- Does this upcoming season feel a little retro to you? ESPN’s Jason King thinks so as he spells out why 2012 feels a lot like the late 1980s to him. The Kansas Jayhawks are one of nine teams that enjoyed success 25 years ago (give or take) that is also projected for big things this season. Remember when Larry Brown coached Danny Manning and his Miracles to a national title at KU in 1988? Now the two will be going up against each other as first-year coaches in Conference USA. There are several more comparisons and symmetry in this piece and they are all delicious.
- SB Nation‘s awesome Iowa State blog, Wide Right & Natty Lite, gave us a self-preview of the 2012-13 Cyclones. They see ISU finishing third in the Big 12 but they make a compelling case for it. Yes they are one Royce White, Scott Christopherson and Chris Allen short this season, but with Will Clyburn, Korie Lucious and Melvin Ejim (a year older) replacing that trio in the rotation, the idea doesn’t seem so far-fetched after all. And according to a well-respected name in the college hoops media talking about a Cyclone freshman, it only reinforces the notion.
- Speaking of that well-respected name in college hoops, it is Fran Fraschilla who sees similarities between the games of Iowa State frosh Georges Niang and Creighton’s Doug McDermott. Rob Dauster of NBCSports.com has more on the freshman who played alongside Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel at the Tilton School in New Hampshire. Here’s a fun fact about Niang: After initially running for senior class president as a gag, he ended up winning the position and treated his role somewhat seriously. Still, just a mention of a current Cyclone drawing comparisons to the NPOY candidate McDermott is probably a weird consolation prize for not signing the Ames, Iowa, native back in 2010.
- The Pistols Firing Blog is running through each Oklahoma State player from #15 down to #1 this week. Ninth on the list is Kirby Gardner, a JuCo point guard who, according to GoPokes.com, was seen as a backup plan since Travis Ford knew Cezar Guerrero wasn’t completely on board with playing ball outside of California. Gardner averaged 17.2 points and 4.4 assists per game in earning the MVP as a member of San Bernardino Valley Community College last season. Ford called Gardner the team’s “only true point guard” and he has a serious shot at some playing time this season.
- The Jeff Boys at CBSSports.com — Borzello and Goodman — have compiled a list of all the injuries and suspensions for every team in every conference. Iowa State’s roster is notably hit with some small suspensions while Oklahoma State, a team projected by the coaches to have a big season, has been bitten badly by the injury bug. If you have time to read or even scan through the list, please do. They worked really hard on it.