intriguing.

Coble has two options with his injury: Rest for four or six weeks and see how it feels, potentially resuming basketball activities then. Or he could have surgery and rehabilitate the foot, which would keep him out for four months and effectively end his season. Coble doesn't seem very enthusiastic about either option:

"It's not like you can just drop me in (to the lineup)," he said. "These guys will develop their own chemistry, and we have to look at where we are: Is our record (such) that it warrants me coming back to make that final push, or will it be better off just to write this (season) off and come back strong?" Coble said he also would consider the fact the Wildcats, on paper, would be loaded next season. The team's only other prominent seniors are Jeremy Nash and Jeff Ryan. Plus the Big Ten is expected to be weaker.

Doesn't that sound like a guy who'd like to give it a shot in 2010-11? Surgery or no, this year is lost. But Carmody and Coble might save their Northwestern legacies yet.

Monmouth 99, FIU 70; Tulsa 81, FIU 49: The most notable early season storyline -- which is not a very high bar, given that most noteworthy teams have been filling up on cupcakes for a week or so now -- has been the struggles of Isiah Thomas. Thomas had his players ready for his first game, a respectable loss to North Carolina in the Dean Dome. What Thomas likely wasn't ready for was his team's game at Monmouth Friday night. Monmouth is in New Jersey, and the Knicks fans in the building made sure Thomas knew it.

They chanted derogatory things about Thomas's sleeping pill overdose; they chanted about Anucha Brown Sanders; they chanted about Magic Johnson. ("Magic hates you!") Monmouth's students even rushed the court when the game was over ... after a 30-point win over FIU. Mean-spirited? Yes. Awesome? Also yes. And Isiah was OK with it, saying the students were in "good spirit," so I don't feel as bad about thinking it's funny.

Sunday night, Thomas was greeted far more respectfully in Tulsa, where fans politely cheered his name. Things didn't go any better for him, though, as his team was blown out 81-49 by Tulsa, and Thomas got into it with Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik. Isiah thought Wojcik was trying to run up the score by leaving his starters in the game for too long and made a few gestures towards the opposing bench; Wojcik shrugged, later saying that games are "40 minutes long" and reminding the assembled masses that his team is currently two scholarships short, thanks to injury and suspension.

So, to recap: Two Isiah Thomas-coached FIU blowouts, two off-court incidents that overshadowed basketball. The Isiah Thomas experiment is off to a crackling good start.

Texas-San Antonio 62, Iowa 50: Oof. Everyone should have been prepared for Iowa to truly stink this year; the Hawkeyes went 15-17 in 2008-09 and have been decimated by offseason transfers, leaving Todd Lickliter one marginally talented player (Matt Gatens) and a whole bunch of people who probably aren't Big Ten basketball players. But who knew it would be this bad, this early? Sunday night, in front of a raucous Carver Hawkeye Arena crowd that looked like it barely cracked 500, Iowa mustered a mere 50 points on 60 possessions. Again, 50 points. On 60 possessions. At home. Against Texas-San Antonio. Iowa's effective field goal percentage was but 39 percent -- not good -- and they tracked the 26 percent mark in turnover percentage, which is also very not good. Whether this is a one-time, horrendously bad blip is yet to be seen, but given how bad this team appears to be, Iowa fans might want to brace themselves for more. It could get worse before it gets better.

Other semi-notable results: Davidson played Butler tight, leading at the half and eventually losing by 11 in Indianapolis ... Dayton and Creighton played one of the season's best mid-major matchups early, and Dayton justified the top 25 preseason hype ... Either Roy Williams and the Tar Heels are trying to be polite and not blow anyone out, or they're not playing particularly well right now ... and Texas had five players hit double-digit scoring in a blowout win over UC Irvine, including 21 points and 15 rebounds (!) from forward Damion James.

That was guard Jeremy Lin hitting that three, which gave Harvard an 87-85 win in triple overtime. In 2008-09, Lin was the only player in college hoops to be in the top 10 in his conference in every statistical category. Fun fact.

Meanwhile, if you want to see that video one more time -- this time soundtracked with an insane broadcaster's screams and shouts -- you can download the link from Chris Villani himself. Turn the volume down on your computer or risk permanent enthusiastic brain damage.

(HT: SB Nation)

The No. 2 prospect in the country just committed, and he did it a little bit differently than most: with a Skype call.

Yes, the video messaging service usually reserved for college kids spending a semester overseas was used for a different purpose by Harrison Barnes, considered by some to be the best player in the class of 2010. Barnes used the service to reveal his much-awaited college choice, saying that he would be attending the school "of the coach I am about to Skype." After brief connection issues, North Carolina's Roy Williams -- surrounded by the rest of the Tar Heels, hunched over a laptop -- came on the other line.

Barnes' decision makes plenty of sense: He's a 6-foot-8 swingman whose game will be utilized very well in UNC's push-the-tempo attack. Add that to the allure of North Carolina basketball in general -- Barnes might already have Michael Jordan in his Blackberry contacts -- and the decision isn't all that hard to parse.

At the same time, Barnes's decision in effect causes him to turn his back on his hometown, Ames, Iowa, which has been fearing this day for a while. Barnes considered the Cyclones among his top three final schools. His mother works there; his father played there; and Barnes played his high school hoops with Iowa State coach Greg McDermott's son. Whether or not Barnes wants to admit it, he just turned his back on his hometown. Heck, he turned his back on all of Iowa.

Barnes had a choice: Be a god locally or a name nationally. Barnes chose the latter. And he did so with a well-considered speech and an unconventional, Internet-based video messaging technology. College basketball fans, welcome to 2010.

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 21-14 (7-9, ACC)

2009-2010's toughest games: Maui Invitational (possibly Gonzaga, Cincinnati or Arizona), at Indiana, vs. Villanova, vs. Winston-Salem

Primary attraction: Maryland may be the most overlooked team in the country. Or everyone may be wary of the team's erratic play last year. With a bulk of its talent returning, anything from an ACC title to an NIT bid is in play.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Greivis Vasquez -- He's as talented as he is obnoxious and as inconsistent as he is passionate, and it's great to have him back in college basketball. The senior guard withdrew his name from the NBA draft last spring and returns to lead an enigmatic Terps team that bring back most players from a squad that defeated both national championship participants, but lost at home to Morgan State (hence the inclusion of Winston-Salem on the "toughest games" list). Terps fans will welcome his all-around play (Vasquez led Maryland in points, rebounding, assists and steals last year), while us bloggers are eagerly anticipating the return of his All-American trash-talking skills. It's never a dull moment with Greivis around.

2. Size matters -- The biggest problem Maryland faced last year was a lack of frontcourt size. The Terps were forced to use reserve Dave Neal much more than they would have liked, and it showed against physical, athletic teams like Clemson and Wake Forest. Two recruits will be charged to fill the void. Forwards James Padgett and Jordan Williams will be expected to produce almost immediately, especially given that no top returning Terp measures more than 6-foot-7.

3. Garyland -- I'm an opinionated guy, but usually I'll listen to your flawed logic before telling you you're wrong. Not when it comes to Gary Williams though. Every year in the D.C. area you hear talk about how Gary has lost the team, or that he can't recruit or that the game has passed him by or that he's too much of a headache for the UMD administration, blah, blah, blah. It's garbage. Gary Williams resurrected Maryland basketball back after the death of Len Bias and sanctions from the Bob Wade era crippled the program. Those two Final Four and one national championship banner hanging at Comcast Center? Gary. Heck, Comcast Center itself? Gary. Maryland basketball is all about Gary. So quit with the talking about how he needs to go. I'm sure Gary wouldn't mind telling you what you can do with that opinion.

Whoa, he steals!: It's hard not to include a Juan Dixon clip here (so I'll do it here instead), but it'd be harder not to include what may be my favorite college basketball moment of all-time:

Billy Packer was all over that call, by the way. (Bonus: When the replay begins at the 1:09 mark, check out the dude on the bench in the beige suit-vest who starts jumping up and down. It's Steve Francis. Who said he never did anything in his NBA career?)

Last year's record: 22-11, 10-8 Big Ten

2009-10's toughest games: North Carolina, Butler, Michigan State, Purdue

Primary attraction: With Evan Turner on the rise, Ohio State should improve upon last year's mediocre campaign.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Evan Turner. See here. If this keeps up, he'll be worth the price of admission every time.

2. Reminder: Thad Matta is really good at this. Thad Matta can recruit. In case you needed evidence -- and you don't, but what the hell -- take a gander at Thad Matta's just-signed 2010 class. There's the No. 3 player in the country, Jared Sullinger, as well as No. 18 and No. 37, Deshaun Thomas and Jordan Sibert, respectively. And then Matta nabbed three more players, making a total of six pairs of fresh legs to insert into the Buckeye fold next fall. The problem lately for Matta has been in congealing this talent into Big Ten and NCAA title-worthy teams. After all, last year's No. 1 overall recruit B.J. Mullens was so raw as to barely make a dent in the Buckeyes' lineup. Even with Mullens and Turner, Ohio State finished just above .500 in a relatively mediocre Big Ten. The Buckeyes should be better next year, and then in 2010, we'll get to watch Matta start all over. With the best talent in the country. Again.

3. Mark Titus has a blog. You should read it. By now, Mark "The Shark" Titus's Club Trillion blog is nothing new; he's been writing hilarious blog posts from the comfort of the end of OSU's bench for over a year now. But Titus is a wonder to behold. Very few athletes blog. The ones who use Twitter manage to fail more often than they succeed. That Titus can maintain not only an informative blog (informative is a relative term here) but that he can manage to sprinkle it with enough humor and inside-college-hoops-ish info to keep us coming back is a major accomplishment.

Before there was B.J. Mullens, there was Greg Oden:

Greg Oden's pro career is still in utero, but it's also fun to revisit just how good he was -- primarily on defense -- as a freshman at Ohio State. Wrong league, etc.:

But Barnes' decision does mean that the clock is ticking. You have approximately five hours before Barnes chooses a school that isn't yours. What are you going to do? Are you going to sit idly by and let him make this decision for himself, like most normal, healthy adults would? Of course not! You're going to hit the comments below and give your best 100-words-or-less pitch for why Harrison Barnes should attend Big State College, or wherever. And the funniest, wittiest, least insane of these ramblings might just get a reprint up here, where the big font is.

So go on. Have at it. Let's try this out. If it works, we'll do it more often. If it doesn't work, we'll never speak of it again. Deal?

In his first game, Evan Turner scored 14 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and tossed 10 assists, giving him his first triple-double of the season in his very first game. Turner followed up that display of versatility with a bit more dominant showcase Thursday night, scoring 24, grabbing another 17 boards, and adding four assists and two steals. Turner's season averages after two games? 19 points, seven boards, seven assists. Insane.

Of course, it's but a small sample size. Two games does not a season make, especially when those two games pit the Buckeyes against the likes of Alcorn State and James Madison. Turner is going to be playing minutes in the NBA next year; of course he's going to destroy the Alcorns and JMUs of the world.

No, the real test will come next week, when Turner faces North Carolina. It's a test for Carolina, too; everyone says the Tar Heels are going to be a defensive team this year, even if it's hard to imagine a Roy Williams-coached UNC team worrying more about defense than about pushing the ball up the floor as fast as possible. Can UNC stop Turner? Is the OSU guard's early success a mere product of his opponents? Doubtful, since triple-doubles are so rare in college hoops anyway, but the point is next Thursday we get to find out.

In the meantime, just look at that line. Just look at it.

Last year's record: 18-14 (7-9, SEC)

2009-2010's toughest games: vs. Cornell, vs. Baylor, vs. Purdue,

Primary attraction: Can Anthony Grant turn around the Tide and make March in Tuscaloosa about more than just spring football?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. The aforementioned Mr. Grant -- He was the hottest coaching prospect in the land for a solid three years. The near-heir to Billy Donovan in Florida (before Donovan got cold feet and spurned the Orlando Magic), Anthony Grant thrived for three seasons at Virginia Commonwealth. Now he's charged with turning a football school into a basketball school (for three months of the year, anyway), much like his mentor did at UF.  

2. New style -- "Up-tempo" and "pressure-filled" aren't words normally used to describe Alabama basketball, but they will be this year with Grant's new gameplan. JaMychal Green and Mikhail Torrance will be counted upon to lead the team, which should have more "roll" than any Alabama team in recent years. 

3. Ivy upset? -- It could be a baptism by fire for the 2009-2010 Crimson Tide. A team with a new system might need a few games to work on the kinks, but Alabama won't have that luxury as it will be opening the season by welcoming defending Ivy League champs Cornell to Tuscaloosa on Saturday afternoon. It's exactly the sort of hard-nosed, disciplined team that could give Alabama fits early in their season.

Big Shot Bob: After leaving Alabama, Robert Horry would go on to become one of the greatest clutch shooters in NBA history. It didn't start that way though, as Horry missed a game-tying jumpshot in the 1990 NCAA tournament against Loyola Marymount. That was the Hank Gathers-inspired team, so maybe Horry's post-college NBA success was good karma coming back to him. But since this is a celebration, we won't show that shot. Here's 10 of the best Horry plays from the NBA instead:

A few weeks back, when I was doing the requisite "oh, crap, the season's coming up" freakout, I thought it might be nice to write a long, detailed primer on tempo-free statistics. I sort of casually drop tempo-free stuff into game recaps and whatnot; why not explain, as simply as possible, what I'm talking about? Even if I wasn't sharing anything new, I could refresh my own memory and go into the season fully equipped. And maybe a reader or two would join me. Up with learning, and all that.

Turns out The Only Colors beat me to it, and their very simple, comprehensive explanation of tempo-free is much better than anything I would have done. Go read it, like, now.

