Big Ten Country

The Curse of '96 Still Haunts

It was November of 1996, and I was still living back in my old hometown of Milwaukee. I was coming out of the gym and stopped with my wealthier friend who had the club membership in the lounge to watch some football and relax. In November '96, Bill Clinton had just been re-elected and Monica Lewinsky was an unknown White House intern. Joe Torre had just finished leading the Yankees to their first World Series title in 18 years. Yup, it seems like ages ago. That football game we watched that November afternoon was a Penn State thrashing of Michigan. It was the last time the Nittany Lions have beaten the Wolverines. Can they end the curse this week with UM reeling and PSU smelling a national title?

Jo-Ann Barnas of The Detroit Free Press reports that Lion fans are still fearful. And the Penn State fan featured in the photo two posts below wrote on his Facebook profile that he's not optimistic (then again this particular fan was probably nervous they wouldn't get past Coastal Carolina). But there really can be no excuses. Even with Ohio State next week. Even coming off a trashing of Wisconsin on the road. This Penn State team is too superior to this edition of Michigan, the game is in Happy Valley (4:30 EST, ESPN) and the UM brand name is still worth getting fired up for. Especially when you haven't beaten them in 12 years.

A better game is Ohio State's visit to East Lansing (3:30 EST, ABC). The beef of the schedule is hitting for Michigan State, but it's also the opportunity part of the schedule. Javon Ringer can break out of the slew of Big 12 quarterbacks currently overshadowing him for the Heisman if he can have a big game. He certainly has the attention of the folks in Columbus, as reported by Bill Rabinowitz of The Columbus Dispatch. But OSU should be able to move the ball on the Spartans. I look for this to be tight into the third quarter, and then for the Buckeyes to start to pull away. I think Tressel's team is too motivated for a chance at redemption and paradoxically, MSU's sound play early in the year has probably removed the "trap" element from the matchup.

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In basketball news, Bob Knight told ESPN.com he'd be interested in coaching again given the right situation. Personally I'd love to see the General come back. Hard to see where he might fit into the Big Ten, but it would be great for college basketball if this legend, underappreciate for his soundness of character (as opposed to just his winning teams) got a chance to again coach at a school with a real shot at the Final Four.

The General Says Goodbye

The winningest coach in the history of college basketball has called it quits. It was already preordained by contract that Bob Knight would turn the Texas Tech program over to his son Pat. The passing of the baton, somewhat surprisingly will take place when the Red Raiders face Baylor this week.

I am very surprised at the timing of the announcement, coming in midseason and as Texas Tech seemed to be turning a corner. They really struggled in December and it looked like a second losing season in three years might be in the offing. But they've split their first six games in the rugged Big 12 and a three-pronged backcourt led by Martin Zeno seems to be jelling into the kind of cohesive unit that makes a team difficult to beat at home and ensures they win the games they should. If they maintain a .500 clip in conference play, an NIT bid could be in the offing.

But in the end, Bob Knight went out his own way and with honor. Since being smeared and fired at Indiana, he has successfully rebuilt Texas Tech to about as consistent as they are ever going to get. He made the NCAA Tournament five times and reached the Sweet 16 in 2005. Meanwhile, Indiana floundered in his absence. The Hoosiers first fell apart on the court. A so-so start under Mike Davis was covered up by a "magic-in-the-bottle" tourney run in 2002. The failure to couple that with sustained regular season success soon caught up to Davis, and he was run out of town after the '06 season. Now the Hoosiers are starting to win again under Kelvin Sampson, but the new coach can't seem to keep out of hot water when it comes to recruiting. When they had Knight, the Hoosiers won with honor. Since he left, they've had to choose between the two.

I've read some commentary that regrets that Knight had to spend the last years of his career in relative obscurity at a program that's never going to hit the big time consistently. Other commentary hits the same theme, although blaming the coach for that. I think either way it misses the point. Bob Knight showed that real satisfaction in coaching comes from leading players and a program to their maximum potential, regardless of whether that was good enough to cut down the nets on the biggest stage. His work in the shadows at Lubbock was his finest hour. In the end, he leaves with dignity and honor. Big Ten Country wishes him well in retirement and his son well as he gets his first chance at being a head coach.

Post-Mortems

It has to be considered a disappointing weekend for the Big Ten, with only Ohio State marching on. Not a disaster by any means. Not when five teams won first-round games. And three second-round underdogs gave the favorites a severe case of the jitters before falling. But only producing one Sweet 16 team in a year with two national powers and a few others who at least had the grit to be surprises does put the conference on the negative side of the ledger.

