We’ve been scouring around the web tonight to find some of the best sights and sounds submitted through various forms of social media. Much more will undoubtedly pop up in the next 24 hours, but this is what we’ve found so far…

Pittsburgh dusted off Midnight Madness for the first time in a number of years and seemed to have won the night with its outdoor court, Jamie Dixon’s impersonation of Jackie Moon, and a Bill Raftery re-enacting his iconic “SEND IT IN JEROME” call from the wayback machine. But Kentucky‘s Big Blue Madness was epic as usual, Syracuse brought in Wale to rock the house, and Mizzou fans gave us our first sorta-RTC of the nascent season. More to come over the weekend!

Pitt’s Outdoor Madness Was Certainly Unique (credit: @laurenwalheim)

Jamie Dixon’s Getup Was Ridiculous… and Awesome (credit: @andrew_salesi)

Remember This Guy? (credit: @brucepearl)

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On Wednesday, Kevin released his list of the five most important Pac-12 non-conference games of the season, and a few weeks back, I released my own rankings. This post will explain why my top five games are better than Kevin’s, but first, let’s see where his games fall on my list:

Here’s a Hint (credit: Wikipedia)

5. Florida @ Arizona (My Rank: 5)
4. California @ Wisconsin (2)
3. Stanford vs Missouri (28)
2. UCLA vs Georgetown (11)
1. USC vs Illinois (25)

And now, my top five:

5. Florida @ Arizona (December 15) – This is the one game we agree on, so there’s nothing to argue about here. This will likely be a battle of Top 15 teams when the Gators venture into the McKale Center, making it a must-see contest. It will be Florida’s second trip to the desert in the 2012 calendar year, the first being a two-game split in the NCAA Tournament last March. They’ll be looking for revenge after being upset at home last year by Sean Miller and company, 78-72 loss in overtime.

4. Oregon State vs Kansas (November 30) – Without question, this will be Oregon State’s biggest non-conference game in recent memory. And depending on how they do in the 2K Sports Classic earlier in the month, a win could mean a clean non-conference slate for the Beavers heading into Pac-12 play. In their way will be a raucous Sprint Center crowd, not to mention the combination of Elijah Johnson and Jeff Withey. This game doesn’t make Kevin’s list, instead it’s California-Wisconsin, a matchup we’ll break down in just a moment.

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Today is the official opening to the 2012-13 college basketball season as schools will be able to start officially practicing Friday night. Before then, though, we’re going to take a look at the various pre-conference tournaments that have become synonymous with the first month of college basketball. Nearly every Big 12 school is competing in one of those tournaments this season and we’ll take time each day this week to preview each bracket, from Hawaii to Puerto Rico to New York City. Monday, we took a look at Texas and Kansas. On Tuesday, Kansas State and the NIT Preseason Tip-Off were previewed.  On Wednesday, we analyzed how Iowa State and Oklahoma State will stack up in their preseason tournaments.  Today, Oklahoma and West Virginia take the stage as we break down the Old Spice Classic. 

Old Spice Classic 

Date: November 22, 23 and 25

Location: The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida

Teams: Clemson, Davidson, Gonzaga, Marist, Oklahoma, UTEP, Vanderbilt and West Virginia

There’s a good field this year.

This may be my favorite preseason tournament this year. Sure, this isn’t the Champions Classic or the Battle 4 Atlantis but I love it because of all the symmetry among some of these schools. Thanks to conference realignment, Oklahoma and West Virginia find themselves in the same field but ESPN cleverly placed them on opposite sides of the bracket, so there’d be a small chance for a Big 12 game in November (I’d love to see that come to life). Also, the Mountaineers have a unrelated non-conference game with Gonzaga to kick off the college hoops marathon in November, which then will be a rematch of a second-round game in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, which then could also be a possible Old Spice championship game matchup. SYMMETRY!

Last year was an awful one for Clemson, considering they went from a Tournament team in 2010-11 to 16-15 overall. And they have to play Gonzaga? It’s not happening, Tigers. As for Gonzaga, they’re getting more pub this season than any other. They’ve had the pieces to make deep runs in the Tournament some years but haven’t been to the Elite Eight since the 1999 team that gave eventual champion UConn a scare.

