Conference play in the Big 12 finally begins tomorrow, and despite the fact that there seem to be only three clear-cut contenders, this season promises to be an exciting one as new teams will likely emerge in the middle of the pack and a handful of sensational freshmen will get a chance to shine.

Everybody runs their conference previews this time of year, and LRT is no exception. While we won’t get into a detailed player breakdown — those are saved for the actual game previews when the Horns face each team — this brief look at the league should give fans an idea of what’s to come.

Without any further blustering, here’s a rundown of the league, in our predicted order of finish:

1) Kansas Jayhawks – This is by far the deepest team in the league, and is without a doubt on the short list of national title contenders this year. When Texas played the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse for the regular-season finale last March, the usual Senior Night ceremonies seemed to be missing. But the sickening fact of the matter is that the Jayhawks return every single piece of their Elite Eight team, including Brandon Rush who was ohsoclose to going pro. The only question now is how many wins KU can rack up on their way to a 51st conference championship.

2) Texas Longhorns – If you’re reading this, you’re likely already a Longhorn fan and know all about this club. But just in case you don’t, I can sum it up in two words — balanced attack. All five of the Texas starters average double-digits in scoring, including freshman Gary Johnson, who was just cleared to play last week and will beef up an inside game that badly needed his presence. While Texas might run into problems against bigger, more physical teams in league play, defenses will still have their hands full trying to decide which threat to focus their attention on.

3) Texas A&M Aggies – If you thought lock-down defense was going to leave College Station with Billy Gillispie, you would be sorely mistaken. The Aggies boast the sixth-most effective defense in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy, and their inside-out attack is a pick-your-poision conundrum for opposing coaches. Inside, freshman big man DeAndre Jordan is an incredible threat, although the best defense so far seems to be simply fouling him — Jordan is an atrocious 33.9% from the line this year.

4) Oklahoma Sooners – Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like this team was headed for a tailspin after a perplexing home loss to Stephen F. Austin. But OU has since put together impressive wins over Arkansas and West Virginia (on the road) that has the Sooners hitting their stride at exactly the right time. Not to be outdone by Turgeon or Martin, Capel has his own excellent freshman in Blake Griffin, the Oklahoma City kid who is leading the Sooners in scoring this year.

5) Kansas State Wildcats – This slot could easily have gone to the team just below the Wildcats in our rankings, but K-State has the luxury of playing bottom-feeding Iowa State and Colorado twice each this season. While KSU is struggling to get an offense going with stars Michael Beasley and Bill “Towel Pisser” Walker, there is enough talent on this team to make some noise in the Big 12 if they can ever figure it out. And with mafia enforcer Frank Martin as coach, the Wildcats should get their fair share of calls from refs who don’t want to swim with the fishes.

6) Baylor Bears – The Bears challenging for an NCAA bid? It could be true, and quite frankly their fans deserve it. Just years after the Dave Bliss/Carlton Dotson disaster and the NCAA’s interesting sanctions, Scott Drew has finally gotten his great talent to jell. The Bears were seconds away from knocking off Washington State, currently the fourth-ranked team in the country, and had Arkansas on the ropes before making some stupid decisions to waste possessions late in the game. If Baylor can learn how to finish games, the Bears can be the surprise team of the year.

7) Nebraska Cornhuskers – Doc Sadler’s Nebraska team is leading the league in interior defense, and they already have a pair of quality wins over Arizona State and Oregon. They’re hoping to grab a few more upsets in the Big 12 and somehow sneak on to the bubble, but I feel a mid-conference finish is a bit more likely. Aleks Maric is still the big man on campus, running the show down low for an up-and-coming team in the northern half of the conference.

8) Missouri Tigers – Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year DeMarre Caroll is already making an impact after transferring from Vandy, while guards Stefhon Hannah and Keon Lawrence anchor a quick backcourt. Mike Anderson’s squad still plays exciting basketball, but they are still too sloppy to completely pull off his style of play. Give Mizzou another season or two and they will be fighting for a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

9) Texas Tech Red Raiders – This is the most bi-polar of the conference teams this year, one which has losses to Sam Houston State and Centenary, but also a win over Gonzaga and a great showing against Stanford. Just having Bob Knight on the bench means that this projection is likely too low for the Red Raiders, but until they show any semblance of consistency, it’s tough to have faith that this team can survive without last year’s leading scorer, Jarrius Jackson.

10) Iowa State Cyclones – Greg McDermott is in his second year on the Ames campus, but it’s still too early to expect results. He’s taking the Gillispie approach in building the ‘Clones confidence against an easier non-conference slate, but the seven wins against teams with RPIs of 200+ isn’t going to help too much against the likes of Kansas, Texas, or A&M. Jiri Hubalek is still fun to watch, but he won’t be playing in any postseason tournaments to finish off his senior year.

