I was the only person to vote for SMU last week, giving the Mustangs their sole point with my No. 25 ranking. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to vote for them as their season appears in danger of coming apart at the seams, what with the academic-related departures of Keith Frazier and Justin Martin, as well as an NCAA investigation in the works.

Still, the Mustangs won twice this week, including at Temple and a 23-point home wipeout of East Carolina. So I'm moving them up a pair of spots. (I actually gave Tulsa some brief consideration, but there are simply too many other teams ahead of the Golden Hurricane at this point. Not UConn, obviously).

Anyway, Arkansas, Wyoming and Providence get the boot. Stanford, San Diego State and Dayton take their spots. Yeah, I think Stanford is pretty darn good.

1. Kentucky
2. Virginia
3. Villanova
4. Duke
5. Wisconsin
6. Arizona
7. Gonzaga
8. Maryland
9. Wichita State
10. Notre Dame
11. Iowa State
12. Kansas
13. Louisville
14. Utah
15. West Virginia
16. VCU
17. North Carolina
18. Texas
19. Oklahoma
20. Northern Iowa
21. Stanford
22. San Diego State
23. SMU
24. Dayton
25. Seton Hall

The release of UConn's 2014-15 schedule means -- never mind football -- college basketball is just around the corner. Sort of.

The Huskies can actually start practicing on Oct. 3, per NCAA rules, though they likely will start after that. Teams can get in 30 practices in the 42 days prior to their first game (in UConn's case, on Friday, Nov. 14 against Bryant).

Anyway, here's a breakdown of UConn's 2014-15 schedule, with a look at some of the Huskies' opponents:

Tuesday, Nov. 4, vs. Southern Connecticut State University (exhibition): Huskies play Owls in an exhibition for second straight season. Won 93-65 last season at Gampel.

Sunday, Nov. 9 vs. Assumption College (exhibition): Greyhounds, Huskies have never met in an official game.

Friday, Nov. 14 vs. Bryant: Just second time programs have met. UConn demolished Bulldogs 88-58 in 2008 in Hartford.

Thursday, Nov. 20 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 12:30 p.m.: Huskies open up against College of Charleston. Will UConn be going against current assistant Karl Hobbs, who is reportedly a candidate for the (amazingly) still vacant head coaching job?

Friday, Nov. 21 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico: UConn will face either Texas A&M or Dayton. Flyers beat Ohio State, Syracuse and Stanford last year en route to Elite Eight, where they finally fell to Florida.

Sunday, Nov. 23 at Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico: Huskies could face Boston College for second time in as many seasons after not playing former Big East rivals for nearly 10 years. Steve Alford's New Mexico, which beat UConn in Paradise Jam finals in 2012, and George Mason (need we remind you) are other possible foes.

Sunday, Nov. 30 vs. Texas: Longhorns return all five starters and should be a preseason Top 15 pick – until Rick Barnes finds a way to mess it all up.

Friday, Dec. 5 vs. Yale: Huskies tamed Bulldogs 80-62 last year in the teams’ first meeting in 10 years.

UConn holds a 44-22 all-time advantage. Yale won't have Stratford's Brandon Sherrod, who'll be singing somewhere across the globe with the Whiffenpoofs.

Sunday, Dec. 14 vs. Coppin State: UConn is 5-0 all-time against Eagles, who will also play at Michigan this season.

Thursday, Dec. 18 vs. Duke at IZOD Center, East Rutherford, N.J., 8 p.m.: Despite losing Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood to the NBA draft, Blue Devils will be a preseason Top 5, maybe even No. 1. Duke boasts the top-rated recruiting class in the land, led by 6-foot-10 center Jahlil Okafor. This should be a fun one, as great rivalry is renewed. Two of Huskies’ biggest wins in program history (the 1999 national championship game and the 2004 Final Four) came against Duke. The Blue Devils, of course, handed UConn a crushing, overtime loss in the 1990 Elite Eight, ending the Huskies’ “Dream Season” on a Christian Laettner buzzer-beater. Duke holds the overall series edge, 5-4, including the most recent meeting, a 68-59 win on Nov. 27, 2009 in the NIT Season Tip-Off championships at Madison Square Garden.

Monday, Dec. 22 vs. Columbia: UConn is 7-2 all-time against the Lions, most recently with a 70-57 win on Nov. 11, 2011 at Gampel.

