Smile Politely. Speak Directly. A Champaign-Urbana Culture Blog

Unlike most prep stars, local three-star guard Verdell Jones III chose to wait until after the smoke had cleared to select a school. And it wasn't the school most people were expecting him to choose.

The Champaign Central product will be suiting up for a seriously depleted but newly helmed Indiana squad under the direction of Tom Crean.

Despite the fact that the team faces sanctions and only returns three scholarship players, Jones said it was "the best situation for me. They expect me to come in and make a big contribution." He also noted that part of his decision was looking at how well Crean developed his guards at Marquette, a school long known for its outside-the-arc performers.

Bill Self brought glory back to Lawrence, KS last night as the Jayhawks performed a miracle comeback against the Memphis Tigers, eventually sealing the victory in overtime with strong play from Mario Chalmers, the Final Four's MOP. It was Kansas' first title since 1988 when Danny Manning (and the Miracles) defeated Oklahoma 84–79.

How does this relate to us in the cornfields of Illini Nation?

Somewhere, there is a group of people currently discussing what went wrong. Boards, points in the paint, 3-point shots, dribble penetration, free throws, officiating, coaching, hustle, turnovers — all of it perhaps.

They might be Wisconsin fans. They could very easily be Michigan State fans. Certainly, Indiana fans are scratching their heads. Illinois fans have already made their scalps bleed.

This is the current state of Big Ten basketball. It’s a head-scratcher, as they say. In the last decade, there has not been a time when the conference was so completely written off by the media — and then proved the media right on the court. Both Michigan State and Wisconsin lost in the Sweet 16. And they not only lost, they got handled.

Next year will different, though. No doubt about it.

Two teams down. Two teams move on. And Wisconsin's Bo Ryan is ready to dance.

Let's just be absolutely clear: This is not the Big Ten's year. At least, according to some.

It's hard to not assume that the selection committee had made up its mind about that fact long before Purdue dropped a shocker to the Illini or before Blake Hoffarber performed Miracle Number Two for Minnesota on Indiana's dying team. It's hard to believe that the committee would also leave out Thad Matta's Buckeyes but sneak in Arizona, Villanova and Baylor. It's hard to swallow the fact that the Big Ten champion, both regular season and in the tournament, was given a #3 seed despite being ranked in the Top 5 nationally, residing in the Top 12 in the RPI rankings and simply having not lost to anyone except Purdue since December 8.

This is hard to fathom, yet it's all true.

I’d like to report to you that we are looking at a conference tournament that was going to be chock full of surprises. I’d like to tell you that, with the right wins, the Big Ten will be sending six or even seven teams to the Big Dance. I’d like to say that the teams playing this Sunday in the final contest of the Big Ten season are going to be fighting for a number one seed two hours later on the Selection Sunday special on CBS.

I would like to tell you all these things. But let’s face it, the Big Ten Conference this year is just like the economy: in a recession.

On Sunday afternoon, Dan Dakich said the right things, politically.

"They played great and we did not and that's my fault," Dakich said. "If I'm going to be the guy that everybody pats on the back when things go well, then I'm going to be the guy that accepts it when things don't."

Bold words for a new coach that has been thrust into center court for what might become the greatest challenge in the history of college basketball: reviving the Indiana Hoosiers from their darkest hour.

Let’s not beat around the bush here. The Big Ten is a wholly different conference this week than it was last week. Kelvin Sampson has been given a $750,000 buyout to walk away from Indiana University with no strings attached. As Illinois fans, there is a feeling here that is purely visceral, given the state of the ’07-’08 campaign. I’d like to hear you sound off about it here.

Please.

Discuss.

This week’s predictions after the jump.

I assume that the Sampson household is similar to yours and similar to mine. And while it might be a tad larger than ours, I am betting that it functions in the same ways for the most part. A television to zone out to, a dining room table with a centerpiece, a kitchen with utensils and a telephone (cell phones to be exact) to call friends up and greet them warmly.

I am wondering whether the sound of the dull vibrating buzz against the solid granite counter top sounds a bit different to Sampson these days? I am curious as to whether or not the sight of his cell phone makes him a tad squeamish, the way a recovering alcoholic gets chills when he sees a friend nursing a whiskey or the way an addicted gambler sweats a bit every time he sees an ad for a budget vacation to Vegas.

In a fair and just world, Illinois would have walked away from last week’s slugfest against Indiana with a W — and with a lot of respect to go along with it considering their less than successful season. Instead, they are among the biggest disappointments in college basketball, dropping ten of their last twelve games, and fast becoming the laughing stock of the league, keeping company with the likes of Northwestern and Penn State.

Welcome to February. The home stretch. The final frontier. It’s the last chance for some teams to put together a winner — and for others, it’s a chance to start anew and make something of a slow start. Teams come together and teams fall apart. ESPN.com reporting becomes far more frequent. Joe Lunardi updates Bracketology twice weekly and Rivals Week nationwide foreshadows the types of contests yet to come in the conference tournament and, for some, in the Big Dance. It’s the month where everything gets real. Nothing left to do except win your way into the post-season.