11) Oklahoma State Cowboys – For the same reason that K-State earned the nod over Baylor, Oklahoma State slides below the Cyclones. OSU is a better ballclub — although inept coaching certainly nullifies that advantage — but a murderous schedule with a pair of games against Texas, A&M, Oklahoma, and even Baylor means that the Pokes are going to be slogging their way to the finish line. You feel bad for the talent amassed on this roster, but Baby Sutton is in way over his head.

12) Colorado Buffaloes – There’s rebuilding, and then there’s complete demolition followed by a new structure. The latter is what new coach Jeff Bzdelik needs to do with a Colorado program that has not seemed dedicated to winning in many years. He’s definitely got talent on the team in Richard Roby and Austin product Xavier Silas, but any success to be had in Boulder is still a few years off.

#4 Washington State 73, USC 58 – Wazzu remained perfect with their road win against USC on Thursday night, forcing 13 Trojan turnovers in the process. The Cougars were a scorching 10-of-19 on three-pointers, as their excellent ball movement constantly found the open man behind the arc. Washington State’s best-ever start was a 17-0 record back in the 1914-15 season, but they will now face their biggest test of the year in Pauley Pavilion against UCLA.

#5 UCLA 69, Washington 55 – The Bruins also took care of business to set up that great battle on Saturday atop the Pac-10, but their starters are going to be a little dinged up. Darren Collison injured his hip in a collision with Ryan Appleby, while Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is nursing a bruised right knee after a very physical contest. The Bruins might have home-court advantage over the Cougs on Saturday, but a pair of hobbled stars could make things incredibly difficult.

#14 Butler 75, Wisconsin-Green Bay 65 – The Bulldogs had an abnormally cold night from the floor, but repeatedly forced their way to the foul line to earn their 15th win of the season. Matt Howard was particularly effective in drawing the whistle, scoring 22 points while only taking six shots. His 12-of-15 free throw shooting made up the rest of his gaudy scoring numbers.

#21 Wisconsin 70, Illinois 60 – Things aren’t getting any easier for Bruce Weber and the Fighting Illini, as they dropped a fourth-consecutive game for the first time in his tenure with Illinois. Wisconsin, meanwhile, continued to prove they are a contender in the three-team Big Ten race with their third conference win in as many tries.

#23 Stanford 66, Oregon State 46 – This one was embarrassing for the Beavers at home, as Stanford came out of the gates fired up after a poor shooting performance in their previous game against USC. The Cardinal built a double-digit lead within minutes, found themselves up by 19 at half, and cruised the rest of the way as their stifling defense denied any faint dreams of a Beaver comeback.

Some BCS conference action on the Worldwide Leader tonight, but Thursday means Pac-10 hoops on FSN, and that is certainly a league you want to watch. Here’s what’s on the airwaves tonight…

Hofstra (3-9 overall, 1-2 CAA) at UNC-Wilmington (8-7, 1-2) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU – For the love of God, do not watch this.

West Virginia (11-3 overall, 1-1 Big East) at Louisville (10-4, 0-1) – 6 PM CST, ESPN – Thuggins has West Virginia playing some good basketball as of late, while Louisville is a bit like Britney Spears. They’re troubled, unwell, and frankly everybody is a little tired of hearing about their latest screw-ups.

St. Louis (9-5 overall, 0-0 A-10) at George Washington (4-6, 0-0) – 7 PM CST, CSTV – The A-10 is looking solid this season, but these two teams aren’t the reason why.

Illinois (8-7 overall, 0-2 Big 10) at #21 Wisconsin (12-2, 2-0) – 8 PM CST, ESPN – After losing to Miami of Ohio at home, Brian Randle was asked about the team’s mindset by a reporter at the press conference. “There’s no desperation, I’ll tell you that,” Randle said. “People may not see it or want to see it, but we’re a good team…With 15 seconds left, we said in the huddle, ‘Believe.’ We are a confident team.” Since then, the Illini defeated Mizzou and Loyola, but then lost three straight to Tennessee State, Ohio State, and Penn State. With tonight’s road game at Wisconsin and Sunday’s roadie at Indiana, it might be time for Randle and Illinois to start getting desperate.

Arkansas (11-3 overall, 0-0 SEC) at Auburn (9-3, 0-0) – 8 PM CST, ESPN2 – It’s the SEC opener for both schools, and Auburn comes in incredibly banged up. They’ve got six scholarship players available at last report, and are going to have to play out of their minds to hang with the Razorbacks in this one.

Wisconsin-Green Bay (9-5 overall, 3-1 Horizon) at #14 Butler (14-1, 3-1) – 8 PM CST, ESPNU – Butler’s only loss of the year came to a Wright State team that is currently 8-5 on the year. So while it would seem easy enough to chalk this one up as a win for A.J. Graves and the Bulldogs, it is certainly fair to say that stranger things have happened.

