Kansas center Jeff Withey

In the big picture, Kansas’ trip to Ohio State on Saturday is simply a good game against two top-10 teams, a national title contender visiting another title contenders gym.

The first month or so of the season has been a strange one for the Big 12. Somehow, the league that boasts a solid Kansas team, a team that beat Kentucky in Lexington and a contender for freshman of the year is having an identity crisis.

Few Big 12 teams seem to be in a rhythm so far this season. Maybe that’s to be expected -- Baylor has a handful of new freshmen, Texas is missing a key player, and West Virginia and Iowa State have an influx of transfers.

Success in Maui has been a good sign for most teams in recent years. Two of the last four Maui Invitational champions have gone on to win the national title (2008-09 North Carolina, 2010-11 Connecticut). Players like Kemba Walker, Ty Lawson, Kyle Singler and Adam Morrison have thrived in this tournament in recent seasons as well.

The early season tournament season is under way, first with the NIT Tip-Off and now the Puerto Rico Classic, beginning Thursday.

The even in San Juan will be a proving ground for the major teams involved. For NC State, it’s a chance to prove the Wolfpack belong in the national elite. For Oklahoma State, Tennessee and UMass, it’s a chance to prove they’re ready to contend for the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s our preview of the action down in Puerto Rico

The opening of the college basketball season garnered a little more buzz this season, even if some of the key games didn’t go as planned.

Even if the aircraft carrier games -- two of which were canceled and one was postponed -- didn’t go off without a hitch, the effort was in the right place. Teams like Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State and Connecticut were in early action in key games, a trend that will continue with ESPN’s tipoff marathon beginning Tuesday morning at midnight.

The college basketball season starts today, so it's time for picks. Not just for the Final Four and top players and coaches, but also who we think who will thrive, flop and surprise.

Here are the picks from the Athlon editorial staff:

Football is still in the heart of its season. The NBA is just getting started. And the election was only yesterday.

In other words, it may be easy for college basketball to fly under the radar for the start of its season this weekend.

If it’s tough to pull away from football or other responsibilities in November, we’d like to help steer you the key games, teams, players and trends to watch as the college basketball season gets started Friday.

The Big 12 may be one of the most interesting leagues from top to bottom in 2012-13, but the smart pick at the top remains, as always, Kansas.

The Jayhawks have won at least a share of the last eight Big 12 regular season titles, including the last four outright. Thomas Robinson is gone from Lawrence, but Bill Self again has stars ready to emerge.

Sometimes a coach inherits a bad team or steps into a program where the university simply does not invest in basketball. In some cases, through recruiting, Xs and Os and inspiration, that coach can turn a bad team into a good or even great one.

The guys on this list are not those coaches. Here are the 20 worst coaching tenures in the six major conference since the NCAA Tournament expanded in 1985.