Story of the Night.  UCLA’s freshman class.  Last year’s freshman class arguably boasted the best player in the country in Kevin Love, but this year’s version, while lacking in equivalent star power, may more than compensate for Love’s loss with its depth and diversity of skills.  Jrue Holiday was the only rookie starter tonight in UCLA’s win against Prairie View A&M, but his four classmates (Drew Gordon, Malcolm Lee, Jerime Anderson and J’Mison Morgan) each came off the bench and contributed aplenty.  The quintet accounted for 41% of the minutes, 44% of the points, 44% of the rebounds and 43% of the assists tonight in the 82-58 win.  Ok, and 54% of the turnovers, but still, not a bad start for this freshman class of Bruins.  As for the game itself, it appears that UCLA still knows how to rebound (41-18) and the defense is still stingy – Prairie View was held to a mere 23% shooting in the first half; the fact that they shot 42% for the game indicates that either UCLA lost focus in the second half or Prairie View settled down – we’re leaning toward the former as an explanation.  Darren Collison led the way as he hit five threes en route to a 19/3/4 asst night.  The Bruins will play Miami (OH) tomorrow night in the second round of the CvC in a game that should combine for about 50 total pts.  Once again, ESPN isn’t allowing embedded videos so we’ll have to settle for linked highlights. 

Other Games.  S. Illinois 80, UMass 73.  We thought this would be the best game of the night, and it looks like we were right, as S. Illinois got themselves down nine at halftime to UMass before storming back behind nine threes in the second half to pull away in the last few minutes to win another home game.  Bryan Mullins had a huge night for SIU, going for 16/13/4 stls for the home team, but Kevin Dillard’s four threes in the second half didn’t hurt.  UMass was led by Ricky Harris with 24/5, but the stat that jumped off the Minutemen’s page was starting PG Chris Lowe’s TEN turnovers (with zero assists).  Michigan 76, Northeastern 56.  Gotta admit that we thought this game had upset potential, and we couldn’t have been more wrong.  Michigan’s Manny Harris followed up his impressive season debut with nearly a trip-dub (26/10/8 assts), as UM held Northeastern to 29% shooting (17% from three) for the game.  UM Hoops points out that, if Michigan is going to threaten this year, they’ll need to shore up their work on the boards.  Northeastern grabbed twenty offensive rebounds tonight (amazingly, they only had 29 total boards), and with UCLA looming on the horizon next week in MSG (probably), the Wolverines will need to repair that deficiency.  Miami (OH) 70, Weber St. 66.  So in the other half of the Westwood bracket, Miami (OH) won a game on a three by Kenny Hayes (24 pts) with 1.7 seconds left on the clock, despite losing nearly every major statistical category in the game.  The Redhawks were outshot (by 10% FG), outrebounded (by 7), outassisted (by 3), and yet they still prevailed.  How?  Turnovers, kids.  Seven additional TOs by Weber St. gave Miami just enough extra possessions to sneak by.  Miami will play UCLA tomorrow night for the right to play at MSG, and we expect Charlie Coles to have something up his sleeve to make this game interesting for a while. 

On Tap Thursday (all times EST). 

• UCLA (-15) v. Miami (OH) on ESPNU- 11pm

Story of the Night.   Normally this would require its own post, but today was a travel day for us, so we’re going to throw it in tonight’s ATB.  Great news!  Bob Knight will return as an analyst and commentator for ESPN college hoops games this year (h/t TBL).  The analyst part we’re absolutely sure is a great idea (although his title game picks could use some help).  Everyone remembers how entertaining Knight was in the studio during the last few weeks of the regular season last year (he also showed up for the football Gameday at Texas Tech a couple of weeks ago).  Adding him to the Gameday crew for the entire season is a natural fit.  We’re less sure about Knight as an in-game commentator (with Dan Shulman or Brent Musberger on Thursday night games), but the possibility of a profane Knight tirade about a boneheaded player or ref makes us positively giddy at the prospect.

