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

The Weekend’s Lede. This weekend brought a comforting turn in the hoops calendar. It was the first weekend spent in the throes of conference play. On Saturday, starting at 11am ET with Pittsburgh at Rutgers and on through Sunday night, high-quality games could be found on various networks. There were upsets, blowouts, and predictable results – all of which we’ve seen at different stages this season. But there’s a different vibe when it comes to conference play, to me at least, and it was refreshing to take it all in. Gone are the days of high majors beating down cupcakes. Most conference games are real, competitive, no-sleep-walking-allowed basketball games. And they’re here to stay, at least until April. This put me in an especially rosy mood, which is a good sign for what lies ahead in 2013, and an even better sign for college basketball in general. League competition is already shaking perceptions and standings in noticeable ways, and we haven’t even yet broken free of the college football fever. Just wait until February; I can hardly hide my excitement. So let’s recap the first conference weekend. It was a good one.

Your Watercooler Moment. CJ McCollum Breaks His Foot.

After bursting on the scene during last season’s upset over No. 2 Duke, McCollum could very well have seen his last sample of NCAA Tournament basketball (Photo credit: AP).

Twice this season C.J. McCollum has left NBA Scouts looking for refunds on game tickets. The first time was a minor medical ailment. McCollum sprained his ankle and couldn’t suit up for a Dec. 20 game against North Texas. Saturday’s injury was far more severe. What’s truly saddening about McCollum’s broken foot isn’t the lengthy eight-to-ten-week recovery or the implications for his NBA draft status. It’s the fact that McCollum made the move most college basketball fans wish future first-round picks would make more often. McCollum eschewed guaranteed millions to play out his eligibility. In April, he penned a reflective piece explaining his decision. The SportingNews’ Mike DeCourcy dug up one of McCollum’s pivotal justifications: “By returning for my senior year, I give myself a chance to complete my degree at a prestigious university, while putting myself in a position to be successful no matter what happens in my future.” McCollum will still accomplish those goals, but the basketball component of his senior year won’t go as planned. Passing up the professional game for another year in college is always risky business. Many players wind up hurting their “draft stock” and regretting their decisions. McCollum should be back before the end of the season, and I have little doubt he can redeem whatever shine he may lose during his recovery, whether that be in the midst of a late-season Tournament surge or in draft workouts. McCollum is a preternaturally gifted scorer. He belongs in the NBA. This will do little, if anything, to hurt his draft prospects – provided he returns to his pre-injury form. It’s a tough setback, but nothing McCollum, a determined, clear-headed and driven individual, cannot overcome.

Also Worth Chatting About. Nothing Will Come Easy In The Big Ten.

The Illini didn’t need hot three-point shooting to dominate Ohio State in Champaign (Photo Credit: Getty Images).

The formula to Illinois’ early success was flawed. It depended heavily on the three-point shot, which is an inherently risky way to win basketball games, but even more perilous when you don’t have a reliable source of interior scoring. Which Illinois didn’t…..until Saturday. The Illini’s win over Ohio State wasn’t surprising. It was the way Illinois bombarded the Buckeyes not with long-range shots, but with effective low post play. Sophomore forward Nnanna Egwu was slowly, surely coming around of late, but he came up small in this week’s loss at Purdue, and one was starting to get the sense he was still a year or two away from contributing in meaningful ways. On Saturday, he showed up, and boy, does Ohio State wish he hadn’t. Egwu finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to bail out Illinois’ again poor three-point shooting (8-for-27). Illinois showed it doesn’t need the long-ball to knock off good teams – at least not when Egwu’s holding fort in the paint. The same problems remain with Ohio State: Can anyone help DeShaun Thomas shoulder the scoring load? Is Aaron Craft that guy? Will Shannon Scott, Laquinton Ross and Sam Thompson pick up steam as the season rolls along? This will give John Groce’s team boatloads of confidence for an upcoming home date with Minnesota, but the way the Gophers have looked thus far, it may need to recapture its hot three-point shooting stroke to spring the upset.