No one is more disappointed right now then the folks in Madison. I felt like you could see Wisconsin's loss coming. Of the high seeds in the tournament, the Badgers were the most vulnerable. The injury to Brian Butch meant that this team was really not the same one as the squad that posted the best basketball season in school history. UNLV was a very good team  and Lon Kruger knows Big Ten styles from his days at Illinois. Even knowing all that though, you can't be a #2 seed and not feel the sting of an early NCAA exit. Michael Hunt at The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes of how the UW slips showed up in the end.

People in the basketball capital of the world in Indiana had reason to be pleased with their teams. Indiana and Purdue each won their first-round games. The Hoosiers took revenge on Gonzaga, while Purdue knocked out talented, but inconsistent Arizona. Both teams showed plenty of heart on the weekend. IU rallied from 16 down to tie UCLA before falling in the end. The Boilermakers gave Florida all they could handle. Jeff Washburn at Boiler Station writes how this was Purdue's M.O. all year against top teams--gave 'em all they could handle for 35 minutes, but not quite enough to close the sale. They still closed more sales then anyone could have expected, and it looks like Purdue basketball is finally back on the map. Indiana's also back on the map.  They now await what's going to happen with D.J. White as he weighs his options.

Michigan State beat Marquette, and threw a tough fight against North Carolina. The Spartans are excited about 2008 and thinking title. Illinois has an ugly taste in its mouth after a late collapse cost them a game against Virginia Tech, and cost the conference a sweep of its first-round games. Herb Gould of The Chicago Sun Times writes that Weber will surely catch some heat, and questions about his recruiting remain--but there's no question he can coach.   

Bob Knight made his record 28th NCAA appearance, but didn't stay long. The Red Raiders got more offense then they are accustomed to, but Boston College exploited their defense in an 84-75 win. While the loss was disappointing--and Knight has to be wondering what BC has on him, that they have bounced him from the NCAAs three times since 1994--this was still a Red Raider team that overachieved in rebounding from the coach's first losing season in eons.

Tournament Schedule

Below is a brief listing of the schedule Big Ten teams will have in the coming postseason. Michigan got the league off to a good start last night in the NIT, beating Utah State in the first round. The Wolverines will be right back at it on Thursday when they play at Florida State. Tommy Amaker's team must win three games overall to get to Madison Square Garden at that tournament's national semifinals. Iowa was inexplicably snubbed by the NIT committee, so the Wolverines are the only non-NCAA team still playing right now.

On my bracket, I've got three #1 seeds and a #2 making the Final Four. I'm pegging Georgetown to join North Carolina, Florida and Kansas in the Georgia Dome on March 31. I've got the Gators beating the Hoyas for the title. Although I can't say I pick any of these teams with an incredible amount of confidence. This is a very balanced year, and if I could have found a mid-level seed I really believed in, I might have taken a flyer on an upset.

Since this will be my last post here until Monday when everything is all sorted out, I have also posted who each team will play if they win the opening round, as well as modest speculation on who they might get in the regionals the following weekend.

Ohio State
Thur--vs. Central Connecticut State (7:10 PM)
Sat--BYU or Xavier (TBA)
Regionals: Tennessee or Virginia awaits. The far side of the bracket is a balanced fight between Memphis, Louisville and Texas A&M.

Wisconsin
Fri--vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2:45 PM)
Sun--UNLV or Georgia Tech (TBA)
Regionals: Oregon, Notre Dame or Winthrop would await in the Sweet 16. Florida is on the opposite side.

Indiana
Thur--vs. Gonazaga (9:45 PM)
Sat--UCLA or Weber State (TBA)
Regionals: Duke or Pitt would be up third.

Purdue
Fri--vs. Arizona (7:20 PM)
Sun--Florida or Jackson State
Regionals--Arizona is the trendy hot pick for a Cinderella. Florida is the trendy pick to win it all. If the Boilermakers survive this weekend, they can show their Irish side for St. Patrick's Day and not worry about tomorrow in the least.

Michigan State
Thur--vs. Marquette (7:20 PM)
Sat-- North Carolina or Eastern Kentucky
Regionals--If the Spartans spring the big upset, Texas and Kevin Durant is probably next. On the far side is Georgetown who has a relatively easy ride to the regional final.