Sunday, Dec. 28 vs. Central Connecticut: Huskies face former longtime UConn assistant Howie Dickenman’s crew for first time in nine years. UConn has never lost in 12 meeting with these Blue Devils.

Wednesday, Dec. 31 vs. Temple: For first time in three years, UConn isn’t on the road for New Year’s Eve. Huskies open up AAC play against Owls, who finished ninth in the 10-team league a year ago at 4-14.

Saturday, Jan. 3 at Florida, O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida, 2 p.m.: Gators went 36-3 last season – 36-1 against teams not named UConn. The Huskies edged Florida on Dec. 2 at Gampel, 65-64, on Shabazz Napier’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer. Gator coach Billy Donovan called the play “luck,” and Florida had the chance to avenge the loss in the Final Four. But the Huskies’ clamped down defensively, frustrating SEC player of the year Scottie Wilbekin all night, and needed no “luck” to score a 63-53 win. This game finishes the teams’ home-and-home series.

Tuesday, Jan. 6 at South Florida, Sun Dome, Tampa, 7 p.m.: Huskies stay in the Sunshine State for an AAC bout with USF and its new head coach Orlando Antigua, the former John Calipari assistant at Kentucky. Antigua should help Bulls on recruiting trail, but that won't do them much good this season.

Saturday, Jan. 10 vs. Cincinnati, 11 a.m.: Sean Kilpatrick (the guy who was peeved he lost out to Napier for AAC player of the year honors) and Justin Jackson are both gone, but Bearcats should play their usual tough defense and be solid once again.

Tuesday, Jan. 13 at Tulsa, Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma: Huskies’ first-ever trip to Tulsa would’ve been more fun if Danny Manning were still head coach. But he bolted for Wake Forest, and instead former Missouri, Miami head man Frank Haith is at the helm. This could be a tough game for Huskies.

Saturday, Jan. 17 at Stanford, Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, Calif.: Cardinal handed UConn its first loss of the season last year, 53-51 on Dec. 18 in Hartford, and wound up advancing to the Sweet 16.

Thursday, Jan. 22 vs. Central Florida, 7 p.m.: Knights have lost virtually everyone from last year’s team that went 4-14 in AAC, including all-league pick Isaiah Sykes. Could be a long season in Orlando. Incidentally, this will be only time the teams play this season.

Sunday, Jan. 25 vs. South Florida, noon: Anthony Collins, a preseason all-AAC pick who missed almost all of last year due to injury, should be back at the point for Bulls. Corey Allen, Jr. and Chris Perry are also decent returnees.

Thursday, Jan. 29 at Cincinnati, Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, 8 p.m.: Are the Bearcats UConn’s biggest rival in the AAC?

Sunday, Feb. 1 at Houston, Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, 3 p.m.: Huskies return to site of their awful New Year’s Eve loss last season. Kelvin Sampson has taken over as head coach, but Ta’Shawn Thomas  (Oklahoma) and Danuel House (Texas A&M) have both transferred, leaving cupboard bare. Had those two stayed, Cougars may have been an NCAA tourney team. Now, they'll rely primarily on a bunch of JUCO's.

Wednesday, Feb. 4 vs. East Carolina, 7 p.m.: First meeting as league rivals between Huskies and Pirates. UConn actually holds a 3-1 all-time series lead, but haven’t played each other since 1978.

Saturday, Feb. 7 at Tulane, Devlin Fieldhouse, New Orleans, 6 p.m.: Green Wave will play most home games at 3,500-seat on-campus arena, but it’s possible this one could be switched to downtown arena where New Orleans Pelicans play.

Thursday, Feb. 12  vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m.: Don’t sleep on Tulsa, which went on a late-season surge and won the Conference USA tournament last season. Golden Hurricane is led by James Woodard, a do-everything guard who could warrant preseason all-AAC honors.

Saturday, Feb. 14 at SMU, Moody Coliseum, Dallas, 9 p.m.: An ESPN College GameDay presentation, should be a rowdy night. Mustangs could’ve been preseason top 15 if No. 1 national recruit Emmanuel Mudiay hadn’t bolted to play professionally in China, but they still might be the AAC favorites. After all, SMU did beat UConn both times they met last season.

