You want the inside scoop? You got it. Well, actually Seth Davis has it. I'm just passing it along.

Last week, the SI writer had his conference breakdowns from coaches and assistants regarding the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and SEC. This week, he did the same thing for the Big 12, Pac-10, Mountain West and A-10.

It's obvious you should read the whole thing here. For those pressed for time, the best snippets are below. Any comments from me follow in italics.

KANSAS: Xavier Henry has also been better. He has been having his ups and downs because he always had his butt kissed in high school. In AAU ball, his team quit a lot, and his high school team vastly underachieved. Physically, he can do anything. He's the key to their team, because when he's making threes, they're very difficult to beat.

Simply put, if Henry is hitting 3s and Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich are getting theirs, nobody's beating Kansas. Nobody.

KANSAS STATE: They're one of the best teams in the country at getting to the free-throw line, but one of the worst at putting their opponents there. Their philosophy is, we're gonna beat the hell out of you and the refs are not going to call a foul every possession.

This is similar to what worked for UCLA during the 2006, 2007 and 2008 tournaments. Hand-checks on perimeter players tend to get overlooked in March.

BAYLOR: They may be the most athletic team in our league. They are night and day from last year because of two guys -- Ekpe Udoh and Tweety Carter.

MISSOURI: Their style of play makes it difficult in a one-game scenario in the NCAA tournament. If you haven't seen that pressure before and all the different spots it comes from, it's hard to prepare for.

CAL: Offensively, for some reason, they have a lot of trouble with zones, which is why they lost to Oregon State. They're just hoping against a zone that Jerome Randle and Theo Robertson will knock down 25-footers. It's hard to live and die with that.

DAYTON: I'm very confused by them. Of all the teams in our league, they have the best players.

The Flyers may not even get in the NCAA tournament. If they do, they're going to be this year's version of Arizona. A double-digit seed that underachieved, then gets hot and reaches the Sweet 16.

BYU: And you may think they're a bunch of slow white guys, but they are very athletic. If you see them in person, they're flying. You may think you're going to run by them and dunk the ball, but they're going to answer with a three.

NEW MEXICO: They don't have much size, but they overcome that because you can't defend them with bigs. Who's going to chase Roman Martinez? Who's going to chase Darington Hobson?

Saturday gave the rest of the country time to come around on the Lobos. They're not the most efficient team, they just win. They're going to be a tough team to gauge in March.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

Richmond may have lost its shot at the Atlantic 10 regular-season title, but beware the Spiders in the NCAA tournament.

Especially if past history is any indicator of future success.

Richmond (22-7 overall, 11-3 in A-10 play) features one of the nation's most efficient defenses, particularly when it comes to forcing opponents into bad shots and getting steals. Chris Mooney's team could be as high as a 6 seed in the Big Dance, or as low as a 10, which sets them up as the ideal giant killer and destroyer of brackets.

So any two and three seeds, watch out – the Spiders have embraced that idea.

"We have been so far from being in the tournament my first few years here that I didn't know about any of it," guard Kevin Anderson told Sports Illustrated. "Now I hear about Richmond being this giant killer, and I like that nickname. I like it a lot."

That's from a small feature in this week's SI, which also dishes one of the best pieces of trivia I've ever heard: Richmond is the first – and only – team to win NCAA tournament games as a 12, 13, 14 and 15 seed.

In fact, no other team's even close.

Several schools have at least two wins as a 12, 13, 14 or 15 seed, such as Cleveland State, Siena, Xavier and Manhattan. But no school has wins as any combination of the above three, let alone all four except Richmond.

Part of that a function's of being underseeded. The odds of the Spiders being a double-digit seed this season are slim.

Still, file that tidbit away. Maybe you can impress your friends sometime this month with your amazing useless tidbit.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

You have questions, Ken Davis has answers.

The latest reader mailbag from our college hoops expert hits on the Atlantic 10 and how many team it could place in the NCAA tournament (six maybe?), Clemson's chances of making the Big Dance, and the possibility of NCAA tourney expansion (Ken's not happy about the rumors).

But he also spends time talking Memphis. In case you hadn't noticed, new coach Josh Pastner has the Tigers on the bubble, which is a fairly impressive feat given that they lost three starters from last season's 33-4 squad, their coach, and a couple of highly touted recruits (Xavier Henry, DeMarcus Cousins), who went elsewhere when John Calipari went to Memphis.

Memphis (20-7 overall, 10-2 in C-USA) isn't in yet, mostly because it lacks any impressive wins. Still, give credit to Pastner, who gets kudos from our reader as a possible coach of the year.

Which raises the larger question: Who is the national coach of the year?

Ken thinks Syracuse's Jim Boeheim is the front-runner, and I can't disagree. The Orange are 26-2 despite losing their three leading scorers from last season. They're headed for a Big East title and a likely No. 1 seed in the Big Dance. It's hard to go against Boeheim. (Even harder to believe he's never been national coach of the year, but is a 3-time Big East winner.)

Others to consider include: BYU's Dave Rose, Kentucky's John Calipari, Kansas State's Frank Martin and Pitt's Jamie Dixon. Maybe include Siena's Fran McCaffery and Murray State's Billy Kennedy as well.