Of course, there are other tempo-free resources on the Internets, including Basketball Prospectus, which just released its 2009-10 annual, much of it written by the inimitable John Gasaway. Gasaway's old site, Big Ten Wonk, still hosts a brilliant treatise on the origin, history, and usage of tempo-free statistics, which is required reading once you've finished TOC's point-by-point glossary. And once you finish all that, really dive in at Ken Pomeroy's advanced rankings site, which smashes all of the tempo-free scrap metal you just learned about into shiny, smooth blocks of invaluable hoops knowledge.

Maybe you know all of this; maybe you don't. If you don't, maybe you don't care. Whatever. That's, like, your journey, man. But if you want to keep up in the wild and wacky world of college hoops talk on the Internet -- not to mention its increasing creep into mainstream outlets -- you really should know tempo-free.

There. That's my sermon. Resuming regularly scheduled programming ... now.

Last year's record: 16-15 (7-11, Big East)

2009-2010's toughest games: vs. Butler, vs. Washington (in Anaheim), vs. Maryland, vs. Duke

Primary attraction: If not for Notre Dame, Georgetown would have been the biggest disappointment of the 2008-2009 season. Will the return of Greg Monroe help the Hoyas push back to the top of the BigEast?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Greg Monroe  -- He was the top recruit coming out of high school and showed why at points last year. But Greg Monroe's freshman campaign was beset by inconsistency and long stretches of inactivity (maybe he studied too much Roy Hibbert game film). Don't expect to see either of those this year. With one year of NCAA basketball under his belt and the NBA beckoning in 2010, expect a monster year from 6-foot-11 Monroe.

2. Avoiding collapse? -- When the calendar turned to 2009, Georgetown basketball was in a good spot. The Hoyas had just upset second-ranked and undefeated Connecticut to move to 10-1 on the season. Two straight losses to ranked teams followed, but Georgetown righted the ship with victories over Providence and No. 8 Syracuse before dropping one to No. 2 Duke. Then the bottom fell out. Over the next 37 days Georgetown would win just two games and would only manage four Ws from January 17 to the end of the season. Will the lessons of last year help this Georgetown team or will it prepare them for more of the same this season? Losing DaJuan Summers won't help, but the Hoyas may actually miss glue guy Jessie Sapp even more.

3. Just play Maryland already -- Georgetown is closer to Maryland than Duke is to North Carolina. But because of childish attitudes on the parts of both programs, the two D.C.-area schools refuse to play each other in the regular season. It's idiotic. (Camille Powell explained it all in a 2005 Washington Post piece.)

Georgetown men's basketball is going to thrill you tonight:

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here. 

Last year's record: 27-8, 12-4 A-10

2009-10's toughest games: Cincinnati, at Butler, at Wake Forest, at Florida

Primary attraction: The Sean Miller era is over, but Xavier has been here before.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Post-coachatic stress syndrome. It has to be rough to be a Xavier fan. After all, your program is good -- very good -- and yet, the better the program gets, the more likely it is your coach is going to leave for greener (read: more monied) pastures. So it was with Sean Miller in 2009. Miller left the Musketeers after two straight deep NCAA tournament runs to take the opening at Arizona. This happened just as key Xavier players B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson graduated and junior Derrick Brown took a perhaps ill-advised run at the NBA draft, where he was selected No. 40 overall. So: New team, new coach, new program. Scary, right?

Fortunately for Xavier, Chris Mack -- a former Miller assistant -- won't lack for continuity. He runs the same style Miller did and will likely recruit similarly, given that he had a hand in much of Miller's previous recruiting success. Which is sort of how Xavier rolls: Thad Matta leaves for Ohio State? Hire associate head coach Sean Miller. Miller leaves for Arizona? Hire longtime assistant Chris Mack. Somehow, I have a feeling Xavier's going to be just fine.

2. The dunk. Remember when LeBron James got dunked on ("got dunked on" is surely grammatically incorrect, but I will never stop saying it) and everyone freaked out? That was Xavier guard Jordan Crawford, who has been or will be in nearly every Xavier preview for just that reason. The thing about Crawford is that he's not a one-dunk showhorse; his freshman campaign at Indiana showcased a natural scoring touch around the rim. With a transfer year of workouts under his belt, Crawford could become -- wait for it -- more than just the guy who dunked on LeBron. You will hear or have heard that phrase 50 times already, but I couldn't resist.

Oh, and here's the dunk. Meh.

3. Sean Miller totally looks like Jimmy Kimmel. It's true. Look:

Eerie. This may or may not be the same person, even if Miller appears to be wearing less makeup. But! Perhaps that's the key to the disguise! I'll get to the bottom of this.

There is always that weird divide in high school between the kids who do theater and the kids who play sports, even in 2009. It's a complete cliche (just watch "Glee"), but cliches are cliches for a reason. They tend to be true.

So three cheers for Duke recruit Kyrie Irving, who not only stars in basketball at his school but played a part in his high school's production of "High School Musical." And yes, there's video:

Duke basketball recruit Kyrie Irving stars in high school play

Of course, thanks to "High School Musical", Irving is now a cliche of a different sort -- the jock torn between theater and sports -- but whatever, it's still cool. With the exception of that whole screwing Adam Zagoria thing, Irving seems like a pretty grounded kid. Duke's getting a good one.

This is more major: On Wednesday, Isiah Thomas used the early signing period to lock up what has to be Florida International's first top-50 Rivals player in school history. Yes, Dominique Ferguson, the No. 10-ranked power forward in the class of 2010, officially signed his letter of intent to play for FIU. This is a big deal for Thomas, obviously, because it gives FIU the sort of talent boost schools like FIU don't normally get. It also proves to other top recruits that FIU is a viable option.

But what kind of option is it? That's Thomas's next hurdle: convincing other recruits that Ferguson's decision wasn't a one-off ploy for attention. Ferguson is a good player, one of the best any mid-major will roster in the next four years. But he's not a team. So where does Isiah go from here?

Jay Bilas has a better idea ($). Rather than do away with the games, the NCAA should force schools to begin practice on Oct. 1. Then, rather than get rid of those exhibition dates, the schools should be forced to schedule two "mid-major" opponents (mid-major scarequoted because, standard disclaimer, it's hard to figure out what a mid-major is anymore) to real, actual games. This is an idea I can get behind:

Start practice on October 1 and take those two exhibition games and mandate that teams from the top six major conferences have to play home games against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference, the West Coast Conference, the Mid-American Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the WAC or the Horizon League. If they do not schedule teams from those conferences, they cannot make use of the two games. That will provide incentive for more majors to play more of the "chosen mid-majors" and the populists out there can stop moaning about scheduling being unfair.

[...] But with two more shots at major conference teams per season, the "chosen" mid-majors will better be able to prove they are worthy of consideration as at-large teams, or at least eliminate some of the gray area. Wouldn't that be better than having 100 lower division teams blown out for every competitive game in an exhibition?