Illinois
Fri-- vs. Virginia Tech (7:10)
Sun-- Southern Illinois or Holy Cross
Regionals--Top-seeded Kansas is the likely Sweet 16 game.

Bob Knight
Thur-- Texas Tech vs. Boston College (12:25)
Sat-- Georgetown or Belmont
Regionals: If the veteran general can get his troops out of here (unlikely, I grant), a potential Cinderella is in the making. The winner of this foursome will play the survivor of the one of the weakest sub-regionals in the bracket (#3 seed Washington State, #6 seed Vanderbilt). North Carolina and Texas are on the far side as roadblocks to the Final Four, but feisty Michigan State might have enough to throw a monkey wrench into the mix. If the Red Raiders win their own games, this bracket is the most likely to get tossed into the kind of disarray that greases someone's path to Atlanta.

It doesn't get much better then St. Patrick's Day weekend with the NCAA Tournament mixed in. Corned beef and basketball makes for an excellent combination.  I'll be in Boston to enjoy the festivities of both. There is no truth to the rumor that I'm indulging my baseball passions by meeting with Theo Epstein. See everybody on Monday!

A Computer Really Does Do This

For years I've laughed when the NCAA insists that its matchups come straight out of the computer with no human input. Too many juicy, marquee games with intriguing storylines popped up in the first or second round to believe that a computer was behind it. The Marquette-Michigan State game this year is an example, with former Spartan assistant Tom Crean at the helm in Milwaukee. But the committee had the dream matchup right in its paws last night, and they let it slip away. Indiana came up a #7 seed. Texas Tech came up a #10 seed. But they switched them to separate regionals. Either a computer really does do this process, or the NCAA wasn't quite ready to stir the pot that thoroughly.

It was a good day for the conference, as they picked up six bids. For all the talk about the league being down, the Big Ten did come in third in conference RPI. I was surprised at how high Purdue got up (#9) and how close Illinois got to slipping out (#12), especially after the Illini advanced to the semifinals this past weekend. But Bruce Weber's team isn't complaining. Herb Gould of The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Illini are just relieved to be in, and looking forward to playing Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, Ken Thompson at Boiler Station rubs his team's bid in the face of the naysaying pundits.

The geographic sense of the committee eludes me. I'm not sure why you put Florida in the Midwest, while sticking Ohio State in the South. I'm looking over the brackets and sites, and can't see a logical reason for this flip-flop. But it really doesn't matter. OSU is upset over missing the top overall seed, but if there's anything less relevant to tourney success then being #1 seed in a region, it is being the bullet overall. The Buckeyes got a very favorable draw. Neither BYU or Xavier look like an upset candidate in round two. And Tennessee or Virginia is all that stands in their way of the regional final. Once there, OSU will only have to get past either Memphis (soft from dining on C-USA pastry), Texas A&M (not battle-tested) or Louisville (great coach, but doubtful if they have the horses). The alleged dissing by the committee will only ensure Thad Matta needs no extra help in motivating his kids to keep their run going.

Wisconsin got the highest seed in school history. I do think UW is a serious candidate for an upset though. They are looking at a second-round game with UNLV. I saw the Rebs back in December when they played Texas Tech, and though it's been a while, they were a very good team. And the Badgers are without Brian Butch. Of teams seeded 1 or 2, I see Wisconsin as the most vulnerable to saying a quick goodbye this coming weekend.

I share the ESPN/CBS consensus that Michigan State has a very interesting draw. The matchup with Marquette in the first round is a juicy one. Either team will then give North Carolina a stern test in round two. Drew Sharp of The Detroit Free Press writes of how the success of this year's Spartan team is even more a testament to Tom Izzo's program then any of his Final Four runs.

Indiana may not have gotten a game with its former coach, but they did get a rematch with Gonzaga, the team that ousted them in the second round last year. If they win, the Hoosiers play UCLA, the team they beat to go the Final Four back in 1992.

And Coach Knight himself delivered again. After a losing season in 2006, the Red Raiders bounced back and gave the old master his record 28th NCAA bid. Over at the blog Double T Nation, they look forward to the matchup with Boston College and breathe a sigh of relief that the team hung on to get the bid.

Bubble Talks

As we get set to tip off in the Windy City tomorrow, here's a brief overview of the most basic elements of each bubble team's tournament resume, their overall W-L record and RPI power rating. I have included a short summation of the situation in other conferences. These are not my predictions--I generally don't agree with the methodology used by the Selection Committee,namely the lack of weight put on record within the conference, and the failure to more sharply limit the number of bids per league. And the committee does take into account more factors then are listed here--record against the Top 50, record in the last ten games, etc. The information below is meant simply to shed a little bit of light on what can be a confusing and stress-filled time of year if you root for a bubble team.