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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 are the Stanford Cardinal

Strengths: The tandem of junior Aaron Bright and sophomore Chasson Randle in the backcourt is shaping up to be one of the most dynamic duos in the Pac-12. The diminutive Bright has some characteristics reminiscent of other small guys who made names for themselves in the Seattle area, most notably the moxie to take and make big shots for his team. While he might not have the speed of a Nate Robinson or Isaiah Thomas, Bright can still get into the lane and distribute with some flashy passes. However, he doesn’t break down defenses as well as Randle, who may very well be the most significant guard to come through The Farm since Brevin Knight when it’s all said and done. Randle finished second among Pac-12 freshmen in scoring, behind only the NBA-bound Tony Wroten. The Rock Island, IL native displayed an ability to go into “put the team on my back” mode during his freshman campaign, highlighted by the 24 points he scored to lead Stanford in its 103-101 quadruple-overtime victory at Oregon State.

Chasson Randle did more than hold up his jersey during Stanford’s quadruple-overtime victory over Oregon State (credit: Rick Bowmer)

Weaknesses: Stanford is going to be physically light down low with the departures of Josh Owens and Andrew Zimmermann. While the Cardinal have to potential to be a good rebounding team again with guys like Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis still in town to crash the glass, Stanford will have to make up for a lot of toughness lost with Owens and Zimmermann gone. Although Owens was the better athlete, Zimmermann might end up being a bigger loss for head coach Johnny Dawkins. He was a guy who did all of the little things in the paint, including taking charges and talking on defense (he didn’t have a bad jump shot, either). As such, this group also needs to find a vocal leader. That might be tough, considering none of the major rotation players are seniors and haven’t been called on to be captains before.

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

The age of smartphone-based communication is upon us. There’s no denying it. From pre-pubescent pre-teens to middle-aged parents to retired folks, the instant communication trend has slowly seeped its way into every technological aspect of our lives. For the purposes of college basketball recruiting, this created something of a problem. The NCAA’s previous restrictions on messaging and calling frequency forced coaches to monitor their phone habits with painstaking consistency. On principle, the limitations made absolute sense – messaging fees could get out of hand pretty easily, not every player can afford smart phones, and the risk of players being overwhelmed by a deluge of calls and texts from overeager coaches was very real – but enforcement was tricky and often ineffective. A handful of coaches were slapped with secondary violations for exceeding contact limits, the most notable being Kelvin Sampson, whose profligate recruiting tactics (part of which hinged on his negligence of restricted cellphone use) touched off a precipitous decline for Indiana. The Hoosiers have very much recovered, but it may have been avoided, or at least mitigated, had the NCAA’s bylaws adjusted to the blossoming digital communications market at the time. For better or worse, the restraints on smartphone-tethered communications were officially lifted this past summer, meaning coaches could call or text recruits who have completed their sophomore year in high school.

The NCAA’s blackballing of Instagram is a decided step back after embracing technological growth this summer (Photo credit: businessinsider.com)

Not only did the rule change help coaches by unlocking a new world of streamlined contact – not to mention the stronger recruiting ties forged by more frequent communication – it allowed the NCAA to stop wasting time policing nonsensical secondary infractions and start focusing on violations that actually, you know, matter. The NCAA had finally embraced the modern age. It was a progressive move, all things considered. As is the case with most outwardly positive NCAA rule changes, there’s a caveat. Only this one isn’t prohibitive as much as it is petty. Instagram – the in-vogue photo-sharing application that turns virtually any smartphone owner into a proficient photography aesthete – has officially been outlawed from college coaches’ growing list of technological recruiting mechanisms. The NCAA outlined its position in a Q&A-style educational column earlier this week, and you might be surprised to learn the motives behind this puzzling regulation. The issue stems not from the actual sending of photographs to prospective recruits — the NCAA sent out a clarifying message Thursday detailing the nuances of its prohibitive policy — but from coaches altering or enhancing photos for a “recruiting purpose.”

