I was reading an article in my Sporting News magazine (yes, I still get the print one) about the plight of Hawaii's athletic program. Due to the rising fuel costs, it is difficult for them to (a) get to road games and (b) get anyone to fly out to play them.

The article threw it out there that conferences may have to adjust to the rising fuel costs by rescheduling and/or expansion.

Hawaii's conference, the WAC, is the nation's largest geographic conference ... and that's even if you took Hawaii out of the picture. WAC teams must travel all the way down to Louisiana, all the way up to Idaho and all the way west to Hawaii.

The Pac-10 ... a BCS conference ... uses an outstanding scheduling model where a team plays at both Oregon teams (or Arizona, or Washington, or Bay Area or Southern California teams) on a Thursday/Saturday schedule. That allows these schools to limit their travel costs. Could the WAC follow suit?

The WAC has two Idaho schools (Idaho, Boise State), two California schools (Fresno State, San Jose State) and not much else. They could link a trip to Utah State and Nevada together, but Hawaii, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech are kind of left in the cold.

UConn freshman swingman Nate Miles was arrested last week for violating a restraining order.

At about 8:16 p.m., according to the report, Miles was alleged to have violated the order by placing a phone call to the protected party. He was arrested and released later that night after posting a $2,500 surety bond.

Miles is due in court on Tuesday.

While the incident may not appear to be severe, it has to be a bit troubling for the Huskies. Miles, 20, attended five high schools in four years, and coach Jim Calhoun had a well-publicized battle with athletic director Jeff Hathaway just to get Miles admitted into the school.

According to court documents, Miles was served with a restraining order just 20 minutes prior to the violation. A woman filed the order against Miles because she claims he attempted to force her to have sex. The two parties had a relationship that allegedly turned into abuse in the weeks prior to the filing of the restraining order.

Once he got the order, he placed a call to the woman which was an instant violation. Miles was sent to counceling which could lead to the charges being dismissed.

The University has since expelled Miles. His legal guardian is pushing for an appeal, though Miles isn't sure if he wants to go through all that.

It seemed like a done deal that Caracter would drop down to play right away. The transfer to Oklahoma City in the NAIA seemed like a lock. There was no way he'd transfer from Louisville to somewhere else in Division 1. He'd have to sit out a year, and given the lack of motivation he had when he had playing time, what would happen to him if he sat? Of course, this is Derrick Caracter, who seems to have no clue what he wants. So, why not transfer to Southern Mississippi.

Southern Miss has apparently received Caracter's release and transcript from Louisville to make the transfer happen. Caracter sitting out a year. Just working out and (maybe) going to class. That doesn't seem likely.

I'm not rooting against the kid. With the talent he has occasionally shown, I'd love to see it work. If I had to bet, though, the money would be flowing the other way.

Herb Pope has reversed course once more -- in just the space of a weekend -- and decided that yes, he will transfer from New Mexico State to Seton Hall. This is fascinating insofar as the three major perspectives of the decision: NMSU, Seton Hall and Herb Pope

The good news for New Mexico State and Marvin Menzies is that they won't have to wonder when Pope will consider another transfer or decide to turn pro. They don't have to be the team worried that he will do something else really stupid, and make them look like a program that will take any player with talent regardless of the baggage. On-the-court, another talented sophomore, Wendell McKines, is staying in Las Cruces after contemplating a transfer. So, there is that.

The downside is obviously losing a very talented, athletic power forward in Pope. After finally getting eligible, Pope immediately improved the Aggies and was very good. The Aggies also stood by Pope when he had to fight the NCAA over his academic eligibility. They didn't flinch when he got a charged with a DUI while still waiting to get approval from the NCAA. New Mexico State put a lot into getting Pope eligible to play, and only got 16 games out of it.

Hurricane Gustav has already affected the New Orleans Saints. Now it is changing the St. John's Red Storm's plans to tour Mexico.

St. John's was supposed to take a five day trip to Cancun, Mexico where they'd play a couple of games against international teams. By NCAA rule, they were allowed to have 10 days of practice before the trip. Since the trip in cancelled, they cannot continue those practices.

"We were looking forward to the trip to Cancun, but with the severe weather in the area we decided it best to keep our team and student-athletes out of potential harm's way," St. John's coach Norm Roberts said. "We are disappointed, but it is the right thing to do, and we were able to get a few great days of practice in and get the freshmen on the court for one day as well. We're all really looking forward for the 2008-09 season, and will get a chance to travel internationally before next year begins."

(Hat tip to Awful Announcing)

As the conferences are slowly releasing their schedules, ESPN has released part of theirs. Remember that they now do "College Gameday" on Saturdays for hoops just like they do for the pigskin.

In the basketball version, the crew of Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas travel to a school to hold their show ... with a big game being held that night at that location.

