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.

The Texas Longhorns return home following a monumental victory over UCLA on Sunday, now sitting at fourth in the AP Poll and fifth in the Coaches Poll. Beginning tonight, they settle into an easier two-week stretch of the schedule, although this crop of non-conference opponents isn’t filled with as many patsies as in years past.

North Texas is one of those stronger mid-major teams that Coach Barnes scheduled this year, and they comes to town just a few months after earning their second NCAA berth in school history. The Mean Green has an experienced roster with five seniors and four juniors, all who are looking to go dancing again this March. When you couple that seasoned squad with the fact that Texas historically comes out flat following big games, this is the recipe for a dangerous game. Let’s hope Rick has them fired up.

By the numbers

North Texas will provide another boost to the strong Longhorn SOS, as they come into this one ranked 19th in Ken Pomeroy’s RPI approximations. After defeating UCLA, the Longhorns moved up to 5th in those same rankings, with their schedule slotted as 34th-toughest in the nation.

UNT has two wins over D-2 schools that won’t be on their resumé come Selection Sunday. They did beat Oklahoma State at home early in the season, and defeated New Mexico State last week on the road in Las Cruces. That victory over the Aggies was the largest comeback win in school history, as the Mean Green overcame a 21-point deficit.

North Texas plays an up-tempo style of ball, as indicated by their 20th-ranked possession numbers. They average 76.1 possessions per game, which is much faster than nearly every team the Longhorns have played this year. Only Tennessee is in the same neighborhood, with 76.6 per game.

The starters

The Mean Green are led in scoring by Josh White, a guard who has started all six games as only a freshman. On a team that generally shoots very poorly from behind the arc, White is one of the few weapons from long range. He is hitting at over 52% from three-point range and gets to the line an average of six times per game.

At only 5’10”, White won’t have the height advantage that most guards do against the Horns, so he will likely have to try to use his speed to beat Abrams, Mason, or Augustin off the dribble. And when you consider that he has 18 turnovers compared to only four assists, the Texas backcourt could certainly force some errors from this guy.

Big man Keith Wooden is already making an impact after transferring from Arizona State. He is third on the team in scoring with twelve points per game and is second on the glass with five boards per contest. Checking in at 6’9″ and 245 pounds, he’s a bit thicker than most of the Longhorn post players, but on Sunday they proved themselves as adept rebounders against bigger, stronger opponents.

Quincy Williams is the other senior forward for Coach Johnny Jones. He leads the team in rebounding, including a 19-board night against the Indiana State Sycamores. He is especially strong on the offensive glass, but is prone to turnovers and has been absolutely abysmal from the line so far this year. Judging from his numbers and size, one would expect him to be matched up with Damion James, who is really hitting his stride lately. This should be an excellent battle on the glass.

At the point, senior Ben Bell is a calm and collected leader. He holds a 2.75:1 assist-to-turnover ratio so far, but is struggling from the floor. He is averaging only six points per game on 28% shooting, including an awful 1-for-12 start from behind the arc. It will be interesting to see how the experienced guard handles the Texas pressure.

The third starting guard for the Mean Green is Tristan Thompson. A teammate of Dogus Balbay at Brewster Academy, Thompson is averaging 8.2 PPG and 4.3 RPG. For a guard, it is troubling that he has more turnovers (7) than assists (5), but those numbers certainly look good for the transition-minded Longhorns. If they can rattle this guy into a fair number of turnovers, the fast break points should follow.

Key reserves

Collin Dennis is the second-leading scorer on the team, despite not starting a single game. The junior guard transferred to UNT from South Florida after his freshman season, and has immediately made an impact in Denton. He is hitting at a 53% clip from behind the arc and is averaging just shy of 15 points per game.

Another transfer for Coach Jones is guard Dez Willingham, who came to the Mean Green from SMU. Willingham is generally a poor shooter, but is often relied upon to relieve Bell at the point. At only 6’0″, he will be a good matchup for the short Texas backcourt.

What to look for

Expect an exciting track meet where the Texas transition game gets a chance to shine. The Mean Green are a better defensive team than most up-tempo squads, so the Longhorns will need to make their possessions count. Of course, if Texas returns to its lights-out shooting from three-point range, they could put this one away early.

After proving themselves against a much larger UCLA team, the Longhorns look to maintain their presence on the glass in this game. North Texas is outrebounding their opponents by roughly nine boards per contest, so this won’t be a walk in the park for the Longhorn frontcourt. Will they take a step backwards or win another war on the glass?

Keep an eye on the minutes for freshmen Clint Chapman and Alexis Wangmene. Both played a good chunk on Sunday, and Chapman had a particularly gutsy performance. Dexter Pittman will not likely see much time in this high-tempo game, so look to see what the freshman forwards can do in their time on the floor.

The big finish

Tonight’s game is on FSN only in the state of Texas, and not in the Dallas or Houston markets. Elsewhere, the game can be seen on the ESPN Full Court package.

