ESPN Men's Basketball

It's the day after the draft. For me, that means sitting at my desk, staring at my computer screen, and wondering if what I saw last night unfold last night is really how things went down. In other words, I'm still processing all this.

You know what else the Draft Day Plus 1 means? Listicles. Lots and lots of listicles.

You know what I always say: If you can't beat them -- if you can't think of a similarly efficient content delivery format that doesn't rely so heavily on lists, basically -- join them. Without further ado, here's one of a few college hoops-inclined looks at last night's action. Next up: The biggest college winners drafted in the second round.

NBA general managers frequently pay homage to the idea of intangibles. They praise players for character, for motor, for having accomplished things during their amateur careers. Then, when the draft clock winds down, those same GMs just as frequently ignore that lip service in favor of drafting the best athlete, or the high-risk, high-reward talent, or the latest 7-foot European sensation.

That's part of the reason why, if you compare the two rounds of last night's NBA draft, you might find just as many -- if not more -- college hoops wins in the second round as the first. There were a lot of awfully successful college hoopsters drafted in the latter round last night. Here's a few of them.

1. Kyle Singler, forward, Duke, No. 33: If it wasn't for Nolan Smith being drafted in the first round (Smith went surprisingly early to the Trail Blazers at No. 21), the Duke duo may have tipped the college wins scale fully in the favor of the second round. As it is, Singler stands alone atop this list for his unparalleled college success. Singler was a key contributor in all four of his years at Duke, and in that span the Blue Devils never won fewer than 28 games during his tenure, and they never lost more than seven games in any season. His career record? 125-23. Oh, and there was that 2010 national title, too. Detroit Pistons GM Joe Dumars values character and experience, and he may have been elated that Singler's shooting woes and tweener issues kept him available until the second round.

2. Shelvin Mack, guard, Butler, No. 34: The Washington Wizards drew praise from all corners for their draft selections Thursday night. That praise was cemented when the Wizards landed Mack just one pick after Singler's selection in the second round. Mack's accomplishments in his three years at Butler speak for themselves: An 87-21 record, three straight Horizon League titles, a variety of individual regular season and postseason awards, and, most importantly, a penchant for turning his game on in March. Mack helped engineer two of the most unlikely postseason runs in NCAA tournament history as a sophomore and junior, and with his combination of outside shooting, distribution and lockdown defense, the Bulldogs finished as NCAA runners-up two years in a row.

3. E'Twaun Moore, guard, Purdue, No. 55: The NBA draft coincidence of the night -- assuming the Celtics didn't plan this out -- was seeing Purdue forward JaJuan Johnson and former teammate E'Twaun Moore both land on the same team in Boston. Johnson was selected in the first round, and Moore was taken in the second, but it's not unfair to say Moore might make an easier and more immediate transition to the pros. At the very least, the Celtics know Moore was a quietly effective, consistent collegiate winner. He helped lead Purdue to four straight plus-25-win seasons, became the fourth player in Big Ten history to notch at least 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 350 assists, and was one of the reasons the Boilermakers were on the precipice of national title runs in 2010 and 2011 before Robbie Hummel's untimely injuries. Moore, Johnson and Hummel led something of a hoops renaissance under Matt Painter at Purdue, and if I'm an NBA GM, that sort of pedigree is worth a pick any day.

4. Jon Leuer, forward, Wisconsin, No. 40: As go Bo Ryan's teams, so go Bo Ryan's players. Or maybe that's the other way around. However you choose to view it, the bottom line is that Wisconsin wins -- incredibly, Ryan has still never finished worse than fourth in the Big Ten -- as consistently as any program in the country. In the past four years, that winning has had much to do with the play of Jon Leuer, who, in typical Wisconsin fashion, morphed from a so-so prospect into one of the most efficient players in college basketball in his final two seasons. Quiet effectiveness in a versatile 7-foot frame? Yes please.

