Links: Mike Stoops calls out media; Sean Miller bends but doesn't break the rules

Oklahoma Sooners defensive coordinator Mike Stoops took a jab at the Tucson media in an AP story that was handily pointed out by Pat Finley on Twitter. Asked if he'd like redemption after being fired at Arizona, Stoops told the AP, "You don't think I want redemption, too? I didn't all of a sudden become a bad coach. A lot of the media in Arizona may think so, but I was offered about 10 different jobs."

Maybe it's just a reference to the most critical columns of his tenure. Greg Hansen did touch on Stoops' lack of community involvement after the firing, and the media has written much about Rich Rodriguez and his players hinting that they weren't being pushed by the Stoops regime. At least, that's how I'm taking all the "we're being taught how to work hard" comments. But the media's fault he was fired? Hopefully that's not what Stoops means, because there was little, if any, pressure from the media that led to Stoops firing.

From my perspective, it's even arguable we were all too nice to the guy.

• The great college basketball writers at CBSSports.com have been working on a series of posts that come from polling nearly 100 NCAA coaches anonymously. They've touched on topics from most overrated coaches, most underrated coaches, to the best players in the nation. Today, they discussed the best coaches at what they called "bending but not breaking the rules." Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller was third in this category with 8 percent of the vote. Most of this category, we imagine, includes recruiting, and it's more of a compliment than anything. The point here is that Miller and his counterparts know the rules so well that they can circumvent them. In a day where the NCAA continues to push silly rules to maintain a veil of amateurism, it's increasingly becoming harder to be concerned about anything head coaches do (though I will stop short of that in saying paying players enough to buy a new H2 is going too far). The entire list of names on CBS's poll is impressive (starting with the best in bending but not breaking rules): John Calipari, Billy Donovan, Sean Miller, Tom Crean, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Josh Pastner.
• Anthony Gimino, who writes and edits for Lindy's, revealed that Solomon Hill will be named as the magazine's Pac-12 preseason Player of the Year. The Arizona senior has competition from the likes of Cal's Allen Crabbe, Wazzou's Brock Motum, Colorado's Andre Roberson and -- if he's eligible come this season -- UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad.