1. Still nothing official on the realignment front… but the rumors are heating up with respect to West Virginia. The New York Times reported Tuesday that a WVU official said the school has gained acceptance to the Big 12. The Mountaineers, of course, would replace Missouri, who according to numerous sources were expected to withdraw from the league earlier this week. That never happened — not officially, at least — but the next few weeks could be a real firestorm. In fact, it’s arguable that these are some of the most important times in college sports history, as the entire landscape could change by Thanksgiving. That’s why we’ll make sure to bring you the latest analysis when this information moves from secret sources and rumors to official statements and press releases.
2. Sticking with realignment, we’ve already told you of Notre Dame’s interest in the Big 12. It hasn’t exactly been a secret — a document mentioned ND as a candidate last month. But the talk of the Irish is getting louder and louder, and it’s worth mentioning that Orangebloods.com has reported that the two sides are “actively” discussing an inclusion of Notre Dame’s non-revenue sports in the conference. According to the site, the school won’t make a final decision until after football season ends.
3. One interesting aspect of a possible Missouri departure is what to do with the Big 12 Tournament. It’s slated for Kansas City through 2014, but can you really hold a basketball tournament in a state where no school participates? According to the Kansas City Star, the answer may be “yes” to that question. A Sprint Center official said there is no reason to believe the league would pull the tournament from KC if the Tiger program were to leave for the SEC. With Kansas State and Kansas so close to Kansas City, it would still be a prime target as a central Big 12 location. Still, it might be a bit odd for the city to host a major tournament without a single conference member located in that state.
4. Also, if West Virginia were to join the Big 12, it would obviously play Kansas State each year. And that means a regular trip back to Manhattan for WVU coach Bob Huggins, who you’ll recall left KSU after just one season as head coach there. In the end, everything worked out for KSU: Michael Beasley and Bill Walker stayed despite Huggins’ departure, Martin continued the school’s success after they bolted for the NBA, and the program appears to be in fine shape right now. Still, it seemed like the end of the world at the time, and needless to say, Wildcat fans were devastated by his departure. Looks like they may get a chance to air their grievances soon, though.
5. Although we missed this piece of info on Monday, it’s still worth reporting: Braeden Anderson will now attend Fresno State after failing to qualify at Kansas. The 6’9″ forward who was rated as a top-50 recruit could have gone to junior college and joined the Jayhawks as a junior. Anderson told ESPN.com, though, that he did not want to take that route. That means Bill Self will need to find another power forward on the recruiting trail, and with his track record finding talented big men, that probably won’t be much of an issue.

1. Despite rumors that Missouri would withdraw from the Big 12 on Monday, the league’s Board of Directors meeting passed without an official decision last night. Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas told the AP that MU has not yet joined the SEC, but we’ll still keep an eye on this developing story over the next few days. For now, we’ll just have to deal with those top-secret sources and the rumor mill to keep us occupied.
2. Speaking of that rumor mill, the Kansas City Star suggests that the Notre Dame/Big 12 talk may be heating up. That would be an interesting scenario, though more so from the Fighting Irish’s standpoint. Apparently, a move to the Big 12 would require ND to also bring its national football program into the league. The Star published this article just weeks after a document mentioned the Irish as a possible candidate for the Big 12. Again, this is all speculation, but it’s pretty juicy stuff.
3. And finally, in your last realignment news of the day: West Virginia also appears to be a top target of the Big 12, and one league official is more than thrilled at that possibility. He’s so happy, in fact, that he issued the following quote, which deserves an entire block of text: “West Virginia has better football than Missouri, better basketball than Missouri, a better budget than Missouri and more passion among its fans than Missouri. They’re better, anyway you turn ‘em. The travel’s not good (to Morgantown, W. Va) but that’s it.” Tell us how you really feel, right?
4. If you’re interested in hearing some expert opinion on the upcoming Big 12 hoops season, check out this interview with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla. Even without Ron Franklin by his side, Fraschilla’s one of the best commentators in the business, and he’s covered the league extensively as a color man. He admits that Kansas and Texas are the two premier programs at this point in time, but he says the major graduations and NBA defections will open the door for the rest of the league this season. That’s hardly rocket science, of course, but Fraschilla’s got an interesting perspective on things. The interview is worth a look.
5. Billy Gillispie has probably had enough of the public eye after his tenure at Kentucky, but he gave a candid interview to the Associated Press about his troubles. Regarding his much-publicized alcohol issue, Gillispie said he “made some stupid decisions,” but he said getting back into coaching at Texas Tech has helped him cope. One of the most interesting things about this hire for Tech is Gillispie’s roots in the state of Texas as a successful former coach at UTEP and Texas A&M, and the article touches on this aspect of his hiring as well.

