Summing up the college hoops preseason in 140 characters or less

If brevity is the soul of wit, what more humorous way is there to recap a summer of college hoops happenings than a Twitter-themed state of the CBB union? Forget those annual previews already coming out. It's football season and no one has time for all those words, especially when they'll be outdated the instant UConn shoehorns three more top-five recruits onto its roster.

Yet, Midnight Madness is just a month away, with an exciting slate of guarantee games starting a few weeks after that, so you can't just ignore the sport right now if you're a fan. A lot has happened. From annual events like the coaching carousel and the yearly NCAA rule book struggles, to transfers, incoming freshmen, and the best returning batch of talent in years, there's much to talk about.

We're just going to do it quickly, @AndyGlockner-style.

Not necessarily a Twitter junkie yet? Here's a quick explainer:

-- You get a maximum of 140 characters for a tweet, unless you're one of "those people" who use twitlonger or other services to defeat the purpose of the character limit and blow up Tweetdeck, an application that allows you to view multiple tweet columns in real time. We hate those people.

-- Make sure your tweets add value. A good tweet should have some component of news, opinion, snark or humor. It should not be "What up peeps?" or "Rise and Grind!" or anything @KimKardashian.

-- Hashtags (#) are used to finish off jokes and/or create a trackable topic. They are not license plates for Oregon football players.

Without further ado, here's how things look heading into preseason training at some of the most interesting teams from around the nation:

ACC

Duke

K could pass Knight in style: Win 903 could come at Cameron Square Garden vs. Mich. St. Will Austin's power and 3 Plumlees = contender?

Florida State

Couldn't score w/ @C_Sing31. Now will try to w/o him. Opportunity is there, tho, to double down on S16 trip. D will be nasty again.

Maryland

Still laughing about MD as a top-10 job? Wait till 2012-13 to see the dawn of what Turg, Hill and Ranson are quickly building. #DMVisripe

Miami

Cash/weather upgrades are nice, but what's Larranaga to do without supply of yachts, let alone big man Reggie Johnson?

North Carolina

Heels' frontcourt is loaded, but the O runs like butter thx to @KButter5, who also is one of the game's best Twitter follows. #titlefaves?

North Carolina State

New HC @Mark_Gottfried will jump out of plane on Sat to draw attn to Pack. ACC rivals will note that Duke, UNC would have jumped better.

Big East

Cincinnati

26-win Bearcats return most of roster, same cruddy nonconf sked. Zzzzzz. See you in January. Pencil in soph G Sean Kilpatrick for big leap.

Connecticut

Avoid major sanctions, win natl title and power struggle w/ AD, fit 11 into 10-scholly box. Yeah, Calhoun is back. #scaryD #chancetorepeat

Georgetown

Hoyas' "What I did this summer" essay includes trip to China, Brawl with pro team. Unfortunate, but could youngish team bond over incident?

Louisville

Not as confident as others that Kuric, Siva, nice parts/frosh = preseason hype. One road game (at Butler) b/f 12/31 at Rupp? Happy New Year!

Marquette

TBW no more? Seems so. After S16, DJO and Co. should show it was no fluke. But as stathead coach Buzz knows, numbers sometimes lie.

Pittsburgh

Can sum-of-parts program cobble together another strong season after personnel losses, game-of-the-NCAAs L to Butler? @MrGibbs12 returns.

Providence

How brutal's the Beast? Its 14th-place team got a new coach, immediately landed two top-50 recruits for '12. #howtogetthingsDunn #andLedo

St. John's

Last season was unexpected amuse-bouche before table set for this yr w/ killer frosh class. Stay healthy, @STJCoachLavin! #stormbrewing

Syracuse

What's the scoop? Orange will contend if @scoopjardine delivers on promise. Rick Jackson's a big loss, but lots left to lean on.