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The Rice basketball community is consumed by a senseless tragedy this afternoon. Jonathan Bailey, a sophomore guard for the Rice Owls, has been pronounced dead after suffering stab wounds in an altercation at a College Station bar last night.

Bailey and his brother were out at a bar, and were involved in some kind of an incident there. According to the Houston Chronicle, Some fighting went down, it spilled out onto the street, and police found the brothers, both with multiple stab wounds, in the street at 1:45 am.

Of course, I don't know what started the original fight, who started what, who's innocent or guilty ... but it doesn't matter a whole lot, does it? It's not like anything that could have happened in that bar could justify what happened afterwards. It's just sickening.

Police do have a couple of suspects in custody.

Offensive gurus don't take kindly to head coaches out-and-out shelving of their precious schemes. So it comes as no surprise that when queried about the difference from last year at Arkansas to this one, new Tulsa offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn snippily states the obvious:

I think the biggest difference is that we're going to run the spread, no-huddle offense. Coach [Todd] Graham is 100 percent behind that philosophy and I am too," Malzahn said. "I think that's the biggest difference.

Here's looking at you, Houston Nutt.

Malzahn - at least publicly - has been classy about his tenure at and departure from Arkansas, but the fangs came out a little this week. Until now he's been deferential about Arkansas' reversion from his offense to a heavy ground attack, but safely ensconced in Tulsa with a friend as his boss, Malzahn has finally given some light to the philosophical disagreement between himself and coach Nutt. He later added "this is who I am as a coach."

Oddly, new Tulsa coach Todd Graham also subtly snipes at Major Applewhite, his offensive coordinator last year at Rice.

"I like going into meetings and there's no arguments over philosophy," Graham said. "We philosophically believe the same thing."

Graham was a little put off in the offseason, telling reporters:

If (Applewhite) chooses to leave our offense doesn't leave with him," Graham said. "We run Rice's offense not Major Applewhite's offense

Anyway, it's good to see both coaches working their complexes off.

Previously at FanHouse:
Mess at Arkansas Continues with Malzahn Departure and Mustain Rumors
David Lee Hired to Replace Gus Malzahn as Arkansas Offensive Coordinator
What's Going Down in Arkansas