Lots and lots of news for the Horns now that the regular season has come to a close. And that starts with the Big 12 conference awards, where Rick Barnes took home Coach of the Year in a season where his Longhorns set a school record for regular season victories. D.J. Augustin was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team, while A.J. Abrams and Damion James were named to the second team. The king of hustle, Justin Mason, was named to the All-Defensive Team.

In the latest Bracketology from Joe Lunardi, the Horns are still a 2-seed playing in the Phoenix regional with UCLA as the 1-seed. God forbid this projection actually holds, as good ol’ Joe has a potential second-round match-up for Texas with Arkansas…in Little Rock. Hardcore amateur bracketologists will be happy to know that Joe is now going daily with his picks from until Selection Sunday.

Andy Glockner’s Bubble Watch — now also a daily feature — has the Big 12 with three “locks” in Texas, Kansas, and OU. He feels that Baylor and K-State are solidly in, and barring a Bear implosion against Colorado on Thursday, I would have to agree. That leaves A&M in the “work left to do” category, which could be something of a misnomer. As long as the bubble doesn’t contract further with cinderella auto-bids, the Aggies should be fine. But while they don’t actually need another win, they certainly can’t afford to somehow lose to Iowa State.

While everybody is focused on seeds and bubbles, there is still that weekly tradition of the polls, which saw Texas climb to 6th in the AP and 8th in the ESPN/USA Today.

Although there’s no Big Monday, there’s more tournament action from Championship Week tonight. Auto-bids will be handed out in the Southern Conference (8 PM CST, ESPN2), where bubble team fans will be pulling hard for Davidson. At the same time, those nervous folks will be hoping that Gonzaga can stave off San Diego in the WCC Championship (8 PM CST, ESPN). And just underway in Albany, Rider and Siena are battling for the MAAC title on ESPN2.

We’re just hours from the last Big Monday of the year, which means that conference tournaments are right around the corner. Cornell already punched their NCAA ticket in the tournament-less Ivy League, while the Big South, Ohio Valley, and Horizon all kick off their conference knockouts tomorrow.

The road loss to Tech didn’t hurt the Horns too much, as Texas slid four spots to #9 in both rankings. North Carolina was the benefactor of Tennessee’s loss in Nashville, with the Heels taking over first in both polls. Kansas was the only other Big 12 team to be ranked (5th by the AP and 6th by the coaches), while Baylor received votes in both polls and A&M earned three points in the AP despite losing four of their last five.

The loss also knocked Texas to a 2-seed in Lunardi’s latest projection, although it put the Horns back in Houston for the second weekend. Kansas also earned a 2-seed in this projection, with Kansas State (8), Baylor (9), Oklahoma (9), and Texas A&M (10) also making the field.

With Selection Sunday fast approaching, Andy Glockner’s Bubble Watch is now being updated twice a week. Today’s edition suggests that the Big 12 could still grab six bids, but that a worst-case scenario involves only four teams dancing. Glockner includes Texas Tech as a fringe team today, pointing out that the Red Raiders have a huge chance to make hay with a schedule that ends against the Longhorns, Aggies, Bears, and Jayhawks.

Tom Izzo hates the Big Ten Network. You’re not the only one, Coach.

A link that comes to us via the good folks at Rush the Court is flick.com user Sammy8146’s photo album from last night’s Tennessee-Vanderbilt game. Memorial Gym is a place that I can’t wait to catch a game in, and the energy in that building last night was incredible. Congrats to the ‘Dores on a solid, solid win.

Jeff at March Madness All Season took the time to project final conference standings, putting Texas undefeated the rest of the regular season with a loss in the conference tourney semis. I’m still trying to figure out who exactly he thinks will beat the Horns in that semifinal, as either I suck at math or things don’t add up correctly. But regardless of number flubs, give the man his props for actually trying to sort out the bloated mess that is made up of slots four through ten in the league.

Tons of great pub following the Texas win in Bramlage last night. ESPN’s Around the Rim takes a look at Connor Atchley’s success against Kansas teams, while Jason Whitlock rubs it in the face of Wildcat fans…not that it’s anything new from the Star’s salaried Jayhawk fanboy. Over at CBS Sportsline, Dennis Dodd praises the Horns and takes digs at Kansas. What’s not to love? A little closer to home, Mark Rosner at the Statesman gives us the Longhorn angle from press row.

