No major disasters for bubble teams last night, as Butler clinched the Horizon’s auto-bid, Oral Roberts won the Summit League, and Western Kentucky took home the Sun Belt title. The Hilltoppers likely weren’t going to make the field anyhow, but as Andy Glockner pointed out in yesterday’s Bubble Watch, they had at least a smidgen of a chance, while MTSU had absolutely none.

Today more of the big boys kick things off in their post-season tournaments, as the Atlantic 10+4, Big East, and Pac-10 start their tournaments with “opening round” play. The MAC, SWAC, Big West, MWC, and C-USA also all get started today, while auto bids will be handed out tonight in the NEC and Big Sky. Those two conference championships are airing on ESPN2 starting at 6 PM CDT.

So much for those Arkansas State/Arkansas games with Nolan Richardson on the wrong sideline. Strollin’ Nolan now says he’s no longer a candidate for the job. It’s a true shame, if only for the fact that we didn’t get to witness the meltdown from Hog fans if he’d reappeared at a school so close to Fayetteville.

The always-excellent Tye over at Bring on the Cats has the most thorough guide to Kansas City you could imagine. Check it out before you hit the road for this weekend’s games, and perhaps we’ll see you down in the Power & Light district.

Sure, there might be bowl games on today, but there’s wall-to-wall hoops action on ESPN2 and some local action on FSN for those in the south. A full listing of games on tap can be found a few paragraphs down, but for now let’s get to scores and news from the college basketball world.

Butler survived a scare at Southern Illinois, beating the Salukis on A.J. Graves’ 28-foot buzzer beater. It was only the fifth loss in the last 87 home games for SIU, who fell to a disappointing 5-6 mark with the defeat. Butler, meanwhile, is only one win away from running the table in their non-conf slate, having only lost to Horizon League foe Wright State.

Ole Miss is still undefeated! The Rebs knocked off Southern Miss, 78-58 in Southaven, moving to 12-0 for the first time in school history. And if that weren’t historic enough for Ole Miss, it is also the school’s first 12-game winning streak since 1926. With Alabama A&M next up on Wednesday, it looks like the streak should continue.

The Weber State Wildcats spoiled Eddie Sutton’s return to coaching, knocking off the San Francisco Dons, 62-54. Bitter Beer Face gets his next shot at 799 against the horrible Utah Valley State Wolverines on Monday night, but the Dons are pretty horrible themselves. Ought to be quite a thrilling match-up.

Chad Ford’s new draft rankings are out, and he’s got D.J. Augustin slotted 10th ($$). Fellow Big 12ers Darrell Arthur and DeAndre Jordan also cracked the Top 10, checking in at 7th and 5th, respectively.

Can anyone run the table this season? Fox Sports’ Dick Weiss won’t call it a lock just yet, but he concludes the Tigers have the best shot at it. While I don’t think they will put together six wins in a row come March, they definitely have a shot at an undefeated regular season. Their second-half defense against Big East power Georgetown was practically a clinic, and that was likely their toughest opponent on the schedule. The C-USA should be a cakewalk, but the Tigers could still potentially stumble against Arizona, Tennessee, or Gonzaga, although those three opponents will be played at home in the FedEx Forum.

Ready for a long day on the couch spent channel flipping between basketball and football? We’ve got you covered. ESPN2 has action all day long, starting with the Wisconsin/Texas game (11 AM CST), followed by San Diego/Kentucky (1 PM), Tennessee at Gonzaga (3 PM), OU against West Virginia (5 PM), Pitt and Dayton (7 PM), and that Arizona/Memphis matchup in the nightcap (9 PM). Local fans can check out Texas A&M hosting Florida A&M on FSN, tipping at 1 PM CST.