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The race for the presumable number two spot behind Kansas in the Big 12 got a little more interesting on Saturday. In an intriguing league opener between two ranked teams, Kansas State took care of business at home with a 73-67 win over Oklahoma State in Manhattan. It helps establishes the Wildcats as a Big 12 frontrunner, but more importantly, it leaves Travis Ford with a few more questions than he may have originally anticipated. At this point, he knows he has a dangerous squad. Watch these Cowboys for a only a few minutes, and you’ll see it’s a completely different team than a year ago. Freshman Marcus Smart has a presence to him at the point guard spot, Le’Bryan Nash has matured, and, oh, Markel Brown can still dunk. He threw down a couple of nasty party-starters in the first half on Saturday. It seems as though everybody on the floor has those kinds of hops. As impressive and athletic as Oklahoma State looks at times, however, the results haven’t been there lately. The Cowboys’ win over then-No. 6 North Carolina State in November looks more like two years ago than two months now. First, there was the discouraging loss to Virginia Tech. Then, they failed to capitalize when they had Gonzaga on the ropes at Gallagher-Iba Arena on New Year’s Eve.

Rodney McGruder’s Big Game Help Improve Kansas State to 9-2

And now this. When it won the Puerto Rico Tip-off, Oklahoma State looked like it could potentially grow into Kansas’ fiercest competitor at season’s end. Losing a game at Bramlage, one of the more difficult places to play in the league, doesn’t kill those chances. It’s just that Ford must now figure out how to take his team to the next level– from “better-than-last-year” to “immediate contender.” Oklahoma State’s lack of frontcourt size became evident right away in this physical battle, and it didn’t help that freshman forward Kamari Murphy found himself in early foul trouble. The Cowboys also had no answer for Kansas State star Rodney McGruder, who finished with 28 points and five rebounds. He was the best player on the floor on Saturday, and that’s no surprise. When the Wildcats needed to make a play in the final minutes, they did. That was the difference between Oklahoma State and Kansas State on this particular afternoon. Again, the loss doesn’t leave the Cowboys in a precarious position, but the excitement of that Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship has worn off. After all, NC State nearly lost to Boston College on Saturday afternoon.

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Brendon Mulvihill is an RTC contributor. You can find him @TheMulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

The first weekend in 2013 dives head first into conference season. There are some key match-ups within the Big Ten and Big 12 that will set the tone early for who to watch over the next two months. Let’s get to the breakdowns!

#11 Ohio State at #13 Illinois – 2:15 PM EST, Saturday on BTN (****)

Aaron Craft needs to lock down the perimeter against Illinois (Photo credit: Jeff Hanisch/US Presswire).

• It seems odd to say that these two top 15 teams are in need of a win, but that appears to be the case in this particular match-up. Ohio State is 0-2 in its two big games against Duke and Kansas, leaving the Buckeyes without a marquee victory thus far, while Illinois has lost two of its last three games after starting 12-0. Illinois’ shooting has been quite poor over the last three games: star guard Brandon Paul has gone 5-of-18, 3-of-12, and 4-of-10 in that span. Alongside D.J. Richardson, the Illini guards will face a tough defensive test from OSU guards Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr., and Shannon Scott. Paul is always capable of a breakout game, but keep a close eye on his shooting as Illinois typically goes the way he goes. In their two losses this season to Duke and Kansas, the Buckeyes have faced dominant post players. Illinois does not have that asset per se, so that bodes well for the Buckeyes, even in Champaign. Big forward Tyler Griffey is Illinois’ best inside option, but he could have his hands full on defense if he is matched-up against DeShaun Thomas. Craft and the Buckeye perimeter defense is the key to this game and it doesn’t appear that the Illinois defense is strong enough to keep Thomas from scoring. While it will be a raucous home crowd for the Illini, I think OSU pulls off the win.

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Seth Davis is at it again. In the 2013 edition of his “Hoop Thoughts Stock Report” — which seems eerily similar to how Pardon the Interruption plays Buy or Sell — Davis included six teams from the Big 12 among his long list of schools across the country. There’s a reason Davis writes for Sports Illustrated and we, well, don’t write for SI, but regardless, no writer is off limits in the world of college basketball. Here’s are some excerpts of what Davis said about those Big 12 teams, and more importantly, here’s what we think about what Davis said about the Big 12 teams.

Pierre Jackson (#55) and Isaiah Austin (#21) Will Make or Break the Bears’ Season. (Associated Press/Rod Aydelotte)

BAYLOR (8-4): HOLD: This team is too soft defensively to buy, but it has too many good pieces to sell.

