Tubby Smith to Texas Tech

Tubby Smith is coming to Texas Tech to try to turn around another wayward program, a source confirmed to ESPN.com's Jason King.

The Associated Press had earlier reported that the school had agreed to terms Monday with Smith on a contract to be its next coach.

Smith takes over for interim coach Chris Walker, who went 11-20 this season and just 3-15 in Big 12 play. The program is still reeling from Billy Gillispie's volatile one-year tenure, which ended when he resigned in September.

Smith was fired by Minnesota last week after six seasons. He led them to three NCAA tournaments and this year delivered the program's first tourney win -- over sixth-seeded UCLA -- since 1997. He went 124-81 (.610), winning 20 games five times. But he never finished higher than sixth in the Big Ten, going just 46-62 in conference play, prompting Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague to oust him.

He becomes the fourth person to lead Texas Tech in as many seasons.

Texas Tech fans had pinned their basketball hopes on Gillispie after he'd turned around two other flagging programs in the state -- UTEP and Texas A&M -- and they hoped he would do the same for the Red Raiders. But he more resembled the guy who was fired at Kentucky, a hard-driving coach who had a difficult time connecting with the players he inherited. Several complained to the administration about how Gillispie treated them, there were some secondary NCAA violations for exceeding practice times and it all led to the Red Raiders finishing 8-23 and winning just one Big 12 game in 2011-12 -- the program's worst season since 1990-91.

Gillispie stepped down in September, citing health reasons. Walker, an assistant at several schools for 17 years, led Texas Tech to an improved season but the Houston native's lack of experience as a head coach likely worked against him.

Smith won a national title and five Southeastern Conference championships with Kentucky before the demanding Wildcat faithful pushed him to leave for Minnesota in 2007. Smith, who was replaced at Kentucky by Gillispie, has also taken Tulsa and Georgia to the round of 16, establishing a reputation as a program builder who could succeed in places that haven't historically been on the college basketball map.

Now he'll try to do it one more time at Texas Tech.

Source: ESPN

ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule is here

For the college basketball fan, there aren't many glorious July days, but this one definitely counts: the release of the 2012 ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule, set to take place for all 24 hours (and then some) on Tuesday, Nov. 13. I think you're going to like what's being offered.

First things first. The games are as follows (all times ET):

Midnight: West Virginia at Gonzaga
2 a.m.: Davidson at New Mexico
4 a.m.: Houston Baptist at Hawaii
6 a.m.: Stony Brook at Rider
8 a.m.: Northern Illinois at Valparaiso
10 a.m.: Harvard at Massachusetts
12 p.m.: Temple at Kent State
2 p.m.: Detroit at St. John’s
4 p.m.: Butler at Xavier
7 p.m.: Michigan State vs. Kansas (Champions Classic, Georgia Dome, Atlanta)
30 minutes following MSU/KU: Duke vs. Kentucky (Champions Classic)

Here's the thing: If you're a casual college basketball fan, someone who doesn't spend all summer reading College Basketball Nation in heated anticipation of posts like these, you might be somewhat nonplussed.

Davidson at New Mexico might not do anything for you. Harvard at UMass might not tickle your fancy. I get that. But for the college hoops fan -- the kind who knows how cool it will be to see a midnight game at New Mexico's Pit, the kind who recognizes UMass as a sleeper A-10 contender in 2012-13, the kind who knows how good Detroit guard Ray McCallum Jr. is, the kind who realizes what a tough early road test Kent State will be for Temple -- that schedule has a little bit of everything.

Although the Mountaineers-Zags NCAA tourney rematch is a tantalizing opener, the real showstoppers come late in the day. Butler-Xavier is a strange game, considering Butler's early realignment move to the Atlantic 10 this season. The two will actually be playing a nonconference game in the first week of the season before meeting again during league play. You don't see that often. If the basketball gods shine upon us, this will be the game that truly kicks off a heated Midwestern rivalry between two marquee March programs. They've had some good battles in the recent past -- no reason for that to stop now.

And of course, the Champions Classic, now in its second year, is just going to be flat-out awesome: Michigan State will play Kansas just four days (four days!) after opening its season against Connecticut at a U.S. military base in Germany. Last season, the Spartans flew from the Carrier Classic in San Diego to Madison Square Garden four days later. This year, they'll be making a trip from Germany to Georgia in roughly the same time. If Tom Izzo could schedule a game at the International Space Station, he would. The dude will literally play anybody anywhere.

