Thursday Morning Dump

- Chris Dobbertean of Blogging the Bracket does well to expand upon our post yesterday:

The funny thing is, the format you describe for the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament is exactly how the event used to be; however, after Gardner-Webb knocked off Kentucky in 2007, Gazelle Group switched things up to guarantee the four hosts advanced, starting in 2008. (I remember reading that this format change was planned even before the Bulldogs pulled the upset.)

Of course, this means teams like Iowa last season, who lost BOTH of their "regional" round games get a cushy spot, which is absolutely silly. But ensuring the big boys, even mediocre and bad ones, go helps sell tickets, which is naturally the primary driver for decisions like these.

- Yesterday was signing day. For way too much information, read through here and here.

- Kyle Whelliston pontificates Seattle's blazing team speed.

- The Louisville Courier-Journal had a great profile of Scout.com's new lead recruiting analyst, Evan Daniels.

- Awesome read from the Lansing State Journal on prediction's about Michigan State's season.

- Andy Glockner (spelled it right this time) wrote on Jim Calhoun, who is not going to give up control of his program easily.

- This is Gasaway at his finest.

- A nice write-up on Greg Shaheen.

- Oh look, it's the 2012 Final Four logo. Uhh, yeah. That's uninspiring.

- Dick Vitale lists some teams that he thinks could emulate Butler's success this year.

- Shots From The Heart.

- Colorado State forward Greg Smith has been suspended for three games following an arrest on a misdemeanor charge of harassment and domestic violence.

- A great-read on the process of putting together schedules.

- If you watched the entire Rhode Island/Pitt game like I did, then you noticed that Rhody's Levan Shengalia got injured within 60 seconds of stepping on the court. Well, his season is now over, thanks to a torn ACL. He came in with a partially torn acl and played, which is likely why his nickname is "Rambo".

- Whelliston also provides a "brief" history of the college basketball blogosphere.

- Andy Katz provides a fantastic must-read list of must-see games this season. Katz also provides a column on Baylor's recruiting of late. The question everyone seems to be asking these days -- how did they get so good?

- A great preview of the mid-major landscape.

- If coaches work hard, their players are more likely to follow suite. Memphis' coach Josh Pastner worked his tail off on the recruiting trail and it landed him Adonis Thomas.

- Eamonn Brennan answers reader mail in the Hoopsbag (He even answered a heated question from yours truly, Mr. @BIAHtheTrizzle. It looks like the nickname I coined for Pullen is starting to spread.)