BOB HUGGINS IS BUILDING a football team at West Virginia.
Dunkin' Donuts oughta sponsor Drexel's game on Tuesday.
And a team from the Big 12 will claim the crown . . . but not the team everybody else is predicting.
Strike up the band and good luck getting to the Palestra with all of that University City construction going on. Here are 50 things to know about the college hoops season:
1. Kansas is the consensus No. 1 team and had an offseason worthy of an NBA team. The Jayhawks acquired some key free agents, er, freshmen, and had a couple of incidents that included a fight with the university's football team and a few DUI arrests.
2. Xavier Henry is the Jayhawks' top freshman and Philadelphia natives Marcus and Markieff Morris lead the sophomore class as KU hunts for its second title in 3 years. "That team [2008] didn't rely on newcomers," coach Bill Self said. "This team will have to rely on some newcomers. There are some unproven pieces."
3. Speaking of unknown commodities, North Carolina lost four starters, yet is still ranked sixth in the Associated Press' preseason poll. John Henson, a 6-10 freshman forward, is a fascinating talent.
4. Duke's strength is up front, which is atypical of most of Mike Krzyzewski's teams. In addition to Lance Thomas and Haddonfield High's Brian Zoubek, the Blue Devils also will use McDonald's All-Americans Mason Plumee and Ryan Kelly. If the Blue Devils jell, they will be dangerous. Small forward Kyle Singler is the ACC preseason player of the year.
5. If Duke doesn't make it to Indianapolis, it will be the sixth season in a row the Blue Devils have missed the Final Four, and it would establish the longest drought since Mike Krzyzewski took over in Durham in 1980.
6. New Seattle coach Cameron Dollar, the former top assistant at Washington, has a unique No. 1 guy on the bench: his father, Donald, a high school coaching legend in Georgia. The Redhawks are entering year 2 of a 5-year transition process from Division II to Division I.
7. Bob Huggins has beefed up the West Virginia frontcourt and might be able to give the football team a good game. "You look at, for instance, Pitt a year ago with their front line," the coach said. "We're going to be like that now." Pennsbury's Dalton Pepper, a thick, 6-5, 225-pound shooting guard, will come off the bench.
8. The hypocrisy of one-and-done freshmen in college hoops can have a bright side. Just look at the $19 million Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center that opened this year at Syracuse. So what if Memphis had to vacate its 2008 season after Derrick Rose was accused of cheating on his SATs.
9. Jonny Flynn's move to the NBA opens up time for former Neumann-Goretti star Scoop Jardine to get back on the floor at Syracuse. Jardine missed all of last season with a leg injury and will share time at the point with Brandon Triche. Fellow N-G product Rick Jackson continues to improve as the Orange's power forward.
10. Texas forward Damion James on what he learned from informal workouts before last June's draft: "It's not like I wasn't going to play in the NBA, but it showed me what it will take to be in the NBA [for] 15 years instead of just 2."
11. Texas, ranked third, is playing sixth-ranked North Carolina at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium on Saturday, Dec. 19. Three days later, the Longhorns host No. 2 Michigan State.
12. Memphis coach Josh Pastner, 32, is the youngest coach in major D-I hoops. The Tigers are rebuilding following coach John Calipari's bolt to Kentucky and Chester native Tyreke Evans' dash for the NBA.
13. Figure on an end sometime this season to Memphis' 61-game Conference USA winning streak. Tulsa, led by Jerome Jordan, could be the class of the league.
14. Tulsa is at Duke on Feb. 25 in an interesting tilt just before the madness of March.
15. John Calipari says that hardworking freshman guard John Wall, the prize of Kentucky's recruiting class, has skills that could be superior to Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose.
16. Former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall, on what the hiring of John Calipari has done for the Wildcats' program: "Coach Cal is like magic. And what he has done, I don't know what you'd compare it to. Maybe if Bear Bryant came back to life."