1. The men’s basketball media day for the Big 12 begins this morning, but the women’s side produced some interesting comments yesterday. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey told reporters she would not schedule Texas A&M once it bolts for the SEC next year. She even likened the situation to a nasty divorce, saying “if it’s over, it’s over.” On the men’s side, Kansas coach Bill Self said a few weeks ago he would consider cutting Missouri from the schedule if it left the league, but he didn’t make any definitive comments like Mulkey. Although her decision to discontinue a series with A&M has no impact on Big 12 men’s hoops, it’s still an interesting thought to consider. Will Texas A&M’s Big 12 rivalries cease to exist? And if so, how soon will they become extinct?
2. Speaking of Big 12 basketball in Texas, new Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie called his program a “goldmine” today, an optimistic view on a team that consists almost exclusively of new faces this year. On one hand, he’s right — Tech has the ability to recruit the entire state of Texas, and it’s a school with a lot of resources and recent tradition under Bob Knight. However, it’s more of a challenge than Gillispie makes it sound. Tech has struggled to fill its arena at times, and it’s had a tough time competing with the top Texas programs for players on the recruiting trail. If there’s a man to get things done in Lubbock, though, it’s probably Gillispie. After all, nobody would have ever called Texas A&M a “goldmine” either, but he created a consistently solid program there — and we shouldn’t forget that he also did very good things at UTEP prior to that.
3. We introduced you to freshman Quincy Miller in our New Faces series earlier this week, and he’s certainly one of several stars for the Baylor Bears this season. However, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the impact of incoming point guard Pierre Jackson, who garnered his own column over at Big12Hoops.com. It’s essential for Scott Drew to get consistent point guard play, and Jackson’s one of the top junior college recruits for the Class of 2011 at that position. At 5’10” in stature, he’s not going to wow anybody physically, but he’s a game-changing point guard who dishes, dunks and scores. Look out for Jackson as one of the key pieces on this year’s squad.
4. Keeping with the blog theme, a Missouri blog broke down the program’s eight “awful” months of turmoil, dating all the way back to a collapse during Big 12 play at the end of last season. When you take the time to reflect on the Tigers’ struggles, it’s astonishing what they’ve been through. They tumbled to an 8-8 finish in the league after a promising Top 10 ranking during non-conference play, and then lost head coach Mike Anderson to Arkansas. After that, of course, Missouri made the unpopular Frank Haith hire, who in turn found himself at the center of a controversy dating back from his days at Miami. Did we forget anything? How about the Matt Painter miss? Or the Laurence Bowers injury? Boy, oh boy, it’s been a rough eight months in Columbia.
5. Haith can at least take solace in a new recruit, though. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported yesterday afternoon that center Ryan Rosburg committed to Missouri, giving the Tigers some much-needed bulk in the paint. He’s 6’10” and nearly 250 pounds, and he chose MU over Virginia, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Missouri State. His older brother, Andy, has already walked on to the team, so that’s also an interesting storyline to keep an eye on. Rosburg isn’t considered an elite recruit, but he should provide the Tigers with a back-to-the-basket option in the paint in coming years. A true center in Columbia? Believe it. These aren’t Mike Anderson’s Tigers anymore.

