On Tuesday, the Big 12 authorized commissioner Bob Bowlsby to start exploring expansion candidates.Bowlsby and Oklahoma president and Big 12 board chairman David Boren said the factors the league would consider would include strength of football program, fan base, media market, reputation and academic standing.Through that prism, heres how potential expansion candidates stack up:NOTE: In each section, teams are listed in order of likeliness of being invited to join the league.The favoritesBYU: With the strongest football program of any available non-Power 5 program, the Cougars have been at the top of the list from the very beginning. Along with Houston, BYU topped an ESPN poll of the leagues football coaches, presumably for that very reason. BYU has defeated Big 12 flagships Texas and Oklahoma in the past seven years, and dating back to 1980, only Nebraska, Florida State, Ohio State, Miami, Florida and the Sooners have won more games than BYU. Through the Mormon Church, the Cougars have a national following, with an average home attendance (58,000) that wouldve ranked fourth in the Big 12 last year. Though the campus is roughly 2,000 miles away from Big 12 member West Virginia, BYU would give the conference a presence in the Mountain Time Zone, creating interesting TV opportunities for the league, while, perhaps, bolstering the Big 12s revenue distribution potential down the line. BYU not playing on Sundays would create issues in Olympic sports scheduling, notably baseball, softball and womens soccer; that obstacle and the schools proximity to the rest of the league is why a football-only option could be on the table for the Cougars. That, however, is not preferable for the Big 12.Cincinnati: For the reason BYUs geographys might work against it, Cincinnatis location is one of the schools biggest assets in Big 12 expansion. Whether the Big 12 chose to expand by two or four, Cincinnati could be logically paired with virtually any expansion candidate. West Virginias leadership has been a proponent of Big 12 expansion, provided that through expansion the Mountaineers wind up with a travel partner, like Cincinnati, that makes sense. School president Santa Ono has been working furiously behind the scenes to get the school into the Big 12, though hell be leaving for the University of British Columbia in August. Cincinnati recently renovated Nippert Stadium, plays in a top-40 TV market and has big businesses, notably Cincinnati-based Kroger and Macys, behind its candidacy.The other hopefulsHouston:?UH is all-in on Big 12 expansion, with both president Renu Khator and athletic director Hunter Yurachek issuing statements Wednesday touting the university. I am thrilled to have this opportunity, Khator said, to showcase the University of Houston. Billionaire and UH regents chairman Tilman Fertitta told ESPN Wednesday that, We feel like we have a lot to offer. The Cougars have enjoyed a football resurgence at an opportune time, with Tom Herman delivering a 13-1 record last year. UH also has a massive enrollment and plays in the fourth-biggest city in the country. UH will be making the case that the SEC has begun to take over the city of Houston, and that only the Cougars can deliver it back to the Big 12.Connecticut: The Huskies are situated among several major markets in the Northeast and could help the Big 12 find footing in the region, the way Rutgers opened up New York City to the Big Ten, which might help in future TV negotiations. The question is whether that, along with UConns solid academics and terrific basketball programs, would outweigh the proximity problem and UConns mediocre football.UCF: Central Florida boasts the largest undergraduate enrollment in the country and operates out of the 19th-largest TV market. Those are both major positives. There ought to be a home for us in the Big 12, UCF president John Hitt said Wednesday. Theres a sense among some that UCF has tremendous upside and would thrive playing in a major conference, especially with so much in-state high school talent and an up-and-coming coach in Scott Frost. On the other hand, UCF has virtually no football tradition, going 0-12 last year. Its also difficult to envision the fans in Norman and Austin getting fired up to go watch the Sooners and Longhorns take on the Knights.Memphis: FedEx has been dangling millions of advertising dollars in front of the Big 12 in exchange for a Memphis invite to the Big 12. On top of that, in a letter to West Virginia president Gordon Gee, Memphis president David Rudd said that the schools partnership with FedEx would uniquely position [Memphis] to request only a portion of new revenue for several years until renegotiation of the conference media [rights] agreement occurs. In other words, Memphis, conceivably, would be willing to accept partial distribution of conference revenue all the way until 2024-25. That would be worth millions to current Big 12 members and should, at the least, command the leagues attention.Colorado State: If the Big 12 focuses west in expansion with BYU, Colorado State would make sense as a second (or fourth) school. CSU claims the Denver market and could re-expand (after Colorados departure in 2011) the Big 12 footprint into Colorado in a way that doesnt create a logistical nightmare. Rams athletic director Joe Parker has close ties to the conference, having worked at Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas, which, as one Big 12 administrator pointed out, is a real advantage for CSU. The Rams are also building a $200 million on-campus stadium that would be ready by the time CSU would join the Big 12.The long shotsTulane: Conference chairman?Boren noted that academic standing would be a component in expansion exploration. That makes Tulane, with its terrific academic profile, a true dark horse. The city of New Orleans could also entice the Big 12 from a market and recruiting point. If the Big 12 expanded by two, Tulane would probably have no chance, but if the league expanded by four, Tulane just might become a factor.Boise State: Boise State has won 10 or more games 13 times since 1999, and the football appeal of the Broncos to the Big 12 fan bases would be stronger than most candidates out there. But would that alone capture the Big 12s attention? Boise doesnt have much else to offer.USF: The Bulls picked an awfully bad time to have an academic