5. Jon Diebler, guard, Ohio State, No. 51: With apologies to Isaiah Thomas, who snuck into the draft with the final pick in the second round last night (and who might have snuck onto this list if we didn't think Washington limped through so much of their 2010-11 season), Diebler gets the nod at the fifth spot here. The Buckeyes guard had the benefit of playing with some very talented players in his days at Ohio State, but it's worth noting that Diebler wasn't always the hypereffective outside shooter we now know. As a freshman, he shot 29 percent from 3. As a sophomore, he had improved that mark to 42 percent. By the time he was a senior, Diebler was the most dangerous perimeter shooter in the country, making 50 percent (!) of his threes and posting -- check out these stats -- an offensive rating of 140.6 (No. 1 in the country), an effective field goal percentage of 70.6 (No. 2 in the country) and a true shooting percentage of 72.3 (No. 1 in the country). Having Evan Turner and Jared Sullinger finding you for open shots in back to back years is a blessing. But it's a blessing Diebler exploited like few other players in the country. There's no reason to expect anything less in the NBA.

NEWARK, N.J. -- The whippersnappers steal the limelight. It’s what kids do. They come in all shiny and pretty like a new penny, and everybody pays attention to them.

Even here, they surrounded the freshman after the game, the whiz kid who struggled again all night only to make the impossible shot, the game winner.

It’s not that Brandon Knight didn’t deserve the attention. His leaner, a rise-out-of-the-ashes, over-a-defender shot that deserved extra points for difficulty, once again saved the day for Kentucky.

Twice now in the tournament he has struggled for 39 minutes only to make up for it in a flick of a wrist, beating Princeton on a drive to the hoop in the opening game and now ousting No. 1 seed Ohio State 62-60 on a jumper with five seconds remaining.

“Brandon does that on purpose,’’ teammate Doron Lamb deadpanned. “He misses them all in the first half and the second, and then makes it at the end. We call it the okie-doke.’’

The okie-doke technically decided the game, but this game wasn’t really won by Knight.

It was won by three upperclassmen, a commodity as rare as “I Love Louisville” T-shirts in the city of Lexington.

Josh Harrellson, DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller put Kentucky into an Elite Eight blue-blood battle against North Carolina.

Ohio State brought five seniors to the floor to the Wildcats’ one (Harrellson). The powerful Buckeyes, with longtime starters William Buford, David Lighty, Dallas Lauderdale and Jon Diebler, owned a depth and breadth of experience Kentucky simply doesn’t have.

Sure, the UK players have logged plenty of time on campus, but not quite so much on the floor.

Yet together the trio scored 39 of the Cats’ 62 points and had 19 of their 32 rebounds.

And as good as those statistics are, they alone don’t tell all of what those three did. It was their ferociousness, their attitude that changed this game in Kentucky’s favor.

“Our freshmen were OK today,’’ coach John Calipari said. “Our veteran players who were not significant a year ago, who have now taken over this team, that’s why we’re still playing. It’s because of those guys.’’

Frankly, Ohio State is not playing anymore because its guys didn’t deliver. The Buckeyes, a team that looked absolutely unstoppable a weekend ago against George Mason, looked overwhelmed.

OSU shot just 33 percent for the game and was 7-of-27 outside the paint. Buford, who missed a jumper as the buzzer sounded, was only 2-of-16; Diebler drained four 3-pointers, but besides the final one, which would have sent it to overtime were it not for Knight, they were largely unimportant; Lauderdale didn’t take a single shot; and Lighty was only 5-of-12 from the floor.

“It hurts because we felt like we could make a run at the championship,’’ Diebler said. “Obviously every team wants to finish in Houston. You can’t take away what we did this year in the regular season, but it does kind of hurt to end like this.’’

Kentucky knows the pain of finishing before you’re supposed to. A year ago, the Wildcats -- with more NBA talent than the current Cleveland Cavaliers roster -- were predestined to a weekend in Indianapolis. West Virginia halted those plans a game early, upsetting UK in the Elite Eight.

Most of that roster pocketed that bad memory in their suitcases on the way to the NBA, leaving only Harrellson, Miller and Liggins to remember it.

“You can’t rely on freshmen in games like this,’’ Liggins said. “This was on us. We were the guys who knew what it felt like to play in a game like this and lose.’’

Still, these three aren’t supposed to do this. Harrellson dominated the conversation at the start of the season because of who he is not -- namely Enes Kanter. When the Turkish player was declared ineligible by the NCAA, it was practically a statewide day of mourning in Kentucky.