I missed Stewart Mandel’s new bracket projections in yesterday’s Fast Break, but with $2 “Madcow Monday” pints waiting at Manhattan’s Little Apple Brewing Company, you can see why I may have been distracted. Mandel is also slotting Texas a 1-seed, putting them out west in Phoenix. He’s also got our friends at Belmont playing their way up to a 14-seed, which makes this traveler feel much better. Elsewhere in the muddled Big 12, Stewart likes Kansas (2-seed), Kansas State (7), Oklahoma (8), Baylor (9), and Texas A&M (9).

Joe Lunardi breaks down the odds for 1-seeds in today’s column (ESPN Insider required). He’s got Texas with a 40% chance to grab a spot on the top line, citing the head-to-head win in Pauley as his reasoning. But when he projects things out to the actual bracket we’ll see in three weeks, he thinks the Horns could be headed to Phoenix as a 2-seed, where they could eventually rematch with a top-seeded UCLA team. Oh, the humanity.

After a long drive through the night, we have arrived in Manhattan and are ready for a huge match-up this evening with a dangerous Kansas State team. A game preview will be on the way late this afternoon — the Little Apple Brewery is calling our name in the meantime — but first let’s take a look at the newest polls and bracket projections before looking at some of the biggest things we saw against OU.

Texas climbed to #5 in both polls this week, leapfrogging Kansas and Duke, who both suffered embarrassing losses on the road. The Jayhawks are checking in at 6th with the media and 7th with the coaches this week, leaving the Big 12 with only two teams in the Top 25, albeit both in the top ten slots. Kansas State dropped from the rankings after losing back-to-back road games to Nebraska and Baylor, but are still sitting in the “receiving votes” category along with Texas A&M, who has dropped three straight.

Joe Lunardi is also moving the Horns up, sliding Texas on to the 1-seed line out in Phoenix. Although we mentioned last week that the home-court advantage in Houston would be bigger than a 1-seed elsewhere, this is probably the best-case scenario for a non-Houston regional. Phoenix is the closest of the other sites, and as long as UCLA isn’t the 2-seed — which unfortunately is what Lunardi is projecting — there shouldn’t be the danger of a rabid crowd for a lower seeded team.

Rumors and Rants gives us hilarious photography from C-USA and a Seek-N-Find puzzle, too. While we’re on the topic, is anyone actually surprised by the fact that Memphis was the team involved in this melee? I know Miami is considered “Thug U,” but there’s got to be a similar moniker for these clowns. Even Pat Forde realizes Calipari is running a halfway house, listing all of the brushes with the law these fine young citizens have had. (Minutes 19 through 25 for those of you who don’t want to read the whole article.) I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I remember that the Longhorns are the last team to beat these punks in FedEx Forum, although Tennessee could steal that distinction this weekend.

Another day, another article about Kelvin Sampson being a cheater. Forde now claims that IU will suspend and then fire my BFF Kelvin, which really doesn’t seem to be the appropriate punishment. I’m thinking something along the lines of sharks with laser beams attached to their heads.

March Madness All Season takes some time to talk about the sudden love-fest for Texas as a 1-seed. While the Horns certainly have a great profile to-date, I agree completely with his analysis of the road ahead, and would like to point out that if Kirk Bohls makes an argument, it’s usually safe to take the opposing viewpoint. Many of the pundits are saying that the winner of a hypothetical Big 12 tournament title game between Kansas and Texas could claim a 1-seed, but the committee has made it painfully clear in past years that they don’t pay any attention to what the Big 12 is doing on Sunday. And, as Peter Bean at Burnt Orange Nation reminded us yesterday, the Houston regional is infinitely more important than a 1-seed.

Texas is still a 2-seed according to Stewart Mandell at SI.com, although he’s still got them slated to play Belmont. We here at LRT love the Bruins, as we wrote a feature on their head coach which will be running during Championship Week. So, here’s to hoping that the committee isn’t as cruel as old Stewie and Texas can draw the champs of the Ivy or NEC on Selection Sunday.