1. In yesterday’s M5 we mentioned that a poll of media facilitated by the Syracuse Post-Standard found that Syracuse and Connecticut were essentially viewed as equals at the top of the Big East this year.  Wednesday’s survey of Big East coaches at Media Day came to the same ultimate conclusion.  The Huskies had more first-place votes (seven) than the Orange (five), but more coaches chose SU second or third than UConn, which accounts for the difference.  Louisville received three first-place votes (Rick Pitino took shots at the votes too), while Pittsburgh received one.  The Panthers’ Ashton Gibbs was chosen as the preseason Big East POY, with UConn’s Jeremy Lamb, Syracuse’s Kris Joseph, Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom, WVU’s Kevin Jones, and Notre Dame’s Tim Abromaitis rounding out the first team.
2. Down on Tobacco Road, the ACC was simultaneously holding its Media Day Operation Basketball, and the proceedings generally read like a Carolina love-fest.  UNC received 57 of the 59 first-place votes from the media, and the Heels’ Harrison Barnes was a unanimous selection on the preseason all-ACC first team along with teammates Tyler Zeller and John Henson (incidentally, Luke Winn breaks down Barnes’ 2010-11 progression here).  The last time that a single school had three selections on the preseason all-ACC team was a decade ago, when defending national champion Duke brought back Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer.  In no surprise whatsoever, Duke was picked to finish second, with Florida State third.  The remaining all-ACC choices were Duke’s Seth Curry, Miami’s Malcolm Grant, and Virginia’s Mike Scott, with Duke’s Austin Rivers selected as the preseason ROY.  More on Operation Basketball later this morning on our ACC microsite.
3. We never contemplated a Wake Forest to USC pipeline developing, but if Jeff Bzdelik’s few talented players continue to get into trouble in Winston-Salem so that they ultimately transfer to Southern Cal, we’re sure that Kevin O’Neill will be happy to take them.  After Wake forward Ari Stewart transferred across the country in May to spend his final two years at USC, guard JT Terrell (whom Stewart hosted on his official visit to Troy) has also decided to re-surface as a Trojan.  Terrell is spending this season at a junior college in Washington, but the talented sophomore who averaged 11.1 PPG as a Demon Deacon frosh has announced that he will sign with O’Neill’s club during the early signing period in November.  Between Alex Stepheson (UNC to USC), Larry Drew II (UNC to UCLA), Travis and David Wear (UNC to UCLA), Stewart, and now Terrell, there’s something weird going on here.
4. Is Billy Gillispie ready to turn around the basketball fortunes at his third Texas destination in his somewhat short collegiate coaching career?  After very successful stints at UTEP and Texas A&M, followed by a disastrous one at Kentucky, Gillispie says that he’s sober and back on track at his new school, Texas Tech.  What was lost amidst all the chaos that surrounded Gillispie in his two years in Lexington is that he had completely rebuilt moribund programs in both El Paso and College Station very quickly, his teams employing a hard-nosed, defensive style that mimicked the coach’s somewhat infamous and notorious work ethic.  Texas Tech seems like a great fit for him not only because he’s back in his home state surrounded by his people, but the expectations and pressures at a school like TTU are incredibly tame in comparison with one of the nation’s flagship basketball schools.  Even during the Bob Knight experiment, getting to the Sweet Sixteen was cause for celebration.  It says here that Gillispie will do well in Lubbock.
5. We’ve already mentioned the heartbreaking story of Arizona’s Kevin Parrom in this space earlier this week.  Jeff Goodman caught up with him recently and the drive and fortitude that the Wildcat junior continues to show in the face of such adversity — losing his grandmother, his mother, and getting shot in the hand and leg in the span of several months — is nothing short of remarkable.  Rather than feeling sorry for himself, it’s clear in reading his quotes that he considers himself lucky to not only be alive, but also to have the opportunity to get an education on a basketball scholarship, something his mother made sure he put above all else.  And that, my friends, is what good parenting is all about.  Continued best of luck to Parrom as he works through these emotional and physical issues — we’re rooting for ya, kid.

Rick Pitino cannot help himself.  When he’s hopping mad — like, really mad — he simply cannot save himself from himself.  Whether it’s Larry Bird walking through that door, quips about health insurance, or convoluted references to famous Italian-American movies, the guy seemingly always manages to find the spotlight.  Today’s Big East Media Day is only the latest example.  When queried by USA Today about Syracuse and Pittsburgh’s pending move from the Big East to the ACC, the Louisville coach spouted off in a predictably self-righteous manner when he answered that the two schools should “show a little respect” after having “dated [the Big East] for 30 years.”  The lack of the little voice of self-awareness in Pitino’s head is both astonishing and appalling, but that joke has already been made (here, here, here, here, here).