fraud scandal. USF was already a long-shot candidate. This latest development could be a dagger to their candidacy.The you-never-knowUCLA: Former UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel caused a stir Wednesday when he said on Sirius XM College Sports that he wouldnt be surprised if the Bruins gave a move to the Big 12 serious thought. Before you ask why UCLA would consider leaving the comforts of the Pac-12 for the Big 12, remember this: Kansas State generated three times more Tier 3 revenue through K-StateHD.TV than UCLA received from the struggling Pac-12 Network. The Pac-12 grant of rights is up before the Big 12s, and as one industry insider put it, if Pac-12 commish Larry Scott can flirt with Texas and Oklahoma, whats stopping Bob Bowlsby from doing the same with the Bruins? Who knows -- UCLA could be tempted to make a brand-defining break from USC in the same vein of Texas A&Ms SEC move away from Texas. Austin Rivers Rockets Jersey . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. 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The NBA season is only a week old, and, entering Wednesday, every team has played somewhere between three and five games, so were not exactly talking about a big sample size here.But basketball isnt baseball, and we dont need 200 plate appearances to get a better idea of each players value. A set of eyes and a look at the numbers can be very revealing, even in a short amount of time, and already we are seeing some early-season trends that have drastically changed the rankings since our last update in mid-October.Moving upRussell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: We slid Westbrook down to No. 2 once James Harden received point guard eligibility, but its difficult to consider Westbrook anything but No. 1 after the numbers he put up in his first week without Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City. Facing lower-tier opponents in his first three games, the Thunder star posted two triple-doubles and missed a third by one assist, averaging 38.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 11.7 assists and even throwing in 2.7 3s per game. If hes going to put up near triple-double averages while also making 3-pointers this season, he has the edge on not only Harden but on everybody in the league.Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans: Davis has never played more than 68 games in a season, which is why we ranked him at No. 9 for much of September before sliding him down to 11 after the news of a preseason ankle injury. His lack of durability makes him a huge risk, and we all know that. Still, as far as pure production goes, hes right there with Westbrook for the top spot and has to be considered almost a 1B to Westbrooks 1A. The Pelicans star power forward averaged a mind-blowing 37 points, 13 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 3 blocks in his first four games.Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors: In some ways, the Warriors already feel like Durants team, which is weird to even think about, but it shows in his early-season numbers. His scoring (28.5 PPG), rebounding (9 RPG) and shooting percentages (57.4 FG/91.7 FT) are all ahead of last seasons pace, as are his steals and blocks, and some metrics have Durant ranked ahead of Westbrook and Davis for No. 1 thus far. Weve moved him up from No. 5 to No. 3.Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks and Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat: Both of these players were considered low first-rounders or high second-rounders, and if drafts were held again today theres a good chance theyd each go in the middle of the first round. Antetokounmpos well-rounded game is ahead of even the loftiest of expecttations at this point (23.dddddddddddd3 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1 SPG, 2 BPG and 0.8 3PG), while Whitesides combination of scoring (19.8 PPG), rebounding (13.8 RPG), shot-blocking (3 BPG) and efficient shooting (60 percent from the field) makes him one of the games elite big men.Gorgui Dieng, Minnesota Timberwolves and Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: We thought we had Dieng and Turner ranked aggressively in our last update, and guess what -- we were wrong! Whats interesting is the difference in hype, as Dieng tends to float under the radar on a young Minnesota team with a number of much higher-profile stars, while Turner entered the season with as much fanfare as any second-year player. Whats clear is both should be ranked much higher, and thats why weve moved Dieng and Turner to No. 21 and 22, respectively. Dieng simply does it all (14.3 PPG, 11 RPG, 2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 1.7 BPG while shooting 64.3 FG and 87.5 FT), while Turner makes the most of his 29-30 minutes on the court each night, particularly as a scorer (18 PPG), rebounder (9.3 RPG) and shot-blocker (3 BPG). Aging big man Al Jefferson doesnt appear to be someone who will hinder Turners upside this season, as we feared might be the case.Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: Another big man who oozes superstar, Embiid is doing things on the court most 7-footers can only dream of; taking players off the dribble and spotting up from 3-point range. The 76ers are taking it slow with his return to the court after two missed seasons, but his 17.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 2.7 BPG stand to increase when his minutes restriction is lifted. Remember, hes averaged less than 21 minutes a game so far!Other notable risers:DeMar DeRozan, Toronto RaptorsJonas Valanciunas, Toronto RaptorsWesley Matthews, Dallas MavericksAvery Bradley, Boston CelticsJusuf Nurkic, Denver NuggetsGeorge Hill, Utah JazzTim Frazier, New Orleans PelicansT.J. Warren, Phoenix SunsKris Dunn, Minnesota TimberwolvesWill Barton, Denver NuggetsJustise Winslow, Miami HeatMarkieff Morris, Washington WizardsBojan Bogdanovic, Brooklyn NetsNotable fallers:Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota TimberwolvesSerge Ibaka, Orlando MagicDevin Booker, Phoenix SunsTrevor Ariza, Houston RocketsRicky Rubio, Minnesota TimberwolvesBrandon Knight, Phoenix SunsEnes Kanter, Oklahoma City ThunderNerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ersJahlil Okafor, Philadelphia 76ersAl-Farouq Aminu, Portland Trail Blazers ' ' '