There is no longer mourning. Instead, Harrellson has more than ably filled the void, bolstering his numbers from 1.3 points per game last season to 7.3 this season.

Against Ohio State, in a matchup in which he was supposed to lose his lunch, he stood toe to toe with Jared Sullinger, putting up 17 points and 10 rebounds to Sullinger’s 21 and 16. It was the big man’s third double-double in his past five games.

And then there is Liggins.

When Calipari took the job at Kentucky, he said, everyone told him to get rid of Liggins, that he wasn’t good enough or worth the effort to keep around. Instead, Calipari elected to keep him, reaping the rewards for the decision Friday night.

Liggins spent the night before the game unable to sleep. He was anxious, not anxious as in nervous, but anxious as in ready -- ready to silence the doubters and ready to prove that this Kentucky team, far more a work in progress than the last, was every bit as good as the last.

“I knew everybody was picking us to lose,’’ Liggins said.

And probably even those picking UK to win didn’t figure Liggins for the hero. He had 11 points combined in the first two games of the NCAA tournament and had been good defensively but forgettable offensively for much of the past few weeks.

Against the Buckeyes, he either scored or assisted on 12 of the Wildcats’ final 18 points.

“DeAndre carried us,’’ Miller said. “If he wasn’t scoring, he was creating for someone else. We would have gotten blown out if it wasn’t for him.’’

Instead, the Wildcats stayed neck and neck with a team that looked like an offensive juggernaut only a weekend ago. Kentucky completely forced Ohio State out of its comfort zone, using its speed to fly to the ball and its length to contest every shot. By halftime, virtually the entire UK roster had two fouls, yet the Wildcats kept coming, blocking 11 shots and forcing OSU into just 6-of-17 shooting from beyond the arc.

Which was why when Diebler drained a 3-pointer with 21 seconds to play, there was a momentary sense of dread.

“I was so down on myself,’’ said Liggins, who was defending Diebler.

And then along came the kid, the one who doesn’t know any better, doesn’t realize how rare it is to make a game-winning shot in the NCAA tournament, let alone two -- who doesn’t understand that when you’re two of your previous nine, the likelihood that you end up the hero is rare.

“It was like in the Princeton game; Coach just had faith in me,’’ Knight said. “I had a lot of confidence. It felt good when it left my hands.’’

The ignorance of innocence and the value of experience.

Perhaps Kentucky has found the combination to success.

NEWARK -- A look at the matchup between the Wildcats and Buckeyes:

No. 4 seed Kentucky (27-8) vs. No. 1 seed Ohio State (34-2), approx. 9:45 p.m. ET (CBS)

How they got here: Brandon Knight became the hero in the first round, scoring one bucket in the game -- the game-winner against Princeton. A game later, Knight poured in 30 as the Wildcats’ ousted their nemesis from a year ago, beating West Virginia.

Ohio State comes to Newark looking like a No. 1 seed should -- clobbering everyone in its wake. The Buckeyes beat up on UT-San Antonio in their first game and easily dispatched George Mason, winning the two games by an average of 30 points.

Storyline: Kentucky wears the unfamiliar mantle of underdog, going up against the top-seeded Buckeyes, a team John Calipari said has made him stop and say, ‘Oh my goodness,’ while watching game tape.

These, however, are not your typical underdogs. Along with their tradition of success, the Wildcats have plenty to latch onto this season. UK won the SEC tournament, spent the entire season in the top 25 and rides an eight-game win streak into this game.

The NCAA road has been considerably kinder for Ohio State, an easy walkover from Cleveland to Newark with two easy games. But the Buckeyes, who have carried with ease the burden of a No. 1 ranking for a decent chunk of the season, aren’t fooled.

“I think it’s just the heightened awareness of how good your opponents are,’’ OSU coach Thad Matta said. “I think that these guys have done a much better job of not buying into all of the hype that goes along with this.’’

What to watch: What happens on the perimeter. Both teams are pretty good from behind the arc. Ohio State leads the nation, knocking down 42.4 percent of its 3-point attempts.

Kentucky isn’t far behind. A year after the Wildcats were done in by their lack of perimeter game, they now rank 12th in the nation, draining 39.6 percent of their 3-point tries.

Sometimes basketball isn’t confusing. Whoever is able to make more from long range could have the upper hand.

