Lots to cover in this week’s Twitterbag. We’ll start with a query from Louisville, where the fans are, quite understandably, already looking to the future.

Too early I'm sure, but does Louisville stick with Padgett after this year or go after a big name coach? — Matt Hickey (@hickeymj) December 5, 2017

It’s never too early to ask about the coaching carousel. In David Padgett’s case, it’s starting to get late a little early. His Cardinals are coming off a rough week, losing at Purdue, 66-57, and at home to Seton Hall, 79-77. Even more discouraging is that the Cardinals lost for two completely different reasons. Against Purdue, they had a hard time defending Isaac Haas, the Boilermakers’ 7-2 290-pound center, who put Louisville’s front line into foul trouble. Against Seton Hall, the problem was 6-6 senior forward Desi Rodriguez, who repeatedly slashed to the basket en route to 29 points, including the game-winner on a bank shot with eight seconds to play.

Even so, Louisville ranks 12th nationally in defensive efficiency. It’s a weird lineup, with four forwards and a guard in the starting five, yet for all that height this is a slender bunch. They block a lot of shots, but they also get pushed around. And the Cardinals are getting very little out of their bench.

I say all this because Padgett’s chances to land this job permently quite obviously hinge on how his team performs. With Rick Pitino at the helm and freshman Brian Bowen in the fold, Louisville looked like a second-weekend NCAA Tournament team. Now, who knows what they will look like in three or four months?

The bigger question is how in the world will Louisville even hire a coach? Who would even do the hiring? The school has an interm president and an interim athletic director. Not only are we still waiting word on the FBI’s investigation, we still don’t have a final verdict on the whole prostitute-dorm party scandal that could very well end with the school having to take down the 2013 NCAA championship banner. This place is one hot mess. Who in the world would want this job anyway?

The one obvious name out there right now is Tom Crean, who is working for ESPN but very much wants to be back in the mix next year. Crean has already been through one dramatic rebuild at Indiana, and whatever you want to say about him, he has never had a whiff of impropriety with respect to rules breaking. If Crean isn’t inclined to put himself in that situation again, the school would have to fill the vacancy with a current head coach with credibility. All the usual suspects will be approached: Gregg Marshall, Chris Mack, Mick Cronin, Tony Bennett. All are well paid and have job security. Would they really want to give that up to take over a place that’s so dysfunctional?

On the other hand, this is still Louisville, with great basketball tradition, first-rate facilities, a terrific conference and a loyal fan base. If the school is able to put together a long-term contract with mega bucks, then it’s possible it will get a decent replacement. But that’s a big if right now.

It would make things easier if the team does really well, in which case they will have to give the job to Padgett, or really poorly, in which case everyone will agree it should go to someone else. My sense is that things will fall somewhere in between. As we get into late February and early March, Padgett could start to look more and more like the safe choice, and an inexpensive one at that. It may be in the end that he manages to back his way into a job that no one else wants.

What do you make of Mick Cronin and JP Macura's altercation? — CollegeBasketballHQ (@collegebballhq) December 5, 2017

May I be honest? Just between us?

I loved it.

Yes, it was wrong for Macura to mouth off like that during the game. Yes, Cronin was supposed to be the grown-up in the situation and didn’t act like it. And yes, I believed Xavier coach Chris Mack when he said after Cronin’s diatribe that there are two sides to the story, and that Cronin was the one who got teed up during the game, and that it was probably nothing compared to what Lance Stephenson said when the teams played a while back. I’m as big on sportsmanship as anyone.

I will also say that Macura is just about out of mulligans. His antics in the win at Wisconsin weren’t just unsportsmanlike, they were stupid. He showboats by doing the Gator chomp to Wisconsin fans to remind them their team lost to Florida in the NCAA Tournament, when it was Wisconsin that knocked Macura and Xavier out of the tourney one year before? That has to make Macura the worst trash talker of all-time.

And yet, I liked the chippiness of the whole episode. What do the cynics say about college hoops this time of year? It doesn’t matter. Well, that game mattered, and the spat between Macura and Cronin (and by extension, Cronin and Mack) proved that. Plus, let’s remember that six years ago, this game devolved into an all-out brawl. This contretempts was tame by comparison, and it got people’s attention. So yes, I admit I took a little guilty pleasure in what happened and will be sure to mark my calendar to watch the Crosstown Shootout next year.

Seth, will lack of traditional Big be a limiter for uniquely talented @NevadaHoops squad? Cheers. — ScreenTheScreener (@STheSPodcast) December 5, 2017

Well, it sure doesn’t seem to be bothering them so far. The Wolf Pack began the week undefeated and ranked No. 1 in The Fieldhouse’s mid-major power rankings. They put up a fight Tuesday night against a good Texas Tech team in Lubbock but ended up falling in overtime, 82-76, their first loss of the season. The truth is, there are not a whole lot of “traditional” bigs anymore. That includes in the NBA and teams in power conferences, but it is especially true at the mid-major level. Coaches from high-major schools are more likely to take on a long-term project for a big man than a guard, so that doesn’t leave much for the Nevadas of the world.

The Wolf Pack do have two undersized, non-traditional starting forwards. Jordan Caroline, a 6-7 230-pound junior, has posted up on just 7.7 percent of his possessions, according to Synergy, and when he does get the ball in the post he almost always turns and faces his defender as opposed to scoring with his back to the basket. Cody Martin, also a 6-7 junior, has posted up on 13.3 percent of his possessions. His preferred move after the catch is a turnaround fadeaway jumper.