Below is the list of games:

January 17- Chapel Hill, NC (Miami-North Carolina)
January 24- South Bend, IN (UConn-Notre Dame)
January 31- Knoxville, TN. (Florida-Tennessee)
February 7- Spokane, WA (Memphis-Gonzaga)
February 14- Madison, WI (Ohio State-Wisconsin)
February 21- Austin, TX (Oklahoma-Texas)
February 28- Berkeley, CA (UCLA-California)
March 7- Morgantown, WV (Louisville-West Virginia)

As you can see, there are some outstanding games on that schedule and some great campus sites. I'm sure the gang is looking foward to going up to Wisconsin in the middle of February.

We think. No, really. This time, for sure. Maybe. Never, say never? Okay, yeah, I think it really is the end for Louisville, Derrick Caracter and Rick Pitino.

"I don't think there is any chance of him reaching the stipulations that we set forth," Pitino said. " ... It's in his best interest to do exactly what he's doing."

What is he doing? Well, his newfound devotion to doing whatever it took to re-earn his place at Louisville lasted less than a month. Instead, very quickly he ended up running back home to New Jersey and appeared to be re-evaluating things (Given Caracter's history of conditioning, that likely involved a fair amount of donuts and Tastycakes. Mmmm. Butterscotch Krimpets.). So much for getting his academics back in order.

Caracter, showing his typical maturity and responsibility, had his mother let a Louisville assistant know he was transferring.

What lucky school will be getting Derrick Caracter? It looks like he will drop all the way to the NAIA level and 2-time defending champs Oklahoma City University. He will be able to pair with ex-Tennessee guard Ramar Smith who was dismissed for academics.

At long last this story appears to be done with respect to any relevance in college basketball.

Arguably, Pitt's Mike Cook had little shot at getting a medical redshirt. He would essentially be asking for a 6th year of eligibility. He transferred from East Carolina after his sophomore year -- sitting out per NCAA rules. He went down in the 11th game of Pitt's season.

The NCAA rules do not permit a player to get a medical redshirt if they suited up for more than 30% of the team's games. Pitt played in a total of 37 games in 2007-08, but they don't all get counted. According to the NCAA rules the four-game Hispanic College Fund Basketball Challenge Pitt participated counted as only two games. The Big East Tournament, in which Pitt played four games, only counted as one game. The two NCAA Tournament games are not counted at all. So, Pitt is credited with playing 30 games. That put Mike Cook's percentage of games played at 36.67% (11/30). In that respect, it was no surprise when the NCAA finally said no to his appeal.

So what exactly were Pitt and Mike Cook appealing, and why did it take the NCAA's student-athlete reinstatement committee some two months to turn down his appeal?

If Baylor can drag itself out of NCAA sanction purgatory, recruit talent to Waco, and get into the NCAA Tournament then any team in a major conference should believe it can as well. Especially if the program dwells in a talent-rich state. Of course, the talent has to actually have the grades to make it.

Stan Heath has almost as tough a job with South Florida. A team with little history, less tradition and plays in the 16-team behemoth Big East. He is recruiting in Florida where, despite the football-first mentality (much like in Texas), there is still a sizable talent base to recruit basketball players.

I understand that when you are building a program -- and that is what he has to do -- you may have to take a chance on players with a shaky foundation. Whether it is brushes with the law, bad family or academics. Even the best programs will, if the talent warrants it.

Heath, however, has continually gone to the academically shaky with some frequency, and it has been a struggle. So far USF has had three recruits fail to qualify. Teeng Akol, Dwan McMillan and now George Teague. That's just for the 2008 recruiting class.

Not to worry, they just added a 20-year old freshman to help this year. His grades seem in order at last.

A quiet, nasty story that stayed below the regular media in the spring, was that several Syracuse basketball players were involved in a sexual assault investigation. Eventually it was revealed that there was an investigation involving starting point guard Jonny Flynn and bench players Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson. Ultimately the Onondaga County Grand Jury hearing the charges, found that the allegations did not rise to the standards of criminal activity and the matter was dismissed.

That was only the criminal side of things. The next phase was going before the Syracuse University Judicial Hearing Board. This was much like the judicial review panel at Pacific University that suspended three players for the year after the alleged victim declined to file charges of sexual assault.

The judicial review panel at many universities have come under fire for the way they conduct the hearing.

You have already been cleared of all charges in a government court room by a jury of your peers. Still, you now have to stand in front of a panel of strangers who will not take that legal decision into account and will determine your fate based on not only the words of your accuser but on yours as well. You will not be allowed to have a lawyer stand next to you and advise you on legal issues or your rights. If you don't testify, it's practically an admission of guilt, so you have no choice. If you want your accuser cross examined, you have to do it yourself.

At least one player at Pacific is rumored to be planning a lawsuit against Pacific for his suspension. At Syracuse, Jonny Flynn was also prepared to file suit if he was suspended or kicked out of school.