1. Gonzaga avoids disaster with super soph Elias Harris narrowly dodging a torn Achilles tendon, ESPN.com reports.
2. It won’t be pretty, but Oregon State’s turquoise uniforms are part of the team’s participation in the Nike N7 Game against Texas Southern Nov. 21, according to NikeBlog.com. The game is part of the Native American Heritage Month, and Nike uses the N7 fund to support American Indian kids who want to pursue sports.
3. Rough week for Tulsa’s Glenn Andrews — reinjures a knee and gets dismissed from the team, according to InsideTulsaSports.com
4. Chuck will be part of TNT’s March Madness coverage team, according to the Associated Press. Think he’ll have an opinion about which teams didn’t deserve a bid?
5. Former Kansas Jayhawk employees made $3 million to $5 million through a ticket scam that now has five people facing serious charges for conspiring to steal the tickets, according to a CBSSports.com news report.
6. A.J. Moye, who helped guide the Hoosiers to the national championship game in 2002, is in a hospital in Germany for intensive examinations after Moye and a teammate collided in practice, ESPN.com reports.
7. SI.com’s Luke Winn crunches numbers regarding freshmen and comes up with some interesting results. Bottom line: Don’t overhype your young guns.

Nov. 17

Mississippi 77, Murray State 61BYU 78, Utah State 72
Colorado College 60, Air Force 57 OT

Nov. 16

Kansas State 73, Virginia Tech 57

Ohio State 93, Florida 75

San Diego State 79, Gonzaga 76

VCU 90, Wake Forest 69

Nov. 15

Kennesaw St. 80, Georgia Tech 63

Oklahoma 71, NC Central 63 OT

Nov. 14

South Dakota St. 79, Iowa 69

Michael Protos writes that the ACC needs some big wins — and soon — to keep pace with conferences such as the Big Ten. Though as Phil Kasiecki points out, Maryland’s close call against the College of Charleston shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

And we have a few season previews for you:

ACC

Colonial Athletic Association

Missouri Valley Conference

• Friday: Wisconsin at UNLV
• Sunday: LSU at Memphis
• Monday:
  Gonzaga vs. Kansas State
• Wednesday: VCU vs. Tennessee
• Wednesday: UCLA vs. Villanova
• Thursday: Temple vs. Cal
• Thursday: Georgia vs. Notre Dame

Best possible match up in a holiday tournament:

Duke vs. Kansas State in CBE Classic final.

Yeah, he said it. Portland guard Jared Stohl boldly predicts a win against Kentucky tonight.

People take days off from work to attend opening day for Major League Baseball. The NFL has moved the first game of the season to an entirely different day to create a grand spectacle. There’s no reason college basketball can’t have a captivating celebration that generates a week’s worth of anticipation.

In one sense, Midnight Madness actually hurts the hype of college basketball. The expensive and expansive celebrations that coincide with the first official practice occur several weeks before any teams tip off. Fans attend in person or watch on TV, get geeked up for their team…and wait another month for any meaningful results.

In past years, pre-season tournaments attempted to inject early season enthusiasm with exciting match ups. But they occurred on neutral courts, away from packed gymnasiums.

ESPN probably has the right idea with its 24 hours of coverage on campuses from the Northeast to Hawaii. But that should occur on the first day of the season, and no games should occur before that day. In addition, the first official day should be a Thursday or Saturday — not Friday when most people other than myself have better things to do than watch basketball all day.

I’m pretty sure that an infusion of sponsorships to drive competition among the TV networks would be all it takes to inspire a massive blowout befitting the return of college hoops.