As the season rapidly approaches, here are a few quick hitters to keep you updated on the status of our rivals.

What college basketball player doesn't have $30,000 for a down payment on some jewelry? Now both Tobacco Road powers are coming under scrutiny. At Duke, it's Lance Thomas's swag, and at UNC it's Tyler Hansbrough's mom.

Remember when FSU was seriously recruiting Sam Cassell Jr.? And then remember that they abruptly stopped? Well, our friends at Testudo Times potentially have some insight into the situation. But on the good news side - for Maryland - they picked up a huge transfer in Dezmine Wells after Xavier booted him from school before checking to see if he was actually guilty as charged.

There's only one preseason tournament that actually qualifies as a tournament - as in, if you lose you can't win. Virginia is in that tournament - the preseason NIT - and they're the 2-seed. They're also the least likely of the top seeds to advance.

It's been a few years since the Gators won back-to-back National Titles. Well, unfortunately, they not only have the most consensus top-100 players of any team in the nation, but they also have commitments from the two top-10 prospects for next years class. In other words, get them while you can. They'll be the preseason No. 1 in 2013.

And finally, the ongoing saga of 5* NC State Rodney Purvis is still ongoing. He's in school, but cannot play, while the NCAA continues to investigate if his high school was actually a school. If he can't play it will at least give the national media an excuse when NC State turns out to not be a top-5 team like everyone is predicting.