(1976-77) Founded as Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (ECBL);
(1977-78) renamed Eastern Athletic Association (Eastern 8);
(1982-83) renamed Atlantic 10.
* Archie Miller (former associate at Arizona under his brother, Sean Miller) is in at Dayton (after Brian Gregory left
for Georgia Tech).
Mike Lonergan takes over at George Washington (after Karl Hobbs was fired).
(They've finished 1-2 for four straight years already -- what's one more?)
This time, title champ Xavier is the favorite
ahead of veteran Temple; veteran squads at George Washington and St. Bonaventure
can only hope to spoil; (tourney champ Richmond has to rebuild from scratch).
St. Louis [3:76/ANAHEIM] was excellent. Xavier (pTu Holloway) made lots of noise
(but an ugly brawl knocked them off course). Dayton [3:OS/ORLANDO], Temple
and St. Joseph's all made noise; Massachusetts, Charlotte and La Salle were
all winners as well. (St. Bonaventure and Richmond struggled. George Washington couldn't hang.)
Temple and La Salle led at the break; Massachusetts, St. Louis, Xavier
and St. Bonaventure were all tied for third; St. Joseph's, Duquesne
and Dayton hung in at .500, all tied for sixth. (Charlotte was a flop.)
* Brian Gregory (ex-Dayton) takes over at Georgia Tech (after Paul Hewitt was fired, and moved on
to George Mason).
Mark Turgeon (ex-Texas A&M) takes the reins at Maryland (after Gary Williams retired).
Jim Larranga (ex-George Mason) is the new coach at Miami(Florida) (after Frank Haith left
for Missouri).
Mark Gottfried (ex-broadcaster and former Alabama coach) is in at North Carolina State; (Sidney Lowe is out).
In the top-heavy league, five returning starters at North Carolina are
the favorites over guard-heavy "Plumlee U" (Duke);
veteran Miami(Florida), Florida State
and Virginia Tech might contend (but probably only spoil).
(If rebuilding Georgia Tech makes any noise at all, it'll be
an accomplishment.)
Duke's tough games are at home in the first half, but the Game of the Year is at North Carolina first to start
the second half before the return game at the very end.
Key games:
ACC/BIG 10 CHALLENGE on-campus; ACC leads 10-2 all-time
11/29: @ Ohio St 85 Duke 63
11/29: @ Virginia 70 Michigan 58
11/29: @ Purdue 76 Miami-FL 65
11/29: Illinois 71 @ Maryland 62
11/29: Northwestern 76 @ Georgia Tech 60 (PHILIPS)
11/29: Clemson 71 @ Iowa 55
11/30: @ N Carolina 60 Wisconsin 57
11/30: Indiana 86 @ NC State 75
11/30: @ Michigan St 65 Florida St 49
11/30: @ Minnesota 58 Virginia Tech 55
11/30: Penn St 62 @ Boston Col 54
11/30: Wake Forest 55 @ Nebraska 53 -- ACC loses 4-8; leads 10-3 all-time
Duke [3:MAUI] had good wins and one huge loss; North Carolina (cJohn Henson) had big wins and losses;
Virginia was excellent overall as well. Florida State made a splash; Virginia Tech,
Maryland, Wake Forest, N.C. State and Miami(Florida) were all winners
(without making noise).
(Georgia Tech struggled.)
Virginia's biggest games all come on the road first -- great only if they're still in contention in the second half.
At the break, Florida State and North Carolina were tied for the lead; Duke was alone in third;
Virginia, N.C. State and Miami(Florida) were all tied for fourth, with a gap on the rest.
Mercer was a winner. Belmont [rr2@MAUIcons] couldn't break through against a tough schedule. East Tennessee State
and Lipscomb struggled.
(Kennesaw State couldn't hang.)
Belmont and Mercer came through tied for first place; South Carolina Upstate was third; Florida Gulf Coast, Lipscomb
and East Tennessee State hung in all tied for fourth. (Kennesaw State was winless.)
2 / 3: Belmont 84 @ Lipscomb 58 (Nashville,TN) (BATTLE OF THE BOULEVARD - II)
2 / 4: @ Mercer 61 SC Upstate 47
2 /20: @ Belmont v SC Upstate
2 /25: @ Mercer v Belmont
2 /29 A-SUN TOURNAMENT 1st/Qtrs @ Macon, GA (Mercer)
???(The top 8 teams qualify for the conference tournament.)???
3 / 1 A-SUN TOURNAMENT 1st/Qtrs @ Macon, GA (Mercer)
* Drexel is not officially a part of the BIG 5. However, it is sometimes included in specialty events
(such as a "Big 5 Classic Tripleheader") as a sixth participant.
