With the 2016 Election now mercifully behind us, we are on the verge of the new college basketball season. We will be unveiling our team-specific Twitter follows over the next few days, but be sure to add these ACC writers and personalities to keep up to date on the latest stories in the conference. And of course follow us on our microsite feed @rtcACC. If you have any suggestions for additions or corrections (several prominent writers no longer cover the conference), feel free to tweet at us or leave a comment below.

General ACC Follows

Our ACC Twitter follows will keep you informed and entertained (Credit: ESPN Video)

• @accmbb The official Twitter account for ACC Men’s Basketball.
• @ACCSports covers both ACC basketball and football; also located on accsports.com.
• @theACCDN: Features clips from the conference’s Digital Network
• @accbballnews: Chatham Journal’s ACC Basketball News
• @_andrewcarter: Andrew Carter, writer for The News & Observer/Charlotte Observer (see more in our interview with him earlier this year).
• @rickbozich: Rick Bozich, WDRB Sports journalist in Louisville.
• @ericcrawford: Eric Crawford, WDRB Sports journalist in Louisville.
• @lebrownlow: Lauren Brownlow, Durham-based writer/radio personality.
• @scacchoops: Jon Pence, creater of SCACCHoops.com.
• @jwgiglio: Joe Giglio, writer for The News & Observer.
• @stevewisemanNC: Stephen Wiseman, writer for the Durham Herald-Sun and AP voter.
• @stephenschramm: Stephen Schramm, writer for the Fayetteville Observer and AP voter.
• @aaronbeardap: Aaron Beard, AP writer in North Carolina.
• @DavidTeelatDP: David Teel, ACC writer for The Daily Press.
• @joeovies: Joe Ovies, radio personality for 99.9 FM The Fan in Raleigh.
• @LukeDeCock: Luke DeCock, writer for The News & Observer.
• @ArmstrongABC11: Mark Armstrong, ABC11 sports anchor in North Carolina.
• @AGoldFan: Adam Gold, radio personality for 99.9 FM The Fan in Raleigh.

Rush the Court ACC Microsite Team

• @rtcACC: Our conference microsite with discussion of major stories in the conference
• @bradjenk: Brad Jenkins
• @mpatton0: Matt Patton
• @MAuerbach24: Matthew Auerbach
• @TheMickMcDonald: Mick McDonald
• @CharlieMaikis: Charlie Maikis
• @pengriffey_jr: Brandon Jefferson

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College basketball places huge emphasis on individual games — showdowns between top-ranked teams, annual rivalry clashes, single-elimination tournaments — but it’s important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture from time to time. The Media Timeout considers how fans and journalists watch, follow, and talk about the sport.

Controversy placed several college basketball programs squarely in the national spotlight last offseason. The most lurid and sensational of these headlines came from the Bluegrass State, where allegations surfaced in October that Louisville men’s basketball personnel had systematically used sex to lure high school recruits to the school over a period of several years. The outrageousness of the accusations thrust them far beyond the college hoops orbit, into and onto the TV screens, Twitter timelines, and email inboxes of news consumers everywhere.

One video, widely circulated on Twitter, used Powell’s example to attack black women, black coaches, and other groups (TnnRawNews / YouTube)

As it typically does, the intense scrutiny heightened the defensive response from Louisville fans who, under siege, predictably circled the wagons. That came as no surprise, especially considering the confusion and uncertainty that surrounded the allegations of misconduct primarily levied at former assistant Andre McGee. What should be surprising is how quickly the tenor of that response took an ugly turn, as an alarming number of fans appeared more preoccupied with discrediting the accuser on the basis of her gender and sexuality than on any perceived lack of truthfulness.

A Cultural Lightning Rod

As far as we have come as a society on the discussion of gender, that progress has been slow to trickle into the realm of sports talk, whether through social media, online comment sections or talk radio. That space, regrettably, is still the preserve of retrograde thinking about the proper place of women in sports commentary and beyond. Sadly, it is no coincidence that most of the vitriol directed at female sports journalists, especially those who weigh in on cases of alleged sexual misconduct by athletes, follows the same tried-and-true formula: dismiss her viewpoint; call her a degrading name; threaten her with sexual violence.