Who to watch: This will depend a lot on how UK chooses to defend Ohio State. If the Wildcats double Jared Sullinger, Jon Diebler will be key. When he’s on, he’s lethal. Diebler has sunk 110 3-pointers and is shooting 50 percent (yes, you read that correctly -- 50 percent) from the beyond the arc.

Josh Harrellson has had a terrific and unexpected senior season, surprising even himself he admitted on Thursday.

There’s no question that this will be Harrellson’s tallest order. It’s critical that he stays on the floor, something plenty of people have had a hard time doing against Ohio State and Sullinger. The Buckeyes big man averages just 2.4 fouls per game.

“I never thought I would be where I am, doing the things I am capable of now,’’ Harrellson said. “And going against Jared Sullinger will be a tough task. One of the best big men in the country, if not the best big man.’’

Of note: Ohio State is 345th out of 345 teams in fewest fouls per game. The Buckeyes commit just 14 fouls per game. OSU has shot 348 more free throws than its opponents and has made 126 more than its opponents have attempted. … Kentucky doesn’t make mistakes, a huge advantage against a team as savvy as Ohio State. The Wildcats average 10.6 turnovers per game. Only 11 teams in the country take better care of the basketball.

What they’re saying:

“With freshman starting and with veterans who really don’t have a lot of experience, the interesting thing for us is I really have no idea how they will play.’’ -- UK coach John Calipari

“They are athletic; they get out and run, they push the pace. They have bigs, they have wings and they have a guard who can pretty much do it all. So if we don’t come ready to play, it’s going to be a long night for us.’’ -- OSU senior David Lighty on what makes Kentucky difficult.

CLEVELAND -- On Saturday night, Ohio State senior and Cleveland native David Lighty took all his teammates to his family's church. The parishioners treated the Buckeyes to a feast of soul food.

Then at Sunday morning's shootaround, four Ohio State players were presented their diplomas. They couldn't walk in the school's winter graduation ceremony held at the same time a few hours south in Columbus, so they put on some mortarboards at half court of Quicken Loans Arena and spelled out O-H-I-O.

The Buckeyes might have been on the road this weekend, but they made Cleveland feel like home. And boy did they ever look comfortable here.

In an NCAA tournament that has already seen one No. 1 seed (Pittsburgh) lose and another (Duke) barely hang on, Ohio State emphatically showed why it deserved to be the top overall seed. Sunday's 98-66 destruction of No. 8 seed George Mason said it all.

"We're trying to make a statement," guard William Buford said. "We want to let everybody know we mean business."

Message transmitted. The Buckeyes won their two games here by a total of 62 points. They shot 58.6 percent from the field in the two games and 56 percent on 3-pointers.

There were no squeaky parts on this machine. Ask George Mason. Patriots coach Jim Larranaga's strategy was to try and slow down center Jared Sullinger and sharpshooter Jon Diebler, hoping Buford wouldn't go off like he did against Texas San-Antonio. Buford didn't, but Lighty -- normally the team's defensive stopper and glue guy -- erupted for 25 points on 7-of-7 3-point shooting.

George Mason couldn't concentrate on the perimeter because of the presence of Sullinger, who had 18 points and eight rebounds in just 22 minutes. Point guard Aaron Craft came off the bench to dish out 15 assists, including a 40-foot wraparound dart out of a trap to Sullinger for a dunk in the first half. Diebler and Buford still got their points, and Ohio State hit 16 of its first 23 3-point attempts.

How can you stop all of that?

"You've got great shooters outside and you've also got power post men sitting in the block," George Mason guard Cam Long said. "So when you're trying to shut down one thing, they've got other things that open up. And if you try to shut down the block, they've got the 3s that open up. So it's definitely a hard thing to guard."

"Just so many weapons on our team," Lighty said. "And everyone was clicking on high cylinders tonight. When that's happening, it's pretty hard to beat us."

Championship teams also catch some breaks along the way, and the Buckeyes got one when George Mason starter Luke Hancock -- who had 18 points and the winning 3-pointer against Villanova on Friday -- fell ill. Hancock apparently picked up a stomach bug that had him vomiting in the team hotel all Saturday night, and when he tried to go to the arena on Sunday, he got dizzy and had to stay back.