So far, all of the "home" teams have won. Temple is 2-0; Villanova is
done at 2-2; Penn is 0-2. St. Joseph's(1-0) and La Salle(0-1) have barely gotten started.
1 /10: @La Salle 68 @ Penn 57 (Philadelphia,PA) (/PALESTRA/)
1 /21: @ Penn 84 @St Joseph's 80 (Philadelphia,PA) (/PALESTRA/)
2 / 4: @St Joseph's 70 @ La Salle 66 (Philadelphia,PA) (/PALESTRA/)
2 /22: @ La Salle v Temple (Philadelphia,PA)
2 /25: @ St Joseph's v Temple (Philadelphia,PA)
Indiana [rr4vHOOSIER] was undefeated with the biggest win. Ohio State [rr4vGS-A] was
impressive (as long as cJared Sullinger was in the lineup); Wisconsin [2v2:CHICAGO], Michigan State [rr4@SPARTAN]
and Illinois [2v2:CANCUN-T] all made noise; Northwestern [3:CHARLESTON], Michigan and Minnesota all had excellent records.
Purdue made noise; Nebraska was also a winner.
Indiana's biggest games are front-loaded into the first half.
Ohio State came through in first place; Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin were tied for third; Purdue and Illinois tied
for fifth. Minnesota and Indiana couldn't even manage .500.
(Northwestern was a bust.)
BIG 12 CONFERENCE Men's Basketball Website
BIG 12 Conference Standings
(1907-08) Founded as Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association;
(1928-29) nicknamed "Big 6" (MVIAA split into MVIAA "Big 6" and MVC);
(1947-48) nicknamed "Big 7";
(1958-59) nicknamed "Big 8";
(1964-65) officially renamed Big 8;
(1996-97) "Founded" as Big 12. -- [Officially, the Big 12 does not consider itself an expansion
of the Big 8.]
* Colorado left to join the (renamed) Pac-12. Nebraska left to join the Big 10.
(Teams will now play a full 18-game/home-and-away schedule.)
Frank Haith (ex-Miami[Florida]) takes over at Missouri
(after Mike Anderson left for Arkansas.)
Lon Kruger (ex-UNLV) takes over at Oklahoma (after Jeff Capel III was fired).
Billy Kennedy (ex-Murray State) takes over at Texas A&M
(after Mark Turgeon left for Maryland.)
Billy Gillispie (former Kentucky coach) takes over at Texas Tech (after Pat Knight was fired).
In the downsized league, it's up for grabs as veteran squads at Baylor
(in Year After mode) and Texas A&M,
reloaded Texas
and retooled Oklahoma State look to take advantage
of the new balanced schedule while five returning starters at Missouri
and rebuilding Kansas face a tougher road this season;
Kansas State will be spoilers at best.
Baylor has four of six tough games in the first half at home; Texas A&M's first four big games are on the road,
but they can roll after that.
Baylor [2v2:LVC-X] and Missouri [2v2vCBE] were undefeated with impressive wins;
Kansas State [3:DIAMOND] made a splash and Oklahoma was excellent as well.
Kansas (fThomas Robinson) had big wins, Texas (bJ'Covan Brown) made noise;
Iowa State [1/2 2v2:S.PADRE]
and Texas A&M were also winners.
Oklahoma State struggled against a tough schedule.
Kansas State's has three of four big games at home in the first half.
Kansas came through in first place; Missouri and Baylor were tied for second;
Iowa State was alone in fourth (with a gap). Kansas State and Oklahoma State
couldn't manage .500. (Texas,
Texas A&M and Oklahoma couldn't hang.)
The biggest matchups are mostly in the second half.
Pittsburgh only has four elite games (but three are away); Syracuse has the toughest schedule overall.
Syracuse [2v2vNIT-TO] and Louisville [rr4vGS-B] were undefeated. Marquette [3:PARADISE],
Georgetown and Connecticut had big wins;
Seton Hall made noise;
Pittsburgh [rr4@PHILLY] and Providence all had excellent records.
West Virginia, Cincinnati and DePaul were winners.
Notre Dame lost its star.
Villanova
and young St. John's struggled (as its coach's health recovery
continued).
Marquette's and Georgetown's big games are well spaced.
Syracuse came through in first place; Marquette was alone in second;
Notre Dame, Georgetown and South Florida were all tied for third;
West Virginia, Louisville and Cincinnati were all tied for sixth place.
Seton Hall and Connecticut couldn't manage .500.
(Pittsburgh was a bust.)
