- Missouri played its second exhibition of the year last night, its first game that didn’t surround tragedy. The Tigers outplayed Truman State from the opening tip, and won handily, 87-48. One of the more interesting aspects of this game was the noticeable speed Missouri played with. While we came to expect this from Mike Anderson’s Tiger team, Frank Haith’s version of Tiger basketball seems to show no signs of slowing down.
- Oklahoma State also played an exhibition against Panhandle State, in which the Cowboys coasted to a 105-56 victory. Much of the pregame hype was focused on freshman phenom LeBryan Nash, and he did not disappoint. Nash finished the game with 26 points and 11 rebounds and the Cowboys showed their depth, with five players finishing with double figures.
- The Tulsa World has an article up discussing the open race in this year’s Big 12. They tout Baylor as the team with the most talent, Missouri and Texas A&M as the teams with the most experience, and Kansas as the always-dangerous team, despite their “rebuilding” status. They go on to examine Oklahoma State‘s squad and how they can expect to perform this season. What intrigued me most about this article, however, was Travis Ford saying the preseason projection of OSU finishing seventh in the Big 12 is mostly accurate, stating “he wouldn’t picked his team more than about one spot higher.”
- Fox Sports Houston has an article up discussing the ideology of “Kansas math,” which is a term Bill Self uses to describe Kansas’s preseason projections. He notes that many of his great teams of the past have been picked to finished third or fouth in the Big 12, while in years he finds himself with personnel holes, the Jayhawks are picked to finish first in the conference. Sounds like a pretty nice problem to have.
- One of the better Kansas blogs out there has an article up examining the Jayhawks’ possible rotation. Normally, this wouldn’t be news, but in a year where Kansas, one of college basketball’s best and most consistent programs, faces more questions than answers, this is a solid analysis. Rock Chalk Talk argues that Tyshawn Taylor, Elijah Johnson, Thomas Robinson, Jeff Withey and Travis Releford will be the starting five for the Jayhawks this season, with considerable bench help coming from Kevin Young, Justin Wesley, Naadir Tharp and Connor Teahan.