But the smart money's on Boeheim.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

OK. Sometimes we all make mistakes.

There's still time for North Carolina to make me look smart, but March is getting close. And the Heels seem to be getting worse.

North Carolina (12-6) suffered its third loss in its last three games, this time a 73-71 home defeat to Georgia Tech. The Heels aren't bad – they have beaten Michigan State and Ohio State before Evan Turner got hurt – but they're stuck in neutral right now. The offense is inconsistent and the defense is ordinary.

"I'm not used to coaching Jayhawk basketball or Tar Heel basketball without any confidence," coach Roy Williams told the Raleigh News & Observer on Saturday. "We've put ourselves in this spot, and we've got to figure out a way to get out of it."

And fast. Wake Forest comes to Chapel Hill on Wednesday. Another loss would drop the Heels to 1-3 in ACC play. After that they play three of their next four on the road before playing host to Duke.

But the Devils are still weeks away. In the meantime, you can read this week's 5 Things to Watch.

Harry Cabluck / AP

Damion James and Texas should get a stern test from Kansas State on Monday.

Will 'Horns get hooked?
No. 1 Texas is finding out life at the top is no cakewalk. If Wednesday's test at Iowa State didn't provide enough evident, Saturday's overtime home win against Texas A&M cemented it.

"In the position we're in right now, the other team's emotions are going to be harder no matter where you're playing," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "It was a hard-fought game, but I don't know what anybody else expected."

And now, the Longhorns travel to Manhattan to face Kansas State, by far the most intimidating road test yet for Barnes' team. The Wildcats (15-2) are great on the offensive glass, efficient inside the arc and great at forcing turnovers. If Texas escapes with a win, it could be No. 1 for a long time.

Don't write off Purdue
Yes, the Boilermakers (14-3) have lost three straight. But two were on the road and the other was to an Ohio State team that got a remarkable night from Evan Turner.

Purdue can still play. But don't expect Illinois to simply roll over on Tuesday.

The Illini (12-6) are always tough at home (in college hoops, who isn't?) and are playing stingy defense once again. First one to 60 wins this one.

Move over, Rupp
Well, maybe.  Memphis' 80-68 win against Rice on Saturday was the Tigers' 64^th consecutive conference victory, tying Kentucky for the all-time mark. A win against UTEP on Wednesday would put Memphis alone in history.

Kinda. If the NCAA's invalidation of the Tigers' 2007-08 season stands, Adolph Rupp's Kentucky team is going back on top. For now, the Tigers just want to get to No. 65.

"Our ultimate goal is to continue the streak and leave it for the next guys," junior guard Roburt Sallie told the Memphis Commerical-Appeal. "It's going to be hard to think about not losing a game in conference.

Battle for the A-10
Xavier (12-5) isn't giving up this league without a fight. The Musketeers outlasted Dayton during the weekend and travel to Philly to face Temple on Wednesday. The Owls (15-3) will be favored to win that game, which would put them atop the A-10 and in the driver's seat to finally finish ahead of Xavier at season's end.

Then again, don't write off Dayton (13-4), Richmond (14-5) or Rhode Island (14-2) in the conference race. How many of those teams could be dancing in March?

Zeke's return
Isiah Thomas' mother, Mary, died last week, which caused the Florida International coach to miss a couple of the Panthers' games. He'll likely be back on the sidelines when the Panthers (6-15) play host to Arkansas State on Thursday.

What's Mike Miller saying on Twitter? Click here to see.

Let's play a little game.

Raise your hand if Evan Turner and Manny Harris were on your preseason All-America team (both turned in triple-doubles last week). Just a few?

Now, what about Da'Sean Butler (26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) and Greivis Vasquez (13 assists topped all players last weekend)? Hardly any?

OK then, what about Chris Wright? Did anyone foresee the 6-8 Dayton junior opening with such an efficient, impressive performance like he did against Creighton?

OK, I'll be honest – Wright made our team, but Saturday's 25-point, 8-rebound effort against an NCAA-caliber team like the Blue Jays surpassed what I expected. His 1.63 PPWS and 83.3 eFG% represents a monstrous leap from his inefficient sophomore season when he hoisted too many 3s. More importantly, he rose to the occasion when the Flyers needed it most in the second half.

"It's about just knowing what my best game is, knowing I'm not a 3-point shooter, someone that's handling the ball all the time — but doing what I do best," Wright said. "When you do what you're good at, you fit in your role on the team."

It's the kind of game that'll shoot Wright into college hoops stardom. Well, that and his dunks.

As the Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy writes, Wright possesses extraordinary basketball skills. When he plays to his strengths – attacking the rim – and doesn't force things, the Flyers could be awfully dangerous.

Follow me on Twitter (@BeyndArcMMiller) and get more college basketball news at NBCSports.com.

This is when the writer's strike really hurts. In less than two weeks, we've seen three new records for scoring futility. [Insert raunchy joke here.]