#4 Washington State (13-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-10) at USC (9-5, 0-2) – 10 PM CST, FSN – Coach Tony Bennett was National Coach of the Year last season, and this year he’s doing just as solid of a job up in Pullman. The Cougs have not played many tough teams in non-conf, but they have a chance to silence the critics on their nightmare road trip this weekend. Get past USC tonight, and Wazzu gets to put that pristine record on the line against UCLA on Saturday.

And even more listings for those folks with ESPN Full Court…

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (8-7 overall, 3-2 Horizon) at Valparaiso (11-4, 2-1) – 7 PM CST – Valpo is actually sporting a pretty solid RPI, but that’s more a result of losing to really good teams than of beating anybody worthwhile. The Crusaders are 0-4 versus the RPI top 50, while they’ve chalked up six wins over teams ranked 200+. Horizon League play isn’t going to help things much.

Cal (10-3 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) at Oregon (10-4, 1-1) – 7:30 PM CST – The Ducks have really dropped off the map this year, but the Pac-10 is so deep that putting things together in conference play will be a huge boost to the resumé. It’ll be interesting to see what the crowd turnout is for this one, as it tips at 5:30 local time.

New Mexico State (8-9 overall, 2-0 WAC) at Boise State (11-3, 2-0) – 8 PM CST – The surprise team in the WAC hosts one of the biggest disappointments. But a 6-9 start for NMSU might be just a fuzzy memory if they can keep up the hot start they’ve got going in league play. Wins over Fresno State and Idaho aren’t exactly worth writing home about, but if the Aggies can shock the Broncos on the road, things could get very interesting out west.

Nevada (8-5 overall, 0-0 WAC) at San Jose State (7-7 overall, 0-2) – 9 PM CST – Nevada is certainly a contender in the WAC, and tonight finally marks the beginning of their campaign. The Wolfpack has been tested by the 20th-toughest schedule in the nation, and it should serve them well against their weaker conference. With SJSU, Hawaii, and Idaho opening the conference slate for Nevada, they could easily sprint to a 3-0 start in just eight days.

Thursday means new power rankings from CNNSI and ESPN, and the start of conference play also means previews from all sorts of sites around the web. Let’s take a quick run through the new stuff…

Texas moved from 13th to 12th in this week’s Power Rankings at ESPN. Hubie Davis still has the Horns slotted in 5th (huh?), while Fran Fraschilla takes a break from his usual Big 12 love-fest to drop the Horns to 15th in his ballot. Other voters varied, with most putting the Horns between 10th and 13th.

CNNSI’s Luke Winn moved Texas from 16th to 13th this week in his rankings, but spent the comment section going on about how Georgetown commit Greg Monroe was recruited by various coaches. Hey Luke, thanks for reminding Texas fans about how we missed out on the guy. Really appreciate it.

Lunardi put out his newest Bracketology on Monday, but it’s worth a link today. Joe has Texas as a 2-seed still, but their stock is dropping. Looking around at the Big 12 teams in the mix, it’s refreshing to see that someone has noticed Texas A&M’s weak-ass non-conf schedule to date — Lunardi has them slotted as a 4-seed. Oklahoma (7-seed) and Baylor (12-seed) are on the rise, while Kansas continues its death grip on a 1-seed. As for disappointing K-State? One of the eight bubble teams headed towards the NIT, according to the Bracketologist.

March Madness All Season, the preeminent college hoops blog, comes through again with a solid big conference breakdown. They’ve got OU as a sleeper team, and I’m in complete agreement. Jeff Capel has the Sooners playing great basketball after falling on their face against SFA, and I like them to earn that 4th bye slot in the post-season tourney. Be sure to check out this link, as it is a great primer for all of the great hoops headed your way from the major conferences.

Rush the Court put out their own Big 12 breakdown, and it’s worth your time to check it out. They’ve got the conference with five NCAA bids, and I’m generally in agreement. I think that K-State has a very good chance to play their way in, as they get two games against both Colorado and Iowa State. One thing that jumps out from RTC’s handy table is just how ugly the bad losses are in this conference this year. Hell, if all of Oklahoma State’s poor games were put on the page, it might just break the internet’s tubes.

Don’t forget that Longhorn Sportsline with Rick Barnes airs live at 7 PM on the Longhorn Radio Network tonight from the Pluckers West Campus location. We’ll be grabbing a table around six, so swing by, say hey, and have a few drinks. If you’re elsewhere in Texas, check the affiliate list from TexasSports.com to see if it’s on in your area.

It’s going to be a busy night preparing for tomorrow’s trip to Missouri, but I’ll try to get the Tigers pregame and Big 12 preview ready to be auto-posted while I’m at the McJob tomorrow. Get excited, hoopheads. Conference play is here!