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As the season inches closer, we’re going to be rolling out more and more of our usual preseason analyses, but one of the best ways college basketball fans can stay informed throughout the season is by following the right people and sources on Twitter. I’ll presume you’re already following all the contributors here at the Big Ten microsite: myself (@AlexPMoscoso), Deepak (@dee_b1g), Brendan (@berndon4), and Jonathan (@jcbatuello). But aside from the four of us, there are a plethora of beat writers and team-centered blogs that post well-written stories on the everyday going-ons of all the squads within the league. For your convenience, we’ve come up with a list of the Twitter must-follows for Big Ten basketball and organized them by team below. Enjoy!

If You Follow These Big Ten-Related Accounts, You’ll Be Covered Throughout the Season

Big Ten- General

• Dan Dakich (@dandakich) – ESPN
• Jim Jackson (@BTNJimJackson) – BTN
• Stephen Bardo (@stephenbardo) – BTN and Fox Sports 1
• Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) – BTN

Big Ten – Analytical

• Big Ten Geeks (@bigtengeeks) – bigtengeeks.com
• Shot Analytics (@ShotAnalytics)

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What’s Trending is a column examining the week that was in college basketball social media. Nick Fasulo (@nickfasuloSBN) is your weekly host.

Bill Walton’s Mount Rushmore of Musicians

Bill Walton has no idea how many presidents are on Mount Rushmore. A must watch.

Syracuse is Not Undefeated Anymore

But that is OK. Sometimes losing helps give you perspective and alleviate some unnecessary pressure.

Cheer up, @Cuse fans… last time Boston College beat #1 team in the nation was over UNC in 2009… the Heels went on to win the title.

— Jason McCallum (@ESPNJMac) February 20, 2014

SU is officially 0-7 wearing elite or throwback jerseys in football, bball, and lacrosse the past three years

— Benjamin Sio (@bsio) February 20, 2014

That Means Wichita State is the Nation’s Lone Unbeaten

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1. On July 23, Preston Anderson, a former BYU student and current basketball player for Hartnell College in Salinas, California, jumped on his motorcycle at five o’clock in the morning and drove away from his apartment, his roommates assuming he was headed off to a morning workout. Until three days ago, Anderson’s whereabouts have remained a total mystery. He left his cell phone behind and has contacted none of his family or friends. A credit card transaction at a hotel in Corozal, Belize from August 4 — about which his family learned on Tuesday — is the only way any of them know he’s still alive. Hotel staff confirmed that the guest/cardholder was a 6’9” American, same as Anderson. Preston’s father Corey assumes his son is en route to South America, given the current travel vector. We don’t cover a lot of community college basketball around here, but this has sort of a Chris McCandless vibe about it, only more tropical. We hope it ends better, with more of a Ewan McGregor/Charley Boorman-esque resolution.
2. In the title to his article yesterday, Sporting News‘ Mike DeCourcy describes the changes the NCAA wants to make to college athletics as “a mixed bag of genius and idiocy.” Contained within is a fine summary of the new provisions the NCAA wants to implement, not to mention a tasty little UCLA dig. Have to say, here…we’ve been fans of the idea of tougher punishments for a long time; currently, the risks of cheating just don’t sufficiently outweigh the possible benefits, and while no set of rules can eradicate all the rascals, cranking up punishments could at long last have presumptive rule-breakers wondering if it’s really worth it. [Ed. Note: 3 of 5 days of M5 goodness for MD this week! Don’t think any writer has ever had that many in a M-F cycle. And MD and Luke Winn continue to battle for the all-time lead.]
3. Can you believe that Facebook and Twitter now comprise 50% of recruiting interactions between recruiters and prospects? It is without question the best way for coaches to make contact with players nowadays, especially since the latter group seems reluctant to even pick up or open a ringing cell phone. Before you write that off to an alleged aloofness among high school recruits, first consider (as Pete Thamel of the New York Times did in his article from Tuesday) the case of Nerlens Noel, a top prospect who attends a prep school in New Hampshire. He has one hour of free time a day. You think he’s going to spend it all on his phone talking to coaches giving him their sales pitches? He says of Facebook: “It’s a great way to contact me.” He’s not alone.
4. We hope that Chris Webber, Ray Jackson, and Juwan Howard are somewhere laying low and playing it cool right now, since the fates are evidently cracking down on the once-Fab Five. And by the fates, we mean the cops. Jalen Rose is halfway through a 20-day stretch in the pokey after pleading guilty to DUI, and now Jimmy King has been arrested and housed in the same facility (actually, we assume he’s out on bail by now) for failure to pay over $17,000 in child support. As if that wasn’t bad enough, King was arrested on his 38th birthday at a church after authorities saw his name on a basketball camp the church was holding. Whew.
5. SI.com’s Luke Winn is back with another crop of sophomores likely up for big seasons as predicted by his Breakout Sophomore Formula. In addition to his usual clever and well-evidenced insights, two things in particular that we like about this offering from Winn are 1) the formula is designed to avoid insulting your intelligence by making obvious picks like, say, Jared Sullinger or Jeremy Lamb, and 2) Winn takes the time to examine how last year’s prognostications did. In doing so here, he also got in one of the great phrases we’ve seen in any sports article in some time: “libidinous malcontents.” You should already want to do so, but if that doesn’t make you want to click on the above link and check the article out for yourself, nothing will.

