UNDATED (AP) — Talk about buildup for a season. College basketball had March Madness wiped out and no national champion because of the pandemic in 2020. Last season was mostly played without fans, and the NCAA Tournament was in a bubble-like environment. Well, the doors are open this season and the arenas will be packed. The fans will love it and the players will, too. And it should be an incredible ride to the Final Four in New Orleans with so many great teams, veteran players with extra eligibility and another crop of fabulous freshmen.

UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA has set the stage for a dramatic restructuring of college sports. The nation’s biggest and most influential governing body in college athletics released a draft of an 18 1/2-page constitution. That is cut down from 43 pages. It focuses more on the NCAA’s broader goals of athlete welfare. Most important, it would provide Division I the autonomy to reshape everything from how revenue is shared to how rules are made and enforced. The next nine months will see more work done on the details.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas is mired in a four-game losing streak with a game coming up against Kansas. Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian in the first season of six-year,  $34 million guaranteed contract. He says the rebuild is like working on a “classic car” that needs a lot more than a new coat of paint. Texas hasn’t lost five straight since 1956.

UNDATED (AP) — Texas Tech has named Baylor assistant and longtime Texas high school coach Joey McGuire as its next head coach. He will take over immediately at the end of the season. Sonny Cumbie will continue as interim head coach until then. McGuire is in his fifth season with Baylor. He was hired by former Bears coach Matt Rhule and retained as associate head coach when Dave Aranda took over in 2020. McGuire is replacing Matt Wells. The former Utah State coach was fired in the middle of his third season with the Red Raiders. 

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Nobody disputes that conference realignment has been driven by the big money from football. But while losing Oklahoma and Texas takes some shine off the Big 12, the league’s coaches believe the addition of Houston, Cincinnati, BYU and Central Florida could make what already is one of the toughest leagues in the country even tougher. Nothing comes without consequences, though, and the Big 12′s gain will have ripple effects on mid-majors from the east coast to the west.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Terrence Shannon Jr. will miss Texas Tech’s season opener and be held out of games while the school reviews to ensure there are no eligibility issues. The 6-foot-6 junior forward went through the NBA draft process over the summer before withdrawing his name to return to school. Texas Tech says it is working diligently to completely the review that is being done out of an abundance of caution. Shannon is Tech’s top returning scorer after averaging 12.9 points last season. The Red Raiders play their first game for new head coach Mark Adams on Tuesday night against North Florida.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas returned just about everyone from last year’s NCAA Tournament team. Yet somehow, the third-ranked Jayhawks look completely different heading into Tuesday’s Champions Classic opener against Michigan State in New York City. Their only significant loss was floor leader and defensive stopper Marcus Garrett. And the Jayhawks replaced him by bringing in a group of transfers led by Arizona State star Remy Martin, along with a group of talented freshmen that could see the floor right away. Coach Bill Self expects his team to be nervous against the Spartans.

UNDATED (AP) — Associated Press college football poll voters are grappling with how too handle head-to-head results in a season that has been filled with twists and turns. Georgia has made things easy as far as voting for No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. What comes after has been more complicated. For the first time in a month, Oregon moved ahead of No. 6 Ohio State, putting the Ducks at No. 5 by four points. Oregon reached as high as No. 3 in the nation after it beat Ohio State, but then slipped behind the Buckeyes for several weeks. Head-to-head results don’t have to be the deciding factor, but there are a few cases in this week’s poll where they probably should have been.

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