Hold? Agreed, to an extent. Baylor has looked marvelous at times and horrendous at others, so simply in terms of stock, let’s go ahead and even things out and call it a hold. You don’t want to buy a team that has already lost four games and was out-rebounded by College of Charleston and Northwestern, but you also don’t want to sell a team that made BYU look silly and won at Kentucky. There’s a chance this team could still wind up as good if not better than last year’s team, simply because Isaiah Austin is an animal, Pierre Jackson looks like the Big 12 Player of the Year contender we all thought he’d be and, as Davis mentions, there’s no chance Brady Heslip keeps misfiring from beyond the arc at this rate. Here’s where Davis is wrong, though: Baylor is not “too soft defensively.” The word “soft” is much too harsh. The Bears’ zone embarrassed and confused Kentucky at Rupp Arena, and they held BYU in check with a sub-40 percent percentage from the floor. Gonzaga lit them up, sure, but the word is “inconsistent.” Not necessarily “soft.”

KANSAS (11-1, No. 6): BUY It is rare to see a team have so many talented pieces that fit together so well. […] We know the Jayhawks are going to win the Big 12 yet again, so they’re almost certain to go into the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. I’d be surprised if their season does not end in the 404.

Easy pick here. Seth Davis, you’ve got no argument from us. In fact, you’ve likely got no argument from anybody on earth, save a few delusional Missouri fans. Bill Self has proven once again that he has no problem recovering after defections to the NBA and graduation. That’s because his bench can usually outplay the rest of the Big 12 in any given year. So now that it’s Jeff Withey‘s turn to be the star, he’s doing it. Now that it’s Ben McLemore‘s time to shine, he’s doing it, too. The question is not whether Kansas will win the Big 12. The question is whether the Jayhawks are good enough to win it all. Davis hits the nail on the head here, but you knew that already.

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Apologies that we are a bit tardy in rolling out our Top 25; with the holidays behind us and the New Year officially upon us, we plan on hitting 2013 running. A fairly light week of hoops resulted in little movement in the RTC25. Duke remains #1 for the sixth straight week, Minnesota cracks the Top 10 for the first time, and NC State jumps back into the poll after making a departure for several weeks. In perhaps the most exciting game of the week, Gonzaga shot back up to #10 after a big road win in Stillwater against Oklahoma State. The Quick n’ Dirty after the jump.

Quick n’ Dirty Analysis.

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1. Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com is back with his first Bracketology of the year. He predicts his field as if the season ended today, not based on how he thinks teams will do the rest of the season. The Big 12 has six teams in Palm’s field: Kansas (#1 seed), Oklahoma State (#6), Kansas State (#8), Baylor (#11) Oklahoma (#12) and Iowa State, a #12 seed playing in one of the four play-in games. As Palm notes, the Jayhawks are the only #1 seed remaining from his preseason bracket. Duke is the overall No. 1 seed.
2. Bill Self turned 50 on Tuesday. Self is one of the best coaches in the country and is relatively young compared with what he has already accomplished. He will surpass 500 wins this season and is on pace to win his 900th game in about 15 years, according to Kansas City Star beat writer Rustin Dodd in this article yesterday. But Self shot down any talks of catching Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski someday. “I don’t think that I’ll want to coach near that long,” Self told Dodd. While it seems natural for a coach as successful as Self to stay on the sidelines for another two decades like Coach K, Jim Boeheim or Jim Calhoun, those instances of great coaches staying in the game well into their 60s and 70s are few and far between. If Kansas fans have Self patrolling the sideline for another decade, they should be ecstatic.
3. The idea of playing four games simultaneously next season in Cowboy Stadium looks to be dead, the Detroit Free Press and Matt Norlander of CBSSports.com have reported. It was the original plan of Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis, the creator of the first aircraft carrier game last season. Being in Dallas, the Texas Longhorns seemed to be one of the eight teams who would participate, but there were just too many obstacles to overcome. It would have been a television nightmare (a television nightmare I would have watched, admittedly) and like college athletics have shown us recently, if it won’t work on TV, it probably won’t work at all.
4. Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated gave us his top five freshmen wings in a video segment last week, and Kansas guard Ben McLemore came in at No. 5. “Self has made clear,” Davis said. “That he (McLemore) is the one that needs to carry Kansas deep into March.” Davis is spot on. While Elijah Johnson, Jeff Withey, and Travis Releford provide senior leadership for the Jayhawks this season, it will be the play of McLemore that will determine if Kansas makes the Final Four. They might not make it deep into March with McLemore playing well, but they are certain to not advance if he plays poorly.
5. Many people might have forgotten about former Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy by now. He was fired in 2003 after a night partying in Columbia, Missouri, following a loss at Mizzou. He sat out a year, went to rehab, and landed at Southern Mississippi, where he took the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament last season. Now at Colorado State, he has guided the Rams to a 10-2 start while coming up on a decade of sobriety. It is hard to imagine the coach in both of the stories linked are the same man.

