In the span of mere days, officials at College of Charleston and Davidson made conflicting decisions regarding whether they should remain in the Southern Conference or accept an invitation to join the Colonial Athletic Association.
Now, history will evaluate the trajectory of these two programs against one-another in an effort to determine who made the better decision.
College of Charleston reportedly will accept an invitation to join the CAA, a decision that suggests the Cougars believe a more prestigious conference with greater TV revenue represents their best chance to grow as a program. Davidson will remain in the less high-profile SoCon, in essence sending the message they're comfortable with who they are and the level of success they've enjoyed.
So who got it right? Counterintuitive as it sounds, perhaps both of them.
Davidson had more to lose by leaving the SoCon than Charleston because the Wildcats have the greater recent history in the league.
In the past 11 seasons, Davidson has won its half of the SoCon eight times, made five NCAA tournament appearances and landed two NIT bids. The Wildcats are heavy favorites to win the SoCon and return to the NCAA tournament again next season thanks to the return of five starters from last year's 25-win team.
Charleston has been a perennial contender in the SoCon during that same time period, but the Cougars only have won or shared their half of the league four times in 11 years and they haven't been to the NCAA tournament since 1999. Most preseason projections have Charleston just behind Davidson yet again this season in the SoCon's Southern Division.
There's no guarantee Charleston can rise in stature in the tougher, deeper CAA, but the gamble comes with less risk for the Cougars than it would for Davidson. And even with the departure of VCU and Old Dominion severely weakening the CAA, the league still has some qualities that make it attractive to Charleston.
The CAA has been superior to the SoCon in basketball, earning multiple NCAA bids three times in the past seven years, producing two Final Four teams and landing a TV deal with NBC Sports Network. New contenders will have to emerge for the league to earn multiple NCAA bids again with regularity, but CAA teams have been far more likely to land in the 8-12 seed lines in the NCAA tournament than the SoCon teams, which seldom fare better than a No. 13 seed.
So if joining the CAA potentially could mean more money, more prestige and more exposure, why would Davidson turn that opportunity down? Well, because such a move would come with plenty of risk.
Since the CAA's footprint extends to the Northeast with Drexel and Northeastern, travel for league games would be much more arduous for Davidson than it is in a more regional league like the SoCon. Also, the CAA may not produce two or more NCAA tournament bids on a regular basis without VCU and Old Dominion, so Davidson no doubt worried that it would be making its path to the NCAA tournament more difficult by trading one one-bid league for a tougher one.
In an era of conference realignment when bigger is always better no matter the consequences, it was refreshing to see Davidson show restraint.
The Wildcats had too much to lose to join the CAA at a time when the league's future strength is unclear. College of Charleston was in a much better position to take that risk.
Thanks to a controversial decision by ESPN this week, two of the most mundane games on Kentucky's SEC schedule suddenly have far more anticipation.
ESPN removed legendary former Indiana coach Bob Knight from his role as analyst for Big 12 games on Big Monday, paired him with veteran play-by-play man Rece Davis and reassigned him to Thursday night SEC games, USA Today reported. That means for the first time, Knight will call a pair of Kentucky games, Jan. 10 at rebuilding Vanderbilt and March 7 at middling Georgia.
Both those otherwise innocuous games suddenly become must-see TV because of Knight's thinly veiled distaste for Kentucky coach John Calipari and his reliance on one-and-done prospects.
Knight famously refused to utter the word "Kentucky" on the air at ESPN last season, leaving the Wildcats off his list of the nation's elite teams. He also called one-and-dones "a disgrace" last spring and had to apologize for erroneously saying Kentucky's 2009-10 Elite Eight team "started five players in the NCAA tournament games that had not been to class that semester."
[Also: Hoosiers aim for first national basketball title since '87]
Of course, Calipari has done his part to fan the flames of the feud. He included a headline-grabbing jab at Knight in a press release announcing the Wildcats amassed a 3.12 team GPA last spring, noting "all this stuff bitter old men say that they don't go to class, it's not true."
An ESPN spokesman sent the following statement Tuesday afternoon in response to an email the previous day seeking an explanation for why the network would have Knight call SEC games.
"We had an opening to pair an analyst with Rece Davis on our Thursday night SEC package after Hubert Davis took a position with North Carolina," the statement read. "Rece and Bob have formed a good partnership after working together over the years on games and in the studio. We felt this would be a good opportunity to pair them together on a regular basis."
Whether or not the Kentucky controversy played any role in Knight's new position, it will probably be advantageous for ESPN. At the very least, two routine games on the SEC schedule will draw more viewers than they otherwise would have.
You can argue the downside is that the spectacle of Knight calling a Kentucky game will overshadow anything that happens on the court. You can argue that it's an unnecessary distraction that will detract from the games themselves.
But to me, viewers will benefit. Nothing that happens on the floor those two nights will be anywhere near as entertaining to watch as Knight giving grudging respect to Calipari, finding new reasons to rip him or dancing around the controversy altogether.
