Tonight’s Lede. Hoops Marathon Ends With Basketball Royalty in Atlanta. The fifth iteration of ESPN’s College Hoops Marathon went from Spokane to Albuquerque to Honolulu to New Jersey to Indiana to Amherst to Ohio to NYC to Cincinnati to Atlanta, with 16 games of varying quality and competitiveness, but it finished at the Champions Classic with two hard-fought and generally well-played games befitting the assembled hoops royalty of Izzo, Krzyzewski, Calipari and Self. Last season’s inaugural event in Madison Square Garden featured Krzyzewski’s 903d all-time victory and the coming-out party of Calipari’s talented band of super-freshmen. This year’s set of games in Atlanta featured a Michigan State team finding itself after a surprising loss to a scrappy Connecticut team last week in Germany, while Duke was looking to shore up its perimeter defense to reclaim its usual spot among the nation’s elite as a national title contender. Tonight’s losing teams, Kentucky and Kansas, came away from the experience not feeling terrible, realizing that November games — while important to their resumes — are more a time for reflection and focused learning than worrying about finished products. Let’s jump into the day’s games…

Your Watercooler Moment. Calipari Calls Out Duke’s Flopping. 

What else could it be? In one of the better preaching to the choir moments in recent college basketball history, John Calipari told ESPN’s Andy Katz at halftime of the Champions Classic nightcap in a half-joking/half-serious manner that Duke’s players were “flopping all over the place.” The Twitter-verse immediately seized the moment because if there’s anything that gets Duke haters riled up, it’s the tendency for Coach K’s defenders to find their backs on the floor with the ball headed the other way. For what it’s worth, Calipari said after the game that he was just joking. Nevertheless… the head coach may have made some new friends tonight.

This Other Thing… Both Kentucky and Duke Impressed. Duke walked out of Atlanta as the clear winner of the event, knocking off the #2 Wildcats and showing that some of the defensive deficiencies that caused so many problems for the Blue Devils last season may be solved. Seth Curry (23 pts) was outstanding in his twin roles as leader and scorer, and his game-finishing drive to fake Nerlens Noel off his feet and drop in a right-handed layup was a thing of beauty. Mason Plumlee, when not in foul trouble, showed that he is an elite big man (18/3 on 7-8 FG) and the rest of the Duke cast was at least serviceable on this night. Coach K was not going to let the Kentucky perimeter beat his team, and a 9-25 shooting night from Kyle Wiltjer, Archie Goodwin and Julius Mays ensured that Duke wouldn’t have to get into an 80- or 90-point game to win this one. As for the Wildcats, we anticipated that John Calipari would get a much better effort on the glass, and he did (27 each) while also allowing his talented big men, Alex Poythress and Noel, to pick their spots and follow the fluidity of the game. The duo combined for 36 points and 16 rebounds, and the mere sight of those two flying around the airspace above the rim should send shudders throughout the rest of college basketball wondering how good they’ll be when they figure out the plays. Brian Joyce was at the game and provided his takeaways here from watching it courtside, but from the perspective of talent (Kentucky) and cohesion (Duke), it wouldn’t surprise us to see both of these squads matching up again in that very building next April.

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Welcome back to Y2 of the RTC Podcast. A brand new season has dawned on us and after all the monotony of preseason chatter and previews where we get to pretend we know what will happen, it’s time to get down to the business of evaluating actual game action. Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) is our host again as this week we take a look at some of the results from the opening weekend of college basketball. From aircraft carrier games to the ongoing eligibility status of Shabazz Muhammad to a look ahead to tonight’s Champions Classic games, it’s all there, and more.

These full podcasts (roughly 45 minutes to an hour long) will publish on Tuesdays during the season, while our shorter (~15-20 minutes) podblasts will drop on Fridays with a quick look at the intervening week’s worth of news and action. Feel free to jump around using the outline below.

Also make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after each recording. Thanks!

• Start-8:15 – UConn downs Michigan State in Germany.
• 8:15-15:35 – Shipwrecked – Three aircraft carrier games fail to deliver.
• 15:35-22:10 – Kentucky survives scare from Maryland in first game as defending champs.
• 22:10- 24:45 – McDermott vs. Mitchell shows two good players and one good team.
• 24:45 -34:50 – Emails from Shabazz Muhammad and Leonard Hamilton.
• 34:50-38:30 – Highlights of the weekend from around the rest of the country.
• 38:30-40:52 – Does Michigan State start 0-2 vs Kansas?
• 40:52-45:30 – Kentucky and Duke marquee matchup.
• 45:30-47:40 – Florida finally gets to play their marquee OOC game vs. Wisconsin.
• 47:40-51:00 – 24 hour marathon thoughts.
• 51:00-52:40 – More UK-Duke knocking the dust off the old rivalry.

