college sports

His biggest problem will be trying to make the Horned Frogs relevant.

The former coach of Stanford and LSU has taken over a program that joined the Big 12 largely because of the strength of its football team, even though TCU won 18 games last year. Johnson will certainly have a fertile recruiting base, and now has the cache of the Big 12 to lean on.

"It's an exciting time for TCU basketball," Johnson said. "I've inherited a group of young men that have done an exceptional job of buying into everything that we've asked them to do."

Walker said the same thing of the Red Raiders, who've had perhaps the roughest offseason.

Gillispie resigned under intense scrutiny on Sept. 20, citing health concerns and with the university investigating allegations that he mistreated some of his players. The former Kentucky and Texas A&M coach led the Red Raiders to an 8-23 record in his only season in Lubbock.

Walker is working under a six-month contract to serve as interim coach.

Martin walked away from Kansas State amid some controversy, too. Rumors persist that there was a significant rift with the administration, something both sides have denied. Weber was an unpopular hire among the fanbase after struggling his last couple seasons at Illinois, but he takes over a senior-laden Wildcats team led by Rodney McGruder that should push Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma State and the Longhorns for the regular-season title.

"You want to deal with the best," Weber said. "You want that challenge, and that's the exciting part of it."