Thursday, Feb. 19 at Memphis, FedExForum, Memphis, 9 p.m.: Huskies went a perfect 3-0 last year against Tigers, including twice at FedExForum – the latter game a 72-53 dismantling in an AAC tournament bout.

Sunday, Feb. 22 vs. Tulane, 4 p.m.: Green Wave return 90 percent of its offense from team that went .500 overall (17-17) and in C-USA (8-8).

Wednesday, Feb. 25 at East Carolina, Williams Arena, Greenville, North Carolina, 7 p.m.:  Four of five top scorers are back from team that went 17-17 overall.  However, top scorer Akeem Richmond is gone.

Sunday, March 1 vs. SMU, 2 p.m.: A CBS-televised affair, could be marquee game of AAC schedule. Despite no Mudiay, Mustangs have all-AAC standouts Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy back, along with talented Keith Frazier and Xavier transfer Justin Martin.

Thursday, March 5 vs. Memphis, 9 p.m.: Tigers lost Joe Jackson and other top guards to graduation, but may have league’s best frontcourt, led by all-AAC pick Shaq Goodwin and AAC rookie of the year Austin Nichols.

Saturday, March 7 at Temple, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia: Owls lost top scorer Dalton Pepper to graduation, top rebounder Anthony Lee to transfer (Ohio State). Could be another tough one for coach Fran Dunphy, who'll rely on whole slew of newcomers.

You've seen Ray Allen play basketball. Heck, you could have seen him Friday night at the Jim Calhoun Charity All-Star Game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

You may have seen Allen play golf, too. President Obama did over the weekend at Martha's Vineyard. Allen was back at it again as Calhoun's charity weekend concluded on Monday with a golf outing at The Golf Club of Avon.

Here's Allen at the long drive contest:



And here's our story on Allen from Monday's event, where he talks about his round with the President, as well as his future plans regarding basketball.

*** Meanwhile, here's a look at UConn's non-conference schedule. (Times and sites haven't fully been determined yet):

NOVEMBER

Tues 4 SOUTHERN CONN. STATE UNIVERSITY (exhibition)
Sun 9 ASSUMPTION COLLEGE (exhibition)
Fri 14 BRYANT
Thu-Sun, 20-23 Puerto Rico Tip-Off San Juan, P.R.
Thu 20 vs. College of Charleston ESPNU Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, P.R. 2:30 pm
Fri 21 vs. Dayton/Texas A&M ESPNU Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, P.R.
Sun 23 vs. TBD ESPN Networks Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, P.R.
Sun 30 TEXAS ESPN2  noon

DECEMBER

Fri 5 YALE
Sun 14 COPPIN STATE
Thu 18 vs. Duke ESPN IZOD Center, E. Rutherford, N.J. 8 pm
Mon 22 COLUMBIA
Sun 28 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT

JANUARY

Sat 3 at Florida TBA O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Sat 17 at Stanford TBA Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, Calif.

MARCH

Thu-Sun 12-15 American Athletic Championship ESPN Network XL Center, Hartford, Conn.

*** Finally, we can confirm to you (we have sources) that UConn will be picked to finish second in the American Athletic Conference this season by Lindy's magazine. SMU will be tabbed for first place.

It's very debatable, but not entirely unfair. SMU may have lost out on Emmanuel Mudiay, but the Mustangs have Nic Moore, Markus Kennedy and Keith Frazier among their talented returnees, along with Xavier transfer Justin Martin. And, of course, SMU did beat UConn twice last season.

Of course, the Mustangs didn't even get an invite to the NCAA tournament (they wound up advancing to the NIT finals). UConn won the national championship. So there's that.

Sports reporters are supposed to be neutral and play it right down the middle when it comes the teams and sports that they cover. There's no cheering in the press box, they say, and with the occasional notable exception, that largely holds true in college basketball.

What we can root for, however, is the story. It makes things much more enjoyable and interesting to cover when there are intriguing storylines behind certain teams, games or -- in this case -- conferences. The American Athletic Conference, to be exact.

While no one was happy to see Louisville leave (and no one really cared about Rutgers' departure), we all knew it was coming. We also were hoping for some good stories to pop up in the AAC, even without Louisville. Danny Manning was joining the league as head coach at Tulsa. His two battles against Larry Brown, who coached Manning to a national title with Kansas in 1988 (or did Manning lead Brown to that title?) was juicy stuff. And joining Brown at SMU was Emmanuel Mudiay, the No. 1 recruit in the nation, per most recruiting services.

