Rise And Fire - Big 12 Basketball Morning Link Dump - 9/22/2011

MISSOURI TIGERS
KC Star - Frank Haith confident in Mizzou conference landing spot
mutigers.com - Marcus Denmon Named All-American

Missouri standout Marcus Denmon was named a preseason All-American by Blue Ribbon Magazine on Thursday. The Kansas City, Mo., native was a fourth team pick by the publication and joined fellow Big 12 standout Perry Jones (Baylor) on the top-four All-America squads.

OKLAHOMA SOONERS
OUhoops.com - Prospect Watch: Anthony Criswell

TEXAS LONGHORNS
texassports.com - Men's Basketball announces support staff changes

Chris Babcock (left) elevated to Special Assistant, while Connor Atchley returns to alma mater as Graduate Manager.

HERE WE GO AGAIN - BIG 12 REALIGNMENT AND/OR EXPANSION AND/OR RETRACTION
CBS Sports - Texas, you ruined it for everyone, now apologize and play nice
ESPN - Video: Remaning Schools To Stay In Big 12?
StL Post - Mizzou quiet as Texas, OU pledge Big 12 loyalty
NewsOK - REPORT: Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe working on exit strategy
Rivals - Stop superconferences, start a football playoff
Washingtonian - The Future of Conference Expansion
Good tounge-in-cheek read

September 2011: The Big 12 diaspora replenishes the Big East with some new blood like Kansas and Kansas State. They remain a horrible football conference, and commissioner John Marinatto eases up and allows Pitt and Syracuse to leave the conference at their earliest convenience. UConn and Rutgers trip over one another following them out the door to the ACC.

OTHER BIG 12 BASKETBALL NEWS
big12sports.com - Four Big 12 Teams In Blue Ribbon Preseason Poll
11. Kansas, 16. A&M, 19. Baylor, 24. Missouri
The Dagger - Big 12 preview: Ex-OU guard Michael Neal projects the league
The Dagger - Big 12 Preview: Ranking the 15 best non-conference games
Manhattan Mercury - A look at how the Big 12 was formed

OTHER BASKETBALL NEWS
ESPN College Basketball Nation Blog - Denver Nuggets coach college coaches
CBS Sports - CBSSports.com future hoops conference rankings

5) Big 12. One national title, seven Final Fours, 109 tourney appearances (10.9 per team). Two top-tier teams.
A tourney-per-team ratio higher than even the ACC! But that's what you get when you're league only has 10 teams, and one of those teams is a top-three all-time program. And that's why the Big 12 has to be here. There's too much instability. Yes, Kansas is an amazing program. Texas is certainly a powerhouse, too. Baylor and Kansas State are chic right now, and perhaps those two coaches can build legacies at schools that had none in regard to good basketball prior to their arrival. But, overall, the Big 12 sits on topsoil, not the granite and rock of the earth. And when you get down to it, this league's size hurts it, makes it susceptible.