The NCAA can be as unpredictable as midwestern weather when it comes to its investigations, so it’s hard to tell Texas fans to rest easy today. But if the most recent news coming out of the Myck Kabongo story is indeed true, it doesn’t seem likely that the Longhorns will be without the talented point guard this season.

Myck Kabongo might be in the clear with the NCAA.

Kabongo flew to Cleveland this summer for a private workout with childhood friend, former Texas teammate, and current Cleveland Cavalier Tristan Thompson. How Kabongo financed the trip is the reason behind the NCAA’s questioning. Yahoo! Sports originally reported that the trip was paid for by Thompson’s agent, Rich Paul, a clear violation of NCAA guidelines that could potentially have resulted in Kabongo ineligible to play this season. FoxSportsOhio is now reporting that Thompson paid for the trip rather than Paul. Because Thompson and Kabongo’s relationship goes back to their childhood, it appears unlikely that sanctions will come down on Kabongo or Texas.

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Last week, a pair of my colleagues here posted their lists of five non-conference games featuring Pac-12 teams to watch. To be clear, Connor Pelton’s list was of the five most watchable games on the slate, while Kevin Danna’s list was the five most important games. Today I’ll tell you the games that Connor and Kevin missed on their respective lists and tell you why these games need to be right there among the best of the Pac-12’s non-conference games.

First, Kevin picked the following five games as the most important non-conference games:

1. USC vs. Illinois
2. UCLA vs. Georgetown
3. Stanford vs. Missouri
4. California at Wisconsin
5. Florida at Arizona

Now, to be sure, those are by no means a bad slate of games. And, given the state in which we last saw Pac-12 basketball, any games its member institutions play in the non-conference should be considered very important, as the league tries to re-establish its national credibility. That being said, I’m looking for one of two things in ranking the importance of non-conference games: Either match-ups of elite teams against teams that figure to be highly ranked come March, or match-ups of middle-of-the-Pac teams against other potential bubblicious teams. Kevin nailed a couple of the first type here, especially with the UCLA/Georgetown Legends Classic semifinal that will not only give the Bruins a chance to score a solid win over a solid Big East team, but could also give the squad a chance to score a major RPI booster against Indiana in the final of that tournament. Likewise, if Arizona can take care of Florida, that should be a nice feather in the Wildcats’ cap come Selection Sunday, especially considering their otherwise ordinary (at best) non-conference slate.

Kevin does a great job picking out a couple other key early season tournament games, with USC needing to open its run in the Maui Invitational with a win over Illinois in order to give the Trojans a chance at other big names deeper in that tourney. Stanford is in a similar situation in the loaded Battle 4 Atlantis tourney. Really, there’s not a lot on his list to argue with, but I’d pick out a couple other games that could be harbingers of what is to come on Selection Sunday.

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Throughout the preseason, the Pac-12 microsite will be rolling out these featured breakdowns of each of the 12 league schools. Today’s release is the UCLA Bruins.

Strengths.  Talent. The Bruins feature seven former McDonald’s All-Americans on their roster, including three from last year’s game. The argument could be made that this roster has more raw talent than any other team in the country. The challenge for head coach Ben Howland is going to be harnessing this talent, as some players on this roster – most notably junior center Joshua Smith and senior point guard Larry Drew II – have yet to live up to those expectations. Still, the talent is there, and what’s more it is big, with four guys in the rotation checking in a 6’9” or better and an additional group of five different wings standing between 6’4” and 6’9”.

Joshua Smith’s Talent Is Undeniable, But He Has Still Yet To Live Up To His Potential

Weaknesses. Despite all that talent, it remains to be seen just how the roles get distributed on this team. For instance, with freshman small forward Shabazz Muhammad expected to see the beginning of his likely brief college career delayed by an NCAA investigation, and with junior wing Tyler Lamb already laid up after getting his knee scoped, the Bruins find themselves mighty thin at the three. What’s more, with Smith, the Wear twins and freshman center Tony Parker all best suited for either the four or the five, there is quite a wait for playing time at those positions. Then there are the question marks at the point; Drew is expected to take the reins there from the get-go, but his performance and leadership at his previous stop in Chapel Hill leaves some dubious as to his ability to run this team. Meanwhile, freshman wing Kyle Anderson has all the offensive skills necessary to be an elite playmaker for the team, but could be a liability if forced to guard smaller, quicker lead guards.

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And away we go, headfirst into another season heralded by our 2012-13 edition of Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball, our annual compendium of YouTube clips from the previous season 100% guaranteed to make you wish games were starting tonight. We’ve captured here what we believe were the most compelling moments from last season, some of which will bring back the goosebumps and others of which will leave you shaking your head. Enjoy!

#24 – Where The Sweet Taste of Victory (Finally) Happens

We also encourage you to re-visit the entire archive of this feature from the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 seasons.

Most of the prominent schools who were going to hold a Midnight Madness event already held it, with the majority coming on Friday night (highlights here) and a few others — Harvard and Louisville, for example — trickling out over the weekend. A good number of schools for one reason or another have held off on a celebration thus far, choosing instead to introduce this year’s team to the fans in the coming days and weeks.

UNC Celebrated More Than Just the Return of the Team Friday Night (credit: Jeffrey A. Camarati)

Here’s the list of Midnight Madness stragglers, for those of you still interested.

• Arizona – Sunday, October 21 – Arizona’s McDonald’s Red-Blue game at 2 PM PT will feature a scrimmage as well as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Arizona’s 1988 Final Four team.
• BYU  – Wednesday, October 24 – Cougar Tipoff will begin at 7 PM MT and also run streaming on byutvsports.com.
• Dayton – Saturday, October 20 – Dayton’s Red and Blue Scrimmage will begin at Noon ET and feature autographs and a meet-and-greet session prior to the football team’s game against Valparaiso.
• Duke – Friday, October 19 – Countdown to Craziness is scheduled for 8 PM ET on Friday night and will be carried live on GoDuke.com. Several elite prospects in the Classes of 2014 and 2015 are expected to be there.
• Gonzaga – Saturday, October 20 – Kraziness at the Kennel tips off at 4 PM PT. The event is also being held concurrently with Fall Family Weekend on the Gonzaga campus, and one fan will get to shoot a halfcourt shot for a chance at $10,000.
• Ohio State – Monday, October 22 – The Agonis Club is again sponsoring a meet-and-greet with the players and bid through a silent auction for team gear and seats right behind the bench. This event, which costs $75 per person to attend, begins at 5:30 PM ET.
• Stanford – Friday, October 19 – The Cardinal’s Friday Frenzy event, beginning at 6 PM PT, will feature a raffle for a fan to win an all-expenses paid trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas next month.
• UNLV – Thursday, October 18 – The Runnin’ Rebel Scarlet/Gray Showcase (that’s a mouthful) will begin at 7 PM PT and feature a Legends Game in addition to the standard fan-friendly dunk contest and scrimmage.
• Villanova – Thursday, October 18 – Hoops on the Hudson will take place at 6:30 PM ET at The Lighthouse on Pier 61 in Manhattan so that NYC-area fans and alumni can meet the team in a relaxed environment. The price per person: $300.
• Xavier – Saturday, October 20 – Musketeer Madness will tip off at 6 PM ET with introductions to the team and the standard fare of events.

1. Washington picked up the second commitment of its 2013 recruiting class on Sunday, adding shooting guard Darin Johnson out of Sacramento. The Sheldon High School (CA) product chose the Huskies over UCLA, San Diego State, and Gonzaga, among others. Johnson’s style is very much up-tempo, if only because he’s a prolific scorer and the more touches he gets, the more come with it. As the article points out, the in-state Aztecs would have been a very tempting choice considering head man Steve Fisher just landed a pair of Johnson’s AAU teammates. But with Abdul Gaddy and Scott Suggs graduating after the 2012-13 campaign, the minutes will be there immediately for Johnson in Seattle. Johnson joins Findlay Prep (NV) point guard Nigel Williams-Goss as the Huskies’ second Class of 2013 commitment. With the backcourt complete, coach Lorenzo Romar will now turn his attention to five-star power forward Aaron Gordon.
2. Coming off a 19-14 season that was downright embarrassing at times, UCLA’s summer exhibition trip to China might have come at just the right time. It was there that the new-look Bruins, featuring one of the top recruiting classes in the country, bonded together and dominated their games. They did that without the services of freshmen Tony Parker and Shabazz Muhammad, who sat out the trip due to an injury and eligibility concerns. Parker is now healthy, but it’s scary to think how good Ben Howland’s bunch can be this season if Muhammad is cleared by the NCAA. With a pair of five- and four-stars now residing to Los Angeles, the Bruins should not only compete with Arizona for the Pac-12 championship, but are a likely candidate to make at least the Sweet Sixteen come March.
3. We showed you a few weeks back how many men’s non-conference games would be televised by the new Pac-12 Networks (89, in fact), so it was good news for those that also like to see the women ball when conference commissioner Larry Scott announced that 61 women’s games would be televised on the networks this season. Needless to say, there’s going to be more than enough Pac-12 basketball for the average and even addicted fan to enjoy this season. If your television provider doesn’t carry the Pac-12 Networks, you can let your voice be heard here.
4. With the start of practice comes projections of all sorts, and in this Daily Wildcat piece, Zack Rosenblatt breaks down the 10-man Arizona rotation. Newcomers Grant Jerrett and Mark Lyons make up two-fifths of the starting five, but Solomon Hill will be required to carry most of the load with the departure of Jesse Perry. Rosenblatt projects sophomore Angelo Chol to get the start at center over highly touted freshman Kaleb Tarczewski, but notes that “having a talented 7-footer like Tarczewski come off the bench is a nice problem to have.” Most of the “key reserve” list is either filled with freshman or bench players who rarely started last season. Junior guard Jordin Mayes is the exception, whose starts were mostly based off whether he was hot or not coming into a game.
5. Building on the thing that helped keep Utah competitive toward the end of 2011-12, head coach Larry Krystkowiak is devoting 80% of practice to the defensive facet of the game. Already believing that his team has a “scoring punch” (which may be a bit of a stretch, but we’ll reserve judgement until games start), the Utes want to work on help-side defense and stopping attacks at the rim. A lack of discipline and quickness last year would lead to many back-door attacks on the Ute defense, commonly resulting in finishes at the rim. Taking that away and forcing teams to shoot from outside will keep them in games longer, and the longer they are in those contests, the more of a chance something good will happen for the Utes. After all, jump shots are typically tougher to put down than slam dunks.

Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn.

When Murray State guard Zay Jackson was sentenced to 30 days of jail time after pleading guilty to two charges of wanton endangerment, there was no immediate indication Jackson had seen his final days in a Racers uniform. In fact, MSU athletic director Allen Ward confirmed Friday that Jackson would remain “part of the team this year” after serving his punishment, saying that the senior guard had learned from his mistake, recalibrated his off-court demeanor, and would be welcomed back on campus with open arms. On Monday, after WPSD Local 6 News went public with surveillance footage of Jackson’s parking lot incident, that forgiving posture reached its breaking point. A word of caution: The course of events – the most jarring of which involves Jackson using his white Monte Carlo as a vehicular wrecking ball – are extremely disturbing, and should be viewed with discretion. Details of the confrontation emerged in the wake of Jackson’s initial arraignment, more than a month before Monday’s video release. Alia Clement, one of the victims of Jackson’s wheelside rage, called it “the scariest day I’ve had in my entire life.” According to Clement, the perilous chain of action began when she called out Jackson for pushing a shopping cart into a nearby vehicle. Tensions escalated when Jackson threatened her husband, Jason, who tried to photograph Jackson’s license plate to report his malfeasance. The heated back-and-forth escalated quickly and culminated with Jackson flooring his vehicle right through the Clements.

The video of Jackson’s incident will evoke calls for Jackson’s immediate expulsion from the team (Photo credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images).

Nothing has changed with respect to Jackson’s legal status or his length of punishment. He is still slated to finish out a month-long sentence, at which point he will be free to return to campus and, presumably, re-join the men’s basketball team. That was the impression Ward gave after Friday’s sentencing. Several days later, it’s reasonable to think his posture has changed. What once could be shielded by a veil of misinformed public perception (it wasn’t until Monday that everyone found out what really happened) has been spun into a national saga of repulsion and disbelief. Now that the lurid details of Jackson’s heinous act have gone viral, the classification – playing Grand Theft Auto in Walmart parking lots is “wanton endangerment?” Really? – and severity of punishment have been thrown into sharp public scrutiny. From a law enforcement standpoint, unless some other credible details related to Jackson’s actions emerge, his punishment cannot be altered ex post facto on the basis of video evidence. Jackson has been charged and sentenced. Case closed. But Murray State is well within its rights to ramp up Jackson’s punishment on its side of the equation. At this point, it’s almost mandatory.

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Throughout the preseason, the Big Ten microsite will be rolling out these featured breakdowns of each of the 12 league schools. Today’s release is the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Where we left off: Last time we saw Iowa, the Hawkeyes were getting run over for 108 points by Oregon in the second round of the NIT. Of course, it was an accomplishment for the program to even get back to the NIT after a promising season, and now, with a number of stars back, Iowa is looking to take the next step to the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Fran McCaffery has done a good job of turning the team around, and now, in year three, expectations are high. Clearly McCaffery has his team on the right track, but is this the year Iowa finally makes it back to the NCAA Tournament? There is a lot of inexperience on parts of the court, but enough talent is certainly there for the Hawkeyes to make a run.