This doesn't quite strike at the heart of "fair" scheduling, if such a thing is even possible, but it does get around a problem that seems to happen almost every year: major teams are scared of quality mid-majors. Last year's Creighton team complained of this most noisily after being let out of the tournament, arguing that the Bluejays' schedule was so weak not by choice but because no major teams would acquiesce to a home-and-home arrangement. They had a point. It makes no sense for major teams to schedule mid-majors like Creighton unless they have to.

So let's force the issue! I like it. Schools can keep making money from their early-November games, but only if they agree to host a mid-major. The combination of common sense and the sheer excitement of watching big schools take on perennial victims of media underdog syndrome -- no doubt we can all cook up some sort of "David Vs. Goliath Week" to draw in viewers -- is pretty tempting. Maybe this will never happen, but it should.

Last year's record: 24-10, 11-7 Big Ten

2009-10's toughest games: Utah, Gonzaga, at Michigan State, at Purdue

Primary attraction: Two years after Bruce Weber's worst season, the Illini are packed with young talent and guards to spare. Can this team win the Big Ten?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. So maybe Bruce Weber can recruit. The prevailing Illini-fan complaint about Bruce Weber -- which reached its zenith after Weber lost star Eric Gordon, Jr. to Kelvin Sampson in 2007-08 -- is that Weber can't recruit. It's true that Weber's best season came in large part thanks to the skills of players recruited by predecessor Bill Self, and it's true that Weber has let a lot of Illinois's best talent escape the state. (For example, Duke guard Jon Scheyer was coached at Glenbrook North High School in suburban Chicago by Weber's brother Dave; how Bruce failed to get his hooks in Scheyer remains a mystery.) But Weber changed that with his 2009 recruiting class, second only to Indiana's in the Big Ten and ranked No. 14 in the country overall. In particular, Weber nabbed two guards -- Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson -- who not only have the benefit of being from Illinois but, more importantly, can anchor Weber's backcourt for years to come. (For what it's worth, Richardson has already turned in a fantastic performance, scoring 23 points 9-of-13 shooting and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in Illinois's final exhibition game. That sound you hear is Pavlov-like floods of saliva emanating from downstate Illinois.)

2. Is it possible to have too many guards? Jeff Jordan certainly seemed to think so; before returning (and suffering a two-game suspension for his indecision), Jordan likely saw the batch of backcourt recruits in combination with Weber's current glut of guards, including Demetri McCamey, Illinois' best player for the past two years, and Alex Legion, a Kentucky transfer Weber nicknamed "Kobe." Jordan saw the writing on the wall, which is that Illinois will be able to play lots and lots of short-three-guard lineups this year -- Weber loves interchangeable three-guard lineups -- and never have to worry about giving so many minutes to someone as inefficient as Chester Frazier. Weber is a master at coaching defense. With the offensive talent already in place, Illinois should be a complete team with plenty of time to make a late-season run at the Big Ten title.

3. The Orange Krush. Disclosure: I went to Indiana. So you know this is hard for me to admit: I envy the Orange Krush. Sure, I find their little pregame flyers lame, and sure, the arena in which they congregate more accurately resembles a spaceship (and feels just as clinical and cold once you're inside). But what the Orange Krush does every game -- which includes seat-decisive fundraising efforts at the beginning of the year; this seems much more organized and beneficial than sleeping in a tent for a week -- is amazing. Bad team or no, the Krush gives Illinois an insane, inexplicable home-court advantage, making every game there Illinois' to win. There's a reason Bruce Weber's home record is so impressive. He has the Krush to thank.

Bonus: Official Bruce Weber-related Dagger protip of the day:

The Internet is a magical and wondrous place, but we must learn to harness its power for good. Which is why when you run a Google search for Bruce Weber, beware. There is more than one Bruce Weber in the world. And the one with the top result on Google just so happens to be a freelance photographer whose Web site claims specializes in "the beauty of male nude photography." (I'm not going to link that, even though it currently appears to be safe for work. Google at your own risk.) Mr. Weber also does some very impressive stuff, like shooting the oh-so-hunky Robert Pattinson for Vanity Fair this month.

Protip: Do not confuse this with Bruce Weber, basketball coach. They are two different people, if you can believe it. The more you know. (Ba da da dummmm.)

The University of Arkansas suspended five players Tuesday, including three athletes identified in a rape complaint that did not result in charges, for violating unspecified team rules.

Coach John Pelphrey said guards Courtney Fortson and Stefan Welsh were suspended indefinitely. Guard Marcus Britt was suspended for six games, forward Glenn Bryant two games, and walk-on guard Nick Mason will not dress for games during the fall semester.

The alleged rape in question first came to prominence when the school made public notice of guard Courtney Fortson for tweeting that he was "gettin it at workouts like a dude who doesnt understand the word no from a drunk girl lol." LOL! Actually, that is not lol-able at all, because rape isn't funny -- not usually, anyway -- and Fortson, Arkansas' leading returning scorer, is now suspended indefinitely for merely tweeting something he probably thought was harmless and funny. Yeah, I have a feeling John Pelphrey and Arkansas fans won't be lol-ing about this anytime soon.

In the meantime, Arkansas goes about repairing its reputation. Competition for recruits is already hard enough. Entering a recruit's living room knowing you'll have to explain away possible group-rape allegations against members of your basketball team? Pelphrey needed to put that behind him. We'll see if this does the job.

In the interim, Jordan played in a three-on-three tournament, a non-NCAA-sanctioned event. For this, he will be suspended two games. Fun!

Here's why this doesn't matter: Jordan wasn't technically breaking a rule, since he wasn't playing hoops at the time. The punishment is retroactive, no different than John Wall's, which punished Wall for his connection with Brian Clifton before his enrollment at Kentucky. But Jordan wasn't taking money from an AAU coach, or something; he was playing in recreational off-time tourney. There is no moral outrage or skeeviness to dredge up here.

Here's another reason why it doesn't matter: Jordan isn't exactly a major Illini contributor, and even if he was, the games he'll miss -- Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Northern Illinois -- aren't exactly barnburners for an improved Illinois team.

In other words, much as with John Wall, reading the words "two-game suspension" always raises the red flags. And much as with John Wall, there's nothing to see here. Off we go.

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Yes, two N.C. State engineers say they've found the best way to shoot a free throw, a combination of setup, release speed, and aim that, when scientifically recreated, always leads to a made shot. The process is simple physics and geometry -- notice how I say "simple", as if I understand anything about physics, geometry, or even basic arithmetic -- and sounds pretty straightforward, given the science involved:

First, the engineers say that shooters should launch the shot with about three hertz of back spin. That translates to the ball making three complete backspinning revolutions before reaching the hoop. [...] Where to aim? Tran and Silverberg say you should aim for the back of the rim, leaving close to 5 centimeters – about 2 inches – between the ball and the back of the rim. According to the simulations, aiming for the center of the basket decreases the probabilities of a successful shot by almost 3 percent.

The engineers say that the ball should be launched at 52 degrees to the horizontal. If you don’t have a protractor in your jersey, that means that the shot should, at the highest point in its arc to the basket, be less than 2 inches below the top of the backboard.

