Big 12 blueprint

In partnership with

Good morning! Every schedule release makes college hoops feel closer. November really can’t come soon enough. Let's get to the news.

Master Claude AI (Free Guide)

The professionals pulling ahead aren't working more. They're using Claude.

Our free guide will show you how to:

• Configure Claude to be the perfect assistant

• Master AI-powered content creation

• Transform complex data into actionable strategies

• Harness Claude’s full potential

Transform your workflow with AI and stay ahead of the curve with this comprehensive guide to using Claude at work.

Get The Free Guide

1. Notables from the Big 12 schedule drop

The Big 12 has been the No. 1 ranked conference on Kenpom three times over the past five seasons and has been one of the most fun league races to monitor year after year.

We now have an idea of what the path to winning the title will look like next season. The conference dropped its opponent matrix for conference play on Thursday:

Here are a few takeaways:

• The most notable home-and-home matchups are Iowa State-Kansas, Texas Tech-Houston, BYU-Arizona, Houston-Arizona, Baylor-Kansas, and in honor of Bob Huggins, West Virginia-Cincinnati.

• Kansas has a tough away-only schedule with Arizona, Houston and BYU.

• Inversely, Cincinnati has Arizona, Houston and Kansas all home only, a welcomed sight for first-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun.

• Houston will play some of its toughest games at home only with BYU, Iowa State and Kansas all set to travel to the Fertitta Center.

• The league’s first-year head coaches will face off often. Arizona State double plays Kansas State, Cincinnati double plays Kansas State and then Arizona State travels to Cincinnati.

• The league is still holding at 18 games, but playing 20 is in consideration for the 2027-28 season.

2. Skinn etches extension, more coach news

One of the best mid-major success stories over the past couple of seasons has been the rise of George Mason under Tony Skinn.

The Patriots have won 20+ games in three-straight seasons for just the third time in school history. They set a record for most wins in A-10 play a year ago (15), shared a regular season title, and then nearly punched a ticket to the Big Dance with a narrow loss to VCU in the tournament title game.

Now, Skinn’s elevation of the program has been rewarded. He signed a contract extension through the 2031-32 season on Thursday.

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.