* Jim Les (ex-Bradley) is the new coach at UC-Davis.
Fortified veteran title champ Long Beach State is the favorite
to repeat ahead of tourney champ UC-Santa Barbara; veteran Cal Poly-SLO is good enough to spoil.
Long Beach State has two of three big games on the road in the first half, and then it's smooth sailing in the second half.
Long Beach State went unbeaten with a two-game gap. UC-Santa Barbara trailed; Cal State-Fullerton was
third; UC-Irvine and UC-Riverside managed .500. Cal Poly-SLO struggled. (UC-Davis was winless.)
* Paul Hewitt (ex-Georgia Tech) takes over at George Mason (after Jim Larranaga left
for Miami(Florida).
Ron Hunter (ex-IUPUI) is the new head coach at Georgia State
(replacing ousted Rod Barnes, now at Cal State-Bakersfield).
In the competitive league, veteran squads at Drexel, George Mason and James Madison
will have the early jump on retooling Old Dominion and VCU in a wide open race.
(Rebuilding Georgia State can't expect to be anything more
than a tough out.)
George Mason doubles-up with all the big contenders (except Drexel, once on the road).
George Mason [rr2vNIT-TOconsA], VCU, surprising Georgia State and Drexel were all winners, but nobody made any noise.
James Madison and Old Dominion struggled. (Towson was winless.)
George Mason led halfway through; Drexel, VCU and Old Dominion tied for second; Georgia State and Northeastern hung in.
(Towson continued winless, in conference and out.)
Tourney champ Memphis' five returning starters will battle what's left
at title champ UAB, veterans at Tulsa and talented Marshall for the top spot;
five returning starters at Central Florida have the star power to spoil.
Both Memphis and Central Florida have seven big games (including Tulsa away) -- tougher than most.
Marshall [rr4@GS-D] made a splash;
Southern Mississippi and Tulane were excellent as well. Central Florida and Rice
were noisy winners. Memphis (fWill Barton) was up-and-down against a tough schedule; Houston [1/3 rr4@SOUTHWEST] struggled
overall. Tulsa struggled. (UAB couldn't hang.)
Tulane only has four elite games; Southern Mississippi has four of six on the road.
Southern Mississippi came through in first place; Memphis and Tulsa were tied for second; Marshall and Central Florida were
one more game back, tied for fourth; Rice hung in for sixth at .500.
(Tulane was a flop.)
Utah Valley, {North Dakota}, {Houston Baptist} and NJIT all skirted .500 (from below). (Chicago State was
winless.)
Key games (10g schedule / 5 x 2):
1 /21: @ UT Valley 72 {N Daktota} 64
1 /21: NJIT 58 @ TX Pan American 57
1 /28: @ UT Valley 81 NJIT 58
2 / 2: UT Valley 77 @ TX Pan American 69
2 / 4: UT Valley 68 @ {Houston Baptist} 66
At the break, Utah Valley was undefeated with a two-game gap. New Jersey Tech and Texas Pan American
were tied for second. {North Dakota} couldn't manage .500. ({Houston Baptist} was a flop.)
2 / 9: UT Valley 99 @ NJIT 97 (2OT)
2 /16: @ TX Pan American v NJIT
2 /25: @ UT Valley v TX Pan American
3 / 7 GREAT WEST TOURNAMENT 1st/Qtrs @ Chicago, IL (Chicago St)
???(The top two seed get a first-round bye.)???
3 / 9 GREAT WEST TOURNAMENT Semis @ Chicago, IL (Chicago St)
3 /10 GREAT WEST TOURNAMENT Final @ Chicago, IL (Chicago St)
(The Great West champion does not receive an automatic NCAA bid.
The conference tournament winner will receive an automatic bid to the CIT postseason tournament.)
* Former star Bryce Drew takes over (for his dad, retired Homer Drew) at Valparaiso.
Depleted Butler is no longer a "can't-miss" Anti-Spoiler prospect;
it'll have its hands full staying ahead the Year After veterans at Cleveland State
and what's left at Milwaukee; five returning starters at Detroit might jump from spoilers to contenders as well.
Butler has two of three big games at home in the first half; Cleveland State has two of three away the first go around
(including an early one in December).
Cleveland State [rr3@LEGENDSconsA] was excellent. Milwaukee was a winner. Valparaiso was solid.
Butler was up-and-down against a tough schedule. Detroit struggled.
Valparaiso and Cleveland State led the way at the break; Butler, Youngstown State and Milwaukee were all tied for third.
(Loyola[Illinois] was winless.)
