Postseason
In the nine years since the Blue Devils won their previous national championship, the program that came just two missed baskets short of the 2010 title went through two head coaching changes. The last three of those came this spring, at the expense of Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State.

Mid-Major Winter
It was 2006, the Year of the Mid-Major. Revolution was in the air, a hoops uprising fueled by 3-pointers, unselfish play and Sports Illustrated covers. Bradley and Wichita State marched all the way to the Sweet 16, capping a record four-bid year for the Missouri Valley. And when George Mason crashed the Final Four party in Indianapolis, pundits announced a glorious new age of parity.

The Name on the Floor
Most of the great coaches in college basketball came from down here, below the Red Line. There are plenty of old friends in the national polls. Bill Self got his head coaching start at the Badlands Conference's very own Oral Roberts. Jay Wright got his current Villanova gig because he was so good leading Hofstra.

Game 7-023 - Butler at Xavier
A story: once upon a time, there were two brothers. As sometimes happens with brothers, they could not have been any more different from each other. The older was the mild-mannered and cerebral one, shrewd and calculating and mostly silent. The younger was brave and brash, full of powerful pride, always bragging about extensive accomplishments.

Southland Preview 2008-09
His 2007-08 Roadrunners, laden with talent, looked poised to break into the Southland’s top tier and quite possibly return to the Big Dance after three seasons away. But an knee injury to returning leading rebounder Andrew Francis in the opening game served as ominous foreshadowing. UTSA won four of its first five games, but the injuries kept coming.