Texas swingman Damion James made what seemed to be a difficult decision this past June when he walked away from NBA riches to return to school.
James apparently impressed many as he went through NBA workouts this past spring. But when it came time to be all in, James made the decision to return to the Longhorns for his senior season. James said the choice wasn't hard to make.
"It was cool," James said to FanHouse. "We have a great team, probably the best team in the country and I've come back to lead them. It really wasn't a tough decision at all. It was a great decision."
It seems like every year the usual suspects are lined up as contenders for the best basketball conference in the country.
Big East. ACC. Pac-10. Big Ten.
But the Big 12 never seems to get much love, despite some impressive numbers that suggest the newest of the major conferences deserve to be part of the conversation. No conference has advanced more teams to Elite Eight (13) and Final Four (six) since 2002. The Kansas Jayhawks even cut down the nets in 2008.
Could the NBA and its minimum age requirement really be guilty of hypocrisy?
It certainly appears that way to Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel and some other Big 12 coaches after watching the most recent NBA Finals and seeing which NBA players were pushed as the faces of the league throughout the season.
The straight out of high school players, who are the type of players the NBA no longer wants to be associated with, are now carrying the torch for the world's best pro game.
"If you follow the NBA, if you look at the guys who are promoted as the face of the NBA, you are talking about Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett," Capel said. "Those are four that jumped right out and none of those guys attended college and I don't think it hurt them."
In an effort to talk about something college basketball-related other than scandals in the summer, let's talk best current coaches. We'll attempt to order the top 25 current coaches in the nation. This is about the present and the future, not the distant past. What a guy did in the mid-90s doesn't matter near as much as the direction his program is currently headed. Past pedigree also matters, to an extent. For the perfect mix of past accomplishments with present achievement and a paved road for future success, look no further than the man atop the list.
BOSTON -- Tubby Smith is much too dignified to laugh out loud, or LOL in the text-message age. But for all the abuse he took at Kentucky during a decade that was absolutely dreadful -- a national championship, a 263-83 record, an NCAA tournament appearance every season, just horrendous stuff -- who could blame him if he wanted to giggle to himself Friday?
Seems the bluegrass has turned to fertilizer in Lexington.
General Motors couldn't afford to buy ad time during the Super Bowl. It bailed on a nine-year endorsement relationship with Tiger Woods, whose almighty golf bag had been adorned with a Buick logo. The automaker is mired in doomsday hell, a symbol of America's economic crisis. But how utterly fascinating that GM is conducting business as usual with the one sports event that probably would survive the apocalypse.
March Madness.
Also known as, six overtimes in Madison Square Garden ending at 1:20 a.m.
General Motors couldn't afford to buy ad time during the Super Bowl. It bailed on a nine-year endorsement relationship with Tiger Woods, whose almighty golf bag had been adorned with a Buick logo. The automaker is mired in doomsday hell, a symbol of America's economic crisis. But how utterly fascinating that GM is conducting business as usual with the one sports event that probably would survive the apocalypse.
Rick Barnes' Texas team came into a Rivalry Week matchup against Texas A&M needing a big win to make sure they didn't find themselves on the oh-so-slippery NCAA Tournament bubble.
Instead, they got straight up punched in the mouth by their disregarded in-state rivals, as the Aggies used a balanced attack -- five different scorers hit double-figures -- to down the Longhorns, 81-66, Monday night.
Big-time college baseball coach doesn't carry quite the cachet as, say, big-time college football coach. Even if you've won more games than anybody in the history of the sport. In nearly 40 years on the job, University of Texas' Augie Garrido has 1,629 victories to his credit, including five national titles. And none of that mattered after an early morning arrest on drunken driving charges.
Blake Griffin is, in all likelihood, in the middle of his farewell tour, folks, so enjoy him while you can. Jeff Capel, Oklahoma head coach, did just that Monday night as the insanely talented sophomore picked up his NCAA leading 14th double-double to lead the Sooners over Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns in a decisive 78-63 win.
ESPN's broadcast got particularly spicy around halftime when Barnes decided to call his starters out for not trying hard enough on the floor; certainly they could have played better, but a strong first half effort from Griffin and the Sooners -- Texas ripped off an 11-1 run in the middle of the first half to close the gap within nine -- nearly put this one away before it could ever get good.
What it says about these two teams -- and the upper echelon of college basketball -- is that, despite the fifth and 11th-ranked teams overall, respectively, Oklahoma is currently the team to beat in the Big 12, and, I'm sorry, but right now it's just not that close. Now maybe that gap shortens when the show rolls to Austin, but Oklahoma's effort probably makes any coaches who put them below two-loss North Carolina feel a little awkward.
Texas swingman Damion James made what seemed to be a difficult decision this past June when he walked away from NBA riches to return to school.
Could the 
BOSTON -- 
General Motors couldn't afford to buy ad time during the Super Bowl. It bailed on a nine-year endorsement relationship with 
General Motors couldn't afford to buy ad time during the Super Bowl. It bailed on a nine-year endorsement relationship with 
Blake Griffin
