Good morning. I’m dusting off some stuff in the Tier 4 Studio this morning, cracking my knuckles and flipping through my thesaurus after a much appreciated fortnight away from the occupation. We’re unfettered and unfiltered through the end of the basketball season now, one that picks up this weekend with the start of Big 12 play.

WVU begins with a tricky double on the road against much improved TCU (9-3) Saturday and Tubby Smith-led Texas Tech (8-5) Monday. The Mountaineers (8-5) need, what, no fewer than 10 wins, some of them noisy, the rest of the way to return to the NCAA Tournament? Or is the NIT a more realistic pursuit?

We’ll cover than and the rest of the Big 12 at 9 a.m. on Scoop & Score with Travis Hines of the Ames Tribune, who’ll also decipher Iowa State’s stunning success so far. And with five nights left in the bowl season, we’ll take a look at the winners and the losers of the first 12 days.