1. If the annual conference realignment fiasco has taught us one thing, it’s that the NCAA doesn’t have as much power as it once did. Coaches and media members have hinted at the idea of the major conferences and schools eventually breaking away and doing things their way, without the dozens — hundreds in basketball’s case — of small schools taking a piece of the pie. When that time draws near, stories like the Myck Kabongo investigation will not help the NCAA’s case. The NCAA is more inconsistent than midwestern weather. One player accepts cash from a booster and gets a 10-game suspension. Another player catches a ride from someone and has to sit out three games. Kabongo took a flight and worked out with NBA personnel and is suspended for 23 games. Some coaches are punished for putting schools on probation. Other coaches bolt to different jobs and win championships at blue bloods without a scratch.
2. If you want to see what some of your favorite former college players are up to, go watch an NBA D-League game sometime. It’s a great place to pick up some “Where Are They Now” trivia questions. If you can’t stomach that (I wouldn’t blame you) take a look at the end of a college team’s bench and you might recognize a few young coaches who were recent players. Former Oklahoma State guard Keiton Page turned down the chance to play professionally overseas to begin his coaching career on the ground floor. He’s now the Cowboys’ assistant strength and conditioning coach, a title that wouldn’t surprise me if told it was created just for him. He seems to be using the opportunity as an internship for a coaching career, and this opportunity should provide him plenty of experience in the next few years.
3. Gary Parrish’s Poll Attacks is back this week, and he doesn’t like the fact that Bruce Weber’s Kansas State team is still unranked in the Coaches poll. It’s hard to argue with any of Parrish’s points on the Wildcats, either. I figured they would debut in both polls after beating a top 10 Florida team in Kansas City last Saturday night. They got the 25th spot in the AP Poll, but are still behind New Mexico and North Carolina in the “Others Receiving Votes” category of the Coaches poll. As Parrish points out, it is hard to find a reason to put North Carolina ahead of Kansas State right now. Luckily, we have this tournament at the end of the year to settle things.
4. Former top-rated recruit Josh Smith seems to have eaten his way out of UCLA. He struggled with his weight during most of his career with the Bruins and looked to be north of 300 pounds most of the time. He left the school not too long ago and is looking to end his career at one of three schools: Georgetown, Washington, and Kansas. Bill Self has been churning out NBA big men for years now and Kansas strength coach Andrea Hudy is one of the best in the country. Self and Hudy (and former assistant Danny Manning, too) turned Marcus and Markieff Morris from skinny reeds to solid NBA scorers. Cole Aldrich went from a clumsy tall guy to a lottery pick, and current center Jeff Withey is only the best defensive player in the country. If anyone can get Smith’s weight down and turn him into a legitimate player who can stay on the court, it is the duo of Self and Hudy.
5. Luke Meredith of the Washington Times finally noticed what we have been saying here at RTC for a while now: The Big 12 is anything but deep this season. Can Oklahoma State challenge Kansas for the regular season conference title? That is about the only compelling discussion around the league right now. West Virginia and Baylor have underperformed. Texas has, too, but at least the Longhorns have a good reason. Kansas State looks to be good for a few upsets this season but that might be it. None of the middle-of-the-road teams like Iowa State or Oklahoma have surprised anyone either, leaving us with the Jayhawks on track to win their ninth consecutive conference title and roll to another top seed in the NCAA Tournament. Someone feel free to make things interesting.