Where's Judd Apatow when a guy needs him? Even if he can't write a joke, he could probably make a shot for Rick Majerus. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, it was Pennsylvania setting a record for fewest points in a half (6) during a 60-30 loss to Florida Gulf Coast. The Quakers missed every shot in the first 13:15 of the first half, breaking Central Michigan's record set two years ago against Miami (Ohio). Not since the advent of the shot clock had a team had such trouble scoring.

Nine days later, Savannah State to put on a real (ugly) show.

The Tigers, 12-18 last season, 2-28 the year before and winless in 2004-05, know something about not scoring. But an 85-25 loss to Kansas State was bad even for them.

Savannah State was outscored 48-4 in the second half, making just 1-of-23 field goal attempts. That's a 4.3 shooting percentage.  It got so bad, some K-State fans yelled "mercy bucket," according to the AP story.

So how does it get any worse? When your opponent has as many blocked shots and steals combined as you do points – and you're the team with the better record. That's the truly amazing part in Saint Louis' 46-20 loss to George Washington on Thursday.

Sure, the Billikens missed 23 consecutive shots. Yeah, they trailed 23-7 at halftime and set the modern record for fewest points in a game.

But this was the A-10 opener for both teams. Neither could've expected an outcome like this.

"Sometimes you miss," Majerus said after the game. "We are a team that has some issues. That is why we are practicing (Friday). We did miss some good shots, yes. Anyone can look at us and see we don't have height, we don't have depth."

Maybe, but this is the same team that beat Southern Illinois in mid-December. The Billikens (9-6) were considered to be part of the A-10 revival, thanks to Majerus' coaching. The Colonials (4-6) hadn't beaten a team ranked among the RPI's top 200 teams all season.

To put it bluntly, this was like nothing we've ever seen before.

Consider:

• Penn was 4-7, while was Florida Gulf Coast 3-9 entering their game. Both teams were capable of bad night, which is what the Quakers had.
• K-State is an NCAA caliber team that played well at home and had an opponent struggle beyond what one would expect.
• Even when Air Force held Colorado College (a D-III school) to six points last season, we could even expect a result like that because of the league differential.

The Billikens, meanwhile, put on a performance everyone would like to forget.

Their offensive efficiency for this game was 37.5 on 53 possessions. Their previous low this season was 61.4 in a 61-40 loss to Kent State. Their eFG% was 15.6, half of their previous low, also against Kent State. Both were also worse than Savannah State against K-State.

Ken Pomeroy could confirm this, but it looks like the Billikens put on one of the top five worst offensive displays in history.

The good news? Thank God for the shot clock.

North Carolina trailed Duke 7-0 at halftime during a 1979 loss (Dean Smith's four corners offense never worked better.) Arkansas State once lost 75-6 to Kentucky in 1945, while Temple lost 11-6 to Tennessee in 1973.

11-6. That's not even a good football game.

In a season where few teams have been actual surprises to start the year – Ole Miss, Miami (Fla.), Saint Mary's, Drake, among the most notable – the most impressive group start has to be from the Atlantic 10, where the conference is off to its best start since St. Joseph's stole the hoops spotlight in 2003-04.

Huh. Has Jameer Nelson really been in the NBA four years? Doesn't seem that long ago when Nelson was leading St. Joe's to a 30-2 season and just missing out on the Final Four. His Hawks and Xavier, which also reached the Elite Eight that season, helped make the A-10 one of that season's big stars.

That hasn't been the case for the A-10 the last few years.

The league was ranked 15^th, 11^th and 10^th in conference RPI the seasons following St. Joe's run. Usually a multiple-bid conference, only George Washington and Xavier have made the NCAA Tournament the last three years, a reflection of poorer league play as others, like the Missouri Valley and the Mountain West, featured deeper and far better teams.

This year, the A-10, which has two ranked teams in this week's AP poll in Dayton and Rhode Island, is just behind the MVC in conference RPI. A-10 teams have a .632 winning percentage against non-conference foes, the league's best since 1997-98. More impressive are the teams the teams at the top. UMass and Xavier join Dayton and R.I. in the top 25 in RPI – tied with the Big 12 for most teams in the top 25.

(For those who quibble with the RPI – which has its problems, but is one of the main considerations when it comes to at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament, so you have to reference it – the A-10 isn't as hot in pomeroy ratings or on bbstate.com. Only Xavier is in Pomeroy's top 25; St. Joe's and Xavier are ranked in bbstate's top 25.)

Leading the way are Dayton – properly lauded by multiple pundits for their impressive win over Pittsburgh on Saturday – and Rhode Island.

And few saw starts like that coming.

The Flyers (11-1) are off to their best start since 1955-56, when they won their first 14. Wins against Pitt, Louisville and an underrated Miami (Ohio), with an All-American caliber player in Brian Roberts give them a good chance at a run in the Big Dance.

Rhode Island (13-1) has an even more historic start, its best since 1946-47. The Rams' only loss is to B.C., and have beaten Providence, Syracuse. They're not as impressive on paper as Dayton, but can't be overlooked.

Both will be gunning for the A-10 title, but Xavier, UMass, St. Joe's and even Duquense (8-3, its best start since 1979-80) could make that conference race interesting for once. And maybe even result in 3-5 bids in the NCAA Tournament.

 Now that would be a pleasant surprise reward for a proud hoops league.