Today is a big day for TCU and Utah, as they get to prove themselves to a national audience in a huge game between top five teams.

Oh. Wait. This game is somehow not on any kind of normal television. I keep hearing CBS College Sports Network, which does nothing for me because I have a digital basic package. I figured Versus was going to bail me out, but nope. Versus is showing us the very important and very sought after Princeton vs. Penn game. I’d rather watch those two schools square off in quiz bowl. OK, that’s a lie. I don’t want to see that either.

Luckily for TCU and Utah, there’s a lot of hype around the game, meaning the winner will get some preferential treatment in the polls just by the final score. Not to mention the fact that TCU is being listed at No. 3 (its BCS ranking) and Boise at No. 4, while the Broncos are actually No. 3 in the coaches poll and TCU is No. 4. A win by the Horned Frogs just may push them past Boise, if for no other reason than the coaches might have just figured they already were. Don’t you love the BCS? Read the rest of this entry »

Under the direction of Mike Stoops, Arizona has won some very big games. The Wildcats knocked off a top 10 team three years in a row from 2005-07, with UCLA, California and Oregon all being their victims. This past year, Arizona even knocked off the Pac 10’s Goliath in USC.

But those wins all came late in the season, when Arizona had already piled up a handful of losses. One thing the Wildcats — who seem to perennially be thought of as a sleeper team — have not done, is capitalize on any preseason hype with a big-time early-season win.

They have the chance to do that tonight, though, when they play host to No. 9 Iowa. A win moves the Wildcats to 3-0 and gives them some serious national respect. It would also be a huge victory for the Pac 10, which is trying to assert itself as a top conference, even with a lethargic, and penalized, USC.

Can Stoops and Arizona pull it off? Click through for that prediction, and more from today’s games. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s a G.A., you might ask? It’s a graduate assistant, and they are generally unpaid (or very poorly paid) wannabe coaches fresh out of college who do all the things the coaching staff doesn’t want to do. Bill Murray’s son, Luke, just joined new coach Sean Miller as a G.A. at Arizona.

What does Murray bring to a basketball program? I have no idea. Presumably, neither does he; he only graduated college in 2007 and is still a G.A., meaning he’ll be doing quite a bit of quiet learning — preparing tape, taking notes, keeping the clipboard handy, that sort of thing — for at least a few more years. But he’ll be interesting to watch. If he has one-tenth of his father’s charisma, it’s only a matter of time until he’s a major college hoops coach on his own.

Good luck to Murray in his new endeavor. Something tells me he’ll do just fine.

The University of Arizona can’t catch a break. First, Tim Floyd turns them down and now Sean Miller has (reportedly) decided to stay in Cincinnati.

Xavier’s Miller met with Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood on Sunday about the Wildcats’ open head coaching job but rejected the school’s offer later that night, according to multiple media reports.

Xavier AD Mike Bobinski told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz that he expected to speak with Miller late Sunday or early Monday. He wrote in a text message: “Nothing firm at this moment, but I remain very optimistic that Sean Miller will continue as our head basketball coach at Xavier.”

Miller “has a potential Final Four team coming back next season, loves where he lives, has security and is paid well and has the best job in his league, yet has to decide whether or not this is the right job for him to explore,” Calipari said earlier Sunday.

So who’s next for Arizona? I’m sure the Wildcats would like an established guy in his 40’s (or early 50’s) who could guide the program for the next 10-15 years, but those coaches are hard to come by. Tim Floyd (55) elected to stay with USC, and now Miller (40) has as well.

Monday afternoon update: Sean Miller has accepted the Arizona job.

So much for those reports that had Tim Floyd packing his bags for Arizona. He has decided to stay at USC.

Floyd announced his decision in a meeting with reporters in Los Angeles Thursday afternoon. Floyd said he not only visited Arizona but also spoke to Memphis about its opening.

“I felt that I needed to look at those two programs,” Floyd told reporters on Thursday. “I am at a point where I want to do something really special and I feel like I needed to go look at an elite program.

“But there is something really special about building your own traditions, your own histories and doing it with a group of guys that you love. … I have never been more excited to be a Trojan.”

Floyd said his contract at USC remains unchanged.

“I have three years left on my contract,” he said. “No, there have not been any changes made that I am aware of. I would like another year or two. I think that would be great. I would like for this to be my last job.”

Floyd has done a nice job at USC, which is why Arizona wanted him in the first place. He has guided the Trojans to three straight NCAA appearances and three straight 20+ win seasons. The next step for the program is to crack the Elite Eight or Final Four.

So which direction does Arizona go now that Floyd has publicly turned down the job?