Three teams from the Big Ten are absolute locks. Ohio State at 27-3 (RPI--2), Wisconsin (27-4, 4) and Indiana 20-9 (24). The RPI numbers shine favorably on Michigan State. Even though the Spartans are  the #7 seed, they have a #22 power rating. Doubtless they are helped by a tough schedule, which included having to play both the Buckeyes and Badgers twice in the league rotation. Illinois (21-10) has a comfortable rating of #35, and as long as they beat Penn State on Thursday that shouldn't drop too much. Purdue is 20-10, (#45), Iowa is at 17-13 (#83) and Michigan is 20-11 (#52).

After the automatic bids to conference tourney winners are given out, there are 34 at-large bids available. I assume readers are aware of the most basic rule of league tournament rooting--pull for the teams already on the "lock list" to win their events, and avoid pushing them into the at-large field.

In the summation below, I have defined lock much more strictly then is the case with most media discussion, and I would be shocked if some of the teams I have on my bubble list don't get in, and with decent seeding to boot. But there's always one or two teams like this that get left out each year and send the nation reeling in shock. If you're even a remote candidate to be one of those teams then...well, you're not a lock.

ACC
Locks--North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland, Duke

Virginia--20-9 (#40). Hard to believe the co-champ has a power rating this low, but there it is.
Georgia Tech--20-10 (#34)
Florida State--19-11 (#48)
Clemson--21-9 (#36)

SEC
Locks--Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky

Vanderbilt--20-10 (#37)
Alabama--20-10 (#44)
Arkansas--18-12 (#49)
Ole Miss--19-11 (#61)
Georgia--17-12 (#65)
Mississippi State 16-12 (#66)

Pac-10
Locks--UCLA, Washington State, Oregon, Arizona
Lest you wonder about the Arizona classification, the 'Cats are 20-9 and #13 in the RPI.

USC--21-10 (#53)
Stanford--18-11 (#56)
Washington--18-12 (#75)

Big East
Locks--Georgetown, Pitt, Marquette, Notre Dame, Villanova

This is an upside down league. 'Nova is at #18 in the power ratings, while you see below that Louisville and Syracuse aren't as shiny on the computers as one might have expected. I'd be shocked if the Cards in particular don't make it, but I'm not classifying anyone a lock who's below #40.

Louisville--22-8 (#41)
Syracuse--21-9 (#50)
West Virginia--22-8 (#57)
DePaul--18-12 (#64)
Providence--18-10 (#70_

Big 12
Locks--Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas

Kansas State 21-19 (#59)
Texas Tech 20-11 (#42)
Missouri 18-11 (#78)
Oklahoma State 20-11 (#58)

Mountain West
Locks--BYU, UNLV, Air Force

San Diego State 21-9 (#54)

Colonial
Virginia Commonwealth has won automatic bid

Old Dominion--24-7 (#39)
Drexel--23-7 (#46)
Hofstra--22-8 (#71)

Looking elsewhere, Conference USA is one to keep an eye on. Memphis is the only team that can make the tournament as an at-large. Of the remaininig teams, Houston is the only one with an RPI in the Top 100 (95th) and they're 16-14. Pull for the Tigers to win the league tourney.

The main thing that jumps out from these numbers is the incredible power of the ACC. All nine teams on the board look to have just cause to make the field. The committee says there is no limit per conference, de facto or de jure, and I'm inclined to take their word for it. The bottom teams in that group (Georgia Tech, Clemson) all closed with key wins in the last week, so there's more working for an ACC sweep on Sunday.

I'm also still a little nervous about Coach Knight's chances of getting in. The Red Raiders resume is good, but they need to beat Colorado on Thursday. I think for the same reason Illinois needs a win over Penn State--it's not so much that either contender needs the win, but they cannot afford to have a loss to the last place team in their league going into Selection Sunday.  

Confusion Still Reigns

The regular season reaches its conclusion on Saturday and confusion still reigns. Five teams will go to Chicago for the conference tournament with their NCAA status uncertain. I don't ever recall a league tourney as consequential as this one will be.

