Then the NBA began plucking the nations best prep players right out of the McDonald’s All American Game, and while that wasn’t great for the college game, it was a far cry better than the unbelievable hypocracy of the so-called “one and done” rule where players have to play at least a year of college basketball before they’re eligible for the NBA Draft…with most not even going to class after the fall semester.

Now if you’re a Kentucky fan reading this, then you may not be quite as inclined to agree with me, as John Calipari has become the poster boy coach in taking to prep players and making them NBA millionaires in less than a year, but the attendance figures around the country back me up.

Even at Cameron Indoor Stadium the Dukies aren’t packing the place quite as tight as they once did, and it’s an epidemic around the country. Most fans don’t seem to care quite as much about a player who is only going to stay a year or two (because they have no other options), than in the old days when a player stayed for his entire academic career.

If there is one good by-product of this relatively new phenomenon, it’s that the so-called mid-major programs can compete with the super powers, as they have four year players and the power teams often only keep the McDonald’s guys a year or two at best.

You can certainly argue whether the rule is good for the game, or even if you like the rule or not, but TV ratings and home attendance ague loudly that the one and done rule hurts college basketball interest.

Feel free to make your opinions known below in the comments section, and we’ll talk more about this on the Greg Swaim Show.

In the South regional we have Kentucky, North Carolina, Baylor and Murray State as the top four seeds (in order), while in the East we have Syracuse, Duke, Louisville and Michigan. In the West we have Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown and Wisconsin, while in the Midwest we have Missouri, Ohio State, Marquette and Indiana.

Check back shortly, as we’ll be adding seeds 9-16 in each regional next week, and feel free to make a case in the comments section below as to why your team (or any other) should be seeded higher…or at all.

Now that West Virginia and the Big East have reached a settlement which allows the Mountaineers to compete in the Big 12 for the 2012 football season, the attention has turned to other expansion candidates for the conference to return to the number the conference is named after.

Louisville and West Virginia were neck-and-neck in previous expansion discussions before WVU emerged as the favorite for expansion back to 10 members. University of Oklahoma president David Boren is one of the major proponents for adding Louisville after being lobbied to by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Louisville grad.

The Big 12, was hesitant to expand further during the WVU and Big East settlement issues, can now that negotiations between WVU and the Big East have come to a close which is good news for Louisville.

The other two universities seriously mentioned as Big 12 expansion candidates are BYU [obviously] and Cincinnati, which would help the Big 12′s push eastward.

Following the statements made by DeLoss Dodds, Barry Tramel of the Oklahoman had this to say about the addition of BYU:

“I was a big proponent of BYU last summer, but then I heard from all kinds of BYU people about how pleased the Cougars are with independence and how they wouldn’t join the Big 12 unless the terms were just right. I think that makes BYU a longshot. I think the Big 12 enjoyed the jubilation we saw in Fort Worth and Morgantown over TCU and West Virginia joining the conference. I don’t think the Big 12 wants someone who is lukewarm about the conference.”

More from Tramel, whose point is valid about BYU, and his thoughts on the consideration of BYU and Big 12 expansion can be read here. The Cougars were deliberate in their departure from the Mountain West and, should they choose to affiliate themselves with a conference, will more than likely be methodical in their negotiations.

Late last year, BYU AD Tom Holmoe had brief discussions with the Big 12 about joining before the conference invited TCU and West Virginia. There is a slight familiarity between the two but there are hurdles to jump before an invitation can be expended to BYU.

The Cougars offer a significant brand name and television market (being located 43 miles south of Salt Lake City) which increases its appeal to the Big 12. The considerable success on the football field and basketball court also factor into their attractiveness. However, they also take their commitments seriously, like the one they made to the West Coast Conference (WCC) following their secession from the Mountain West.

Cincinnati, on the other hand, seems like the optimistic girl hoping for a shot at the quarterback. The Bearcats would love to be added to the Big 12 especially if they are joining their Keg of Nails rival Louisville. Cincy offers a solid television market and a successful basketball program with an above average football program (one BCS bowl appearance at least).

They would also help the geography of the Big 12 by being a bridge of sorts, along with Louisville, helping fill the gap between West Virginia and the rest of the conference.

Now that the Big 12 knows what type of exit penalty Big East teams will face by seceding from the conference, they can now plan accordingly if they so choose to annex two teams. That is also if, IF BYU decides that independence is better than conference affiliation.

There is a logical division alignment should BYU (or Cincinnati) and Louisville join the Big 12.

