After 105 years steeped in history amid off-the-chart contempt, the rivalry between Kansas and Missouri expired for the foreseeable future as Mizzou departed the Big 12 Conference for the SEC. KU has a commanding edge in nearly every category (winning percentage, victories away from home and close games decided by single digits), but the Tigers have been enough of a tormentor to make the series as energetic and entertaining as you'll find anywhere. Their border war stacks right up there with the more nationally-acclaimed "Clash of the Titans" between Duke and North Carolina.

It was shortsighted of KU and Mizzou to let their rivalry end. They simply join top six conference members DePaul/Illinois, Maryland/Georgetown and Cincinnati/Ohio State as potentially great natural non-league matchups that their fans can't enjoy.

If bruised egos heal in the near future, perhaps sounder minds will prevail with Mizzou annually opposing KU in Kansas City much like it does in St. Louis against Illinois. But Mizzou can't complain if the Jayhawks continue to act like a jilted lover because the self-centered Tigers fail to oppose competent in-state foes such as Missouri State and Saint Louis.

By almost any measure, KU has a superior program to Mizzou. But Jayhawks coach Bill Self should rein in his rhetoric as the divorce dialogue intensified or at least take a crash course in college basketball history. When comparing the significance of the Kentucky/Louisville rivalry to the pending termination of KU's home-and-home conference conflicts with the Tigers, Self said: "Well, they've always played every year (out of league). That's all they know."

Well, Self needs to "always know" that UK and Louisville went 61 years from 1923 through 1983 without a regular-season matchup before they came to their senses and saw the light. Speaking of light, KU and Mizzou simply have to shed one lightweight apiece to keep a good thing going for the sport in general and for their fans specifically.

By toning down picking on patsies, there is plenty of room on their respective non-league schedules to keep playing each other. For instance, KU had colossal contests last season with Towson, Florida Atlantic, Howard and North Dakota while Mizzou met mighty Mercer, Niagara, Binghamton, Northwestern State, Navy, Kennesaw State and William & Mary. If the century-old KU/Mizzou spectacle returns, it could immediately surpass Kentucky/Louisville and go atop the following list of the nation's best 25 nonconference rivalries if only because of longevity:

1. Kentucky/Louisville
2. Illinois/Missouri
3. Cincinnati/Xavier
4. Indiana/Kentucky
5. Indiana/Notre Dame
6. Brigham Young/Utah
7. Iowa/Iowa State
8. Memphis/Tennessee
9. St. Joseph's/Villanova
10. Georgia/Georgia Tech
11. Florida/Florida State
12. Clemson/South Carolina
13. Marquette/Wisconsin
14. New Mexico/New Mexico State
15. Utah/Utah State
16. Temple/Villanova
17. La Salle/Villanova
18. Florida/Miami (FL)
19. Iowa/Northern Iowa
20. Colorado/Colorado State
21. Drake/Iowa
22. Penn/Villanova
23. Providence/Rhode Island
24. Creighton/Nebraska
25. Idaho/Idaho State

The most illuminating item about Jim Boeheim passing Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) to rank fourth among the nation's all-time winningest coaches is that the bespectacled "Baron of Upstate New York" has a stunning streak of nothing but winning records in 35 seasons with Syracuse. His worst worksheet was 16-13 in 1981-82 when the NIT-bound Orange dropped four of its last five outings.

Rupp never had a losing record in 41 campaigns but did post one breakeven mark with UK (13-13 in 1966-67). When assessing this topic, keep in mind the following mentors among the all-time biggest winners each had multiple non-winning seasons: Phog Allen (four non-winning records), Jim Calhoun (six), Lefty Driesell (four), Lou Henson (eight), Hank Iba (eight), Bob Knight (two), Mike Krzyzewski (four), Lute Olson (three), Dean Smith (two) and Eddie Sutton (two).

Boeheim entered this season with the best record among active coaches in close contests (189-117 mark in games decided by fewer than six points, 61.8%). He is atop the list of five major-college coaches in history with winning marks every year in college careers spanning more than 20 years.

Coach	Seasons	Closest to Non-Winning Record
Jim Boeheim	35	16-13 (Syracuse in 1981-82)
*Jerry Tarkanian	31	16-12 (UNLV in 1980-81) and 19-15 (Fresno State in 2001-02)
John Wooden	29	14-12 (UCLA in 1959-60)
Lou Carnesecca	24	17-12 (St. John's in 1987-88)
Peck Hickman	23	13-12 (Louisville in 1957-58)

*Tarkanian also compiled seven more winning records in as many seasons for two community colleges in California, where he won five consecutive state championships after notching a 14-13 mark in 1961-62 at Riverside City College to begin his coaching odyssey.

Who among the following standouts has amassed sufficient cold hard facts to become the next national player of the year?

Thomas Robinson, F, Jr., Kansas (17.8 ppg, 12 rpg, 1.2 spg, 1.2 bpg, 54.6 FG%)/Odds: 5-to-2 If Robinson continues to improve, he could compile higher NBA career scoring and rebounding averages than KU assistant Danny Manning, the 1987-88 co-national player of the year who averaged 14 ppg and 5.2 rpg with seven different pro teams in 15 seasons.

Anthony Davis, C, Fr., Kentucky (14 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.5 spg, 4.9 bpg, 65.1 FG%)/Odds: 10-3 Attracting more attention than SI's annual swimsuit issue, he rejects and influences more shots than an NHL All-Star goalie. Astonishingly, he boasts more blocks by himself than about 300 DI teams. With only three games scoring more than 18 points, Davis needs to demonstrate he can do more offensively.

Jared Sullinger, F, Soph., Ohio State (17.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 1.6 spg, 56.1 FG%)/Odds: 10-1 After shedding baby fat, slimmed-down version looks better at first glance than last year's chubby freshman. Shooting range has improved to complement his lethal low-post moves, but back spasms have prevented him from taking his overall game to the next level. After committing 10 miscues against Michigan State, he has twice as many turnovers as assists and was the Buckeyes' leading scorer just three times in an earlier 13-game stretch.

Tyler Zeller, C, Sr., North Carolina (15.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 54 FG%, 71.2 FT%)/Odds: 10-1 Aging like fine wine to help offset teammate Harrison Barnes still trying to live up to last year's preseason billing. Runs the floor exceptionally well for a tall player but still needs to be more assertive at crunch time.

Kevin Jones, F-C, Sr., West Virginia (20.6 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 52.8 FG%)/Odds: 20-1 Superb offensive rebounder entered national-player-of-the-year picture after scoring at least 22 points in six consecutive contests. Could join Walter Berry (St. John's) and Troy Murphy (Notre Dame) as the only Big East Conference players to lead the league in scoring and rebounding. Difficult to assess his impact because the Big East is so far down from a year ago.

Doug McDermott, F, Soph., Creighton (22.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 61.3 FG%, 82.9 FT%, 50 3FG%)/Odds: 20-1 Beset by double- and triple-teaming from pesky Missouri Valley Conference opponents, three modest scoring outputs of fewer than 16 points in a recent five-game span kept his national profile from escalating to where he could realistically challenge Robinson the same way MVC alumnus Hersey Hawkins (Bradley) did with Manning in 1987-88.

MIA: Baylor forward Perry Jones III, exhibiting the heart of an insect while scoring in single digits nine times this season, should be among the top candidates but he plays way too passively to try to avoid an injury that would cost him dearly as a probable top five NBA draft choice.