Iowa's win over Illinois is the key trigger of the confusion. An Illini win would have surely marked them as a lock, and also ended whatever faint hopes the Hawks have for an at-large bid. But Illinois missed their chance in Iowa City, and tiebreakers dropped them to the #6 seed, meaning they must play on Thursday. Presuming that taking care of Penn State will be just a formality, the Illini may need to beat Indiana on Friday night in the quarterfinals to ensure a bid. As for Iowa, I would still be very surprised to see them get an at-large. But at 17-13 right now, if they win two games in Chicago, which would get them to the final, you can't rule them out at 19-14 (obviously if they win three and win the event, they'll be in the NCAA automatically). And winning two games is doable for Alford & Co. They open with Purdue on Friday afternoon. The likely semifinal opponent would be Ohio State, and it's anybody's guess how fired up the Buckeyes will be, with a  regular season championship and probable #1 NCAA seed all but clinched.

The two schools from the basketball hotbed of the world took care of their business on Saturday. Indiana thumped Penn State at home, and with the Illinois loss took third place outright. There will be no sweaty palms in Bloomington come early Sunday evening. Prior to Saturday's game, Terry Hutchens at The Indianapolis Star wrote that a key to Kelvin Sampson's success in his rookie year has been his restoration of home-court advantage. Purdue thumped Northwestern in Mackey and got to 20-10. On Saturday night, I was watching ESPN's Gameday coverage and most of the commentators think the Boilermakers need some wins in Chicago if they are to dance. However it plays out, Matt Painter's turnaround job is one of the feel-good stories in the conference this season. His players honored Carl Landry and David Teague as co-MVPs for their efforts.

Michigan looked to have Ohio State on the ropes, but let it slip away. The Wolverines finish 8-8 in the league and almost surely need to win at least twice this weekend. Drew Sharp of The Detroit Free Press continues his critical approach to the Amaker regime. However, the columnist feels like the coach's job is safe, due to some intriguing campus politics.  I've indicated before my own mixed feelings on this subject. I doubt that firing Amaker is going to solve anything in Ann Arbor, and I do think he's a decent coach. But at the same time, consistent failure to make the NCAA (presuming that ends up the case this year) can't be overlooked at a school with the resources of UM. If I were the AD, he'd stay, but I do understand where the frustration of fans and writers like Sharp is coming from. Sorry if that position sounds a little John Kerry-esque, but I'm ambivalent on this one.

Michigan State and Wisconsin played the best game of the day, with the Badgers winning on a last-second three-pointer by Kammron Taylor. It was ironic, because the normally disciplined Badgers played sluggish and then ran an absolutely atrocious offensive set on the final possession, forcing Taylor into an off-balance trey. But nailing the shot heals all wounds, and UW avoids a three-game losing streak to end the regular season. The loss means MSU at least needs to take care of the formality of beating Northwestern in Thursday's first-round, and at 8-8 in the league, they might need to win the rematch against Wisconsin on Friday. Those schools will no doubt be sick of each other by then, as it will mark their third clash in two weeks.

And way down south, the General got a big win on Saturday night. Texas Tech escaped Iowa State with a 63-61 win, they got them to 20 W's for the year. The Red Raiders will probably get their coach's record-setting 28th NCAA bid, so long as they beat last-place Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 tourney on Thursday.

Knight's Drive For Record Bid Stalling

In the span of five days in late January, Bob Knight's Texas Tech team knocked off both Kansas & Texas A&M and it looked like the General had an unlikely contender for the Big 12 title. Since then, however the Red Raider season has been coming undone. A heartbreaking double-overtime defeat at Oklahoma State yesterday marked the fifth straight loss for Tech. It's the first time that's happened to Coach Knight since 1972. His 1985 team in Bloomington that failed to make the NCAA Tournament and fell apart down the stretch never lost five in a row. His team last year in Lubbock that finished sub-.500 never lost five in a row. But somehow a team capable of beating Top 10 teams in succession has turned the trick.

The prospects of Knight garnering a record 28th career appearance in the NCAA Tournament are rapidly dimming, though the strong start means they still have a chance to recover. Tech is 15-10 overall and 4-6 in Big 12 play. If they can win four of their final six games they would at least have a shot at using the conference tournament to make a run for an at-large bid. The Red Raiders go to A&M next, so you can realistically pen in another loss there. They also go to Texas which has to be tentatively written off. They have home dates with Colorado and Baylor, bottom feeders in the Big 12 which have to be marked as wins. So the swing games will be a home date with Oklahoma State and the finale at Iowa State, who trail the Red Raiders in the conference standings. If they sweep both of those games, they go to Kansas City at 17-12, and perhaps two wins and a 19-13 record overall could get them a bid. Three wins would probably push them over the top, and four W's would mean they'd won the tournament and the automatic bid.