There is also something about a 52-degree angle to the backboard and a high release that the researchers want to hammer home, but I stopped reading because ew, math. Am I right? Learning sucks! Let's quit with the boring stuff and get to the funny tongue-in-cheek quote from a researcher, please:

"Our recommendations might make even the worst free-throw shooters – you know who you are, Shaquille O’Neal and Ben Wallace – break 60 percent from the free-throw line,” Silverberg says with tongue firmly in cheek. “A little bit of physics and a lot of practice can make everyone a better shooter from the free-throw line."

I have a feeling Ben Wallace and Shaquille O'Neal and horrid free throw shooters the world over are not exactly going to be persuaded by that. The "lots of practice" thing isn't a problem. It's the "little bit of physics" that will likely prove prohibitive. Interesting stuff, though.

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 24-7 (11-5, ACC)

2009-2010's toughest games: at Purdue, at Gonzaga, vs. Xavier

Primary attraction: After a roller coaster year that saw Wake Forest reach No. 1 before flaming out in the first round of the NCAAs, can the team withstand the losses of two first-rounders and make a repeat appearance in the tournament?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Back on schedule? -- Wake Forest's arrival came a year earlier than expected. At this time last season, most were expecting Wake to be a middle-of-the-road ACC team that would improve throughout the year and enter 2009-2010 as a potential preseason No. 1. But a quick start and wins over North Carolina and Duke propelled the Deacs to the top of the rankings in January, before a 7-6 finish ended with a thorough beat-down to No. 13 seed Cleveland State in the NCAA tournament. Jeff Teague and James Johnson both went pro (and were first round picks), so now the Deacs will have to rebuild on the fly. Ish Smith, one of the quickest guards, will lead provide senior leadership along with the explosive L.D. Williams.

2. The Chief has arrived -- The bulk of preseason attention in the ACC has gone to Kyle Singler, Greivis Vasquez, Derrick Favors and Ed Davis, but Wake sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu (whose name means "the chief has arrived") may end up being better than them all in 2010. Though he was projected as a lottery pick, Aminu chose to return to Wake and is said to have worked on his ball-handling and perimeter range during the off-season. Expect a double-double average, particularly if Wake's green frontcourt players (Ty Walker, Tony Woods) can capitalize on their potential.

3. The Skip Prosser Classic -- It hasn't even started yet, but The Skip Prosser Classic is already one of the coolest non-conference series in college basketball. For the next 10 years (at least), Wake Forest and Xavier will play a game in honor of their former coach, who died unexpectedly in the summer of 2007. Prosser was the head coach at Xavier from 1994-2001 before taking over at Wake Forest, where he worked until his death. This year's game will be played in Winston-Salem on Jan. 3 and will be broadcast on FSN.

L.D.: Though he may only be the second most famous L.D. in the country (watch the language at that link), Wake Forest's L.D. Williams is no slouch himself. And Wake's L.D. almost certainly doesn't kill swans.

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 25-11, 12-4 C-USA

2009-10's toughest games: Oklahoma State, at Memphis, Duke, Memphis

Primary attraction: Tulsa was Gonzaga before Gonzaga. With Memphis on the mend, can the Golden Hurricane reclaim darling status in 2009-10?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Sleeping giant. Tulsa is a good, good basketball program. Since 1981, Tulsa has been to 19 postseason tournaments. From 1994-2003, the Golden Hurricane went to eight NCAA tourneys. Since 2003, they have not been back. The closest the Hurricane has come to postseason success in recent years was a CBI championship in 2008, and absolutely no one is going to write home about that. (Except maybe me, when I'm feeling weirdly generous.) Can Tulsa's traditional success make a comeback? 2009-10 might be the year: Fifth-year coach Doug Wojcik returns every starter but one on a team that won 25 games (and lost only four in C-USA), including seniors Jerome Jordan and Ben Uzoh. Jordan is a seven-footer who might have been the second or third-best center in the 2009 NBA Draft; instead, he and his 7-foot-6 wingspan will try and capture Tulsa's first C-USA title in years. With Memphis (temporarily?) on the mend, this is the year to do it.

2. Tulsa was Gonzaga before Gonzaga AND Xavier before Xavier. Gonzaga has turned into a perennial small-conference power on the national level, which, as we just covered, Tulsa used to be. Tulsa was also one of the country's premier coach laboratories before Xavier assumed the mantle this decade. But get this: Tulsa can take credit for producing Nolan Richardson, Bill Self, and Tubby Smith -- all national title winners -- as well as Buzz Peterson, J.D. Barnett, and Steve Robinson. Lots of good coaches have come from Tulsa. In his fifth year, Wojcik has a chance to assume his place on the mantle, not to mention a cushy big six job. (Sorry, Tulsa fans.)

3. I would like to meet these gentlemen. According to the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia, Tulsa has two insane basketball fans with whom I would very much like to shake hands. Known as "Mad Dog and Coach," which sounds like a dumb sports talk radio show, the duo celebrate their love for Tulsa basketball in interesting ways. Mad Dog (real name: Ken Penn) has been attending games since 1977, where he wears a rubber snout and barks at the opposing team. (Note: This man is fully grown.) Meanwhile, Coach does what you'd expect, I guess: dresses up in a suit and tie and paces the Tulsa sideline screaming at officials. Some people will take any excuse to dress up in a suit.

The win that gave us Bill Self:

Kansas fans will be thankful Bill Self's Tulsa team upset No. 2 seed Cincinnati in the second round of the 2000 NCAA tournament. Illinois fans, maybe not so much.

These are UNC's 1957 throwbacks, which, yes, included a dash of red on the waistline and in the jersey trim. Perhaps ESPNU broadcaster Jason Williams -- former Duke guard Jason Williams, mind you -- said it best "The bookstores in Chapel Hill are going to be sold out of those. I might have to stop by and get me a pair." If even a Dukie can appreciate your gear, you know you're looking good.

New season, new opportunity to resurrect the Cram Session, a semi-daily melange of last night's most important hoops action. Some mornings it won't want to get out of bed just yet.

North Carolina 88, FIU 72: What's all the fuss? When Isiah Thomas and FIU brass heard they were slated to play North Carolina in Isiah's coaching debut, they wigged out. Last night proved they were overly worried: The Tar Heels never really turned up the tempo on FIU, playing a casual style throughout, and Thomas's Panthers were able to stay in the game for much of the first half. The important thing for FIU and Isiah is that no one got embarrassed. And no one did. (And hey, look at that: FIU is No. 6 in Kenpom's 2009-2010 team ratings. Cherish it, Zeke.)

Ohio State 100, Alcorn State 60: We have learned nothing. A quick flip to the Big Ten Network for Ohio State-Alcorn State yielded very little pertinent information. Evan Turner is now playing point for the Buckeyes, which will mean fewer minutes for P.J. Hill and Jeremie Simmons; will that help fix the perimeter defending woes that saw OSU give up such a high percentage of outside shots last season? It's reasonable to assume so. But Alcorn State was not a very helpful barometer.

