The LSU men's basketball team is indeed in an "Empire State of Mind." If New York is "a concrete jungle that dreams are made of," and "there's nothing you can't do," then the Tigers should have no problem conquering No.

No. 12 UConn is headed to New York next week for the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals Nov.

If this were a prize fight over at the casino - we bring this up only because the Hall of Fame coach began his postgame remarks by quoting Mike Tyson - it probably would have come down something like this ... The 12th round would have ended to a smattering of boos from disappointed fans before being dropped in the lap of the judges.

The joke among UConn players is that everyone now has to begin playing defense. "Real defense," senior forward Gavin Edwards said.

The 12th-ranked Connecticut Huskies open up their 2009-10 season this evening in Storrs, as they welcome the William & Mary Tribe to Gampel Pavilion.

The Husky Run typically serves to kick off the practice season for the men's basketball team.

Sophomore Kemba Walker, right, steps into the starting point-guard role this season, taking over for current Indiana Pacer A.J. Price.

Everyone in local basketball circles already knows about him. Now, the rest of the nation is about to get to know the A-Train. The University of Connecticut men's basketball team opens its season on Friday night with freshman Alex Oriakhi set to step into a long line of talented big man to start at center for the Huskies.

Analyzing his team Sunday after the second of two easy exhibition wins, it was clear that Jim Calhoun figured the Huskies would be incomplete for only so long.

It has been 214 days since the men's basketball team lost to Michigan State in the 2009 Final Four.

The UConn Huskies have been picked to finish third in the 2009-10 Big East preseason men's basketball poll, the league announced at its annual media day this morning at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

WILDCATS NO. 1 -- Fresh off last season's Final Four appearance and sparked by the return of senior guards Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding and junior Corey Stokes, the Villanova Wildcats were handed the bull's-eye as the team to beat in the 2009-10 Big East preseason poll.

As the overtimes started to pile up for UConn in last year's classic Big East tournament matchup against Syracuse, so too did the amount of players fouling out for the Huskies.

UConn players ran Wednesday. Taking part in the annual Husky Run, they left from the east entrance of Gampel Pavilion , negotiated the 3.4-mile course, headed down Stadium Road and finished at the south entrance.

There was a lot of talk before and after the Husky Run about UConn being a faster team this season.

For the second year in a row, UConn big man Gavin Edwards was the first player on the basketball team to cross the finish line in the annual Husky Run.

The UConn men will participate Wednesday in the Husky Fun Run, a 5K race on campus that is a kind of ceremonial kickoff to the season.

The Big East will take a hit this year. Then again, how could it not? Can't wait for the college hoops season to start? We get you ready for 2009-10 with our preseason guide .

Connecticut is negotiating a long-term deal with Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun that could keep him at the school into his 70s, according to multiple sources.

Key Returners: Jerome Dyson , Kemba Walker , Stanley Robinson Top Newcomers: Jamaal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriakhi, Darius Smith Strengths: Ita TMs crazy that a team can lose A.J. Price and still have one of the best backcourts in the Big East.