Conference Records of Big XII Teams and Expansion Candidates
Team	Record	Team	Record
1. TCU*	84-25 (.771)	7. Texas Tech	71-58 (.550)
2. Texas	97-37 (.724)	8. Louisville~	24-25 (.490)
3. Oklahoma	99-38 (.723)	9. Oklahoma State	63-66 (.488)
4. BYU○	71-28 (.717)	10. Iowa State	37-92 (.287)
5. West Virginia•	73-38 (.658)	11. Kansas	36-93 (.279)
6. Kansas State	77-55 (.583)	12. Baylor	24-105 (.186)
*TCU’s conference record in the Mountain West (1998-2011) ○BYU’s conference record in the Mountain West (1998-2010) •West Virginia’s conference record in the Big East (1996-2011) ~Louisville’s conference records in the Big East (2005-2011)

When aligning the division three points should be kept in mind: 1) Oklahoma and Texas must be in the same division, 2) the divisions should be competitively balanced, and 3) each division needs equal access to Texas for recruiting purposes. Geography would be a minimal consideration considering how unbalanced the former twelve team Big 12 was before the defections started.

Using those guidelines the proposed divisions could be such:

The New 12 Team Big 12 Divisions
“North” Division	“South” Division
TCU (1)	Texas (2)
BYU (4)	Oklahoma (3)
West Virginia (5)	Kansas State (6)
Louisville (8)	Texas Tech (7)
Iowa State (10)	Oklahoma State (9)
Baylor (12)	Kansas (11)

The competitive balance is tilted slightly in favor of the “North” division but not by much. Adding up the rankings of the “South” division you get 38, while the “North” division is 40.

BYU is a geographic outlier with all of the other teams in the Big 12 but by being in the “North” division it retains former Mountain West rival TCU while also providing another marquee divisional match-up with West Virginia.

If Cincinnati is the choice over BYU then just swap out the Bearcats for the Cougars in that division proposal which also makes that division geographically balanced as well.

Along with the divisional games, each team would have a permanent crossover game, just like is done in the SEC. Those would be Kansas State – Iowa State (Farmageddon), Baylor – Texas Tech, West Virginia – Oklahoma, BYU – Texas, TCU – Oklahoma State, Louisville – Kansas.

Two current rivalries (Farmageddon and Baylor-Texas Tech) were kept but the remaining four were created for TV purposes. West Virginia-Oklahoma, BYU-Texas, and possibly even TCU-Oklahoma State would be marquee games for a conference fighting to return some of its lost luster.

Some long-standing or former rivalries (Texas-Baylor, TCU-Texas Tech) would have to be put on a rotational basis in order to pave way for the premier television games. The only team without a big time football rivalry would be Louisville, however, the manufactured football rivalry could help to carry over some animosity onto the court between the two basketball powers.

Of course this is subject to change depending on what BYU does. If Cincinnati joins then most of the above schedule would need to be scrapped and then TCU would probably play Texas and Oklahoma State gets Cincinnati.

The future of the Big 12 is still murky and the conference could choose to stay pat at 10 universities but the demand for at least at least a 12 team conference could prove to be the incentive needed to expand. Hell, everybody is expanding to at least twelve teams, even the Big East, so what are you waiting for, Big 12?

As we do each year, we’ll be broadcasting both our TV and radio shows again duirng top prep playoff games.

If you’d like us to bring our crew to cover your games, simply e-mail us at gswaim3@pldi.net or call our office at (405) 880-2316 and we’ll let you know if we can schedule your team on the BigTime Network.

Afterall, it’s the highest individual honor that a prep player can receive, and it puts them on a national stage on ESPN.

As one of only two national members who votes on both the men’s and women’s game (Boo Williams of Virginia is the other), I have a lot of help from our staff around the country, who run events and scout them. Each November we get together and go over our top 100 list of players nationally and work that list down for our final vote in late January.

The final votes have been sent in and the following are the selections for this years games. To find out more about the selection process and who the national voting members are, click McDonald’s Selection Process.

No matter whether an IPhone, Blackberry or Android, you can now listen to our shows 24 hours a day, anywhere on the planet.

Simply download the free TuneIn app on your smartphone and then search BigTime SportsRadio and enjoy!!

In fact we coulde make an argument for either the Mountaineers or Horned Frogs to win the conference title in their first attempt, but like in most years the Oklahoma Sooners will be standing in the way. And even though the schedule has yet to be released, it’s likely that the Sooners will have to travel to both Morgantown and Fort Worth, so this could get interesting.

