What Keegan says: Big 12 basketball

While watching Missouri and Kansas, a pair of gangs that couldn’t shoot straight Monday night in Mizzou Arena, a thought occurred: For all the momentum Big 12 North basketball teams seemed to be gaining on the South, the root of it lies not as much in strides made by North programs as in this being a bad year for the South.

The Big 12 Conference is a young one this season, and in college basketball young usually means vulnerable.

Sure, Missouri and Nebraska have made strides, but the shift of power away from the South has more to do with Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M underachieving than anything else.

Plus, whatever gains the North might be making, that momentum could take a huge hit after the season.

Alabama is expected to make a serious run at Missouri coach Mike Anderson. A native of Birmingham, Ala., Anderson coached at the University of Alabama-Birmingham before taking the job at Missouri and won 89 games in four seasons.

It’s going to be difficult for Anderson to say no to the most high-profile program in his home state, just as it would be difficult for Missouri to attract a coach as accomplished as Anderson.