Apologies for the lack of a daily update on Monday, but this week finds me mired in a couple of finals and a lot of writing. It’s a cruel set-up to have students walk before they finish their exams, but by this time Friday I will at least enjoy a sudden spike in free time. Content on the site might be a bit on the lighter side between now and then, but with most teams taking it easy during their own final exams, it works out pretty well.

New polls came out yesterday, and Texas stayed in the 4th and 5th slots of the AP and Coaches Polls. Not much movement near the top, as most teams took care of business last week. Texas fans will take note of St. Mary’s, who cracked both polls at #24 this week. If the Gaels can get past Southern Illinois on the road tonight, it looks like there will be a Top 25 match-up in Austin on January 5th.

Another week, another honor from the Big 12 Conference. This time, D.J. Augustin was named Player of the Week, while Kansas State’s freshman Towel Pisser was named Rookie of the Week. After both Damion James and A.J. Abrams have claimed the award this season, this thing might just be renamed Big 12 Player of the Week Presented by The University of Texas.

Want to watch some basketball on TV tonight? Good luck, buddy. While folks would likely enjoy that great mid-major match-up between St. Mary’s and Southern Illinois, fans will instead be treated to a scintillating game between Prairie View A&M and New Mexico State…on ESPN Full Court. Hope that new episode of Nip/Tuck captures your fancy.

At times last night, Texas looked very good in their win over the Rice Owls. But there were also some points of concern for Longhorn fans, despite the lopsided outcome. We’ll get to all of that late tonight in a wrap of this week’s games. For now, onward with our look around the country.

A couple of upsets in the middle of the Top 25, starting with Louisville stumbling against the Dayton Flyers, 70-65. The Flyers are quietly building a solid resumé, with a 7-1 record against the current RPI Top 50. In addition to beating Louisville, they’ve challenged themselves with some tough mid-major opponents, which should help after the A-10 sked hurts their SOS. In the other upset of the day, Wright State knocked off Butler, 43-42. It’s the second straight win for Wright State over the Bulldogs, as they also captured the Horizon League tournament in March by beating them in front of a raucous home crowd.

Davidson keeps playing well against good teams, but still doesn’t have any quality wins to show for it. They blew an 18-point lead to UCLA in Anaheim yesterday, falling by a final of 75-63 and dropping their record to a painful 3-5 this year. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute led the way for UCLA with 21 points.

The Big 12 looked pretty good on Saturday, if you can overlook OU losing at home to Stephen F. Austin, 66-62. The Lumberjacks are now 7-1 on the year, but have done so against the 279th-toughest schedule. Things aren’t going to get any easier for Oklahoma after this one, as their next three games are against Arkansas, Gonzaga, and West Virginia. Quality loss there, Sooners.

Elsewhere in the conference, Iowa State topped Iowa, Kansas pounded DePaul, Oklahoma State pulled away from East Tennessee State, Mizzou pressured Purdue for the win, and Texas A&M face-raped Texas State. (Thanks, Dave Lapham.) Colorado was the second Big 12 loser on the day, dropping one in Wyoming, but they are playing respectably for one of the worst teams in the conference.

FSN has a doubleheader in HD today, but otherwise not a lot on tap as many schools lighten their schedule in the midst of final exams. George Washington heads southwest to take on Virginia Tech (4:30 PM CST), followed by an early ACC matchup between BC and Maryland (6:30 PM). Over on ESPNU, Villanova and Temple renew their Big Five rivalry (6 PM). In action happening without TV coverage, Kansas State is currently facing off with Cal.

I finally graduate in about nine hours, which means that I’ll be missing a lot of great hoops action this afternoon. But the good thing about a noon ceremony is that it leaves enough time afterwards to travel to Houston for the Rice game, which tips at 7 P.M. tonight.

And speaking of the Rice game, two people out of the eleven in our group will no longer be able to make the trip. They are really great seats only four rows up from the baseline beside the Texas bench, and I’m being asked to try to resell them at face ($16 each). If you’re interested, leave me a comment with your phone number as they are moderated and will not be made public. I leave town at 3ish, so that will have to be the cut-off.

Not much going on in NCAA hoops last night, but UTA won on a running jumper with 6.3 seconds at Wichita State to move to 8-0 on the season. The Mavs are one of only 17 undefeated teams left in Division I hoops, and are certainly one of the most surprising ones. In the other game of interest to Texas fans, UC-Davis was embarrassed at home by Oregon State, 73-59.

Today the television is full of quality hoops action. Arizona kicks things off at Illinois (11 AM CST, ESPN), while Duke hosts Michigan and new coach John Beilein (1 PM, CBS). Duke will roll, but it’s a chance to see how Beilein’s style translates to a new, troubled team. DePaul faces Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse with Brandon Rush on the court (1 PM, ESPN), with Pitt and Washington tipping just an hour later way out west (2 PM, FSN). Kentucky also faces IU (3 PM, CBS), Purdue travels to Mizzou (3 PM, ESPN2), and Texas A&M hosts Texas State (7 PM, FSN). But perhaps the most interesting televised matchup of the day is the grudge match between Marquette and Wisconsin, airing at 5 PM on ESPN2.

