- Today is the basketball version of National Signing Day, inasmuch as the sport has such a thing. Officially it’s the first day of a week-long signing period, but there’s virtually no drama this year as most of the elite players have already made their collegiate choices (23 of the top 25 players, according to this Sporting News article). The two biggest names still on the board are 6’8 power forward DeAndre Daniels from Bradenton, Florida, and 6’10 power forward Cody Zeller, from Washington, Indiana (brother of Tyler and Luke). Daniels is expected to wait until the spring signing period to make his choice but Zeller has scheduled a press conference on Thursday where he will choose between UNC, Indiana and Butler. Scout has some interesting information available as to which conferences have the strongest aggregate classes thus far, and breaks down the classes for each school within each.
- What will a thumping at the hands of the University of Indianapolis get ya? How about a 5:30 am film session to see in living color all of your mistakes from the night before? That fate befell Bruce Pearl’s Vols yesterday morning a few short hours after Indy walked out of Thompson-Boling Arena with a 79-64 win. Obvious joke: did the Tennessee players refuse to acknowledge that it was actually them on the screen when Pearl asked them questions?
- This is an absolute must-read from a guy that literally nothing in this sport gets past — Jeff Goodman’s 68 Things to Watch in the 2010-11 Season. Goodman is one of the few in this business who, when he says something has a good chance of happening, we actually listen. You should too.
- CNNSI came through with its Crystal ball selections from its three primary CBB writers: Seth Davis, Luke Winn & Andy Glockner. Look at Sexy Seth with the Gonzaga Final Four pick! There’s a lot of great stuff in this article, so read it, but we’re especially loving Winn’s pick for Surprise Team, Glockner’s choice for Best Player Nobody Knows About, and Davis’ Flop Team.
- More exhibition nonsense last night: Syracuse got its revenge on last year’s nemesis, Le Moyne, 91-48, which clearly means that this year’s Orange squad is a lock for the Final Four since the 2009-10 edition could only muster the Sweet Sixteen. SU hit 11-16 treys, which addresses one of their key questions going into this season. Kansas also defeated Emporia State, 90-59, and Purdue beat Midwestern State, 78-58, last night. As for games that count, the 2kSports CvC continues tonight at the four regional sites of Austin, College Park, Pittsburgh and Champaign. We’ll have our SYT out later today for those.