1. There’s been understandably little information coming out of Traverse City, Michigan, about the condition of Austin Hatch since the decision was made on Sunday to attempt to bring him out of the medically-induced coma. We’re hoping, as the saying goes, that no news is good news. For this situation, the NCAA has elected to ease the restrictions regarding communication between schools/coaches and recruits so that the University of Michigan (where Hatch verballed about two weeks ago) may offer whatever support they can for the young man. Around here, we’ve been occasionally critical of the NCAA where we felt it was warranted, but we also try to point out when they do something of which we approve. As far as this decision is concerned, please hold while we stand on our chairs and applaud.
2. We wondered when this would start happening. There is a pretty prolific long-range bomber who currently finds himself free after a two-year hitch at a Big Six conference program. He’s currently considering new schools. His first visit? Butler. Listen, there are a lot of big-time, blue-chip schools who would love to have this man’s shooting ability as part of their arsenal. He knows that. Still, he’s checking out Butler. And not a single person should be surprised. With the recent success and the family atmosphere Brad Stevens brought to that program, we’ll wager that this won’t be the last time you hear of a top-tier transfer putting Butler on his list of possible landing sites right up there with the more traditional powers.
3. So, fans of which sport are the most digitally connected of them all? Would we ask that question here if the answer wasn’t college basketball? According to a recent study, college hoopheads dominate use of social media. That doesn’t surprise us terribly, but some of the numbers in the study do — specifically, the comparison of percentages of sports fans who use Twitter vs Facebook, and the chances of a fan buying something of a certain brand if an athlete mentions it on either of those two social networking vehicles.
4. Larry Drew II is still taking punches. Roy Williams recently spoke to the Asheville Citizen-Times about how he was looking forward to next year’s championship-caliber North Carolina team and a little bit about last season’s Elite Eight squad. Commenting on the calmer atmosphere of the program now compared to last season, Williams said, “I don’t forsee having to dismiss anyone from the team, so that’s more pleasant…I don’t forsee having to watch anyone leave at midseason. That’s more pleasant.” That’s obviously a reference to Drew II in there; John Henson was only slightly less diplomatic, adding, “I hate to say this, but when Larry left we pulled together and became more of a unit.”
5. Like sports fans everywhere, we’re still saddened and in shock about the way, WAY-too-early loss of Lorenzo Charles. It’s not because he was a basketball player and he hit the most iconic shot in the history of the Tournament. That would imply that his life was reducible to just a few seconds, and we guarantee that he was much more than that to his family and friends. As long as we remind ourselves of that, though, it seems OK to remember that moment in Albuquerque as a symbol of the man rather than something that summarizes him wholly. SI.com’s Joe Posnanski wrote about what Charles’ dunk meant to him, and it’s one of the best things we’ve read in some time. As soon as you finish here, do yourself a favor and click on this link to read it yourself. [Ed. Note: I read the whole story twice; I read the paragraph that begins “Outside our apartment window…” at least six times. Fantastic.]