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Lists are one of the best aspects about sports, especially in a sport with such a wide range as college basketball. Compiling a list of top 100 players is not an easy task but CBS Sports this week released one for the 2012-13 season. These type of lists are bound to to trigger debates among the fans, and as expected, there are some interesting picks and omissions from the Big Ten. A handful of players certainly deserve to be on the preseason list based on their body of work over the last couple seasons: Cody Zeller (Indiana), Christian Watford (Indiana), Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State), Aaron Craft (Ohio State), Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota), Rodney Williams (Minnesota), Trey Burke (Michigan), Tim Hardaway Jr. (Michigan), Keith Appling (Michigan State), Branden Dawson (Michigan State), Tim Frazier (Penn State), and Brandon Paul (Illinois).

There are however, a few interesting selections especially if you consider some others from the B1G who were left out. Before we jump into the discussion about those players, the basis of evaluation for this list is up for judgment. It could be the best 100 players in terms of talent or it could also mean that these players purport to add the most value to their respective teams. Their teams’ performance last season could have also impacted the selection committee. Keeping those points in mind, let’s jump into the B1G players on this list that could potentially be replaced by some of their fellow conference counterparts.

Is Drew Crawford one of the top 100 players in college hoops?

Victor Oladipo (#84 on the list from Indiana) vs. Drew Crawford (Northwestern)

Oladipo averaged 10.8 PPG last season and clearly showed his athleticism on the court as the Hoosiers revived their program under Tom Crean. His ferocious dunk during the Kentucky game on ESPN was essentially his coming-out party. Regardless of his diverse offensive game, he was still the third scoring option on the team (at best) last season and will continue to play that role this year. If you take away Oladipo from Indiana’s squad this season, they may not necessarily be a top five team but will still be considered a strong Final Four contender.

If the overall contribution to their team this season is used to evaluate the players, then Northwestern’s Drew Crawford may have a better case to be on this list over Oladipo. Crawford averaged 16.1 PPG and 4.7 RPG while shooting 41% from beyond the arc last season. Crawford was clearly the second scoring option for the Wildcats after John Shurna but he will undoubtedly be the heart and soul in Evanston this season. He will also have to pick up the best offensive player on defense as NU tries to make the postseason after falling short again last season.

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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!

#26 – Where Stupid Is as Stupid Does 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.

1. One of the things we love about college basketball is that every year, there are loads and loads of teams with brand new looks. You’ve got freshmen coming in and transfers and kids back from injuries. The entire makeup of a team can change from year to year, for better or for worse. This year in the Pac-12 is no different, but in some cases, these changes seem to be a bit more extreme than normal, with several teams across the conference ready to unveil a completely remade roster. Today, as practices kick off around the country, we’ll take a look at five of those teams, beginning with Utah, where second-year head coach Larry Krystkowiak welcomes in a roster that returns just two scholarship players from last year’s 6-25 team. Given the depths to which the talent level plunged in Salt Lake City last year, the remake was desperately needed, and Krystkowiak is certain that the team is ready to be much more competitive. With 10 new scholarship faces on the roster, the battle for time is tight and ongoing, with the head man mentioning that the Ute starting lineup may be a shifting five over the course of the year.
2. As bad as the Utes were last year, USC was even worse, limping (quite literally) home to a 1-17 record. Along the way, the Trojans turned into the walking wounded with dozens, if not hundreds, of players (overstatement is of use here) lost for the season to injury. But not only does Kevin O’Neill have many of those players coming back from last year’s injuries, but he’s got transfers galore and, all told, plenty of talent up and down the bench. Never one for understatement, O’Neill last season called then sophomore center DeWayne Dedmon a future NBA lottery pick, while this year he is going out on a limb and projecting Rice transfer Omar Oraby as a future 12- or 13-year pro, although USC is still waiting on word from the NCAA as to whether he’ll receive a waiver to be able to play this year. But O’Neill is most excited about getting back the services of senior point guard Jio Fontan, whom he calls the heart and soul of the team.
3. Washington State’s 2011-12 season was slightly more successful than either of the above teams’, but like both USC and Utah, the Cougs will unveil a new-look squad as well. Brock Motum returns after his breakout junior season, as does returning starter DaVonte Lacy and four other players, but things are going to have to be different in Pullman this season. But despite being minus recently-dismissed point guard Reggie Moore, head coach Ken Bone thinks this will be a better team than last year, with the combo of Lacy and Kansas-transfer Royce Woolridge being an upgrade over the would-be senior. And Bone hopes that the Cougs’ underdog status will help the squad “pull together.” Reading between the lines a bit, it seems I may not be the only one who thinks the loss of Moore could turn out to be addition by subtraction.
4. Oregon advanced to the NIT last season, but after five graduating seniors and three freshmen transferring out of the program last year, the Ducks were in need of a talent infusion of their own. Enter a five-man freshman class, two junior college transfers, and Rice transfer Arsalan Kazemi (who is appealing to the NCAA for immediate eligibility), and returnee EJ Singler, for one, is excited about the additional size and athleticism added to Dana Altman’s roster. The number of new players could jump to nine once the football season ends, assuming freshman Arik Armstead joins the team in January, but the number could have even been 10. However, junior college transfer Devon Branch opted not to enroll at UO for the fall semester, instead opting to go the Division II route, which would give him one more season of eligibility than he would have had in Eugene.
5. The roster makeover for Washington is not as massive as in any of the above four stops, but the Huskies are without their two highest profile stars from last season’s Pac-12 regular season champion. Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten Jr. left eligibility on the table when they split for the NBA, but it was no secret that last year’s squad underachieved in part due to chemistry issues that never got fully resolved. Lorenzo Romar commented on Twitter that this team has the chemistry and attitude that the coaching staff appreciates, a remark that seems to draw a direct comparison to last year’s squad. Put on your special glasses and it might as well read: “last year’s team had no chemistry because there were too many guys worried about getting the credit.” There’s still plenty of talent up in Seattle, with proven upperclassmen Abdul Gaddy, C.J. Wilcox and Aziz N’Diaye leading the way, so if the intangibles shift a little in the right direction, the 2012-13 edition of the Huskies could be an improvement on last year’s more talented squad.

