🤢🥴_ Fubah's 2023 Hoops Thread _😲🥵

There are plenty of new programs in new places this season...

The Pac-12 is no more.

USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are in the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are in the Big 12.

Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC.

Stanford, California and SMU are in the ACC.

Oregon State and Washington State are (sort of) in the WCC.

But despite all the shuffling, the Big 12 still looks to be the best league in the country, with Kansas, Houston, Baylor, Iowa State and Arizona all likely top-10 teams.
-- Borzello, ESPN

Exciting timers for the west-coasters!

ESPN -

All eyes on L.A.:
For the first time in decades, both USC and UCLA
were nationally relevant last year.
This season a championship could be in store!
The Trojans return rising sophomore Watkins while
the Bruins bring back rising juniors Kiki Rice and
Lauren Betts.

But both teams also leveled up in the offseason
thanks to transfers (Iriafen and von Oelhoffen for USC,
and Charlisse Leger-Walker, Timea Gardiner and
Janiah Barker for UCLA) plus strong incoming freshmen
classes.
The Big Ten title looks like it might run through Los Angeles. -- Philippou

Apparently UCONN is in talks for the possibility of moving all their sports over to the BIG 12 conference...albeit in 7 years.

WHY?

FLAGG?

Duke forward Cooper Flagg -- the No. 1 prospect in ESPN's 2025 NBA draft class -- has signed a significant shoe endorsement deal with New Balance.

Flagg joins a New Balance brand tied closely to his home state, including a Skowhegan, Maine, manufacturing factory that is 25 miles from his childhood home in Newport.

"The connection with New Balance as a family company and a company with Maine roots means a lot to me," Flagg told ESPN.
"That makes this really different and special. My mom used to go to the tent sale for back-to-school shopping there when we were kids. That really aligns the brand with my roots. It's a perfect fit."

Flagg, 17, reclassified to enter college a year early and looms as an immensely anticipated NBA prospect. At 6-foot-9, Flagg is a remarkable two-way player with explosive athleticism, all-around skills and a propensity to play at an elevated rate of intensity. He was the lone college player and teenager invited to Team USA's pre-Olympic training camp in Las Vegas and made a strong impression as part of the select team scrimmaging against the United States' gold-medal-winning roster.

The changes in name, image and likeness rules in recent years make these kind of endorsement deals more common for elite prospects like Flagg. New Balance's history with top young prospects across sports includes Coco Gauff, Tyrese Maxey and Quincy Wilson.

"As a younger kid, I can think back to dreaming about things like this," Flagg told ESPN. "It's an incredible opportunity, and I'm really blessed and grateful to be put in this position."

Bad news ...

Gonzaga standout Steele Venters will miss his 2nd consecutive season. He tore his left Achilles tendon this week, the school said Tuesday.

that definitely hurts their chances . they need him 

Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State will join the Pac-12 in the 2026-27 academic year, they announced Thursday.

The Pac-12 board of directors unanimously approved applications from the four Mountain West schools, which will join Oregon State and Washington State, the conference's two remaining schools following the league's collapse in the summer of 2023.

The six members will collaborate to decide which schools to target for further expansion, as the conference still needs to add two more schools to reach the NCAA minimum requirement. The conference is in the first year of a two-year grace period afforded by NCAA bylaws to exist below the minimum in the case of departures.

CORVALLIS, Ore. --

Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes said the newly rebuilt Pac-12 will look to add at least two more schools for 2026 as quickly as possible.

  BIG NEWS!

Basketball powerhouse Gonzaga to join Pac-12 for 2026 season

Gonzaga brings strong media value to the league from a basketball perspective, as it's one of the sport's top brands and most consistent winners. The Bulldogs have reached every men's NCAA tournament that has been played since 1999 -- a streak of 25 straight years.

Gonzaga has one of the country's most respected men's basketball coaches in Mark Few, who has been at the school since 2000, a run that includes a pair of Final Fours.

Gonzaga is the overhauled Pac-12's eighth member, but it does not count as the league's eighth full-time member, as the school doesn't have football. The Pac-12 still needs to add another member to reach minimum conference thresholds.

Gonzaga's womens' team was 16 - 0 in WCC and 32 - 4 overall before bowing out in the Sweet 16 to top ranked Texas.

The conference is expected to remain focused on adding another football-playing school before shifting its attention back to basketball.

zags !  

@KellyM_1964

Will surely help the conference HUGE in hoops!!

big time       in both the mens and the womens side !!

@KellyM_1964

 Watch their women this year!

WNBA title game goes into OT!!!

2 LYNX starters in foul trouble!!

LIBERTY -155    *BB

good call fubah 

good call fubah 

good call fubah 

good call fubah 

good call fubah