Syracuse 75, Albany 43: Eat that, LeMoyne. Any Syracuse backers worried about another horrendous upset can rest easy: Jim Boeheim's 'Cuse showed little residual effects from a rather embarrassing loss to D-II LeMoyne in a scrimmage last week. Syracuse's zone swarmed Albany, forcing 32 (!) turnovers in the process, and Syracuse only made 2-of-17 from beyond the arc. A little bit better shooting, and this would have been an even bigger blowout.

California 75, Murray State 70: Late night upset avoided. Speaking of avoiding upsets, Cal did exactly that last night, cutting a Murray State lead to three with 2:30 left in the second half before eventually taking over and sealing the game in the final minute. Cal coach Mike Montgomery is blaming this on Cal's suddenly high profile, but to the Murray States of the world, Cal is always high-profile. The close call might have more to do with Cal's defense, or lack thereof (103.8 adjusted efficiency).

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 27-8 (16-2 MAAC)

2009-2010's toughest games: at Temple, at Georgia Tech, at Northern Iowa

Primary attraction: Can Siena become the first team since 1990 to win three straight MAAC titles and, in turn, continue its quest to become the Gonzaga of the east?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Dealing with the hype -- The Saints got more votes in the Associated Press preseason poll (112) than Notre Dame (107), Syracuse (83), UCLA (63), Florida (53), Wake Forest (50), Xavier (42), Gonzaga (37) and Pittsburgh (4). That's no surprise coming off a season in which Siena earned a school-best No. 9 seed in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round, where they gave No. 1 Louisville all it could handle. But is it too much? The Hunt isn't for making predictions, but I can already see how the season is going to go for Siena: They're the hot under-the-radar team in November, but will lose a few games in non-conference play, particularly with the tough games listed above. They'll be 5-3 or 4-4 the MAAC schedule starts and most people will forget about them. Then, very quietly, Siena will go something like 17-1 or 16-2 in-conference and come March they'll once again be the hot under-the-radar team.

2. Returning starters -- Siena returns four starters from last year's team which set a school record for wins. Edwin Ubiles was on the Naismith Award list and figures to be an All-MAAC pick once again. Ronald Moore and Alex Franklin will be looking to make the jump from the second team to the first. Oh, and coach Fran McCaffery will also be back, much to the chagrin of the major programs that continually chase him after every season.

3. Just-in'love Smith -- What I love most about the moniker of Siena's much-heralded transfer is that his surname is so common. Turn on a Siena game, and you'll just see a dude with the name SMITH written on the back of his jersey, blissfully unaware that his first name reads like the title to a Kanye West song. 

Old game programs rule:

Things seemed to be coming to a close last week, when Sidney's attorney, Don Jackson, claimed that he had turned over all the necessary requirements to the NCAA. This is a truly shocking development, given Jackson's air-tight grip on his client's reality. (Note: This grip is not air-tight. All the same, the NCAA would like more from Sidney, and they would like it now:

"Mr. Jackson and his client did not provide all of the information requested since April and his client’s status remains non-certified due to non-response,” Williams wrote in an e-mail. Williams said the NCAA sent a memo to Jackson outlining its requests: Bank and phone records and rental documentation.

Jackson is claiming the NCAA's only goal here is to "prolong this investigation." This is the same man who toothlessly threatened a congressional hearing on the matter, and who played the race card almost immediately when the NCAA began sniffing around for confirmation of the Sidneys' financial status. Which puts Jackson's legal credibility far below an organization almost everyone hates for one reason or another.

At this point, the Sidneys might consider getting a new lawyer; it's hard to see what good Jackson is doing them with all the stalling and theatrics. At this point, Sidney's family might be more concerned with making sure Renardo actually plays basketball this year. Maybe not. But the rest of us will be getting on with the season this evening. What will Renardo Sidney do?

There's an emerging meme today -- Gary Parrish mentions it, Seth Davis devotes an entire column to it, and Mike Miller weighs in -- about the relatively quiet beginning to college basketball's season. It's true. College hoops is a slow build, one that starts with a whimper and ends with a bang. Most major sports get at least two bangs out of the deal; naturally, college hoops guys feel deprived.

And can you blame them? Tonight is our official opening night. The most noteworthy game has some minor off-court intrigue -- Isiah Thomas's heavy-hearted coaching debut coming against national power North Carolina -- but on the court, North Carolina is likely to win by 30. The rest of the slate isn't all that much fun, either. California-Murray State, Ohio State-Alcorn State, Albany-Syracuse ... these are not the type of match ups likely to get anyone's blood boiling.

There have been efforts to build a hypothetical college hoops Opening Day. The committee in charge of the idea soon got distracted with more pressing matters. But we might be getting closer. From Davis's piece:

"I don't know that there's a lot of momentum, but there's a consensus that we need to explore the best ways to try and unify around an opening day or opening weekend in a way that paints a clearer picture for college basketball," Greg Shaheen, the NCAA's senior vice president for basketball and business strategies, said. "There's no easy answer, but it's definitely something we have to take on."

In the meantime, college hoops fans will have to deal with crappy games in the first and second weeks of November. Really though, so what? College basketball's offseason is so deserted that the first water you drink can be gross and brown and mildewy. It's still water. I'll be gulping it up all the same.

And maybe even more than that, tonight can serve as a reminder that the real joy of college hoops isn't in rankings and high-profile match ups and hype, but rather in the sublime pleasure of what happens between the lines. For now, that's good enough.

Last year's record: 31-5, 15-3 Big East

2009-10's toughest games: Louisville, Georgetown, at West Virginia, Villanova

Primary attraction: Jamie Dixon goes back to work.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Because they went to the NBA, you see. So much of college hoops previewing is based on a simple formula: How many players did Team X lose? How good were those players? How good are the players that played behind them? And which recruits will help close the gap? The whole point of this feature is to do something a little bit less cookie cutter than that ... but, on the other hand, sometimes the most interesting thing about a team is players lost vs. players found. In 2009-10, few teams in the nation will experience that formula more acutely than the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Jamie Dixon's team lost its three best players, three players that took the Panthers to a 31-5 season and a No. 1 seed and a run to the Elite Eight. Those players are DeJuan Blair (famously passed over until the second round of the NBA draft; NBA GMs are so dumb sometimes); Sam Young, and Levance Fields, who graduated and is now playing in Europe. Blair was a monster rebounder, while Young set the single-season school record in points and Fields did the same for assists.

This was Pitt's team in 2008-09, and it's all gone. But elite programs manage to deal with this kind of attrition year after year. North Carolina will be doing it this year, and the Tar Heels are still a top-five team. Is Jamie Dixon's program strong enough to withstand the loss of talent? Has he built an elite squad yet? Or are the Panthers doomed to slide into (understandable) mediocrity as they recover from the personnel losses?

