TBI's Conference Calling 2014-15 College Basketball Conference Rankings (Part 1)

Oh, hai. Been a long time.

Normally around this time of year, I'm trying furiously to churn out a full-on conference preview for every league in America. And normally by opening day, I haven't even covered more than a dozen of the 32 conferences. If I were Joe Blow Single Guy writing in his underwear with Cheeto stains on his fingertips, I'd have a lot more time to finish these things, but kids and a wife have this annoying habit of asking for a little time with Daddy. And since none of you are paying any of my bills, the writing is usually let to slide.

Still, I'm always interested in how the conferences stack up at this time of year, which is why TBI is still going to turn out a full set of conference rankings. We all know who the worst league in America is (hint: it's one letter away from being SWAG, something that the conference in question almost totally lacks), and everybody's got their own perspective on who's the best. (Sit down, SEC fan. That ridiculous all-conference second-team ballot says it all.)

But now, here comes The Back Iron to settle it all. Strap in, kids, and prepare to bitch as we unveil the bottom half of the nation's leagues.

Below, you'll find TBI's picks for conference regular-season (and we'll presume tournament) champions, along with each league's expected Player of the Year and a potential Game Changer selection. The Game Changer may be a newcomer or returnee, but he'll certainly be a player who's not getting the publicity he deserves for his ability to shift the balance of power in his league.

Conference Calling's 2013-14 College Basketball Previews: #27 WAC

Patron saint of All-Name teams everywhere.

In an era where the Big 12 has 10 teams and the Big Ten has 12 (soon to be 14), we're used to conference names being a bit nonsensical. If you're looking for false advertising in your league handles, though, the Western Athletic Conference nearly had the market cornered this offseason.

The WAC is no longer exclusively western, unless you consider Chicago and Kansas City far west outposts. If you do, kindly ask Doc Brown to drag you back to 1845.

The snarky college football jock-sniffer would claim that the "Athletic" part went away when the WAC stopped sponsoring football.

Finally, had it not broken down and invited Chicago State, UMKC and a host of other misfit toys, the conference would have no longer been a conference.

So, credit to the league for doing what it had to do to survive, but this is not the WAC that once gave us stars like Danny Ainge, Tim Hardaway, Keith Van Horn or the immortal Fennis Dembo.

WAC basketball will look extremely different this season (and there's still a domino left to fall when Idaho heads for the Big Sky in 2014), but it could surprise us all. There will be no return to 1998's four-bid status, though. Ever.

More on who should get this year's bid after the jump.

(All statistics and rankings via StatSheet.com unless otherwise noted.)

Conference Calling: Players to Watch for Championship Week (Part II)

Tuesday, we hit up the first batch of conference championships to point out some players who would make an impact. Some are still alive, some have already been sent home. (Looking at you, Alex Francis, although major props to first-year Mt. St. Mary's head coach Jamion Christian. Dude's done some good and fast work.)

Today, 10 more events, and then we hit up the rest tomorrow.

Read on after the jump.

Conference Calling's 31 in 31 Series: 2012-13 WAC Preview

The Conference Calling 31 in 31 preview series will examine each of the NCAA Division I auto-bid conferences (so no Great West or independents), one per day, leading up to college basketball's opening day on November 9. 

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Most of the Western Athletic Conference is passing through on its way to greener pastures. Of the 10 teams set to compete this year, only four (New Mexico State, Denver, Idaho and Seattle) are committed to play together next year, unless Idaho gets a proposal it can't refuse from the Big Sky. (UPDATE: They did. Idaho's gone.)

Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana Tech are headed for Conference USA.

Texas-Arlington and Texas State, like UTSA, are going the full Texas playboy route, giving the WAC a one-season stand before hopping a cab to the Sun Belt.

San Jose State and Utah State are ready to move to the WAC's bastard offspring, the Mountain West.

Oh, and you just missed Nevada, Hawaii and Fresno State. I swear they were just here a minute ago.

So, excuse the WAC if it's feeling a little bit used and abused. I'd be surprised if any of these unfeeling cads even left a fiddy on the nightstand.

As it is, though, all these lame-duck relationships have to co-exist for one more year, and it's still a 10-team league, so who wins?

More on that after the jump.