Good Wins: N-Cal, Florida State, @Purdue, Wisconsin, @Michigan State
Bad Losses: N-North Carolina
Strengths:
1. Evan Turner. When you have one of the top two players in college basketball, you can chalk that up as being a major strength. While Turner will never have an illusionistic nickname, he reminds me of Earvin “Magic” Johnson by the way he [...]

You want a laugh, find a copy of Bill Cosby’s “Himself” DVD. You want a chuckle, look at this season’s preseason prognostications, one month later.
Before Kentucky’s Billy Gillispie came out for Kentucky’s Midnight Madness and tried to secure a dozen letters of intent from 8th graders in the crowd and before Tom Izzo turned back [...]

Bracketography analysts Chris Mackinder (Big Ten) and Jonathan Wall (Big 12) take a look at the upcoming weekend game between Michigan State and Texas. Each writer will argue why his respective conference’s representative will come out on top in this critical non-conference matchup.
Mackinder’s Michigan State Analysis
During Michigan State’s win against The Citadel on Wednesday [...]

“The Big Ten was bad this year. No way around the truth.”
– Bracketography’s David Mihm on Selection Sunday.
Lost in all the Selection Sunday madness was any discussion of the Big Ten. And, because of the questionable season the entire conference put together, maybe the lack of discussion [...]

Regardless of what happens in Indianapolis at this week’s Big Ten Tournament, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Wisconsin all are dancing. One team – Ohio State – still has realistic dreams of a landing on the right side of the Selection Sunday bubble.
That makes this year’s Big Ten Tournament a little mundane, but there are still [...]

Record: (23-7, 14-3 Big Ten)
Key Wins: @Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Michigan State, N-Louisville
Key Losses: Wofford, Iowa State, @Missouri, @Ohio State
Key Stats: 8.2 – Purdue’s steals per game, second in the Big Ten.
87.9 – Purdue’s defensive efficiency (points allowed in 100 opponent possessions), 11th in the country
Key Numbers: RPI: 31; SOS: 90; NCSOS: 241; Vs. Top 50: 5-4
Biggest [...]

The calendar only just turned to 2008, but take a guess at which team is No. 3 in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin? Nope. Illinois? Try again. Purdue? This might take all night.
Believe it or not, the Minnesota Golden Gophers are a step behind the Spartans and Hoosiers in the Big Ten rankings. The 8-1 Gophers are [...]

When analyzing matchups, experts tend to look at the obvious: rankings, star players, and big-name coaches. All of these play a factor, but sometimes a win just comes down to knowing your opponent.
How does the opposition score? From the foul line? Mid-range jumpers? Three-pointers? And, almost as important, where are your team’s defensive weaknesses? Can [...]

For the first time in years the Big Ten’s “best” don’t include the names Illinois, Ohio State or Wisconsin. This season is expected to belong to Indiana and Michigan State while a handful of other teams fight for the third spot.
The big change in Big Ten country this season is two added conference games. Teams [...]

Apparently the Big 10 has nine lives.
The annual ACC-Big 10 Challenge is still going strong despite eight straight losses by the Big 10. That’s right; the conference has never come out on top in this event since its inception in 1999. Overall, the ACC is 48-27 in individual games.
In the early years of the Challenge, [...]