Should we call him Lt. General? The Statesman's Cedric Golden has a very nice column on the strong bond between Rick Barnes and Bob Knight. To be honest, this is a column I thought I'd hate, but Golden gives us a very good piece here. And I agree with his final assessment 100 percent:

Amen - one thousand times, Amen. Though Bob Knight's temper isn't his most attractive quality, he's as fine a teacher as there is in the game. And those players with skin thick enough to accept his challenges, thrive.

Cat Osterman is (still) cooler than you. BON obsession Cat Osterman hasn't graced these pages in a couple months, but don't mistake that for irrelevance. Mrs. O writes in to let us know that Catherine will be making another commercial appearance. This time in the Super Bowl. Like I said: she's cooler than you.

If he wins it, can we just keep the trophy in Austin? Sophomore point guard DJ Augustin has been mentioned all season as a potential Wooden Award winner; this weekend he became a finalist, one of 30 players nationwide nominated for the honor. If Augustin were to win, he would join TJ Ford (2003) and Kevin Durant (2007) to become the third Longhorn in six years to take home the trophy.

Nice as it'd be, I'm guessing he'd rather a trip to the Final Four.

Abrams evolution. The AAS' Mark Rosner had a nice feature on AJ Abrams published before Saturday's game against Texas Tech. It's mostly stuff we've covered, but there's one quote from Barnes which caught my eye: "He's a really good passer."

It hasn't been discussed much because with Abrams, in large part because he's had such up-and-down games overall, but I have noticed of late his ability to get the ball into the post. He's one of the few players who's done a good job this year of penetrating and dishing. He's got good vision.

Darrell Scott mania starts now. Now that both Texas and Colorado have completed their in-home visits, prepare yourself for an onslaught of rumors and updates. As I mentioned last Wednesday, I've been told the coaches feel very strongly they're going to win this battle. That matches what's being said by one of Orangebloods' more reliable posters, as well. I like our chances.

--PB--