The NCAA Finally Gets An Unlimited Phone Plan

“Who was ahead of his time texting recruits? THIS GUY”

One of the most common infractions that college coaches run into during recruiting is “illegal contact,” where they get in touch with a recruit during unsanctioned times. The NCAA has long maintained a rigid, often non-sensical, set of rules when it came to contact with prospective recruits that have gotten coaches in trouble for simple comments as they pass, like “good game,” or by accidentally including them in a tweet or social media message.

One of the most common infractions, however, involves coaches or assistant coaches calling or texting recruits more than their allotted contacts, often resulting in probation for the school, or in the case of former Oklahoma/Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson, a stiff penalty for the coach. Well, the NCAA has finally figured out how to cut out these illegal contact penalties altogether…by getting rid of the illegal contact rules. You know what they say, if you can’t beat them….give up.

Idaho State Tempted By That Big Sky Basketball Payday?

The best talent Pocatello money could buy

College athletics can be a dirty game. Boosters with money to give away glad-handing recruits, paying their way to a commitment to their schools, ensuring the best team money can buy is an epidemic in universities across the country. Often, schools will drag their feet on policing such activities because they stand to profit so much from bringing in the best recruits to sell out their stadiums and arenas, making college athletics an underhanded and shady business of back-room deals with unsavory characters who are willing to buy access into their favorite programs. Nowhere is the epidemic worse than the big-money world of Big Sky basketball. Wait, what?

Crummy Conjecture: Hoops picks!

Someone give that man a high five!

With the news of the NBA returning to play at Christmas and the college season getting into full swing, we here at Mild Mannered have decided to extend our Poor Prognostication football picks onto the hardwood with: Crummy Conjecture! I’m not a college basketball expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I love the game and enjoy watching it, so I’m going to share my picks and observations on some of the big games of each weekend. At least in this one I won’t try and rely on the talent of Auburn to keep games close… This weekend has plenty of marquee matchups, so let’s jump in. John Calipari is so excited about this idea he’s looking for just about anybody to high five. Someone high five the man! My picks are in bold.

Another Maui classic in the making

The Maui Invitational has become a staple of the early-season action in college basketball. Every year, teams from across the country travel to paradise to jockey for early-season dominance in the tiny gymnasium of Chaminade University.  This season has been no exception as perennial powers like Duke, Georgetown, Kansas and UCLA came together with talented teams from Memphis, Tennessee and Michigan along with host Chaminade to create one of the more exciting Maui Invitational fields in recent memory.

The games have been spectacular to see. Memphis overcame Tennessee 99-97 in a double-overtime thriller between in-state rivals. A young, talented Kansas squad came through down the stretch against a very competitive Georgetown team. Michigan refused to let Duke pull away, but each time they attempted to overtake them, the Coach K led Blue Devils responded in business like fashion. All the great games have led us to tonight where four time Invitational champion Duke takes on the Jayhawks of Kansas in the tournament championship that could go down as an early-season candidate for game of the year.

Poor reactions to bad news: We’re going streaking!

At least the logo had the decency to cover up its business

Everyone at some point has had to deal with bad news. Whether it be failing a test, wrecking your car or finding out the McChicken is no longer a dollar, everyone has had to deal with disappointment and adversity at some point in their lives. It is how you deal with that adversity that will often define who you are as a person. It give us all an opportunity to rise above a setback and become a better person from it…or you can take off all your clothes and try to fight a cop. Guess which one the guy in this post chose?

College basketball will be played exclusively in ACC next year

Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik is sad. With expansion, his team may never matter again.

Fun fact: colleges play other sports besides football. Hard to imagine, but there also seems to be a sport that is played during the winter months, called “basketball” (sounds European), and they would like a shot at making one of these “super-conferences” that their football programs keep talking about. The first to make a run at it appears to be the Atlantic Coast Conference, already home to basketball powers Duke and North Carolina, who are about to get some big-time company.