Baylor won a championship!! It may have only been the Paradise Jam down in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but the Bears won three straight games, culminating with a 62-54 win over Winthrop in the finals. After knocking off Wichita State and Notre Dame in the first two rounds, one has to wonder if the Bears are going to be making some noise in the Big 12 this year. Let’s be honest — there’s Kansas, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Texas, and then a huge drop off. (And without Gary Johnson, Texas is not even in the conversation with the other three.) Baylor still has home games against Washington State and Arkansas and a shot to emerge from the pack of the Big 12, so perhaps we’ll be discussing their resumé come February and March.

The Longhorns flip-flopped with A&M in this week’s AP poll, moving up to 15th while staying put at 16th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. At the bottom, Davidson cracked the Coaches at #25 after nearly upsetting #1 North Carolina last week. The Wildcats still have a road game against #10 Duke left on the schedule…I’m just saying.

Okie State won their opening-round game in Maui, taking out LSU 83-77. Mizzou looked incredibly impressive in the CBE Classic semis, but fell just short against a quality Michigan State team, 86-83. They refused to quit despite falling significantly behind a couple of times, and Stefhon Hannah almost singlehandedly willed them to victory in the final few minutes. That January road game in Columbia might not be too much fun for the Horns.

Romeo Miller signed his LOI to attend USC yesterday with future teammate DeMar DeRozan beside him at a press conference in the ritzy Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. That’s right, folks. Lil Romeo is going to play for the Trojans. The LA Times article raises a very good question, namely whether or not the USC staff offered Lil Romeo a scholarship in order to earn points with DeRozan, the much more talented of the two friends.

Big, big game on tap tonight featuring two Texas opponents, when #1 UCLA takes on #11 Michigan State in the championship of the CBE Classic out in Kansas City (9 PM CST, ESPN2). The consolation game should also be good, with Maryland and Mizzou meeting at 6:45 CST on ESPNU. Second-round action out of Maui includes LSU/Chaminade (12:30, ESPNU), Princeton/Arizona State (3:00 CST, ESPNU), Marquette/Oklahoma State (6:00 CST, ESPN), and Duke/Illinois (8:30 CST, ESPN).

Del Valle HS grad and current Baylor Bear Curtis Jerrells was the difference last night as Baylor upset Notre Dame, 68-64. Jerrells scored 15 points in the second half, making up for the fact that star Aaron Bruce only managed one point in the same twenty minutes. With Notre Dame down three and trying to mount a last-minute comeback, Jerrells provided a huge blocked shot with only 30 seconds left to ice the victory. The Bears, who are now 3-0, advance to face Winthrop in the championship game of the Paradise Jam being played in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The early-season upset bug is getting passed around the bottom of the top 25 like the herp in a freshman dorm. Last night New Orleans knocked off #22 NC State, 65-63, likely opening a fourth slot in the new poll that will be unveiled today.

The best tournament not nicknamed March Madness kicks off today when the Maui Invitational begins in Hawaii. Games are on ESPN2 all day, starting with Chaminade/Marquette at 1:30 PM CST and continuing with LSU/Oklahoma State (4 PM CST), Princeton/Duke (8 PM CST), and ASU/Illinois (10:30 PM CST).

Other TV action includes the semis of the CBE Classic (formerly Guardian’s) with UCLA/Maryland at 6 PM CST on ESPN2 and Michigan State and Mizzou at 8:30 PM CST on ESPNU.

There will be a double-dip on game wraps in the evening, as we look back at the UC-Davis and Arkansas-Monticello beatdowns. In the words of Larry David, the Horns looked pretty, pretty, pretty good.

The Big 12 isn’t the only conference dropping early games in bunches. Stanford, ranked 20th, dropped a 79-65 decision to Siena, while 17th-ranked Arizona lost at home to Virginia, 75-72. I’ll give Arizona a free pass on their stumble, as UVA is quietly building a really solid program in Charlottesville. But Siena? There are no words.