* New Orleans has left Division I. {Bryant} will play a full Northeast conference schedule. North Carolina Central and Savannah State are now full members
of the MEAC. {SIU-Edwardsville} will play a full OVC conference schedule.
Cal State-Bakersfield is now fully eligible for the postseason.
({Seattle} won't be until 2012-13.)
Longwood,
Cal State-Bakersfield and Seattle are all in about the same boat
with solid nuclei returning for everyone.
Longwood and {Seattle} play home and away; as do Cal State-Bakersfield and {Nebraska-Omaha}.
At the halfway point, Harvard was still undefeated with a two-game gap. Yale and Penn were tied
for second; Cornell and Princeton hung in, tied for fourth. Columbia couldn't hang.
2 /18: @ Harvard v Yale
2 /25: @ Harvard v Penn
3 / 3: @ Penn v Yale
(The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament. The regular season champion receives the automatic NCAA bid.
In the case of a tie for the regular season title [regardless of head-to-head records],
the teams tying for first place will have a playoff to determine the champion.)
* (Former assistant) Rob Senderoff has been promoted at Kent State
(to take over after Geno Ford left for Bradley).
There is a lot of depth returning in the league this year.
Veteran Kent State is the favorite to repeat in the East (and overall)
ahead of what's left at tourney champ Akron, Miami(Ohio),
Ohio University -- even Buffalo and Bowling Green have veteran teams that could spoil;
in the West, five returning starters at Western Michigan only have a veteran squad at Ball State to battle.
Kent State doubles-up against the tough East, but both big West games are at home.
Ohio U was excellent; Kent State and Buffalo were winners;
and Akron was solid -- and they all made big splashes on the road.
Toledo [rr4@UTPA] and Ball State were solid as well. Bowling Green and Western Michigan struggled.
Miami(Ohio) couldn't hang. (Northern Illinois was winless.)
At the break, Akron led the way (in the East and overall); Ohio U and Buffalo tied
for second; Kent State and Eastern Michigan (tops in the West) tied for fourth; Bowling Green, Ball State
and Western Michigan hung in, all tied for sixth at .500. (Toledo was a flop.)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE Men's Basketball Website
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE Standings
(1907-08) Founded as Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association;
(1928-29) renamed Missouri Valley Conference (MVIAA split into MVIAA "Big 6" and MVC).
* Geno Ford (ex-Kent State) takes over at Bradley (for the fired Jim Les, now at UC-Davis).
Paul Lusk takes over at Missouri State (after Cuonzo Martin left
for Tennessee).
Creighton (xDoug McDermott) [rr4vGS-E/DH], Northern Iowa [1/2 2v2:S.PADRE],
Wichita State and Indiana State all made splashes with excellent records.
Illinois State, Missouri State and Drake were winners (but made no noise).
Creighton has four big games in the first half; Wichita State has four big ones in the second half.
* BYU left to join the WCC. Utah left to join the (renamed) Pac-12.
Boise State joins from the WAC.
(Former assistant) Dave Rice takes over at UNLV (after Lon Kruger left
for Oklahoma).
In the depleted league, veteran UNLV and New Mexico
have the battle for supremacy all to themselves.
(Tito champ San Diego State is in a total rebuild, and title champ BYU has left
the conference altogether.)
Key games:
MVC/MWC CHALLENGE on-campus; tied 1-1 all-time
[Illinois State and Southern Illinois do not play.]
11/30: Creighton 85 @ San Diego St 83
12/ 3: @ Boise St 74 Indiana St 65
12/ 3: @ New Mexico 76 Missouri St 60
12/ 3: @ No Iowa 83 Colorado St 77
12/ 3: @ Wyoming 66 Bradley 49
12/ 3: TCU 70 @ Evansville 68 (OT)
12/ 3: @ Drake 62 Air Force 60
12/ 4: @ Wichita St 89 UNLV 70 -- tied 4-4; tied 1-1;1 all-time
UNLV [2v2vLVI-T] had a huge win; San Diego State made noise;
New Mexico and Wyoming were excellent as well. TCU and Boise State made splashes;
Air Force and Colorado State were also winners.
* Formerly Independent {SIU-Edwardsville} will play a full conference schedule
(but won't be eligible for the postseason until 2012-13).
Veteran squads at Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech will battle it out
with five returning starters at Tennessee State for the top spot;
retooling Murray State can only hope to spoil.
Austin Peay has both its tough games at home in the first half.
At the midconference break, Murray State was still undefeated (in conference and overall) with a two-game gap.
Southeast Missouri State was second; Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky tied for third; Tennessee Tech was fifth;
Tennessee State and Morehead State were .500. (Tennessee-Martin was winless.)