Game of the Night.  Tonight we had more CvC action, with the second night of the Durham, NC, regional and the opening nights at both the Carbondale, IL, and Ann Arbor, MI, regionals.  The only televised games were Duke v. Georgia Southern and the Michigan v. Michigan Tech games on ESPNU, so if you saw either feel free to provide some comments below.  N-Bug sent along a quote from Coach K relating Duke’s offensive output to a pinball game (he’s from a different era, ok), but in looking at the stat sheet of the 97-54 win, it appears that he should have been talking about his defense.  Duke held GSU to 28% from the field and outrebounded the Eagles by 25 boards, which must have made his happier with his team’s overall effort.  Singler again led the way with 19/8.  It’s difficult to nitpick a 43-point win, but Coach K might want to have his team work on FTs during the next week, as his team could have won by 60 had they shot it from the line a little better (25-49).  Duke will play the winner of S. Illinois/UMass in the semis next Thursday at MSG. 

Other Games. 

• Carbondale Regional.  SIU and UMass both played D2 opponents, so we’re not sure how valuable analyzing their wins vs. California (PA) and Arkansas-Monticello are, respectively.  SIU’s Carlton Fay had 16/11 as the Salukis pulled away in the second half to win 66-52.  UMass won its first contest in new coach Derek Kellogg’s debut, as Chris Lowe paced the Minutemen with 18/11 assts.  SIU v. UMass tomorrow night should be a good game, and either team would make for an interesting semifinal matchup with Duke.
• Ann Arbor Regional.  Michigan’s Manny Harris dropped 30/7 on Michigan Tech in the opener for John Beilein’s second team in Ann Arbor.  If anyone else saw this game, we’d be interested in knowing how the Beilein system in Y2 looked.  In the other game, Northeastern handled IUPUI 73-60 in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates.  Michigan should take this Northeastern team seriously – they’ll be fired up and are a substantial upgrade of talent than what the Wolverines faced tonight.  It would not shock us if Northeastern wins tomorrow night’s game. 

On Tap Wednesday (all times EST).  Several more CvC games…  it figures that the best game (SIU v. UMass) will be broadcast, um, nowhere…

• Miami (OH) (-12.5) v. Weber St. – 7:15pm
• S. Illinois (-4.5) v UMass – 8pm
• Michigan (-5) v. Northeastern (ESPNU) – 8pm
• UCLA (-35) v. Prairie View A&M  (ESPNU) – 10pm

Josh & Mike at Big Ten Geeks are the RTC correspondents for the Big Ten Conference.  

1. Michigan State  (29-6, 16-2)
2. Purdue  (27-7, 15-3)
3. Wisconsin  (24-8, 13-5)
4. Ohio State  (20-12, 10-8)
5. Illinois  (18-13, 9-9)
6. Minnesota  (21-10, 9-9)
7. Michigan  (16-14, 8-10)
8. Penn State  (18-12, 7-11)
9. Northwestern  (13-17, 6-12)
10. Iowa  (12-18, 4-14)
11. Indiana  (8-20, 2-16)

WYN2K.  This is not your father’s Big Ten, or rather, it’s not your older brother’s Big Ten.  Gone are dominating big men of the past, such as Greg Oden, DJ White, Kosta Koufos, and James Augustine.  They’ve been replaced by guards such as Manny Harris, Kalin Lucas, E’Twaun Moore and Demetri McCamey.  A solid big man (such as the perennially-underrated Goran Suton and incoming freshman B.J. Mullens) is a luxury that most Big Ten teams will not enjoy.  You’ll see a lot of lineups featuring one player at 6’7 or taller.  Some might hope this will spur the Big Ten into faster play, but, as Northwestern proved last season, guard-oriented teams can be every bit as slow as tall teams.