Pitino's Anger is Projected Because of His Own Fears

No, what we’re more interested in here is what is driving Pitino’s vitriol.  If you read the entire series of quotes, the erstwhile coach takes shots at (in order): the ACC, his own dignity, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Wake Forest, Boston College, Gene DeFilippo, the Boston Celtics, and university presidents.  That’s a substantial list for just a few seconds worth of soundbites, but it belies an anger that is eating at Pitino’s soul, causing him to seethe in ways we haven’t seen at least since the days of telling Celtics fans on talk radio that they need to get a life.  Since Pitino is the master of coachspeak, he won’t tell us the real reason.  But this is what we think.

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1. Looks like Missouri‘s “inevitable” move to the SEC may not materialize after all. Just two days after an MU official told the New York Times the school would certainly apply for membership, chancellor Brady Deaton denied the report, saying the topic might not even be on the table during this week’s Board of Curators meetings in Kansas City. If there’s one thing we can take away from this, it’s that our brain hurts. One day, an official says MU’s gone; the next day, the top dog in charge says they’re not making a decision anytime soon. Within 48 hours, the tone has entirely changed, which begs the question: who is this anonymous official that spoke to the Times?
2. Realignment will probably be the heavy topic at Big 12 Media Days, which begins today and runs through Thursday. It’ll be interesting to hear how the coaches and players respond to all the talk, and perhaps we’ll even hear a few passionate sound bites about just how sick everybody is of the discussion. As far as basketball goes, though, expect a lot of questions fired at Kansas coach Bill Self about how to defend his Big 12 title after losing the bulk of his team. Scott Drew of Baylor could also hear the tough questions about how to avoid a collapse like last season. With four new coaches in the league, that angle should also get hit hard by the writers over the next few days.
3. A little news from a former Big 12 guy: shockingly, Bob Knight appears to have committed a recruiting violation by making illegal calls on behalf of his son Pat Knight at Lamar. This is independent of the Big 12 conference right now, of course, but the Knight family never had one ounce of accusations against them during their era at Texas Tech. Apparently, non-university officials cannot make contacts with recruits unless they’re listed as a special exemption, but Knight spoke to a few players “illegally.” If the Knight name weren’t attached to this story, it would have never hit print. But Pat and Bob Knight have star power, so they’ll have to deal with the minor but embarrassing consequences of this violation.
4. Oklahoma better have gotten its money’s worth. The Associated Press reported that an internal investigation cost $50,000, which marked the second investigation at the school during the last five years. The school was looking into the allegations about illegal payments surrounding former coach Jeff Capel‘s program, and the situation is murky because Kelvin Sampson had already put the school on probation. This investigation isn’t as pricey as Ohio State‘s once was — that one cost a bit shy of a million dollars — bit it could result in major NCAA violations. Oklahoma has offered to take away a scholarship, vacate wins and add probation, but that might not be enough for the NCAA. After all, it wants to vacate a 13-win season in 2009-10. The humanity!
5. Let’s give some well wishes to Oklahoma State freshman Cezar Guerrero. He suffered an injury in practice Monday, which landed him in the hospital. He’s out though, now, having been released Tuesday after a spinal cord scare. The Oklahoman says team officials would not disclose the injury at first, but it now looks like Guerrero suffered a pretty serious-looking injury. A helicopter was needed to transport him to the hospital, which is always a scary sign. The team expects him to make a full recovery, although nobody’s got any idea when he’ll see the basketball court again.

There’s just something about Kansas that spurs all kinds of rivalries. Although it has dominated the Border War with Missouri lately and has traditionally beaten up on Kansas State (until Michael Beasley came along), the Jayhawks have found a new bitter rival to tangle with: the Texas Longhorns.  KU’s geographic rivalries will never be replaced, of course. But for now, the most bitter, cold-blooded rivalry in the league is between Bill Self and Rick Barnes‘ programs.

Rick Barnes Always Finds Himself in a Battle With Kansas

And there’s a simple reason for that. It’s all about the competition on the court. Kansas has won seven Big 12 regular season titles in a row, but the Jayhawks have shared two of those crowns with Texas. To illustrate the rivalry a little further, consider the following statistic: since Barnes arrived at Texas in 1998, the two teams have finished 1-2 in the Big 12 seven times. For you math whizzes, that’s more than 50 percent of the time. It began with Barnes vs. Roy Williams, and the fun has continued under Self. Even though this rivalry dates back to the beginning stages of the Big 12, it has seemed to particularly gain steam during the past five years or so. The two teams have produced some of the more dramatic contests in league history. Take a look:

Feb. 26, 2006

• Texas 80, Kansas 55: Texas embarrasses Kansas in Austin to move into first-place in late February, eventually setting the foundation for a shared regular season title.

