Texas Tech Red Raiders

1. Nic Cage Likes Them Out of the East. The "Masked Rider" mascot of Texas Tech began unofficially in 1936 as "The Ghost Rider," as unknown groups of students would circle the field on horses at home football games, then depart the stadium. At the 1954 Gator Bowl, The Masked Rider became the official mascot and the first horse-ridden mascot in major college sports. Tech's other mascot, Raider Red, so developed because of an old Southwestern Conference Law preventing live animal mascots at away games, is played by a student who cannot reveal his identity during the entire duration of his tenure as "Raider Red."

2. Awkward Dinner Conversation. Texas Tech's greatest basketball success came in 1993, when a Sheryl Swoopes-led team captured the NCAA championship. Of course, in October 2005, Swoopes came out publicly. You have to wonder what alumni fundraising dinners might be like in Lubbock with Knight and Swoopes in the same room, given that Knight has proven himself truly understanding of female issues over the years, including throwing vases at secretaries and once commenting, "I say, if you know rape is inevitable, just sit back and enjoy it."

3. Getting Shouts from the Jam Man. The Jam Man (!!), who can be found at http://www.thejamman.com/bio.html, has been involved in the "hip hop scence (sic) almost from the very beginning," and helped bring hip hop into the main stream, according to him. Funny, we had no idea. He shouts out the Texas Tech Men's team on his webpage, specifically Martin Zeno, Jarrius Jackson, Michael Prince and Darryl Dora, only one of whom has been hit in the face by Knight this season (to our knowledge). — Ted Bauer