(1916-17) Founded as Pacific Coast Conference (PCC);
(1959-60) reformed as Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU);
(1968-69) renamed Pacific-8;
(1978-79) renamed Pacific-10.
(2011-12) renamed Pacific-12.
* Colorado joins from the Big 12.
Utah joins from the Mountain West.
(The league will remain a single division for basketball.)
In the fortified and renamed league, it's up for grabs
among front-loaded UCLA,
retooling Arizona,
guard-happy Washington,
veteran California
and upwardly mobile Oregon.
(Veteran Stanford can only hope to spoil.)
Oregon, Arizona and California only have six tough games.
Oregon State made the only splash;
Stanford was quietly excellent. California,
Oregon, Arizona,
Washington State and Colorado were all winners (but nobody made noise).
UCLA was a disappointment (but avoided being a total flop).
Washington struggled.
Stanford's big games are all on the road first half; Oregon State's big games are bunched in the both halves.
California and Washington were tied for first; Oregon
and Colorado were tied for third; UCLA,
Stanford
and Arizona hung in, all tied for fifth.
(Oregon State couldn't hang.)
* Mike Anderson (ex-Missouri) takes over at Arkansas (after the release of John Pelphrey).
Cuonzo Martin (ex-Missouri State) takes over at Tennessee (after Bruce Pearl was fired).
(The league will re-align as a single division this season.)
In the new single-division alignment, reloaded tourney champ Kentucky is the favorite
ahead of five returning starters at Vanderbilt;
retooled title champ Florida and fortified Alabama
will contend; new-look Arkansas, retooling Mississippi State
and five returning starters at LSU can only hope to spoil.
(Depleted Georgia will do well to even be a tough out this season.)
The "East Division" still has the tougher schedule.
Alabama has three tough games (two of them at home); Vanderbilt and Florida both get Kentucky and each other twice,
and Alabama and Arkansas on the road to boot.
Kentucky [rr4:HALL.FAME] won its summit with UNC; Mississippi State (pDee Bost)
[2v2:2KS/CVC] made a splash; Florida had good wins and an excellent record overall. LSU, Alabama [3:P.RICO]
and Vanderbilt [2v2:LEGENDS] all had big wins; Arkansas [1/3 rr4SOUTHWEST], Mississippi and Auburn were winners as well.
(Georgia made a little noise, but mostly struggled.)
Mississippi State gets Florida and Vanderbilt on the road -- about as bad as it could get.
Regular season (16g schedule / 5 x 2, + 6):
(Despite the switch to a single division for the standings, the schedule is still based
on the old "East"/"West" divisions.)
Kentucky was undefeated at the break; Florida was second with a gap. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt
tied for third place; Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas were all tied for fifth at .500. LSU and Auburn couldn't hang.
(Georgia was a flop.)
Veteran Florida Atlantic is the favorite in the East (and overall)
ahead of the returning nucleus at Middle Tennessee; in the competitive West,
Arkansas State and Louisiana will battle five returning starters at Denver.
For Florida Atlantic, two of three big games against West opponents are on the road (as well as two of three big games
on the road in the first half).
Middle Tennessee made noise and Denver was excellent as well. South Alabama was solid.
Arkansas State and Louisiana struggled.
Florida Atlantic couldn't hang.
Key games (16g schedule / 10 + 6):
12/31: @ Mid Tennessee 68 S Alabama 52
12/31: AR-Little Rock 66 @ Denver 59
1 / 7: Denver 67 @ S Alabama 50
1 /21: Mid Tennessee 68 @ S Alabama 47
Middle Tennessee made it to the break undefeated with a two-game gap (THREE in the East).
Arkansas-Little Rock and Denver led the West (tied for second overall); Louisiana, North Texas and Florida Atlantic
(second in the East) were all tied for fourth overall. (South Alabama was a bust.)
WEST COAST CONFERENCE Men's Basketball Website
WEST COAST CONFERENCE Standings
(1952-53) Founded as California Basketball Association (CBA);
(1956-57) renamed West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC);
(1989-90) renamed West Coast Conference.
Tito champ Gonzaga is the favorite
ahead of title champ veteran St. Mary's and what's left at new conferencemate BYU;
five returning starters at San Francisco and CIT champ Santa Clara are both good enough to spoil.
The big games are well spread out on the beefed-up schedule.
St. Mary's was unbeaten at the break; Gonzaga was second; BYU third; Loyola Marymount hung in for fourth.
(San Francisco couldn't hang. Santa Clara was winless.)