March 3, 2007

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1. The predictions for Iowa State have been all over the place this preseason. Some buy into Fred Hoiberg‘s all-transfer team, and others are understandably skeptical about the situation. Of the four Division I transfers Hoiberg brought in, former Michigan State guard Chris Allen may be the most well-known name– and to prove it, the Associated Press devoted an entire article to Allen’s story. A member of two Final Four teams at MSU, Allen has played in 14 NCAA Tournament games in his career. Amazingly, as the piece points out, that’s the same number of tourney games ISU’s entire program has appeared in during the past 20 years.
2. We’ve heard all sorts of wild realignment scenarios recently, but this one may top them all: evidently, San Diego State has expressed interest in joining the Big 12. The league didn’t make an outright denial, but it told SDSU officials that it’s looking to stay “more East than West.” That’s certainly a nice way of putting it. Imagine the travel pain if this fantasy world actually materialized. We’re going to go ahead and make the assumption that the Big 12 will not expand to California — but hey, crazier things have happened, right?
3. For those of you convinced that Texas coach Rick Barnes only gathers McDonald’s All-Americans and lets them run wild, check out this breakdown of  a UT offensive set by a Longhorn blog. The writer thoroughly investigates Barnes’ flex principles and, in particular, a 1-4 set influenced by the Utah Jazz. It’s a fascinating, no-fluff piece that offers a look into the offense of a high-level basketball program.
4. It’s no secret that life hasn’t been easy this off-season for Frank Haith. Fans at Missouri wanted him fired after the opening press conference; an imprisoned booster from his former employer has accused him of cheating; and his starting forward just tore his ACL. ESPN’s Dana O’Neil sat down with Haith to check in on his temperament. As expected, he’s a little discouraged: “It’s been an offseason that’s been kind of lengthy,” Haith said.  Perhaps few coaches in America are looking as forward to actual practice and coaching than the new Missouri head coach.
5. Since we’re in the midst of unveiling a ranking of the Big 12 uniforms, we may as well pass along the news that Oklahoma State will wear gray jerseys at times this winter. This isn’t groundbreaking news, but the thought of the Cowboys wearing gray is a bit peculiar. Travis Ford said the team will get brand-new uniform designs in 2012-13, but gray is the mold in Stillwater for now. Incidentally, the football team also wore gray jerseys in the season opener this fall.

Last Monday we rolled out our first RTC microsite featuring the Atlantic Coast Conference.  It went so well that we figured why not keep going with this peculiar little idea.  Our intent with these microsites is to provide a far greater depth of coverage of each of the six power conferences in college basketball.  Whether those six leagues remain those six, or if they merge and split and negotiate into five, or even four, isn’t for us to decide.  But given their existing configuration where ten is 12 and 12 is ten, we’re pleased to announce that today marks the launch of our new Big 12 microsite.

As we stated when we launched the ACC microsite, the premise behind these things is rather simple. By focusing separately but comprehensively on these six individual conferences, we hope to provide a more targeted user experience without marginalizing the quality of commentary and analysis that our readers have come to expect from the national site.  As always, we expect that you’ll tell us if we’re not realizing that goal.

How to find it?  You can locate the Big 12 microsite by simply adding big-12 to the end of rushthecourt.net/. Or you can click on the fancy little Big 12 microsite button above at the top right (just below the ACC one). Or you can simply click here.  Our two Big 12 staffers, Danny Spewak and Clark Williams, have also been with RTC in several capacities in the past, but we know that they’re committed, hungry and ready to work to make this microsite a resounding success. If you’d like to reach them with questions and ideas of your own, their contact information is available on the microsite.

As mentioned last week, we’ll be rolling out all six of the microsites gradually, but we’re still taking applications for writers for both the Big East and Big Ten conference versions, so please contact us at rushthecourt@yahoo.com with a writing sample if you’re interested in either one.