For those folks in Austin, free admission can be gained simply by donating a new, unwrapped toy to the Orange Santa program. The free seats are in the general admission section, but since this is the last week of classes and many students are busy with tests and papers, those GA seats could get you into the upper reaches of the sections behind the baskets.

So grab a Cabbage Patch Doll or whatever the kids are playing with these days and come on out to the Erwin Center. We’ll save you a seat.

A few scares in the Top 10 last night, but no upsets. Memphis survived USC in overtime, 62-58 by holding the Trojans to 28.8% shooting on the night. Michigan State trailed Bradley by nine in the second half, but stormed back for a 66-61 win. If you tuned in looking for the Spartans to be playing Butler…oops. That’s what I get for writing these at four in the morning.

If you’re one of the folks who likes to play the transitive game when it comes to early season non-conference games, you’ve got to be riding high on Baylor in the Big 12 right now. Baylor beat Notre Dame, who beat K-State, 68-59. You can’t put too much stock in comparing results, considering teams have off nights or play out of their minds, but the Wildcats sure looked like a one-trick pony with Michael Beasley struggling for much of last night’s game.

Bumped from yesterday’s comments, Damion James was tabbed Big 12 Player of the Week. DaMo logged a double-double in both of the wins over Texas Southern and UCLA, finishing with 38 points and 20 boards for the week.

On the tube tonight you’ve got your very own Longhorns against North Texas (7 PM CST, FSSW/ESPN Full Court). The big game of the evening is Washington State at Gonzaga (10 PM CST, ESPNU). The Kennel should be absolutely rocking for this one, so be sure to tune in if you get the U.

Leave town for a weekend to watch the biggest regular-season upset in your school’s history, and you miss all sorts of shit. It was a fun couple of days though, and I’ll eventually get over the fact that the DVR fried sometime on Saturday, leaving me with part of a Gonzaga/UConn game and none of the Big 12/Pac-10 games. Ouch.

We lead with the best news of all, which would be that Bill Walker pissed in a towel on the sidelines last Thursday. Yes, that’s right. Stuck a towel down his pants, drained the snake, and then soiled a second towel just for good measure. And all of this occurred in front of a sold-out arena and a rightfully disgusted equipment manager. Oh, did we mention that the Wildcats still lost?

Friday night, Baylor jumped out to a big halftime lead against #6 Washington State, but ultimately couldn’t hang on. The Cougars fought back behind a suddenly-hot Derrick Low, escaping Waco with a 67-64 win. Meanwhile, I was drinking alone in a DFW airport bar while waiting for a 10 P.M. flight to Los Angeles. Still want to do what I do?

Bob Knight continues to baffle with his scheduling, as the Red Raiders dropped another road game to a horrible team. This time, Tech lost to Centenary, 70-66. Knight left the game at halftime, returning to the team hotel because he was feeling ill. But that didn’t stop him from lecturing some students who made a joke about his recent hunting accident as he left the court. I can’t help but feel that these road games against Sam Houston State and Centenary were nothing but a cheap way to earn a little more RPI credit while beating the bottom-feeders, but it’s certainly not working out that way for the Techsters.

With the last Big 12/Pac-10 game coming on December 22nd, the current standings are 6-5 in favor of the Pac-10. That doesn’t include the Kansas win on Sunday over USC, which was scheduled separately from the challenge. Of course, this is for nothing more than bragging rights, as there are no official tallies for this showcase and no trophies awarded. It’s really a shame that Baylor and A&M let their games get away from them, as this was certainly a chance for the conference to change some perceptions. Regardless, the Big 12 is currently ranked 2nd in Ken Pomeroy’s RPI approximations, which is a nice change of pace from the top-heavy league of years past.

Class of ’09 recruit John Henson was spotted enjoying himself at the UCLA/Texas game on Sunday night. And considering he was also seen at the Texas/Arkansas-Monticello game a few weeks back, I can’t help but think the talk of him not reciprocating Texas’ interest is nothing but white noise. The kid’s still looking at a lot of schools and he’s only a junior, but here’s to hoping that exciting upset win and the hometown draw keeps Texas high on the Round Rock Dragon’s list.

Beat #1 and #7, and people start to take notice. The Longhorns have climbed yet again in the polls, this time moving to #4 in the AP and fifth in the Coaches Poll. Texas actually snagged two first-place votes from the writers, as did Kansas. And if #9/10 Michigan State can get past tough games with Bradley and BYU this week, we’ll be looking at another top-ten battle when the Spartans and Horns face off on December 22nd.

What to watch tonight? Bill Walker brings his Depends to New York City when Kansas State and Notre Dame face off in the Jimmy V Classic (6 PM CST, ESPN). Later, the senior-laden Butler Bulldogs host Drew Neitzel and Michigan State (8 PM, ESPNU) while Memphis shows USC frosh O.J. Mayo how its done (8:30 PM, ESPN).