Hoops is certainly back in full swing, with ESPN broadcasting college basketball all damned day. Unfortunately, we’re not quite in full swing here at LRT with insanity at the McJob and cramming to get everything ready for Maui by Friday. We’ll try to get back to the daily content sometime this week, and look for some cosmetic changes around the site before December arrives. You can thank the 20-plus hours on airplanes to and from Hawaii.

The Big 12 is off to a hot start, with its members logging a perfect 19-0 record through last night’s games. The conference probably won’t match its solid RPI numbers from last year, when it spent most of the season slotted as the second-toughest league in the nation. But the Big 12 teams are taking care of patsies so far, something that couldn’t be said even during last season’s strong start — yes, we’re looking at you, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Oklahoma faces the league’s stiffest test yet when it hosts Davidson tonight in the NIT Season Tip Off. It’d be great to watch this Top 25 match-up on TV, but the “Worldwide Leader” has better things to show. Like Kansas hosting the mighty Florida Gulf Coast (ESPNU, 8 PM CT). Or maybe Billy Wrong Way Gillispie getting demolished by The Anointed Ones better suits your fancy (ESPN, 8 PM CT)? If you thought VMI was bad, Billy Clyde, just try not to clench the muscles…

Tulane preview will be headed your way this afternoon. In the meantime, you can find us in a basketball coma with remote in hand.

Edit (3 P.M. CT): ESPN2 will now be broadcasting the Davidson/Oklahoma game at 8 P.M. You’ll definitely want to check that one out once the Horns are finished discarding the Green Wave.

Luke Winn has a great Q&A with Ian Mooney in his tourney blog. Amongst the highlights are the locker room pranks, Dexter Pittman’s poor sense of geography, and Mooney’s future as the Texas point guard. Check, check, check it out.

Lute Olson is now back as the Arizona coach in a full-time capacity, and he gave an exclusive telephone interview to ESPN’s Andy Katz. If Coach Olson is correct about how many of his players will return next season, the state of Arizona is going to be a basketball powerhouse. The ASU/’Zona series could quickly gain traction as a top-flight rivalry with national implications.

In coaching news a little closer to home, on Thursday Jeff Capel signed a three-year extension with Oklahoma. Capel — whose name had been floated in the South Carolina coaching search — will also enjoy a $300,000 raise per season, bringing his total compensation above the one-million dollar mark. It looks like fans in Norman will get to enjoy angry stares and pouting sessions for years to come.

And you thought the Aggies hated the Longhorns? I’m sure that anyone reading this page has seen the Sheraton commercial where fans from nasty rivalries share elevators, computers, and even chicken wings. But you may have been confused by the juxtaposition of Lousville and Memphis, rather than the Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats. But according to UK assistant athletic director Jason Schlafer, the Wildcats were asked first, but declined citing no prior relationship with Sheraton hotels. Or perhaps just an unquenchable fire of hate for the school just down the road?

If you just can’t wait for this evening’s Elite 8 games to start, the tubes of the interweb have more than enough content to hold you over. Luke Winn previews and predicts the Elite 8 games, while the folks at Rush the Court take a more detailed look at today’s doubleheader. But March Madness All Season breaks it down the most, with in-depth looks at both Carolina/Louisville in the East and UCLA/Xavier from the West region.