College football season hasn’t begun, but here at Athlon we’re already hard at work in thinking about the 2012-13 basketball season. Believe us, the season will be here before you know it.

This is your daily link roundup of our favorite sports posts on the web for August 10.

• The Lakers acquisition of big man Dwight Howard has some people thinking that Los Angeles is now the NBA’s team to beat.

Kentucky Wildcats basketball fans are known as the “Big Blue Nation.” But what if the Big Blue Nation were an actual sovereign nation eligible to compete in the 2012 London Olympics? How would an Olympic team comprised solely of Kentucky alums fare against the medal favorites like the USA, Spain and Argentina?

Here’s a hypothetical rundown of what UK in the UK would look like.

This is your daily link roundup of our favorite sports posts on the web for July 27.

• Former NFL player and current agent Ralph Cindrich appeared on a Pittsburgh radio show and essentially accused Alabama coach Nick Saban of cheating.

In the last two weeks, Athlon Sports has ranked every coach in the seven powerful basketball conferences -- the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.

The Atlantic 10 already had an intriguing group of coaches with Chris Mack carrying the tradition at Xavier, Fran Dunphy leading the consistent Temple program, Rick Majerus leading a comeback for both Saint Louis and his own career, and the well-established Phil Martelli at St. Joseph’s.

When SEC basketball coaches get together for media days or other offseason events, they may need name tags.

After underachieving in the last three seasons, the Pac-12 may finally start to rebound. At least that’s what the coaches in the league hope.

This is your daily link roundup of our favorite sports posts on the web for July 20.

• NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah looks at the Ravens and their likelihood of getting a Joe Flacco deal done before camp.