The Big 12 enjoyed one of the best offseasons of any major conference. Or at least one that will help the league enter 2013-14 with some degree of renown.

Even though Kentucky lost out on Andrew Wiggins on Tuesday, the Wildcats may still have a signing class for the ages.

The Wildcats bring in six McDonald’s All-Americans for 2013-14, and Wiggins, the consensus top prospect, would have added to an embarrassment of riches. Instead, Wiggins heads to Kansas where he headlines the No. 2 class -- a recruiting haul that could be No. 1 in most years.

The NBA’s early entry draft deadline has come and gone, creating enough movement to make us re-evaluate our early rankings for 2013-14.

Chief among them, we re-visited Oklahoma State after the Cowboys returned point guard Marcus Smart. Originally, we did not rank Oklahoma State under the assumption Smart, projected to be a top-three pick, would leave for the draft. His return makes Oklahoma State the early Big 12 favorite.

The best team doesn’t always win the NCAA Tournament. Many of greatest rosters ever assembled failed to cut down the nets in the one-and-done, single-elimination Madness of March. These are the 15 best teams that never won the NCAA Tournament.

The Sweet 16, as always, finds a way to capture the imagination.

The NCAA Tournament moves into the second weekend with its share of storylines, even if the biggest one from Dunk City seems to overshadow all.

Few people saw Wichita State, the runner up in the Missouri Valley, advancing this far. And even fewer could have tabbed La Salle to go on a run out of the First Four.

The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament has caused us to rethink some things, specifically all those brackets with Gonzaga, New Mexico and Georgetown making deep runs.

We’ve learned a little bit -- we know where Florida Gulf Coast actually is, apart from, you know, the Gulf Coast of Florida. We know La Salle is actually pretty good, despite being one of the last teams in the field.

SOUTH
North Texas

Top Dog — Kansas (1)

There was plenty of action on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Florida Gulf Coast became the first No. 15 seed Cinderella to make the Sweet 16 of the Big Dance. Wichita State “shocked” No. 1 seed Gonzaga to become just the fifth No. 9 seed to advance to the Sweet 16 since 1985. Buzzer-beaters and pep bands, coeds and coaches, commercials and cheerleaders — all the usual March Madness was in full effect. But there were also a few letdowns in the Rounds of 64 and 32.

After 52 NCAA Tournament games since Tuesday, the field is down to 16. And what a wild week it was.

When the next weekend starts, the players from Gonzaga -- and New Mexico and Georgetown and VCU and more -- will want what Florida Gulf Coast has.