Unfortunately for the Big Ten, most teams don't really even have that option.

Last week, however, was an exception.

Coming into the season, it was clear that there was simply no heir apparent for the Big Ten regular season title. That sentiment remains, with Indiana and Wisconsin undefeated and Michigan State and Purdue close behind with just one loss; over a third of the season cashed and the standings look as locked up as the predictions did in October (save for a strong surprise start from the Boilers).

Indiana seemingly looks to be the most impressive thus far in that they have lost just one game overall, as opposed to Michigan State and Wisconsin, who have each dropped a deuce. But looks can be deceiving — especially when you have a known cheater for a coach. Let’s take a look at the three obvious choices for Big Ten supremacy this season.

Matt Painter will be keeping his job this year, and he may even have it for the next three, at the least. Ten weeks into his third assignment at Purdue, there is a palpable buzz in West Lafayette — and it’s no fluke: This team, with literally the youngest starting five in the nation, are bound to disrupt top teams in the Big Ten this year and potentially be the team to beat in years to come.

When Tubby Smith stepped down from the most illustrious coaching job in college basketball — you know, the University of Kentucky — he had to have known that the next place to hire him would be sympathetic to his plight:

“We don’t want you to feel any pressure.”

“We think that this could be a long term relationship.”

“Set your own pace — we know that you are worth trusting.”

“What did you say you needed in signing bonuses?”

The ticker on the bottom of this screen shot is clear: Minnesota lucked out in a big way when they sold Tubby Smith on their cold, Midwestern program.

There are certain truths that come to light around this time, and this year one of them is as easy to see as Bruce Weber's orange blazers: The Big Ten is extraordinarily weak. Whereas it seemed possible early in the season to expect six and maybe seven teams to creep into the Dance come March, it now seems like the conference will be lucky to send five, and a lot of that might just depend on how much parity will come into play across the country, and how well Big Ten teams play on the road.

Most Hoosier fans who followed the game closely saw what they thought to be a natural succession in the history of Indiana’s storied program: Alford was moving up the ranks as a coach to be groomed as heir-apparent to the General himself.

Then the unexpected happened. Steve Alford got hot too early as a head coach, and he took his mid-major Southwest Missouri State to the Sweet 16 in 1999. They lost to Duke 78–61.

Historically, there may not be another team quite like Northwestern. Never making it to the NCAA Tournament, and earning their last conference championship (a shared victory with Ohio State, no less) just before Hitler took power in Germany, there seems to be no good reason that Northwestern, who some consider the Harvard of the Midwest, should play among perennial powerhouses like Michigan State, Illinois and Indiana.

This is a school known for its big brains, not big brawn. When today’s Big Ten conference first formed in 1896, Northwestern’s inclusion as a private institution didn’t seem like a big deal: University of Chicago was right there along side them and the Wildcats enjoyed success in basketball against the same teams that they are competing with today. In 1946, however, after WWII ended and the University of Chicago deactivated from the conference, Northwestern stayed on and began what’s now considered to be one of the worst streaks in major conference college basketball.

Say what you will about Bruce Weber and his ability to motivate a team, these Illini are going to have to find something more in their game if they want to make a legitimate run at the Big Ten title. For the most part, their outing against Maryland was an exercise in futility. Watching them struggle from the perimeter (.333%, 24–72 from the floor) and even from the charity stripe (4–9), one has to wonder if a team that depends on a two-star guard from Champaign to rack up points from beyond the paint is even capable of competing at a national level. (That guard, junior Trent Meacham, graduated from Champaign’s Centennial High.)

This week marks the beginning of the 9th Annual ACC Big Ten Challenge. ESPN created it in 1999 as a promotional series in an effort to establish itself as a leader in a college-ball market traditionally monopolized by CBS. The tournament has, in fact, grown into a perennial slugfest in which one outcome is always predictable: the losers hail from the Big Ten. In fact, the only team in the Big Ten that holds a winning record in the series is Michigan State at 4–3. Duke has never lost a game in the challenge.

Exhibition time is done. The game starts now. Inexplicable losses to Division II schools can end. And hoop dreams like a Big Ten sweep over the ACC in the annual “Challenge” can begin.

But right now we’re still in the pre-season. And Illinois, though severely unranked, is still a squad filled with hope.

The hope for each team is — to mix my sports metaphors — to bat .900 and enter the Big Ten season with a strong case for post-season play. The conference seems balanced enough this year that the basic notion of defending your home court and splitting on the road might be enough to take home the regular season title. That said, in order for Big Ten teams to graduate to the Big Dance, every team will need to rack up some strong non-conference wins against teams with decent RPI’s.