Negligible movement in the polls this week, with the Horns sliding two spots to #12 in both rankings. The Jayhawk loss on Wednesday in Manhattan sent Kansas down a few rungs, slotting them 4th in the AP poll and 5th in the USA Today/ESPN ranking. Texas A&M and Kansas State were the other two Big 12 teams earning spots, with the Aggies sitting at 18th in both polls and the Wildcats checking in at 20th (AP) and 24th (Coaches). Baylor received votes from both the media and the coaches.

The big story this morning is, of course, the sudden departure of Bob Knight. His sudden retirement forces son Pat to hold the reins for the rest of Tech’s season, starting with a road game against Baylor on Wednesday. The odd timing has caused speculation that Knight was perhaps involved in another altercation, or that his wife’s medical problems have become too serious to allow the General to remain on the sidelines. I know I’m not alone in hoping that neither of these things are true, and wish Coach Knight the best of luck in his further endeavors. For two more (differing) views on the story, check in with William S. Reid at CNNSI.com or Pat Forde at ESPN.

Tuesday morning means another round of Bracketology to mull over. This time, Lunardi has the Longhorns as a 4-seed, one of six Big 12 teams in his field. Only the Big East has more in the hypothetical Big Dance, placing a full half of their 16-team conference in the mix. Other B-12 squads who were deemed worthy by Lunardi include Kansas (1-seed), K-State (3), Baylor (6), Texas A&M (7), and Oklahoma (10).

Texas moved up two spots in each of the polls this week, sliding into the #10 slot in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today rankings, while Kansas holds steady at #2. The Big 12 has five teams in the AP poll with Kansas State (22nd), Texas A&M (23rd) and Baylor (25th) all hanging around on the lower rungs.

Stefhon Hannah could miss the rest of the season after a brawl outside a Columbia nightclub late on Saturday night. The Tigers still have to tackle a rematch with Kansas, a pair of showdowns with K-State, and roadies in Waco and Norman. Without their leading scorer, Mizzou could be a lot closer to the cellar than anticipated.

This afternoon, Luke Winn introduces us to twin brothers and UNC commits Travis Wear and David Wear, Jr. The 2009 class for Roy Williams is looking absolutely ridiculous when you add in Dexter Strickland and Round Rock product John Henson, who had Texas in the mix before committing to the Heels earlier this month.

Joe Lunardi is high on the Big 12 this week, putting six of the conference’s teams in today’s Bracketology. Kansas still leads the way with a 1-seed, while Texas is slotted as a 3 in Little Rock. K-State (6 seed), Baylor (7), Texas A&M (9), and Oklahoma (9) make up the rest of the conference’s dance card.

Missed Scott Drew’s interview on Sportscenter after the 5-OT thriller on Wednesday night? Thanks to the technical know-how of an LRT co-traveler, you can watch the video through the interweb tubes. Check it out below, and be sure to check out the rest of his Longhorn videos on his website.

We’re alive and back home, having driven through a pea soup of a fog from about Oklahoma City to Austin. But sleep deprivation and white knuckles are a very cheap price to see the Horns finally pull out the win in Stillwater after witnessing three prior losses there. Game wrap will be coming closer to midnight tonight, but in the meantime here’s your Fast Break around college hoops…

New rankings came out yesterday, with Texas climbing to 12th in both polls. Baylor finally crawled into the AP poll at 25th, their first ranking since the late 1960’s. Unfortunately the coaches stiffed them with only 11 points, good enough for the equivalent of 32nd. K-State is also putting pressure on the Top 25 after its manhandling of A&M on Saturday, landing in the “others receiving votes” category of both rankings. Kansas sits in 2nd in both rankings, while the Aggies slipped to 16th in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 18th in the AP after two blowout losses to unranked opponents.

Joe Lunardi’s newest Bracketology moves Texas up the S-curve to a 3-seed, although at this point the city assignments are relatively meaningless. He’s got the Big 12 with 5 teams at the moment, and Oklahoma is sitting in the first group of eight teams that missed the cut. (NIT, holla!) Kansas is obviously still holding tight to a 1-seed, while A&M has dropped to an 8, Baylor holds a 6, and K-State is the 7-seed in UNC’s bracket.

This week’s blogpoll will be released tonight, so rather than post my own vote today and then the whole thing tomorrow, we’ll throw it all up here at once and open up the discussion. Needless to say, it was a very difficult week with 15 of last week’s 25 ranked teams losing at least once, so I’m sure there will be some head-scratching going on when all is said and done.