Mudiay would make SMU better than it already was -- and the Mustangs already were pretty good, with Nic Moore, Markus Kennedy and Keith Frazier returning and Xavier transfer Justin Martin joining the fray. SMU beat UConn twice last year and would rightfully be not only the preseason favorite to win the conference, but a legit candidate for the Final Four. This was going to be fun.

Then, it all unraveled. Manning joined Louisville as another ACC defection, bolting incoming Tulsa for Wake Forest. All whole bunch of good players transferred (TaShawn Thomas and Danuel House of Houston, to Oklahoma and Texas A&M, respectively; Temple's Anthony Lee to Ohio State; USF's John Egbunu to Florida). 

And the big blow was Mudiay, who apparently had a whole bunch of eligibility concerns stemming from his two years at Deion Sanders' Prime Prep (who ever would have guessed that could happen?), is instead going to play professionally in China.

Suddenly, the AAC just got a whole lot less interesting next season.

Change the score, add some praise for Lasan Kromah and you could just about cut-and-paste Tuesday night's game story from Houston with Saturday's game story from Dallas against SMU. Lack of toughness, energy, rebounding; an AWOL Shabazz Napier for the first half; a disturbingly silent DeAndre Daniels; another good effort by Ryan Boatright; more self-blame by Kevin Ollie.

Maybe it was a play late in the game, after the outcome had essentially been determined, that best summed up UConn's day: SMU had an inbounds play from underneath its own basket with just two seconds on the shot clock. Only way it could really get a good shot off was on a lob, right? No way, with Amida Brimah in the game, the Mustangs would get one, right?

Wrong. Lob pass to Markus Kennedy for an alley-oop layup. 71-58 Mustangs. Game, set, match.

UConn's in some trouble right now, and it doesn't get any easier Wednesday night against Harvard. I believe this team will figure things out, figure out a lineup that's going to hustle and work, and will still be a factor come March (though I'm just about resigned to the fact that the Huskies will never be a good rebounding team. Not this one, anyway).

But as of now, this team is clearly not a Top 25 team. Won't be getting my vote tomorrow night. And it has to start getting things together -- quick.

A few notes 'n quotes that didn't make my game story:

(Ollie, on Omar Calhoun)

“Play defense, and he’ll see more minutes. That’s a lot of guys – not just Omar Calhoun, please don’t print that – it’s a lot of guys not playing defense. I can’t have you out there. There will be some changes. We’ve got to go to the drawing board. If we can’t score, we’ll definitely play defense. That’s what I hang my hat on. We’re not doing that the last two games.”

(on the strong play of Lasan Kromah)

“He started controlling the point guard (Nic Moore). He had 15 points in the first half, we changed up and put Lasan on him and he played with effort. I think I played him the whole second half, because he was just playing with effort.”

“We’ve got to take pressure off our two guards. We’ve got to have somebody out there that’s a third player that make plays. That’s why I went with Lasan, he’s playing strong defense. We took him off (Keith) Frazier. Once we took him off Frazier, Frazier started getting going. There’s only one Lasan. Some other guys have to step up and start playing defense like he does. We need awareness, being down, being focused, paying attention to detail. In practice, we’re very detail-oriented on what we’re going over. It seemed like these last two games, all principles go out the window. Guys are scoring on offense but they’re giving up points on defense. We can’t have it like that.”

Kromah: 

“I think we’ve got to play with more intensity, re-focus on the little things, box-outs, getting the 50-50 balls, all the little stuff that adds up to having us win big games.”

(is this team tough?)

“Relating to the rebounds, we can get tougher. Our box-outs. We’ve got fast guards, so if we get a rebound and kick it out to the wing, we’ll get a lot of fast breaks.”

“Shabazz was trying to get his teammates involved, get them in the flow of the game. He never rushes his shot … he was trying to help us win.”

(can he be a leader on this team, even though it's his first season here?)

“I’m definitely trying to. We’ve got some guys who’ve been playing for a while. I’m just trying to give little tips here and there about what I know of the game, little inside scoops to the young guys, even the guys that have been here. You’re never too old to learn.”