Michigan head coach John Beilein is an outstanding head coach, and if he can lead his current group of Wolverines back to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season, he should be dubbed a miracle worker. In Saturday’s 56-54 win over Northwestern, Beilein lost his best player, junior Caris LeVert, for the remainder of the season after he suffered an injury to his left foot. LeVert had surgery on the same foot last May and will undergo another operation on it this week.

Caris LeVert suffered a season-ending foot injury in Michigan’s 56-54 win over Northwestern (Gregory Shamus, Getty).

LeVert’s injury is devastating to Michigan’s already-slim chances of making the NCAA Tournament, as the junior leads the team in scoring (14.9 PPG), rebounding (4.9 RPG) and steals (1.8 SPG). His experience, on-court leadership and productivity are virtually irreplaceable for a program that has lost so much talent in the last two years. Junior Spike Albrecht along with sophomores Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton Jr. will now be asked to pick up the scoring slack, but they’ll have more to worry about than just getting buckets. LeVert played in 89.3 percent of Michigan’s minutes this year and carries a team-high 24.7 percent usage rate. Finding a new offensive rhythm will prove difficult for the rest of the team, especially with the injury coming in the midst of the Big Ten season.

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1. Michigan faces off against Nebraska tonight at 8:30 PM EST on the Big Ten Network, but their bench will be significantly shorter. That’s because sophomore center Jon Horford and freshman guard Carlton Brundidge will remain in Ann Arbor to be treated for injuries. With two other redshirt freshmen also not making the trip, head coach John Beilein says the Wolverines will come in “11 strong” to face the Cornhuskers. Tonight will mark the first time that Beilein has ever been to the state of Nebraska.
2. After dispatching in-state foe Michigan this past Sunday, this Michigan State team is looking a lot like Spartan teams of old: dull and boring. And that’s a good thing according to Tom Izzo. The Spartans will host Penn State this evening and will be charged with slowing down dynamic Nittany Lions guard Tim Frazier. This is an important game for Izzo’s squad as they ready for a showdown with Ohio State on Saturday.
3. While Purdue ultimately fell to Ohio State last night 87-84, the game was not without highlights for the Boilermakers. Purdue’s Kelsey Barlow rose up and delivered a SICK one-turned-two-handed jam over Buckeye big man Jared Sullinger. Sullinger did have the last laugh finishing with 18 points and 6 boards in the victory.
4. Iowa fans have had plenty of reason to reminisce thanks to the talents of Roy Marble Jr. thus far. Of course, that gives local writers plenty of reasons to dig back old photographs and recount stories of teams past. It also doesn’t hurt when Roy Marble Sr. joined the likes of B.J. Armstrong to become part of one of the most entertaining and successful teams in Iowa basketball history.
5. While there is (and should be) plenty of focus on the current teams in the Big Ten, fans are always looking down the road and trying to gauge future success. And the future looks bright for the league with Indiana currently ranked as having the #3 recruiting class in the nation for 2012-13.  Michigan checks in at #7 overall, with a couple of more Big Ten teams in the Top 25.