Then there's Duke versus Kentucky. Two bluebloods. Two powerhouses. Two larger-than-life coaches. One unlikely but very deeply felt rivalry. It exists for one reason: March 28, 1992. It's something you notice as a college hoops writer: Both teams' fan bases go out of their way to tweak each other. They are in many ways cultural and basketball antitheses. There is real hate here.

With all this sturm und drang on both sides -- the trolling of opposition message boards is my personal favorite -- it's easy to forget that these two teams don't play, like, ever. The last time they met was Dec. 18, 2001, over a decade ago, at the Jimmy V Classic in New Jersey. Kentucky had Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans; Duke had Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon, Dahntay Jones and future Barack Obama body man Reggie Love. The Blue Devils won 95-92 in an overtime classic.

Despite the huge gap in actual basketball competition, Duke and UK fans have only increased their mutual distaste in the Internet age. The run-up to the game -- not to mention the split Georgia Dome -- is going to be certifiably insane.

And there you have it: The early portions of the marathon may not do much for neophytes, but the hard-core fans will have plenty to chew on ... just before the final three games of the evening (hopefully) blow us away. I can't wait to live blog this thing for too many hours. More than anything, I can't wait for basketball. Only a few more months now. Consider that your new mantra.

Source: ESPN, College Basketball Nation Blog

Griner dunks over Gators as Baylor moves on

Brittney Griner has become the second woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game, throwing one down with her right hand early in the second half of Baylor's game against Florida on Tuesday night. Griner's dunk came off a pass from Kimetria Hayden after the Baylor guard came up with an offensive rebound near the basket. Candace Parker of Tennessee dunked twice in an NCAA tournament game in 2006 against Army. It was Griner's first dunk of the season and sixth of her career. She's one short of Parker's career record. Source: ESPN

Quick thoughts: UK vs. GA

Sorry...due to a few procedures earlier today at St. Joseph, I was not up to posting pre-game notes. Saw these on ESPN.com and Lex18.com.

-- Kentucky improves to 28-2, 13-2 SEC on the season. Georgia falls to 13-15, 5-10.

-- UK is 112-24 against the Bulldogs and 39-15 against UGA in Athens.

-- With a win, Kentucky claims a share of its 44th SEC Championship and the top overall seed at next week's SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. at Bridgestone Arena.

-- With an SEC Championship in his first season as head coach at UK, John Calipari joined Tubby Smith and Eddie Sutton as UK coaches to win an SEC Championship in their inaugural season.

-- Calipari has won five straight conference championships and six in his last seven years.

-- Kentucky will play its final regular season game on Sunday, hosting the Florida Gators on Senior Day. Tip-off is scheduled for Noon with the game being televised on CBS.

Team game notes

-- The Wildcats used the starting combination of Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Darius Miller, Patrick Patterson and John Wall for the 22nd time this season. Kentucky is 20-2 with that starting five.

-- DeAndre Liggins was the first sub off the bench for Kentucky. It was Liggins' ninth time this season to be the first Wildcat off the bench.

-- Kentucky extended its streak of game with a three-pointer to 741 games, the third longest streak in the country.

-- Kentucky led 40-36 at halftime. The Wildcats are now 24-1, 12-1) when leading or tied at halftime.

--The Wildcats shot 48.5 percent (16-of-32) in the first half, its highest first half percentage since shooting 51.6 pct. at LSU (2/6).

-- Finished with eight three-pointers, the most since hitting nine against Ole Miss (2/2).

-- Kentucky also shot 83.3 pct. (10-of-12) from the free throw line, its highest percentage since shooting 89.5 pct. against Drexel (12/21).

-- The Wildcats have shot 79.5 pct. (31-of-39) from the free throw line over the last two games.

Quick thoughts: UK vs. TN

• The game will air today at 12:00 on CBS.


• UK beat Tennessee earlier this season (2/13/10) at home with a final score of 73-62.


• UK also played host to ESPN's College GameDay that day and set a record for the largest crowd ever to witness a basketball “GameDay” broadcast — 22,144 officially.


• A win by the cats today would assure themselves of at least a share of the SEC regular season championship. They would get the championship outright if Vanderbilt also loses at Arkansas.


• In this article from ESPN.com, read why winning that championship means, "Nothing" to Coach Cal.


• Last season when UK traveled to Thompson Boling Arena, Jodie Meeks broke Dan Issel's 39-year-old UK record for points in a game.

With about half an hour left til tip-off, I better go and get a few things done so that I can sit down and enjoy the game along with the rest of Big Blue Nation!

C-A-T-S, CATS, CATS, CATS!!!

- b