<hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">BAYLOR </span></strong><br /> &bull;<strong>Last year:</strong> 24-15 overall, 5-11 Big 12 (ninth), NIT finalist</p><p>&bull;<strong>Key story line:</strong> Coaches have philosophies and teams have styles, and Baylor under Scott Drew has been about perimeter play and shooting. He&rsquo;s had a couple of shot-blockers but nobody in his six seasons has topped more than 41 in a season.</p><p>Enter Ekpe Udoh, a transfer from Michigan. Udoh, a 6-10 junior, blocked 67 shots as a freshman and 92 as a sophomore.</p><p>&ldquo;Oh, yes, he gives us another dimension,&rdquo; Drew said.</p><p>&ldquo;I take a lot of pride in my defense,&rdquo; said Udoh, who was selected to the All-Big Ten defensive team two years ago. Udoh, a native of Edmond, Okla., transferred when John Beilein replaced Tommy Amaker in Ann Arbor.</p><p>&bull;<strong>Quote:</strong> &ldquo;I appreciate my mother for that.&rdquo;</p><p><p align="right"><strong>| Udoh, on his first name, which translates to &ldquo;Lion.&rdquo; Also, he wears No. 13 because his given middle name is Friday.</strong></p> <strong><span class="infobox-head">COLORADO </span></strong><br /> &bull;<strong>Last year:</strong> 9-22 overall, 1-15 Big 12 (12th)</p><p>&bull;<strong>Key story line:</strong> Big things are expected from guard Cory Higgins, the team&rsquo;s top scorer last season at 17.4 points. He spent much of the offseason working on ball handling and improving his shooting range in a setting that should give him an advantage.</p><p>Higgins worked out with the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA, the team coached by Larry Brown and with Michael Jordan on staff. Higgins&rsquo; dad, Rod, is the Bobcats&rsquo; general manager.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely an advantage,&rdquo; Higgins said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how many others in college basketball get to do that.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull;<strong>Quote:</strong> &ldquo;You see some guys in college with bodies ready for the NBA, but in the NBA everybody is like that.&rdquo;</p><p><p align="right"><strong>| Higgins</strong></p> <strong><span class="infobox-head">IOWA STATE </span></strong><br /> &bull;<strong>Last year:</strong> 15-17 overall, 4-12 Big 12 (10th)</p><p>&bull;<strong>Key story line:</strong> Craig Brackins&rsquo; sophomore season changed profoundly in a 15-point loss to Kansas. A lot of teams lost to the Jayhawks last season, so what made this one special?</p><p>Brackins scored 42 of the Cyclones&rsquo; 67 points. He couldn&rsquo;t miss, and Kansas couldn&rsquo;t stop him.</p><p>&ldquo;From that day everything was different for me,&rdquo; Brackins said. &ldquo;For me to do what I did shocked me. I knew I could play, but that was one of those days everything worked.&rdquo;</p><p>Brackins started noticing more scouts at Cyclones&rsquo; games. He also saw more defensive attention.</p><p>&bull;<strong>Quote:</strong> &ldquo;They must not think much of the coach, I guess.&rdquo;</p><p><p align="right"><strong>| Iowa State coach Greg McDermott, who returns his top three and five of his top six scorers. Yet the team that finished 10th in the Big 12 could only nudge up two spots in the preseason coaches poll.</strong></p> <strong><span class="infobox-head">NEBRASKA </span></strong><br /> &bull;<strong>Last year:</strong> 18-13 overall, 8-8 Big 12 (eighth), lost in NIT first round</p><p>&bull;<strong>Key story line:</strong> Nebraska has a couple of freshman big men, including 6-foot-10 Brandon Ubel from Blue Valley West. But the Cornhuskers have already suffered a huge loss from the forward wall. Christopher Niemann, a 6-11 sophomore center, tore an ACL practicing in the gym alone in August.</p><p>&ldquo;The trainer called, and they didn&rsquo;t think he tore it,&rdquo; Huskers coach Doc Sadler said. &ldquo;Then when they went in there it was completely torn. You just wonder when the luck is going to change sometimes.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull;<strong>Quote:</strong> &ldquo;We could have our best team that we&rsquo;ve ever had, you know? And not win as many games. That&rsquo;s why people come and play in this league, and that&rsquo;s why coaches coach in it.&rdquo;