1. After beating eighth-ranked Florida on Saturday, Kansas State made its debut in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday, coming in at #25. Oklahoma State jumped from #24 to #22, and Kansas\’ road win at Ohio State vaulted the Jayhawks from ninth to sixth in this week\’s poll. With the Cowboys off this week and only American and UMKC on the schedules of Kansas and Kansas State, respectively, all three teams should remain ranked into the new year.
2. Last week, Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated wrote about his favorite college basketball stories of 2012. Not surprisingly, Kansas\’ 87-86 overtime win over Missouri on February 28 made the list. Missouri won the first meeting at home and held a 19-point second half lead in Allen Fieldhouse, shocking the 16,300 Kansas fans into silence. As everyone remembers, Kansas came back, forced overtime, and won possibly the greatest game the border rivals had ever played. Now with Missouri in the SEC, that rivalry is on hold probably until the teams are someday matched up in the NCAA Tournament.
3. Jeff Goodman and Gary Parrish listed their 10 National Player of the Year Candidates yesterday on CBSSports.com, and Kansas center Jeff Withey came in currently at No. 4. They call him \”arguably\” the best defensive big man in the nation, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the post better defensively. He is averaging 8.3 RPG and 5.0 BPG to go along with his 14.1 PPG. He leads the country with 3.9 blocks per foul and has yet to commit more than three fouls in a single game this year, meaning that he\’s on the floor when KU needs him the most.
4. High school superstar Shabazz Muhammad has yet to live up to his preseason hype, but he finally cracked the CBSSports.com Freshman of the Year watch yesterday at No. 5. The Big 12 has two of the five representatives on the list: Kansas guard Ben McLemore is second after scoring 22 points and six rebounds in Saturday\’s 74-66 win over Ohio State. He is averaging 16.5 PPG on the season. Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart follows McLemore at third, averaging 12.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 5.1 APG. He is also averaging 2.7 SPG and has led the Cowboys to a 10-1 record so far this season.
5. Jay Bilas has never been afraid to voice his displeasure with the NCAA, and Saturday\’s broadcast of Texas-Michigan State was no different. Before the game the NCAA had announced that sophomore point guard Myck Kabongo\’s season-long suspension had been reduced to 23 games. As usual, Bilas held nothing back with his criticism, noted here in a USA Today article from the weekend. Kabongo will be eligible to return on February 13 against Iowa State, and whether that is too late to mesh with his teammates remains to be seen.

1. After initially being suspended for the entire season, an NCAA appeals committee lessened the season-long penalty for Texas sophomore guard Myck Kabongo to 23 games on Friday, which includes the 11 games he has already missed. The report stated that Kabongo allegedly accepted personal training and flights from  NBA agent Rich Paul and his associates before lying to officials about his involvement. Kabongo will be eligible to return against Iowa State on February 13, but it is hard to say how much of an impact he will be able to have on the Longhorns at that late point in the season.
2. There were plenty of questions surrounding this Kansas team heading into this season as the Jayhawks looked to capture its ninth consecutive Big 12 regular season title. Would center Jeff Withey make the jump in production like so many Jayhawks big men before him? Was redshirt guard Ben McLemore as good as advertised? Would there be enough pieces in between to help Kansas compete at their usually high level? Up until now, the answers are yes, yes, and yes. With the Big 12 clearly down this year, most expected Kansas to win the regular season championship again. But that didn’t necessarily mean they were primed for a deep run in March. Saturday’s convincing eight-point win against No. 7 Ohio State in Columbus and the beatdowns they have been giving opponents in the weeks leading up to that game have made it clear this Kansas team will (again) contend for the national title.
3. Bruce Weber was successful at Illinois, but the bulk of that success came with Bill Self’s players. As everyone knows, he was fired after last season and landed at Kansas State. He took over for a popular coach in Frank Martin and was tasked with the tough job of coaching 90 miles down the road from in-state rival Kansas. The Wildcats have been winning the games they were supposed to, but had also lost badly to the two decent teams they had faced, Michigan and Gonzaga. It’s safe to say that Bruce Weber needed Saturday’s upset win over No. 7 Florida to relieve a little stress heading into the holidays.
4. Yahoo! Sports writer Jeff Eisenberg also noticed the impressive win by the Wildcats, mentioning them in his “Stocks Rising and Falling” column on Sunday. K-State’s stock is rising, he claims, and it is hard to disagree. While one win is not enough evidence to predict a conference championship (or even to predict they will contend for the title), it does give the Big 12 one more team to look out for. And in a season full of disappointments so far (I’m looking at you, West Virginia and Baylor), the conference could use all the help it can get.
5. Sports Illustrated‘s Seth Davis mentioned something in an article Saturday that has been overlooked so far this season. Baylor guard Brady Heslip’s three-point percentage has dropped from 45.5% last season to 34.9% this year. In losses to Colorado and Northwestern, Heslip shot just 30 percent (3-of-10). The Bears have enough talent and athleticism to win the Big 12 and reach the Final Four, but they are playing like a team like could reach the other Final Four, in Madison Square Garden. Heslip’s poorer shooting stroke this season isn’t the only reason the Bears have struggled, but it is certainly one of the reasons.