Kansas State returns a lot, and they will also be at or near the top, while Oklahoma State has an offensive rebuilding year with losing both Weeden and Blackmon, but the Pokes will still be tough. While Texas will be tough on defense, but they still need a proven quarterback to make noise in this tough league.

Baylor loses RGIII, and that’s a huge loss, but we saw in the Texas Tech game that they have a nice replacement.

Speaking of Tech, they’ll stuggle yet again along with Iowa State and Kansas to stay out of the cellar.

Getting through this brutal schedule unscathed, and you’re likely to find yourself in the BCS Championship Game.

Especially on the men’s side, where early defections to the professional level have taken so many talented players away from the college game, both men’s and women’s college basketball are facing more economic challenges with growing budgets and finding ways to put people in the seats to create some revenue.

You can’t rely on football to bail you out economically forever!

The bigger challenge, in my opinion, is the ridiculous way the game has evolved on the court concerning physicality.

I mentioned football earlier……that is a game played on a 100 X 50 yard gridiron, usually in stadiums (at least at the major college level) seating upwards of 50,000 fans. Basketball is NOT football, nor was it meant to be….however, it certainly seems the rules-makers in college basketball are trying to provide a second football season (besides spring football that is).

More contact has been interpreted and legislated into the college game…more than even in the NBA. Instead of cleaning up the game…taking away the brutal and bruising contact, and creating more opportunities for skilled finesse players to showcase their skills, the rules-makers have continued to allow more and more contact in the lane, while trying to “show” concern for contact by insisting more touch fouls are called 40 feet from the basket.

But perhaps the worst of all rule changes made concerns the “elbow contact above the shoulders”…..you know the rule change made a year ago, requiring (yes, requiring) officials to video-review any situation where there is even a thought of elbow contact above the head and shoulders. It is possible, with this new rule, to have three or possessions exchanged before officials have the opportunity to go back and review a specific play.

The penalties? Any contact at all is supposed to be a “flagrant one” foul, giving the offended team two free throws and possession. If the contact is deemed to be intentional, then the penalty is “flagrant two”, ejecting the offending player and giving the offended team two free throws and possession.

Here is the problem……the flagrant one rule, which, by the way is REQUIRED with any contact (officials have been reprimanded for NOT enforcing that with even the slightest contact after conference or NCAA review), occurs often because the defense is allowed to make illegal contact with an offensive player, crowding into the body of a player with the ball and not allowing them a legal pivot (which, by the way, is supposed to be allowable, however, the interpretation of that old rule has totally changed…having the ball not longer allows you to be entitled to your own pivot space as it once was).

Even blocking out for rebounds…..if an opponent happens to actually make contact with your elbow (if you are just positioning for a blockout), you are subject to being called for this foul after review! Preposterously asinine!

More examples of insane rules? How about this one? When a defender takes position against an opponent with the ball, the defender may “touch-up” with one hand on the offensive player once…..when the hand is removed, any other with the hand is an automatic foul (huh?)….yes, you read it right. Contact with both hands at any time is an automatic foul…..even if the player isn’t moving or advancing.

Here is another one…..have you seen the defensive post players chuck (and I probably should say strike) offensive post player with a forearm shiver (in some state it would be assault)? That, my friends, is perfectly legal, as long as it is with the forearm. Yes, lightly touching the player with both hands is a foul, but a solid (even violent) forearm shiver is legal! Confusing? Insane? Are you kidding me???

Who are these geniuses that have come up with these rule changes? Some are NCAA coaches, some are officials, some are administrators. All have lost touch with reality! (I usually use a much harsher term, like moron, but for the purposes of this article I will refrain from calling these educated people morons)

At times, especially in leagues like the SEC and Big XII in women’s basketball, having a background in football is very important to a player. There are times when play gets down-right dangerous in the paint. What is it going to take to get the NCAA to wake up and fix this problem? People who want to watch MMA usually do-so by going to an MMA event, or watching on pay-per-view, not on a basketball court. The skills of basketball are far too entertaining to be overshadowed by players who play with brute force and no skills.

That’s what college basketball has become…..survival of the brute strength, not finesse and skill. I used to watch at least one game, in-person or on television virtually every night….now…..not so much.