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Yahoo! Sports is breaking down each league for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 31 to No. 1. Here's a look at our No. 19 league, the Southern Conference.
Davidson may not have a star the caliber of Stephen Curry, but next season's Wildcats will probably be deeper and more well-rounded than the team the future NBA lottery pick took to the Elite Eight 4 1/2 years ago.
Five starters and a handful of key reserves return after the program won 25 games last year, rolled to the Southern Conference title and pushed Final Four-bound Louisville into the final minutes in a opening-round NCAA tournament game in Portland.
The headliners are the two forwards, 6-foot-7 junior De'Mon Brooks and 6-foot-10 senior Jake Cohen. Brooks is an efficient scorer in the paint who averaged 15.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last season, while Cohen flashed the league's best inside-outside game, scoring 14.3 points, grabbing 6.1 rebounds and flummoxing opposing defenders with his ability to score from the perimeter or down low.
Although interior depth is a bit of a concern for the Wildcats, perimeter talent is another one of their strengths. Nik Cochran is a veteran point guard who can shoot the deep ball or attack the rim off the dribble, JP Kuhlman is a slasher who can also handle the ball and Chris Czerapowicz is a shooter with good size for his position.
Davidson's schedule is challenging enough that an at-large NCAA bid is conceivable with enough non-league wins, but the Wildcats may have to rely on the Southern Conference's automatic bid. If so, there are a handful of teams that will pose a significant threat.
The best team in the league besides Davidson is probably Charleston, which pairs the guard tandem of Andrew Lawrence and Anthony Stitt with double-double threat Trent Wiedeman and promising sophomore Adjehi Baru. The all-around play of Eric Ferguson makes Georgia Southern dangerous, while UNC Greensboro is improving but probably a year away from being the class of the league.
MAKING A LIST
Best shooter: Jack Isenbarger, Elon
Best playmaker: Andrew Lawrence, Charleston
Best defender: Eric Ferguson, Georgia Southern
Coach on the rise: Wes Miller, UNC Greensboro
Coach on the hot seat: Jeff Jackson, Furman
Three must-see games: 1. Davidson vs. Duke, Jan. 2 (The Wildcats will benefit from facing the Blue Devils in Charlotte instead of Cameron Indoor); 2. Louisville at Charleston, Dec. 4 (Scheduling coup for the Cougars getting a top-five team to visit); 3. Wake Forest at UNC Greensboro, Dec. 22 (Can Wes Miller beat the team he rooted for as a kid?)
FACTS AND FIGURES
New coaches: Doug Wojcik, Charleston (Had been head coach at Tulsa); Bennie Seltzer, Samford (Had been an Indiana assistant)
Regular-season winner last season: Davidson (South); UNC Greensboro (North)
Tourney winner last season: Davidson
League RPI rank in each of past 3 seasons: 2011-12: 23rd; 2010-11: 19th, 2009-10: 20th
Last NCAA tourney win by a league team: 2008, Davidson as a No. 10 seed reached the Elite Eight
More conference previews from Yahoo! Sports:
WAC (No. 20): Will the beleaguered WAC survive as a basketball league beyond next season?; WAC Capsule Preview: Utah State hopes to rebound from frustrating 2011-12 season
Sun Belt League (No. 21): In likely his final season at North Texas, Tony Mitchell wants to leave a legacy; Middle Tennessee State vies for the NCAA bid it narrowly missed last year
Summit League (No. 22): In the small town of Brookings, S.D., Nate Wolters is a reluctant superstar; South Dakota State looks like the clear favorite
NEC (No. 23): Oft-overlooked Shane Gibson hopes to go from hidden gem to stardom; NEC Capsule Preview: Three-way battle for league title could hinge on LIU Brooklyn suspensions
Big Sky (No. 24): New stars must emerge for Weber State to succeed without Damian Lillard; Montana remains the favorite despite Will Cherry's injury
Big West (No. 25): With San Diego State on its way, Big West teams are investing in hoops to avoid being left behind; Revamped Long Beach State takes aim at another Big West title
Atlantic Sun (No. 26): Humble, unassuming Torrey Craig leads South Carolina Upstate's resurgence; Which team will capitalize on Belmont's departure?
Big South (No. 27): Unwanted in high school, guards Saah Nimley and Arlon Harper are now powering Charleston Southern's resurgence; Coastal Carolina hopes home is sweet this March
Southland Conference (No. 28): Pat Knight's epic rant had unintended benefits for Lamar; Oral Roberts assumes the role of instant favorite in its new league
America East (No. 29): Stony Brook basketball draws inspiration from baseball team's College World Series run; Early departures drain league of some of its top talent
MEAC (No. 30): Rush of publicity from Missouri win has long-lasting impact at Norfolk State; Savannah State seeks NCAA bid to cap remarkable turnaround
SWAC (No. 31): Mike Davis prefers challenge of winning at Texas Southern to torture of taking a year off; Balanced league will crown new champ this year
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