In the big picture, if you'd told me that Tech would be 15-10 right now with an outside shot at March Madness, it would have been about what I expected. The team is still young, as Knight recently steered away from the reliance on juco players he used to inject quick juice into the program upon his arrival prior to the 2002 season. So overall, the Red Raiders are about where you'd expect, but it's still a little disappointing, given the high hopes that their back-to-back big wins engendered.

Michigan Moves Up

Michigan is quietly setting themselves up to make some noise in the conference race. The Wolverines hammered Purdue, avenging a loss from just a week ago (not sure why both Purdue-UM games were scheduled so close this early in the year). Guard Dion Harris has been the key for Tommy Amaker, and he put in another 21 on Saturday.

The Wolverines are now 4-1 and set for a big Wednesday date at Wisconsin. The Badgers showed some mettle this weekend down at Illinois. Having struggled through two lackluster wins, playing on the road and against a team that really needed a win, it was a situation ripe for an upset. But Wisconsin got out of town with a seven-point win, thanks to Alando Tucker. Michael Hunt of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel makes the case for Tucker is the best hoops player ever at Madison.

Indiana won at UConn on Saturday, but this is a game that should get mixed reviews from the Hoosier faithful. UConn is not what they've been in recent years, coming into the game very young and unranked. Indiana was uncharacteristically destroyed on the boards, the reason an early 14-point lead evaporated in the blink of an eye. D.J. White was productive offensively, but non-existent on the glass. But give Kelvin Sampson's kids their due. It was still an environment that a team not really accustomed to closing out big wins could have folded in, but they made plays. No one made more then Roderick Wilmont, who poured in 23. Terry Hutchens of The Indianapolis Star tells us that Wilmont has no fear of failure.

IU and Michigan are each 4-1 in league play and lead the short list of possible dark horses to upset the Wisconsin-Ohio State applecart in the race for the championship. The Wolverines visit IU this weekend to cap off their critical week on the road.

Taking a look south to check up on the exiled General, Bob Knight's Texas Tech team upended fifth-ranked Kansas on Saturday. Tech is now 3-1 in the Big 12, good for a three-way tie for second. At 14-5 overall they are in the hunt for an NCAA bid. The Red Raiders did suffer a bad loss to Baylor recently that will stay up on the board and haunt them, but the win over the Jayhawks significantly advanced the cause for Knight to get his 28th NCAA Tournament appearance and move ahead of Dean Smith on the all-time list.

Around The Hoosier State

The main story out of Indiana came out of Lubbock, TX last night. Bob Knight missed his first chance to break Dean Smith's career wins record. As much as I love Coach Knight, I haven't really gotten into this chase at history. The main reason being that his achievement of the record is already a fait accompli. He also doesn't need the record for his vindication as a coach--that's been achieved even in the eyes of his worst critics.

The Tech loss to UNLV last night was significant though, because the Red Raiders are almost surely going to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Vegas looks very good and win last night would have looked awfully good come March. On the ESPN broadcast last night, a graph was shown that Knight is also tied with Dean Smith for another career mark--number of trips to the Big Dance (27). It's breaking that record that most affects this year's team, and concern about his current players achieving their maximum of their ability has always been what's driven the General most.

Elsewhere in the Hoosier State, Purdue took it on the chin at Indiana State. While the Boilermakers are still 10-3, they have not yet won on the road. They got one first out of way though-- coach Matt Painter picked up his first career technical.

And concluding a brief little tour around Indiana, we stop in at South Bend, where the Irish are getting ready for LSU in the Sugar Bowl. The featured piece in ESPN's college football section today is an article by Mark Schlabach talking about the pressure on Charlie Weis to produce the school's first bowl victory since the '93 Cotton. Schlabach goes on to detail the staggering personnel losses the Irish will suffer in the offseason. This is the underlying reason why Weis can really use a big-time win like this one. No knowledgeable fan could possibly rip the job he has done so far. Even allowing for a rebuilding year, ND is at worst going to enter his fourth season with two BCS appearances and be in a strong position to gun for the top in 2008. But if LSU does what everyone expects and hands it to the Irish on January 3, the coach will spend a long offseason and another long '07 listening to impatient boosters who don't realize how far he's brought the program in such a short time.