We welcome any and all feedback on these podcasts including topics for future discussion or if you want to send us any questions for our “May Not Be From Actual Listeners” segment. Hit us up atrushthecourt@yahoo.com or @rushthecourt on Twitter.

David Changas is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from tonight’s Battle of the Boulevard match-up between Belmont and Lipscomb.

They may be in a new league, and they may have lost their two biggest contributors in the post, but anyone who thinks the Belmont Bruins will do anything but contend for their seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last nine years is in for a rude awakening. As they proved by their 89-60 dismantling of their archrival Lipscomb on Friday, the Bruins will give OVC favorite and defending champion Murray State all they want in the Racers’ quest to return to the Big Dance. Belmont may have lost Mick Hedgepeth and Scott Saunders, its two leading rebounders and biggest bodies from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, but it returned one of the league’s best backcourts in Kerron Johnson and Ian Clark. Johnson is a classic pass-first point guard who uses his athleticism to break down defenses and can also score (he led the Bruins with 22 points on Friday). Clark is a prolific shooter with an unorthodox but quick release that is difficult to defend. The pair combined for 41 points on Friday, and it is reasonable to expect similar results throughout the season.

Belmont’s First Game This Year Was a Resounding Success

The most pleasant surprise Bruins coach Rick Byrd got from Friday’s win was the play of forward Trevor Noack. The 6’7″ senior averaged less than eight minutes per game last season, but hit double figures by the half and looked like a player who could be a consistent scoring option behind Clark, Johnson, and junior forward J.J. Mann. Belmont will be well-served by the athleticism of its backcourt, which will allow it to compete with the likes of Murray State and Tennessee State. Where the Bruins have questions is on the front line. While Noack’s offensive emergence is encouraging, Belmont will certainly struggle with talented big men – such as TSU’s Robert Covington – as it simply does not have much size on the interior. The Bruins play no one taller than 6’7″, and Noack and athletic frontcourt mate Blake Jenkins, a solid defender, do not offset their height disadvantages with much beef.

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It’s time to finish up the rest of our power conference preseason podblasts before the season gets under way tonight. We’ve invited our Pac-12 microsite correspondent Andrew Murawa (@amurawa) over to talk Pacific-12 Conference roundball for the 2012-13 season. Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114), as always, hosts as we break down the top contenders in the Pac-12 and some of the players to watch on the preseason all-conference lists. Feel free to jump around using the outline of the ‘blast below.

Make sure to check out our other preview podblasts already in the books before the season tips off tonight:

• Big Ten preview podblast
• Big East preview podblast
• SEC preview podblast
• ACC preview podblast
• Big 12 preview podblast

We welcome any and all feedback on these podcasts including topics for future discussion or if you want to send us any questions for our “May Not Be From Actual Listeners” segment. Hit us up atrushthecourt@yahoo.com or @rushthecourt on Twitter. For now, enjoy the listen…

Also, make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after each recording.

• Start-3:42 – Arizona as the favorite
• 3:42-9:30 – UCLA potentially great
• 9:30-11:44 – Can Cal challenge for the league?
• 11:44-14:05 – Best of the rest?
• 14:05-16:09 – Postseason outlook for the league
• 16:09-18:34 – First team Pac-12
• 18:34-20:45 – Best players to watch
• 20:45-23:15 – How to change the national perception?
• 23:15-25:10 – What we’re looking forward to

It’s time to finish up the rest of our power conference preseason podblasts before the season gets under way tonight. We’ve invited our Big 12 microsite correspondent Danny Spewak (@dspewak) over to talk Big 12 Conference roundball for the 2012-13 season. Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114), as always, hosts as we break down the top contenders in the Big 12 and some of the players to watch on the preseason all-conference lists. Feel free to jump around using the outline of the ‘blast below.

Make sure to check out our other preview podblasts already in the books before the season tips off tonight:

• Big Ten preview podblast
• Big East preview podblast
• SEC preview podblast
• ACC preview podblast

We welcome any and all feedback on these podcasts including topics for future discussion or if you want to send us any questions for our “May Not Be From Actual Listeners” segment. Hit us up atrushthecourt@yahoo.com or @rushthecourt on Twitter. For now, enjoy the listen…

Also, make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after each recording.

• Start-5:25 – How great can Kansas be?
• 5:25-9:51 – Is this the year Baylor knocks off KU?
• 9:51-12:33 – Can Oklahoma State live up to the hype?
• 12:33-14:41 – Bruce Weber set up to succeed at K-State?
• 14:41-15:49 – Will Texas live up to their top 25 billing?
• 15:49- 18:18 – West Virginia adjusts to life in the Big 12
• 18:18-21:26 – Best of the rest (Oklahoma)
• 21:26-22:49 – Pierre Jackson as the B12 POY
• 22:49-25:19 – Rest of the 1st team
• 25:19-26:45 – Breakout players
• 26:45-29:01 – Big 12 postseason outlook