In a little more than a half-day, coaches, players, fans and media alike will begin congregating at gyms on college campuses around the country to celebrate one of the most unique traditions in all of sports — Midnight Madness. Even though nobody actually holds their season-opening fan frenzy at the witching hour anymore, the name has hung on for dear life, perhaps in the hope that some enterprising schools will someday bring back the doppelganger of Lefty Driesell’s creativity.

As far as we can tell, about half of last year’s NCAA Tournament field will hold an event on Friday night, highlighted by the star-studded shows at Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Michigan State and aired throughout the evening on ESPNU. Another 15 or so will hold some kind of celebratory event on a separate day, and the remainder for some unconscionable reason are taking the year off. If we got something wrong as far as the details, shoot us an email and we’ll fix it. We’re going to be watching all the coverage and keeping track of the events around the country throughout Friday evening, so feel free to tweet @rushthecourt and/or contact us at rushthecourt@yahoo.com if you have some great photos, videos or simply anecdotes and rumors to share.

Here is a list of last season’s NCAA Tournament teams (along with a few other prominent basketball schools) who will be holding a season-opening celebration TONIGHT (major h/t to Jeremy Pfingsten for doing the heavy lifting and research on this piece). We’ll have the stragglers listed a bit later this weekend.

FRIDAY NIGHT EVENT (note: ESPNU will begin its coverage from Bloomington, Indiana, at 5 PM ET)