Texas A&M freshman DeAndre Jordan is just 3-of-15 from the free-throw line this year. But did I mention he hasn’t missed a field goal in over three games? Jordan extended his consecutive-bucket streak to Big 12-record 16 straight as the Aggies knocked off D-2 Ouachita Baptist, 85-59.

K-State knocked off Western Illinois, 77-64, while Michael Beasley finished 28 points and 22 rebounds. And all this after it took him over seven minutes to sink his first bucket. He is now averaging — averaging — 30 points and 20 boards in his first three games. Let’s hope KD’s records can stand for more than one season…

More hoops all day from Puerto Rico, with Providence taking on Miami in the championship (6:30 PM CST, ESPN2). Earlier games are all on ESPNU, starting with Temple and Marist (10 AM CST), then the College of Charleston and Houston (12:30 PM CST), and finishing with the third-place game between Arkansas and VCU (4 PM CST). Oh, and if you’re into cruel and unusual punishment, UNC will beat the shit out of Iona at 5 PM on ESPNU.

Memphis took home the 2KSports College Hoops Classic trophy last night, knocking off UConn, 81-70. The Sooners took consolation in a third-place prize, besting Gardner-Webb, 69-55.

Pig soooooooie! Eighteenth-ranked Arkansas turned the ball over about 97 times in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, and Providence pulled off the convincing 67-51 upset. The music has stopped in Fayetteville, and Bubba Hog no longer dances…or jiggles.

An excellent link courtesy of the fine posters over at HornFans this morning, where “ghost” uncovered the Gabe Muoneke comeback blog at HoopsHype. It’s a really good read, and has me hoping we’ll see a Paulino/Muoneke contest for bragging rights in the D-League this fall.

Did Aggie stupidity rub off on good ol’ BCG while in College Station? Rush the Court points out that apparently Coach Gillispie still hasn’t signed a formal contract at Kentucky. And even if I were illiterate, I can still tell this thing is from Lexington and not College Station, because there aren’t Bill Byrne’s Crayola scribblings across the page. Dollar Bill, much like Harold, really digs the purple crayon.

Horns in the League and the post-game writeup will be late-afternoon updates today. In the meantime, you’ve got wall-to-wall football to hold your attention, while PB and crew over at Burnt Orange Nation have you more than covered in the pigskin department.

Orangebloods broke the news yesterday that J’Covan Brown has committed to Texas ($$ article). That’d be all fine and dandy if the kid had actually signed on the dotted line. But with the pressures from his parents and coach still trying to push him elsewhere, we’ll have to see if he ever ends up putting his Herbie Hancock on this thing and playing on the 40 Acres. Fingers are crossed very, very tightly that this one works out.

In 2KSports Classic semifinal action, UConn dispatched Gardner-Webb and will take on Memphis in the finals after the Tigers held off OU. In the nightcap, Derrick Rose finished with 17 points, five boards, and three assists, while OU’s Blake Griffin finished with an 8/8 night. Longar Longar was only able to log three eye-socket shatterings with his flailing elbows.

That UConn/Memphis championship game from Madison Square Garden highlights the NCAA hoops on TV today, airing at 8 PM CST on ESPN2. There’s also games all day long from the Puerto Rico Tip Off, starting at 11 AM CST on ESPNU. And if you’re into a little Gardner-Webb/OU action, that one is on the Duece at 5:30 PM CST.

This “College Basketball Invitational” is probably the worst thing to happen since Wayne Newyon first discovered plastic surgery. Why exactly is there a need to crown the 97th-best team in NCAA hoops? And who will even play in this train wreck of toxic waste? Rush the Court pulled a sample bracket from the Gazelle Group’s website, and it leaves…a lot to be desired. But then again, when I think about the god-awful fields they’ve put together for the Guardian’s Classic, 2KSports Classic, and especially this year’s Legends Classic, I don’t know why I’m really surprised. Classic.