Some more games of note not on TV today: Michigan State faces their last real test before Texas when they travel to BYU (3 PM CST) and Colorado looks for a road win in Wyoming (3 PM). While I mentioned that UTA was one of the most surprising undefeated teams remaining, the other two shockers are Ole Miss and Sam Houston State. Both are in action today, with the Bearkats facing Ian Mooney’s old school, St. Louis (7 PM) and the Rebs traveling to Central Florida (6 PM).

If you’re going to that Texas/Rice tilt and want to catch some high school hoops action, your ticket also gets you into a doubleheader starting at 1 P.M. Fans can get a preview of some future Big 12 action when two class of ’08 recruits face off in the first game. Baylor commit Anthony Jones plays for Yates, who will square off with Texas verbal commit J’Covan Brown and his Port Arthur Memorial team. The second half of the high-school doubleheader features Madison against Duncanville and highly-touted ’09 prospect Shawn Williams.

While it’s not basketball, the fantastic Texas volleyball team will be televised in their Elite Eight match against USC at 3 PM CST on ESPNU. And if talented girls in spandex beating the crap out of the Trojans isn’t enough to entice you, then I’m just not sure what else I can throw out.

John Brady and the LSU Tigers held a 20-point lead with 8:51 to play last night…and still ended up losing to Villanova, 68-67. After seeing Brady’s talented teams come up short again and again the last two years, I still wonder how they overcame his ineptitude to beat Texas in the 2006 Elite Eight.

No Pete Campbell, no problem for Butler. The Bulldogs stayed perfect and grabbed their first conference win last night, taking out Detroit on the road, 53-46.

Some of you may have already discovered this (or have even come to this website thanks to the coverage), but I was featured in a Q&A by San Antonio Express-News sports columnist Lorne Chan. You can check out the article in his appropriately titled Chanifesto.

Lute Olson announced today that he won’t be returning to the Arizona bench this season. Olson does plan to patrol the sidelines again next year, and Kevin O’Neill will continue his duties as interim coach. Later in the day, news outlets began announcing that Coach Olson had filed for divorce from his second wife. The two stories may be connected or his “personal issues” could turn out to be something completely different, but in all honesty, it’s nobody’s business but Lute Olson’s. We wish him the best in the meantime and look forward to seeing him in action again soon.

There’s pretty much nothing on TV tonight, even for those with the ESPN Full Court package. Despite that, there are still a couple of games of local interest which will be worth score-checking in the morning. UC-Davis hosts Oregon State in a matchup that will have a slight impact on the Texas RPI, while undefeated UT-Arlington faces their biggest test yet in a road game against Wichita State.

Texas moved up to 3rd in the latest Ken Pomeroy RPI approximations after thumping North Texas last night, just one slot behind St. Mary’s, who the Longhorns face on January 5th. With Michigan State (19th) still looming and the Big 12 sporting the third-best conference RPI, that final SOS should be looking mighty solid for Texas.

In meaningless polling news, Texas also ascended to 2nd in this week’s Power 16 at ESPN.com. These rankings are so pointless, I don’t even have a follow-up sentence.

The Big 12 had fun with some creampuffs last night. Oklahoma State handled a fiesty Texas A&M Corpus Christi squad 60-46, while their rivals from Norman crushed Tulsa by 26. Kansas got in some worthwhile practice against Eastern Washington, cruising to an easy 85-47 win. The most lopsided win of the night came from Texas Tech, however, who demolished Lousiana Tech by an 86-31 count. Iowa State fell on the road to Drake, 79-44, while Nebraska lost in overtime to a solid Western Kentucky team, 69-62.

Tonight’s TV lineup leaves a bit to be desired, with LSU/Villanova being the “highlight” at 8:30 PM CST (ESPN). South Carolina and Providence play a little earlier on the Deuce, tipping at 6 PM CST. And on ESPNU, there’s a mind-numbing matchup between Jacksonville State and Samford, two teams with a combined 4-9 record. It’s faaaaantastic!

The lack of good hoops on the tube gives you all the more reason to tune in to Longhorn Sportsline with Coach Barnes at 7 PM CT tonight. It broadcasts live from the brand new Pluckers location in West Campus, so if you’re in the Austin area and haven’t been by the new digs, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Thursdays are usually Mexican night at Pluckers, meaning specials on Tecate, margaritas and other booze that I’m forgetting. So swing on by, have a few drinks, and chat hoops with Rick. And if you’re elsewhere in Texas but want to tune in, take a gander at the affiliate list from TexasSports.com.