Fran McCaffery Has His Team on the Right Track (credit: AP)

Positives: Iowa’s biggest strength this winter will be its depth, and in fact, that could represent the most difficult part of McCaffery’s job. The Hawkeyes may have a hard time finding playing time for everyone with so much returning experience and new talent. Junior guard Roy Devyn Marble and sophomore forward Aaron White are locks to start, and they’ll likely be joined by junior forward Melsahn Basabe and freshman point guard Mike Gesell, but after that, the distribution of minutes gets foggy. Junior forward Zach McCabe will likely see considerable minutes, as will freshman center Adam Woodbury, but sophomore center Gabe Olaseni, who McCaffery calls the team’s most improved player, will also be slated for some time. In the backcourt, sophomore shooting specialist Josh Oglesby, freshman point guard Anthony Clemmons and senior Eric May will all push for playing time. There are a lot of different looks that this team can show, and while it might be difficult to figure out playing time, that’s a very good problem to have.

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Throughout the preseason, the ACC microsite will release a preview for each of the 12 ACC teams. Today’s victim: Boston College.

Boston College was bad last season. The Eagles lost nearly everything from 2010-11, getting left with mostly walk-ons and freshmen. The result was a team lacking in both talent and experience. Add in the ill-timed sickness of Patrick Heckmann, who to that point was Steve Donahue’s most polished player, and the recipe for a disastrous conference season was complete. Somehow the Eagles pulled out four ACC wins, including one over eventual conference champion Florida State. However, only seven of the Eagles’ 16 conference games were decided by less than 10 points. In those games Boston College was 4-3, winning the four games by a combined 12 points. This year should be significantly better for Donahue’s club, although the Eagles will still likely finish near the bottom of the conference.

Steve Donahue’s Team Will Be More Experienced This Season

Newcomers

Steve Donahue added two scholarship players to the roster this year, Joe Rahon and Olivier Hanlan. Notre Dame transfer Alex Dragicevich also joined the team but he won’t be eligible until 2013-14. Rahon and Hanlan should be able to contribute right away, sharing minutes with 5’10” sophomore Jordan Daniels at the point guard position. The two should provide much-needed depth in the backcourt. Both were consensus three-star recruits coming out of high school, meaning they have a ways to go before contributing positively at the power conference level. However, Boston College needs bodies, so look for both to see significant minutes.

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1. Bob Knight is in the headlines once again. The former Indiana and Texas Tech basketball coach is auctioning his national championship rings along with his 1984 Olympic gold medal.  On the heels of Arkansas football coach John L. Smith’s financial issues, was Knight the latest to resort to selling his goods for a quick buck? No, he’s doing this to pay for grandchildren’s college education. Up for bid are his three NCAA championship rings from 1976, 1981 and 1987, his gold medal as Team USA coach (given to him from the LA Olympic Committee) as well as a sports coat and warm-up jacket also given to him as part of the 1984 Olympic team. Good to know nothing’s wrong with Knight financially speaking. You almost had us there, coach.
2. The Baylor Bears have them a fan in CBS’ Matt Norlander. He likes the Bears as a preseason Top 20 team and it’s hard to think of them otherwise. Ricardo Gathers and Isaiah Austin are bound to make immediate impacts as freshmen with the departures of Perry Jones III and the Quincys, Miller and Acy. Throw in the Big 12 preseason POY in Pierre Jackson, three-point assassin Brady Heslip, highflyer Deuce Bello and you’re looking at a team that can blossom at the end of the year, just like the two Elite Eight teams of recent vintage (2010, 2012). Scott Drew certainly has a type.
3. Kansas State is still getting used to Bruce Weber just as Weber is to K-State. Kellis Robinett of The Wichita Eagle had an outstanding piece detailing how the two are meshing. The first time the Wildcats tried to run Weber’s motion offense was a comedy of errors. Players were unsure of where to go and featured, as the story notes, “teammates accidentally crashing into each other.” When Frank Martin was around, K-State ran half-court sets so it’s understandable a scheme change would take some time to master. One difference senior Will Spradling notices between his current and former coach is that one mistake would have caused Spradling to hear Martin’s loud voice in his ear while Weber is willing and able to rehearse the play as long as it takes to get right. In the grand scheme of things, this won’t make the Wildcats win more games because KSU would have been projected as pretty good whether Weber or Martin were calling the shots. Gonna miss Martin’s death stare, though.
4. Former Iowa State everyman Royce White has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start in his NBA career. He didn’t arrive at the Houston Rockets training camp on time due to anxiety issues over flying. To quell those fears, White and the Rockets came to an agreement on traveling arrangements during the preseason. Monday night White saw his first action as a Rocket and, in limited action, he looked every bit the player he was in Ames. He wasn’t put in a box, he was Royce. For Rockets fans like myself, that’s music to our ears.
5. I am a big fan of the College Basketball All-Name Teams provided by the fine folks at Ballin is a Habit every October. Now that this fall ritual has moved to NBC’s College Basketball Talk, this year’s list of names may be the deepest ever. Big 12 schools have their share of wacky namesakes but the real humor is in the name of each category. Read this while you enjoy your lunch later today. You may not have much of one when you’re done looking it over.