On the other hand, Nevada has a slew of big guards and wings to balance this out: 6-4 junior Lindsey Drew and 6-7 Kendall Stephens at guard, 6-7 junior Caleb Martin at small forward, and 6-3 senior Hallice Cooke and 6-7 sophomore Josh Hall coming off the bench. Overall, the Pack ranks 15th in the country in KenPom’s height metric. So while they may not have any traditional big men, but they are a very big team.

When you don’t have great size up front, you need to be a good shooting team. Going into Tuesday, Nevada was 12th in the country in effective field goal percentage and 11th in 3-point percentage at 43.1 percent. That is largely owed to Stephens, a transfer from Purdue who has rediscovered the form he displayed early in his career, and is now sinking 44.4 percent from behind the arc.

This Nevada team reminds me a lot of the 2015-16 Middle Tennessee squad that shocked Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For comparison’s sake, I went back and looked up the Blue Raiders’ numbers from that season. Their 3-point percentage was lower than Nevada’s (39.2), and they were ranked 178th in overall height. Middle Tennessee did have a more “traditional” center in Reggie Upshaw, but his ability to step away from the basket was a real difference maker.

The “big” question is what happens if and when this team gets into the NCAA Tournament and runs up against a team with superior frontcourt size and depth. That’s going to put even more pressure on the offense to perform with efficiency, particularly from 3-point range. But it can be done. Nevada is skilled and experienced, and it has a leader in Eric Musselman who thinks like the former NBA coach that he is. That’s a pretty good recipe for a big finish in March.

Ceiling for KU if they add Preston and DeSousa? — Clay Collison (@Collison2) December 5, 2017

Will Billy Preston play this year at @KUHoops? — Rich Bardgett (@Dicky_Bardgett) December 5, 2017

Everything I’m hearing privately out of Kansas echoes what Bill Self has been saying publicly. Folks out there expect that Preston will be back soon. The Jayhawks’ highly-touted 6-10 freshman forward from Los Angeles has not played in any of their games. He was suspended for the Nov. 10 season opener because he violated curfew the night before. The next day, Preston was involved in a one-car accident that prompted school officials to decide they needed to sit him out while they developed “a clearer financial picture specific to the vehicle.” So he has been withheld from competition since then while the school works with the NCAA to get him eligible again.

The situation has become very discouraging for Preston, from what I understand. The kid is feeling down. Self excused him from the trip to Miami so he could spend time with his family. These things are hard to predict, but it is telling that when Self discussed the situation on Monday, he talked about whether Preston could play in Kansas’ next game Wednesday against Washington in Kansas City, not whether he could play at all. Usually the way things work is that the school gathers the requisite information, sends it to the NCAA, and once it is determined how many games the player needs to sit out, they wait until that many games have been played and then reinstate the player immediately. I’d be surprised if Preston isn’t available by the start of Big 12 play (though I’ve been surprised before).

As for Silvio De Sousa, the 6-9 220-pound power forward at IMG Academy remains on track. He has already asked the NCAA to clear him to join the team at the end of the first semester. He took a standardized test last Saturday. If his score is good and his core classes come through, then he will be in a Jayhawk uniform by the end of this month.

And then what would their ceiling be? Well, considering they’re currently undefeated and ranked No. 2 in this week’s AP poll without having either of those guys in the mix, I’d say their ceiling would be as high as any team’s in the country — especially if Devonte’ Graham continues to channel his inner Stephen Curry. (He scored 35 points in each of his last two games.) Also keep in mind that the Jayhawks are going to add another frontcourt body in 6-6 sophomore Sam Cunliffe, who transferred from Arizona State mid-year last season. Cunliffe will be able to join the Jayhawks for their Dec. 16 game against Nebraska.

Why is the Big Ten starting early with their conference games then going non conference before the holidays? — MA Gonzalez (@MA_Gonzo0629) December 5, 2017

The quick answer is that the league very much wanted to hold its conference tournament in Madison Square Garden. This has been a goal since the league added Maryland and Rutgers three years ago. The problem was that the Garden was already contracted to hold the Big East tournament that weekend. So in order to make it happen, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney convinced his schools to hold the league tournament one week earlier, with the champion being crowned on March 4. That means there will be at least 11 days between the teams’ final conference tournament game and the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Naturally there was much blowback to the idea, but Delaney got everyone on board by assuring them that it was a one-time deal. Beginning next year, the tournament will alternate between Chicago and Indianapolis over a four-year period.

There will be much dialogue as to how the long layoff will affect the teams’ performance in the NCAA Tournament. Most coaches will tell you that they would much rather have a game a couple of days beforehand to stay in rhythm. Then again, it might be nice to have a long layoff to practice and allow their players to rest and recover injuries. If the league does well in the tournament, some people will try to attribute it to the layoff. If the teams flop, the layoff — and by extension, Delaney — will be blamed.

Another offshoot to this unique setup is that each team had to play two games in early December to make sure they could fit in the entire league schedule. This was something else that was bemoaned about the change, but you know what? I like it! I think it has been cool to have a couple of conference games sprinkled in this time of year. It has been a pretty good differentiator during a period when college basketball has a hard time grabbing people’s attention. I would not be surprised to see other teams try to add a December game or two to their conference schedule. Imagine if, say, every ACC team played in a conference game this week on Tuesday or Wednesday. Wouldn’t that get people talking about the ACC? Any time you can do something that’s a little bit different than what your competitors are doing, it usually ends up being a good piece of marketing. I will be interested to see if this becomes something that other leagues will want to try.

(Top image of Louisville coach David Padgett: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)