Predicted Champion.  Michigan St.  (NCAA #2).  There are two things everyone can agree on for season predictions: Michigan State and Purdue promise to be the two toughest teams, and Indiana promises to finish in the basement.  Beyond that, there’s a lot of uncertainty here.  We like the Spartans to take the title.  Part of that is talent (the roster features ten top 100 RSCI players), and part of that is schedule (MSU gets one game against the formidable Wisconsin, while Purdue has only one game against lowly Indiana).  Also, in a guard-heavy conference, picking the team with the best frontline (Suton, Diaper Dandy Delvon Roe, and conference Player of the Year candidate Raymar Morgan – see below) isn’t a bad strategy.  Sort of a “land of the blind” kind of thing.  In our estimation, the Boilermakers feature the best starting five, but they have depth issues.  Still though, it would not be a shock if Purdue came out on top.

NCAA/NIT Teams.  We think this is a 4-bid league, but that fourth bid is hardly a shoe-in.  Yes, the Big Ten is down (again), but we see a lot more parity in the middle of the conference.  Fourth place through seventh is really up for grabs, and we think that makes for a lot of NIT teams.  In fact, the Big Ten could send more teams to the NIT than to the NCAA tourney.  We think the top 3 teams (MSU, Purdue (NCAA #4), and Wisconsin (NCAA #8)) are near-locks for the NCAA Tourney, the next three (Ohio St. (NCAA #11), Illinois, and Minnesota) promise to be bubbilicious, and the next three (Michigan, PSU, and Northwestern) figure to be in the NIT hunt. 

Others.  Iowa and Indiana almost certainly aren’t going anywhere, at least this season.  Both teams are in the rebuilding mode, with Todd Lickliter still working to get “his players” into his system (does he really have a system though?).  Indiana is sort of like how we look after a three-day weekend in Vegas – humbled, confused, full of regrets, and ready to move on.  Coach Tom Crean already has several impressive recruits lined up for the next season – so get your licks in now, Big Ten, because IU will be back sooner rather than later.

Important Games.  The biggest non-conference game on the schedule, without question, is on December 3rd, when UNC faces Michigan St. at Ford Field, site of this year’s Final Four.  It might be the first of two meetings between those teams at that venue.  We’re also interested to see the Davidson-Purdue matchup on December 20th (that Steph Curry is fun to watch), and the December 2nd Duke-Purdue contest that might be the best game between teams with so much talent concentrated on the perimeter.  In conference, the two meetings between Purdue and MSU are the must-see events that likely will determine the conference champ.

Neat-o Stats. 

• Since 1980, no conference has had more NCAA Tournament appearances than the Big Ten (144).
• In each of the past 4 seasons, Indiana has a better winning percentage as the underdog than as the favorite.
• Since 1998, the Big Ten is the 3rd best conference by RPI.
• The Big Ten is 30-56 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and has never actually “won” the event in nine tries.  The only team not playing in the challenge this season is NC State – which finished dead last in the ACC last season.

(h/t to Statfix.com for some of these)

65 Team Era.  The Big 10 during this era has earned more NCAA bids than any other conference (133), and its record is fourth-best of the period (194-130, .599), including 18 #1 seeds (2d), 47 Sweet Sixteens (4th), 16 Final Fours (2d), and 3 titles (4th).  Even in the 2000s, when there’s been a perception that the league has been ‘down’ relative to the 80s and 90s, the Big Ten has put six teams into the F4, including two in 2005.  We’ve been guilty of ragging the B10 for its ‘boring’ style of basketball, but we can’t argue with its results – and there’s a strong likelihood of seeing another Big Ten team in the F4 this year. 

Final Thought.  The Big Ten will not be the best conference in college basketball, but it should be home to some of the best guards in the country.  The conference received a big infusion of point guards last season, and the best of the bunch, Kalin Lucas, is one of the ten best PGs in the country.  And while super sophomore Manny Harris gets a lot of deserved praise (a lot), we think an even better sophomore shooting guard plays in West Lafayette.  And he might not even be the best sophomore on his team.  We also like last-second–shot-specialist Blake Hoffarber’s chances to become a household name.  Also, the increased parity should make for a lot of close games.  Expect to see very few blowout wins.  Except against Indiana (sorry, Hoosiers).