The good news is that the Pac 12 winner between USC and Oregon will both be top ten (although the Ducks drop a little after losing a QB to the NFL), while the Big 12 with Oklahoma,  West Virginia, TCU, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas and Baylor, would also likely put an undefeated champion into the BCS Championship game.

If the SEC, Big 12 and Pac 12 produced an undefeated champion it would be another mess, but the Pac 12 could get left out, as other than the Trojans and Ducks, there is a big drop in highly rated teams, with only Stanford getting any top 30 consideration.

The Big Ten would have to have an undefeated team and hope the other conference winners had a loss or two, as Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin just don’t have a high enough power rating overall to trump the SEC or Big 12, and don’t have two teams in the top three like the Pac 12.

The ACC has four teams in our top 30, and the Big East better pray that Louisville goes undefeated, as the conferences lone team in the poll.

Here is a rundown of how the Big 12 performed this bowl season.

Oklahoma State was all smiles at the end of the Fiesta Bowl.

Best Win: Oklahoma State, Fiesta Bowl

The Big 12 had one team on the BCS stage, and the Oklahoma State Cowboys did not disappoint. After falling behind Andrew Luck and Stanford 14-0, Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon struck twice in a short period of time to tie things up in the second quarter, and the game was back-and-forth the rest of the way. The Cowboys never held a lead in the game until after they had forced overtime with a late touchdown run by Joseph Randle and a missed field goal by Stanford. Quinn Sharp’s 22-yard field goal gave Oklahoma State their first BCS bowl victory.

Honorable Mention: Baylor, Alamo Bowl

Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Robert Griffin III did not have a great game, but running back Terrance Ganaway sure did. Baylor’s Ganaway rushed for 200 yards and five touchdowns, including a late 43-yard scoring run to put the cherry on the top.

Worst Loss: Kansas State, Cotton Bowl

One of the best feel-good stories in college football this season was Kansas State but even the upstart Wildcats weren’t enough to match-up with the SEC’s Arkansas Razorbacks in the Cotton Bowl. Arkansas opened up a 19-0 lead in the first half and despite a rally by Kansas State to cut the lead to three points, Arkansas found a way to put them away with 10 second-half points. It was not so much that this was a bad loss, but the Big 12 only had two losses this post season and given the stage the Cotton Bowl is played on, this loss was most notable.

Iowa State couldn't hold on to the football against Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Dishonorable Mention: Iowa State, Pinstripe Bowl

Iowa State was a fringe bowl team with a 6-6 record, and they were paired up with a Rutgers team playing close to home and familiar with the stadium. Iowa State turned the football over three times while rushing for 91 yards.

The Biggest Game: Oklahoma State, Fiesta Bowl (W)

Oklahoma State felt they should have been playing for a national championship against LSU, but a match-up with once-beaten Stanford was still a worthy situation. The Fiesta Bowl once again proved to be one of the most exciting BCS games of the season as well.

Results

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State 41, Stanford 38

Cotton Bowl: Arkansas 29, Kansas State 16

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Texas A&M 33, Northwestern 22

Insight Bowl: Oklahoma 31, Iowa 14

Alamo Bowl: Baylor 67, Washington 56

Pinstripe Bowl: Rutgers 27, Iowa State 13

Holiday Bowl: Texas 21, California 10

Independence Bowl: Missouri 41, North Carolina 24

Conference-By-Conference Breakdown

• 1-0 vs. ACC
• 0-1 vs. Big East
• 2-0 vs. Big Ten
• 3-0 vs. Pac 12
• 0-1 vs. SEC

Worth Noting

West Virginia felt like they proved a point in the Orange Bowl.

Orange Bowl: West Virginia 70, Clemson 33

Poinsettia Bowl: TCU 31, Louisiana Tech 24

TCU will join the Big 12 next season, and West Virginia is fighting to join at the same time. Both picked up bowl wins this postseason, with TCU overcoming a motivated Louisiana Tech. West Virginia may still be scoring touchdowns against Clemson.

Overall Grade: A

When you pile up the wins and compare them to the losses this year it is hard to criticize the Big 12. The conference went in to the bowl season being highly regarded as the best overall conference in college football, and they went out and proved it in bowl play. The conference was undefeated against the ACC, Big Ten and Pac 12. And we recognize the work done by the future conference members as well. A BCS victory in the bag clinches a solid “A” for the Big 12 this season.

More Report Cards (via Examiner.com)

ACC | Big East | Big Ten | Conference USA | MAC | Mountain West | Pac 12 | SEC | Sun Belt | WAC