A year after the SEC sent 14 of its 16 teams to the NCAA Tournament, the Big 12 appears to be the power conference to watch this season.

Okechukwu is now the tallest women’s college basketball player ever, and her midseason arrival brings a rare, game-changing variable to an already Top-25 Texas Tech team. For head coach Krista Gerlich, the process of getting Okechukwu to Lubbock was long, complex and far from guaranteed.

SCOTT RICKENBACH is 3-0, +1,950 in college basketball with plays rated 5.0+ and is 9-4, +2,590 with his last 13 college hoops picks. Rickenbach nailed a 7-Unit NBA winner Saturday and is back with a 7-Unit College Basketball Play (8 p.m.) Sunday. Sign up below and ride the hot hand!

Michigan State Spartans men's basketball coach Tom Izzo slammed the NCAA for allowing James Nnaji, and others, to return to college after being selected in the NBA.

College basketball went quiet over Christmas break as many players and coaches enjoyed a sliver of solitude in the season to recharge and regroup for the second semester. But the action is back in a big way this weekend starting with a loaded Saturday slate to whet the appetite.

SCOTT RICKENBACH is 3-0, +1,950 in college basketball with plays rated 5.0+ and is 9-4, +2,590 with his last 13 college hoops picks. Rickenbach nailed a 7-Unit NBA winner Saturday and is back with a 7-Unit College Basketball Play (8 p.m.) Sunday. Sign up below and ride the hot hand!