2. Dante Taylor is the new Blair. OK, not quite. Dante Taylor will figure heavily for the Panthers this year. Who is Dante Taylor? He's the No. 14 overall recruit in the class of 2009, a 6-foot-9, 235 pound McDonald's All-American who Pitt hopes will be able to recreate some of Blair's dominance in the post. Memo to Pitt: This is setting the bar way, way too high. Blair was a legendary offensive rebounder, one of the best the college game has seen in recent years, and his production is not something any freshman is bound to easily recreate. It's a bit like asking a freshman: "Hey, kid, can you score like Blake Griffin this year? Thanks." Probably not going to happen.

3. Still, Dixon remains. Here's one thing Panthers fans can take solace in, even if this year's team doesn't come anywhere close to last year's championship-caliber squad: Jamie Dixon isn't going anywhere. Dixon ended last season on the short list of any athletic director with an elite position to fill. Dixon's best players were leaving; if he was ever going to leave, last year would have been the time. Instead, he's still at Pitt, and he'll have plenty of time to rebuild what was lost in 2008-09.

Ohh! Send it in, Jerome!

Bill Raftery, in a career of hilarious, over-the-top basketball broadcasting moments, gives us his finest work ever:

This line is now popular enough that I can quote it in front of a group of college basketball fans and no one even thinks twice about why. It's Bill Raftery. Duh. A little lingerie on the deck ... early! Ooooh!

"What those numbers don’t say is what made Indiana so special, ’cause everyone knew that what Bob Knight was doing at Indiana was kicking the slats out of that perennial excuse that you have to cut a few corners, that you have to cheat a little bit. Everybody would have loved to catch Bob Knight cheating on something and they never could. The never did and they never would. That alone, coming at a time when they graduated kids and were bringing in great kids and putting together the model program in college basketball, is why this night had to happen. Tonight is recognition that those really were priceless days. The time of distancing a great university from a coach and players who contributed richly to that greatness is over."

Weirdly, no one mentioned the way Knight left the school, and no one mentioned the things Knight did throughout his tenure that ended up contributing to his firing. Weird, huh? Coach K might still be a little confused about this, but whatever. It sounds like a very pleasant ceremony, and hey, maybe it was a positive Knight didn't show up. Things could have gotten even weirder. 

Then again, Knight's contribution to the outing -- besides the very large shadow his absence cast over the proceedings -- was the letter he wrote to Indiana AD Fred Glass, which Hammel read at the ceremony. It managed to be both conciliatory and slightly catty, and it thanked a whole bunch of folks you might otherwise never have heard of, so it's probably worth a read. Which you can do after the jump.

Dear Mr. Glass,

The attention and speculation relative to my attending your Hall of Fame induction would be greatly increased if I were to do so. I think this approach from the media would take a great deal away from the other people being inducted, and I don’t think it would be right for this to happen.

In addition to this, I just have too much negative feeling toward some people and the things they did or did not do during my last few years and who had no understanding of either athletics or honesty.

I have now and always will have a tremendous appreciation for the support our teams were given by the student body and fans all over the state of Indiana. When I left Indiana I did my best to let them know how much I appreciated their contribution to the success of our team. I still feel that way about them. However, there is no one I could appreciate more than the players who played during my tenure and were most responsible for the success that we had during those years.

I would like to especially congratulate Steve Downing and Joe Norman. I had an opportunity to coach one and watch the other play. They both are tremendous examples of what a student athlete is and should be.

I will always be indebted to John Ryan and Bill Orwig for giving me the opportunity to coach at Indiana. No coach has ever worked for a better president than John Ryan or better athletic directors than Bill Orwig and Ralph Floyd, who both had a great understanding of athletics and what it took to win.

There were other people during those years who were very helpful to our program and athletics in general, such as Dick Stoner, Ed Cady, Bill Armstrong, Paul Dietzel, George Pinnell, Curt Simic, Buzz Kurpius and her staff, Anita Aldrich, Ken Gros Louis and Ed Williams, who were very much involved and helpful to our basketball program.

Another great asset was the medical care provided our players by Brad Bomba, Jim Strickland, Larry Rink and Dick Shelly. The popularity of our basketball program was greatly enhanced with the media work of Bob Hammel, Chuck Marlowe and Bob Collins.

You are the only person in the administrative capacity at Indiana in the last ten years to say thank you for what we did, and I appreciate your doing so. You mentioned in your letter to me that you would like to sit down and talk with me any place or at any time. I would be willing to do this and would suggest that you bring Bob Hammel with you as he would be a great help in your understanding why I feel as I do.

It is obvious that the people who replaced the aforementioned people over the years have not nearly maintained the standards with Indiana’s athletic program that those people established. I would hope that during your tenure you would be able to get Indiana athletics back where it once was and want to wish you the very best in that regard.

Sincerely,

Bob Knight

OK then. Hooray, Bob Knight! You win. Now let's never speak of this again.

On Sunday, the New York Times's Pete Thamel filed a dispatch from Haifa, Israel. Why was a college sports reporter filing from Haifa? Thamel was checking in on Jeremy Tyler, the 18-year-old uber-prospect who, in the wake of Brandon Jennings's now-viewed-as-successful European experiment, decided to forgo his senior year of high school and play overseas for Maccabi Haifa.

Thamel reports that Tyler's decision is at this point -- which, to be fair, is very early in the process -- not only regrettable but disastrous. Tyler is clearly immature and distracted by the potential of NBA riches, which he apparently considers a sure thing. His coaches and teammates do not like him. He is struggling to see minutes on the court. And if things keep getting worse, Tyler's NBA draft status is likely to keep falling. These early returns are not promising. A key graph:

His coach calls him lazy and out of shape. The team captain says he is soft. His teammates say he needs to learn to shut up and show up on time. He has no friends on the team. In extensive interviews with Tyler, his teammates, coaches, his father and advisers, the consensus is that he is so naïve and immature that he has no idea how naïve and immature he is. So enamored with his vast potential, Tyler has not developed the work ethic necessary to tap it.

Of course, as one teammate reminds Thamel, Tyler has been a pro for less than 100 days, and he's done so in a foreign country with few friends at an unusually early age. He deserves some slackThis time last year, people were raising similar questions about Brandon Jennings (though those questions had far more to do with ability and playing time than attitude). Still, while Tyler's situation is unique among hoopsters, he's not the first 18-year-old to enter the workforce. He's not even the first 18-year-old to enter high-level sports; by age 18, top-level soccer prospects are being thrust into intense club matches. 18 isn't old, but it's old enough to know when to shut up.

Anyway, Jennings's situation worked out, and there's no reason Tyler's can't either. So let's avoid extrapolating Tyler's situation into an indictment of the European option for recruits. For now, it's just an indictment of Jeremy Tyler, and things aren't looking good.

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I can't make it much more plain than that. Buried 10 graphs in this K.C. Star story about Missouri's exhibition opener Thursday night is the rather revelatory fact that Missouri guard Kim English spends his nocturnal hours sleeping in Mizzou Arena. The explanation:

No Missouri basketball player has likely ever spent as much time practicing his game. A year ago English frequently slept at Mizzou Arena, so as to be able to shoot after practice and before class the next day. The practice has been catching. A lot of players are doing the same thing now.