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

The Weekend’s Lede. The Holidays Are Here. The Holiday season closes the curtain on the nonconference portion of the college basketball season. At the turn of the New Year, most teams will have played their final out of league games. Some will have commenced conference play. Between now and January 1, players and coaches will enjoy breaks of various duration, but every team will set aside part of its hectic five-month schedule for some family bonding and holiday cheer. We will miss the hardwood action that made our weeknights bearable and our weekends excitable. Not to worry: the end of the winter festivities brings a new chapter of the season. Conference play is a significant turning point, a temporal marker, but most of all, it heralds a new level of competitiveness and intensity. Why am I talking about this so far in advance? Well, why not? League play is much more fun than the low-cut mix of competition observed in November and December. It’s non-stop high-stakes competition. Anyway, endure the next few hoop-less days as joyfully as possible and take your favorite teams’ scheduling gap as a cue to follow suit and spend time with those closest to you. In short, enjoy the Holiday Season! I’ll be back with more nightly recaps before you know it.

Your Watercooler Moment. An Ode To One Of College Hoops’ Great Lost Rivalries. 

Kansas vs. Ohio State Was Great, But It’s No Border War

Arguably the biggest realignment-related hoops casualty was the Border War, a decades-old feud between Missouri and Kansas played with venomous spite, healthy antagonism and competitive fire unlike any other game in the sport. Last year’s renditions were nothing short of excellent, with the Tigers taking the first meeting and the Jayhawks exacting revenge three weeks later. Losing that game is a huge blow to the sport’s traditional appeal, and make no mistake, it would have hurt at any point in the rivalry’s historical progression. That it finally came to expire this season, when both teams feature national contending outfits, is doubly painful. Saturday gave us yet another reason to lament the loss of the old Big 12 rivalry. Both Kansas and Missouri knocked off top-10 opponents (Missouri beat Illinois; Kansas beat Ohio State), each stating its claim for conference superiority. With Florida falling to Kansas State, and Kansas looking far and away like the class of the Big 12, it is no huge stretch to crown Missouri and Kansas temporary lordship of their respective leagues. Kansas’ grip on the Big 12 probably has more staying power, if only because the top of the Big 12 has yet to produce an equal competitor. The SEC, meanwhile, has two teams – Florida and Kentucky – who, provided they round into form over the course of conference play, may well test Missouri’s top-dog stature. Plus, Kansas is Kansas. Conference championships are nothing new for the Jayhawks. This is foreign territory for the Tigers; not only because it’s their first year in a new league. It’s also the first time in years where they’ve truly separated themselves amongst from other conference challengers – aside from Florida, no one’s touching the Tigers; at least not now – and certainly the first time they’ve done as much under second-year coach Frank Haith. 

Weekend Quick Hits…

• Temple Gets Quality Nonleague Result It Needed. Two weeks ago, Temple took on Duke at the IZOD center. The Blue Devils destroyed Fran Dunphy’s team. But, hey, that was Duke, the undisputed king of November and December. When the Owls lost to Temple, all bets were off. This team had major issues to sort out. Which is why Saturday’s upset of No. 3 Syracuse, previous owners of a 52-game nonconference winning streak, was so very unexpected. Temple cracked open the unrelenting puzzle that is Jim Boeheim’s trademark 2-3 zone, primarily thanks to Khalif Wyatt’s 33 points and Anthony Lee’s 21, both career-highs. Butler and VCU have proven themselves more than capable of handling the jump to a more prominent league. In fact, one can make the argument that Stevens and Smart’s squads have been the A-10’s most impressive squads to date. Temple proved Saturday it won’t cede conference bragging rights to the newcomers without putting up a real fight.
• Excellent Championship Showdown In Diamond Head Classic. The bulk of specialized exempted Tournament had come and gone during the first few months of the season. The Diamond Head Classic is An annual rite of Christmas Cheer, held in late December each and every year. After Arizona\’s Monday morning romp over Miami — whom many had crowned the ACC\’s second best team after recent wins over Michigan State, Charlotte, UCF and UMass — an excellent championship tilt between the Wildcats and San Diego State (who topped Indiana State en route to the final) has come into clear view. Want some high-quality hoop to light up your Christmas Night?  Tuesday\’s Final can\’t come soon enough. Read the rest of this entry »