A ton of Top 25 action last night, but no huge surprises along the way. The Tennessee/Ole Miss game was everything we wanted it to be — and how! — while there were a few upsets near the bottom of the rankings. The Big 12 had the night off, as all teams prepare for their league openers on Saturday. On to the scores…

#1 North Carolina 93, UNC-Asheville 81 – Not even a 7-foot, 7-inch giant could stop Tyler Hansbrough from throwing it down on Wednesday night — supposedly the first dunk on Kenny George in three years — and the rest of the Bulldogs were just as ineffective against the Heels. The win wraps up UNC’s non-conf slate at a perfect 15-0 to go along with their one ACC win over Clemson this past Sunday.

#2 Memphis 99, East Carolina 58 – The domination of C-USA began with a complete demolition at FedEx Forum last night, as the Tigers held ECU under 40% shooting and boasted a +21 rebounding margin. The game was so frustrating for the Pirates that coach Mack McCarthy earned two technical fouls in the second half and missed the last twelve minutes of the game.

#7 Duke 74, Temple 64 – Coach K earned his 787th victory in defeating the Owls, putting him only eleven wins behind Eddie Sutton. As well as things are going over at USF for Bitter Beer Face, Coach K could pass him up sometime this season. His first chance for #788 comes in Duke’s ACC opener against Virginia on Sunday night.

#9 Tennessee 85, #15 Ole Miss 83 – The Game of the Night certainly lived up to its billing, as the final minute was a flurry of action leading up to Tyler Smith’s game-winning layup with 4.2 seconds to go. The Rebs missed a ton of shots in their last possession, but constantly grabbed the offensive boards to keep hope alive. Kenny Williams even worked his way to the line with 31 seconds to go, but missed the front end, setting up the Vols’ game-winning possession.

I’ve been in Thompson-Boling Arena as a visiting fan, and I can attest that the Vols have one of the most overlooked home-court advantages in the country. Mississippi may have lost their perfect season, but hanging tough in this arena — particularly the fight they showed in clawing back from a 12-point second-half deficit — exhibits a ton of poise that is going to be huge when the calendar turns to March.

#12 Vanderbilt 80, South Carolina 73 – While Ole Miss couldn’t keep their perfect season alive, the SEC still has one representative among the unbeatens after the Commodores took care of business. Shan Foster struggled through his worst offensive game of the year, scoring only 13 points for Vandy, but A.J. Ogilvy picked up the slack with 25 of his own. Vandy has a monumental showdown with Tennessee next week, but they can’t overlook a road game in Rupp against Kentucky on Saturday.

#18 Pittsburgh 79, South Florida 66 – Pitt withstood a test on the road, holding off a hot South Florida team to earn their first win in Big East play. The Panthers led by as many as 17 with only four minutes left on the clock, proving that they still plan on contending in a topsy-turvy conference. Sam Young paced Pitt with 22 points on the night, while freshman Gary McGhee saw his first action in six weeks.

Charlotte 82, #19 Clemson 72 – Is this it? Has the Clemson collapse finally begun? They looked good in pushing UNC to the wire on Sunday night, but this result was far from expected. Is this a letdown loss after the tough game against the Heels, or are the Tigers about to jumpstart their annual January nosedive? A salty Florida State team visits Clemson on Saturday, so Oliver Purnell needs to right his team’s ship immediately.

#22 Dayton 92, #20 Rhode Island 83 – The Rams put on a second-half surge, but the Dayton Flyers defended their home court to earn a victory in the A-10 opener for both teams. Rhode Island was down thirteen in the second half, but whittled the Flyer lead to only three before Dayton shut the door. As long as the Flyers take care of business against SLU and UMass over the next week, the January 24th showdown with Xavier will be epic.

Arizona State 64, #24 Arizona 59 (OT) – A win over a team barely in the Top 25 isn’t usually worth of a court rush, but I’ll forgive Sun Devil students for this one. ASU’s victory was their first in 13 tries against the Wildcats, and it even took an extra five minutes to find a winner. It’s tough enough to have that much futility against a school, but it’s ten times worse when it’s a rival (see: OU/Texas football, 2000-04). The kids were surely partying late last night in Dirty Scottsdale.

#25 Xavier 83, St. Bonaventure 68 – The X-Men won their fifth-straight game, but coach Sean Miller was frustrated with the win. The Muskies allowed St. Bonaventure to hit eleven threes against their vaunted defense, enough to give them a scorching 61% mark behind the arc. Xavier was led by B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson, who both chipped in 21 points on a night where the offense actually had to carry the load. I have a feeling that the pitiful Fordham Rams are going to have a very tough game against an angry Musketeer squad on Saturday.