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.
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.
College basketball coaches are a weird bunch. They are control freaks who are media savvy and live in an isolated world of hoopdom. But what if they weren't coaching? What would they do? Who would they be?
The blog CatsandBeer.com attempts to figure that out to hilarious results:
A report released Monday found 86 percent of Tar Heels men's players earned diplomas during a six-year period. The other top seeds were far worse: 45 percent at Kansas and 40 percent at UCLA and Memphis.
The study was conducted by Richard Lapchick, head of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. It evaluated four different freshman classes for a period beginning in 1997-98 and ending with 2000-01. Though the players evaluated are no longer on campus, the report intends to provide a snapshot of academic trends.
It doesn't stop there. Of the #2 seeds, Texas and Tennessee only graduated 33%. Duke is up to 67%. Georgetown graduated 82%.
Mind you, of the eight teams listed, only Memphis' John Calipari, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Texas' Rick Barnes have been with his program for most of the period tested. Kansas' rate was gained during Roy Williams' tenure there (he's now at UNC whose numbers are reflected from Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge's time).
If we had a Final Four of the top programs at graduating players, it would be Butler, Notre Dame, Purdue and Davidson (all are at the 91% mark).
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?
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.
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. 
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.
College basketball coaches are a weird bunch. They are control freaks who are media savvy and live in an isolated world of hoopdom. But what if they weren't coaching? What would they do? Who would they be?
Of the NCAA tournament's #1 seeds, only North Carolina is graduating more than half of its players.
