Big 12 Hoops Conference Call

The second installment of the Big 12 Hoops Conference Call is here and today we tackle more preseason predictions and a "What Would You Do" scenario.

The questions for today's Conference Call are:

1.     Here's what the public knows about LaceDarius Dunn: the cops say he punched his longtime girlfriend, his girlfriend says that the whole thing was an accident. Going strictly off that information, if you were Scott Drew and the Baylor Bears, how would you handle the situation?

2.     Speaking of the Bears, most would agree that they should make the NCAA tournament. In all how many Big 12 schools make the field, and which ones will be dancing?

3.     Kansas held their annual "Late Night in the Phog" Midnight Madness celebration this past week and MC Hammer was a special guest. WAIT, this just in... it wasn't MC Hammer, it was KU coach Bill Self. What were your initial reactions to his get up? 

4.     Most schools choose between a Midnight Madness celebration, like they had in Manhattan and Lawrence, and an open scrimmage a few weeks into practice, like you'll find at Mizzou and Texas A&M. As a fan, which would you rather attend? What if you were a player, which would you rather participate in?

5.     Switching sports, who wins this year's World Series? Over who? And in how many games?

Our answers appear after The Jump and as always feel free to weigh in with your answers in the comments section.

1. Here's what the public knows about LaceDarius Dunn: the cops say he punched his longtime girlfriend, his girlfriend says that the whole thing was an accident. Going strictly off that information, if you were Scott Drew and the Baylor Bears, how would you handle the situation?

Matt Patton: I don't think Drew has much of a choice; accident or not, he has to be punished (especially if he's convicted or pleads out). He has to be unequivocal in his punishment. Even if Dunn isn't convicted, he probably should sit him for a game or two (or put him on "probation" at least). If Dunn is convicted, more serious punishments need to be taken into consideration (if it's a felony, we may be talking about kicking him off the team or at least suspending him the entire season). My guess, Dunn will be suspended a couple of early games, and he'll be back in time for conference play. Drew needs to be careful though; felonies cannot be tolerated.

Joe Loyd: Well I think its America and you're innocent until proven guilty and the school is allowing him to take classes and practice with the team. Obviously some punishment is necessary like suspending him from some games but I don't like seeing coaches be heavy handed in their punishment before all the facts come out. I think if things get cleared up legally for him, a few games suspension should be sufficient. Season is still a little ways off they have time to let things work themselves out before making some tough decisions.

Evan Pfaff: Regardless of the outcome, Lace should be suspended for at least a few non-con games, and that suspension needs to come down now. It won't hurt Baylor and it will show Drew is a disciplinarian. Drew needs to show that even if innocent, you cannot put yourself in situations where the school and the team get a bad rap. If the DA presses felony charges, Lace needs to be suspended until everything is cleared up.

2. Speaking of the Bears, most would agree that they should make the NCAA tournament. In all how many Big 12 schools make the field, and which ones will be dancing?

Matt: Even without Dunn, I think Baylor would make the tournament (it'd be the difference between a 2-3 seed and an 7-8 seed, but they'd make it). K-State, Kansas, and Missouri are also locks (and have the shot at some very good seeds). That makes 4 definite teams. Based on talent, Colorado and Texas should make the tournament. I'd give Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech outside shots of making it (they'd need a deep run in the conference tourney). I'm going to guess 6 (taking Colorado and Texas, and leaving out the other three).

Joe: I think my best guess would be 6 since last season the Big 12 was the best RPI league in the country and they got 7 teams in. I agree with Matt that KU, KSU & Missouri & Baylor can already be written down somewhere on the bracket. Beyond that I don't think there is any way that Rick Barnes doesn't find a way to get Texas in there also. I may be crazy but I am also on the Colorado bandwagon for some reason even though I should probably know better.

Evan: Consensus. Unless a team comes out of nowhere, we can lock down 6. A little contrary to the other guys, I think 5 are definites: KSU, KU, BU, Mizzou, UT. I feel the sixth will also be Colorado, but we'll just have to wait and see how they gel with the new coach. If not CU, Tech has a ton of offensive talent and could slip into the 6th spot.

3. Kansas held their annual "Late Night in the Phog" Midnight Madness celebration this past week and MC Hammer was a special guest. WAIT, this just in... it wasn't MC Hammer, it was KU coach Bill Self. What were your initial reactions to his get up? (video at the bottom in case you missed it)

Matt: Awesome. Midnight Madness is my favorite part of the offseason because it means the offseason is almost over. I'm not sure it trumps Bill Self's earlier offseason dancing, but I'm all about coaches getting into Midnight Madness and having a good time.

Joe: I mean come on you have to like a coach having fun with the fans and the team and putting himself out there like that. More coaches should have some fun with it and not try to act super serious all the time. Maybe Self feels able to do that since he has a national title in his hip pocket and he makes a ton of money a year.

Evan: My initial reaction was that that was the greatest outfit ever to grace Allen Fieldhouse. We have to remember that coaches deal with kids, 18-22 year olds, and they like having fun as much as anyone.

4. Most schools choose between a Midnight Madness celebration, like they had in Manhattan and Lawrence, and an open scrimmage a few weeks into practice, like you'll find at Mizzou and Texas A&M. As a fan, which would you rather attend? What if you were a player, which would you rather participate in?

Matt: I'd like both! Or I'll take Midnight Madness because of the spectacle (and they usually have some sort of scrimmage). I was a little disappointed with the lack of basketball during much of ESPN's coverage of Midnight Madness this year, but they picked it up during the second half. And open scrimmages usually don't have dunk contests.

Joe: If I had to pick one or the other I would go with the open scrimmage since I like to watch and form opinions of the players and my expectations for the season. I have gone to a midnight madness practice before and there are some boring moments in there that you don't always see or hear about and the "scrimmage" can be hard to watch as well with not much actual basketball being played. If I were a player obviously Midnight Madness would be way better since the whole situation is set up to be fun for the players.

Evan: As a fan, I'd choose an open scrimmage. As a player, I'd probably want a Midnight Madness. To echo Joe's point, I'd rather go see them play that to a glorified pep rally. However as a player, what other time would I be able to rap or dress in a funky wig in front of 5000 or more fans?

5. Switching sports, who wins this year's World Series? Over who? And in how many games? (Disclaimer: this was asked on Tuesday... lots has changed since then)

Matt: Oh boy... Before the playoffs, I would have said Phillies over Yankees in 6 (the Phils have an unbelievable--and unbeatable--1-2-3 pitching punch). But, the Rangers are taking it to the Yankees (in my opinion, they should have already won, but mismanaged Game 1). So I'm going to take the Phillies over the Rangers in 7. That said, if the Giants can beat Philly this afternoon, I'm switching.

Joe: To be honest I haven't watched much of the playoffs at all. When you are a Cubs & Royals fan you don't pay attention to the playoffs most years! From what little I have seen I am going to throw a dart and say Rangers over Giants in 6 games since Cliff Lee is a machine in the playoffs and I think the AL team will outscore the NL team.

Evan: I think the winner comes out of the NL. With Philly you have H2O (Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt). With San Fran you have Lincecum and Cain. Cliff Lee can bring it, but I like the NL staffs better and pitching wins playoff series.  Because of a tad better offense, I think Philly will prevail in the NL and the World Series over Texas in 6 games.