This is insane. Like, it's one thing to be a college athlete, putting in the long morning hours before and after classes, spending basically every waking hour in the gym ... but to spend every sleeping hour in the gym so you can spend more waking hours in the gym borders on the fanatical. I'm almost worried for Kim English. He seems like a very nice, well-rounded young man, and this isn't healthy.

This isn't the first time the Star has written about English's unusual work ethic, either. From last June:

“On my recruiting visit, they told us this was a 24-hour practice facility,” English, a 6-foot-6 freshman guard from Baltimore, said Wednesday. “We’ve got a key and it works at 12 p.m., it works at 1 a.m. It works 24 hours a day.”

English sleeps in a leather chair that he drags from the players’ lounge to the locker room, allowing him to work around the clock. “To help this team win this year, I’ll do anything,” said English. [...] “I’ll sleep outside if that’s what it takes.”

Again, dude, not healthy. But it's also pretty cool, and the sort of thing Missouri fans and notoriously demanding head coach Mike Anderson will appreciate. And hey, maybe English gets a break on room and board. Win, win, and win.

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Far fewer people know about West Virginia freshman Deniz Kilicli. But Kilicli is having eligibility issues of his own. His suspension is far more serious than Wall's. And if Bob Huggins is to be believed -- hold your laughter for a minute here -- that suspension has far more to do with luck and circumstance than with any wrongdoing by Kilicli. Mike DeCourcy explains:

Kilicli, who is 6-9, 260 pounds, was suspended because the club team he played for wound up with a pro in the lineup after that player was dropped down from a higher division, Huggins said. NCAA officials consistently have applied a game-for-game penalty against international players who have competed alongside pros. Iowa State's Lucca Staiger, from Germany, missed the entire 2007-08 season because of a similar punishment. Kilicli got 11 games for that, and another nine for accepting expenses from his club.

There appears to be no chance for Kilicli to pay back expenses he received from his club in exchange for a lesser penalty, and an Kilicli's appeal has already been denied by the NCAA. Huggins says Kilicli is "struggling" with the decision, and that if "he wanted to be a pro, you don't think anyone would have paid him to stay over there?" It's a pretty valid point.

There's also an argument to be made that Wall's situation is potentially more damaging to the ethic of the NCAA. Theoretically, Wall could be in the pocket of an agent while enrolled at school, which leads to all sorts of problematic college sports issues too common for me to explain here. Kilicli's association with a pro gets him ... what, exactly? A pro was bumped down to an amateur club while Kilicli was also on the roster, and now Kilicli's amateur status is corrupted by osmosis? This makes zero sense.

The Bleacher Report has been quick to blame this on the NCAA looking to punish the little guy while preserving the star status of the game's elite. Maybe that's true, but I doubt it. More than anything, this is just a bad rule. It was a bad rule when it cost Iowa State player his entire 2007-08 season. It's a bad rule now. Free Kilicli! Or at least let him pay back the money and start paying. To use an expression you're more likely to hear from Bob Huggins: for chrissakes, this is silly.

Cincinnati's Mick Cronin was in a position to take a gamble. Yesterday, the gamble paid off: Stephenson was cleared to play by the NCAA and will miss no games. Cronin confirmed Stephenson's status with a simple text message: "Clear. No games." (Good thing reporters can read between the lines. A little more detail, coach?)

Of course, this is not to say that Stephenson's troubles are over, or that Cronin's gamble is over. Stephenson has only just begun his career. As we've learned from numerous recent one-and-done players (which Stephenson could be; he's that talented, though he isn't thought of too highly by draftniks yet), oftentimes the troubles come after the player's already packed his bags for the NBA. Or maybe Stephenson hits a rough patch and gets pouty, the sort of thing he's been criticized for before. Anything could happen; there's a reason elite programs didn't roll these dice.

But Mick Cronin did. So far, it's snake eyes, or whatever a good roll is when you play dice. I'm not really sure. I don't throw bones very often. The point is that Cronin has done well here so far. Now comes the easy part: playing basketball.

Last year's record: 27-8 (14-4 MVC)

2009-2010's toughest games: at Dayton, at Michigan, at New Mexico, at George Mason

Primary attraction: Spurned by the NCAA tournament in 2008, Creighton figures to be right in the thick of the Missouri Valley race, even with the loss of the reigning MVC Player of the Year.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Hello, my name is Dana Altman. You killed my 2008. Prepare to die. -- Revenge on the selection committee should be a big motivation for Creighton this year. The BlueJays were the co-champs of the MVC but failed to earn an NCAA tournament invite for just the fourth times since 1998. Should Creighton have made it? Winning the MVC last year was every it as impressive as winning the SEC and I'm always partial to giving bubble spots to the good mid-majors rather than the mediocre majors (Maryland), but you can't lose a conference tournament semifinal by 24 points to a team bound for the NIT and expect to get the 65th bid. You just can't.

2. The return of Cavell Witter -- The senior guard left the team last spring but reportedly asked to rejoin Dana Altman's squad. He played 13 minutes in Creighton's exhibition game Wednesday night, scoring six points. There's been no word on what caused Witter to initially leave the team, but I bet it had something to do with that loudmouth Whit.

3. P'Allen Stinnett -- Look, I'm going to level with you. I don't know the first thing about P'Allen Stinnett's game. All I know is that his name is P'Allen and that's totally enough for me. (But in the interest of fact-finding: Stinnett is Creighton's leading returning scorer, finished 5th in the MVC in steals and was named second-team all-conference.)

Creighton basketball's leading scorer, 1955-57:

Yes, Bob Gibson -- that Bob Gibson -- played guard at Creighton in the mid-1950s. He averaged 22 points per game in 1956 and also led the team in rebounds. 

Last night, Jordan took to the floor in his father's brand anyway. Adidas, none too pleased at this development, summarily canceled its deal with Central Florida.

This is not as disastrous as it might sound, because, duh, Marcus Jordan is Michael Jordan's son. I think we've covered this before. And being Michael Jordan's son, it seems likely that Nike would be willing to swoop right in and take over UCF's sponsorship, especially since Michael Jordan's son is now on the team. Sports By Brooks's Brooks Melchior has already talked to two "prominent sports marketing execs" who say the wheels on a Nike partnership are already turning. See? No big deal.

It is a big interesting from a purely marketing perspective, though. Nike gets to be the hero; adidas looks like a petulant corporate overlord; and Jordan Brand gets a momentary boost in profile, the sort of old-school brand-loyalty marketing gimmick -- Mickey Mantle prefers Viceroy! Marcus Jordan's feet won't touch adidas! -- dreamed up by the ad whizzes of yesteryear.

You could even go one step further (as Brooks does) and speculate that UCF knew, whether intuitively or through conversations with Nike, that if Marcus Jordan refused to dress in adidas, Nike would come riding in. It makes sense. What athletics budget can afford to drop $1.9 million in sponsor money? Not even elite programs can manage that; UCF certainly can't. And yet the school was all-too-willing to let Jordan walk right out onto the court last night in his father's shoes.Weird, right?