• Baylor – Moonlight Madness featuring both the men’s and women’s teams at 8:30 PM CT at the Ferrell Center. ESPNU will provide national television coverage.
• Colorado – Buffs Madness represents the first Midnight Madness at the school in 16 years. Celebration will begin after the volleyball game that starts at 7 PM MT.
• Connecticut – UConn’s First Night festivities will begin at 7 PM ET. According to the UConn athletic department, fans will be treated to performances by the marching band, the cheer and dance squads, a dunk contest and giveaways.
• Creighton – Bluejay Madness at 8 PM CT will include introductions of the players from both the women’s and men’s teams, a three-point shooting contest, scrimmages by both squads, and a dunk contest featuring a few of the men’s players.
• Detroit – 2012 Titan Tip-Off will get underway with the President’s Championship Celebration in the Titan Club Room at 4:30 PM ET, followed by on-court festivities at 5 PM.
• Florida State – The Seminoles will tip off their ACC title defense season with a practice at the Donald Tucker Center at 7 PM ET, part of the group of schools featured on ESPNU that night.
• Georgetown – This is the seventh-straight year ESPNU has featured Midnight Madness coverage and this is the fourth time Georgetown has been part of the televised coverage. Word on the street is that Doug E. Fresh will be there.
• Indiana – Jay Williams & Dan Dakich will tip off ESPNU’s programming with live walk-through coverage of IU’s first real practice at 5 PM ET.
• Kansas – Late Night in the Phog will be featured on ESPNU as well, with festivities beginning at 6:30 PM CT. It will also be aired online at AT&T Jayhawk All-Access via KUathletics.com.
• Kentucky – Coming off a national title and a tremendous two weeks of recruiting news, what will John Calipari have in store during Big Blue Madness (tickets sold out in 35 minutes, btw)? In addition to ESPNU’s coverage, complete live coverage will be shown online on ESPN3 beginning at 7:30 PM ET. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Let the arguments begin. The Big 12 released its preseason coaches poll on Thursday, which means about as much as preseason football, exhibition games, and the college football bowl system (ouch, sorry about that one). Everybody in the league picked Bill Self and Kansas to win the Big 12 in 2012-13, except for, well, Bill Self. That’s because he couldn’t vote for his own team. Self voted for Baylor, which finished second in the poll. Somehow, due to a random assortment of events we’ll never quite understand, the coaches picked Oklahoma State to finish third. We’re guessing they like Marcus Smart — hey, we do too — but not that much. Iowa State’s eighth-place choice is perplexing, too, as is Kansas State’s slot at number five. There’s a reason they call it a preseason poll, though, and that’s because they’re usually wrong.
2. The coaches picked West Virginia to finish sixth in the Big 12. Call it newcomer hazing if you want, but coach Bob Huggins wasn’t too pleased with the selection. “If we’re the sixth-best team in the league, it’s a hell of a league,” he told the press. He may be a little biased, but he has a point. The Mountaineers welcome two of the league’s top newcomers in Juwan Staten and Aaric Murray, and Huggins has more than proven himself as a college basketball coach, regardless of league. West Virginia hails from the Big East. The Big 12 shouldn’t be a problem, not with his improved personnel this year.
3. In wake of the NCAA investigation into Myck Kabongo‘s relationship with an agent, his buddy and fellow countryman Tristan Thompson has come to his defense. Thompson, a former Texas Longhorn himself and a teammate of Kabongo’s in prep school, said on Thursday he actually paid for Kabongo’s trip to Cleveland. As Thompson explains, this tidbit is important because it would prove to the NCAA that Rich Paul, the agent in the middle of this whole debacle, did not reimburse Kabongo for the all-inclusive trip. This still wouldn’t exonerate Paul with regard to the allegations he made contact with NBA coaches on Kabongo’s behalf before the NBA Draft, but it’s helpful that Thompson would go public with this sort of information.
4. Trent Johnson is on a roll. Less than a week after top-50 center Karviar Shepherd pledged to his TCU program, Johnson picked up a commitment from point guard Michael Williams. He won’t arrive on campus in 2013 with the same kind of fanfare as Shephard, but any publicity is good publicity for Johnson at this point. Williams, rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, appears to have chosen TCU over Creighton, Nebraska, Tulsa, Colorado State and others. Not North Carolina and Kansas, but not exactly Division II, either. It’d be silly to judge him as a prospect at this point, though, so we’ll take a wait-and-see approach.
5. Face it. Kansas’ bench has more talent on a yearly basis than your program could ever hope to amass in a century. That’s how Bill Self operates, and it’s how a player like Jeff Withey can transfer to Kansas as a deep reserve and finish his career as a star. Elijah Johnson was a big part of last year’s Final Four team — he wasn’t on the bench, that’s for sure — but he’s now ready to take over as the next stud Jayhawk. With such roster turnover and so many new faces, Johnson will have to be a stabilizing figure for Kansas. Often an unsung hero in 2011-12, it’s easy to forget how well he played during the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments. He tallied a career-high 26 points in a quarterfinal win over Texas A&M and scored in double figures in every single postseason KU game. That’s the kind of thing Self needs from his senior in 2012-13.