Even without Hancock, George Mason jumped out to an 11-2 lead. The Patriots were fired up -- a little too much so for the Buckeyes' tastes.

"They were talking a little bit of junk, and that ticked us off," Buford said.

A bear when poked roars back. Ohio State outscored George Mason 50-15 the rest of the first half, allowing only one field goal the final 10 minutes in a devastating 26-4 run before intermission.

"We finished the game pretty well," Ohio State forward Dallas Lauderdale said in an understatement. "It was a wake-up call seeing Butler knocking off Pitt. We're on a mission."

In order to derail that mission, somebody is going to have to make the Buckeyes feel a lot less comfortable than they were in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND -- The four remaining teams in this East Region pod know how to move on in March. All four have been to a Final Four since 2003, and three of them have national championship trophies encased in glass back home.

Beyond that, we've got the top overall seed (Ohio State) taking on a mid-major power (George Mason). Then it's a Big East grudge match between Syracuse and Marquette in which the lower seed had the upper hand earlier this season.

Let's rock and roll in Cleveland.

No. 8 George Mason (27-6) vs. No. 1 Ohio State (33-2), 5:15 p.m. ET

What to watch: The 3-point arc. Ohio State has been on fire from the outside lately, and the Buckeyes are nearly impossible to beat when William Buford and Jon Diebler are as dialed in as they've been from 3-point range. George Mason was a good shooting team this season (39.4 percent on 3s) but struggled with shot selection against Villanova. The Patriots were able to turn that into a defensive slugfest, but that's probably not going to work against Ohio State. The Buckeyes are holding opponents to 32 percent shooting on 3s in four postseason games.

Who to watch: Jared Sullinger didn't have to do a whole lot in the romp against Texas San-Antonio on Friday, but the Ohio State big man will be a key player against George Mason. The Patriots had a hard time keeping Nova's post players off the glass in the last round, and Sullinger is much more of a load than any of those Wildcats. George Mason will have to clamp down on Buford and Diebler like they did against the Wildcats' Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher in the second half while still accounting for Sullinger inside.

You can bet the Bucks will keep a close eye on George Mason guard Luke Hancock, who had 18 points and the clinching 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in Friday's win against Villanova. Forward Mike Morrison also had a big game on Friday, and the Patriots will need the 6-foot-9 junior to help contain Sullinger.

Why to watch: George Mason is tired of the 2006 comparisons, but that Final Four team beat some of the sport's heavyweights on its way to glory, including a No. 1 seed in UConn. This team will have to take the same path through a powerful Ohio State club that is firing on all cylinders. And the crowd will be heavily on the Buckeyes' side.

What they're saying: "I don't think you want to be an underdog. You probably want to be in Ohio State's position of being the No. 1 overall [seed]. But we're ready to play against a good team. We have confidence in ourselves. We're not worried about being called the underdog." -- George Mason's Hancock.

"Our defense needs to be at its very best on first shots. We've got to limit second shots. But the biggest thing is, based on the way we played yesterday, we've really got to encourage our guys to understand that we're going to have to put the ball in the basket [Sunday]." -- George Mason coach Jim Larranaga

"With us, it's pick your poison. Whatever you want to do, we have a way to counter it." -- Ohio State's Dallas Lauderdale.

"I think they're kind of similar to us. They've got a lot of different guys that can do a lot of different things, from driving the ball, to 3-point shooting, to post-ups. They've got a lot of trigger-pullers within the course of their offense. They do a good job moving the basketball. I think that's the big key -- you have to defend all five guys. And with a one-day prep, you've got to have a great understanding of what all five guys on the floor are capable of doing, because, as I said, they're multi-dimensional players." -- Ohio State coach Thad Matta.

Of note: A win by George Mason would set the school single-season record for victories. The 2006 Final Four team won 27 games. ... Sunday is the winter graduation ceremony at Ohio State, and Diebler, David Lighty and Lauderdale all earned their degrees last week. They'll be a bit too busy to walk in the ceremony, however. ... Watch the pace. Ohio State is 23-0 when scoring at least 75 points. George Mason is 3-5 when opponents score at least 70.

No. 11 Marquette (21-14) vs. No. 3 Syracuse (27-7), approx. 7:40 p.m. ET

What to watch: We went to Cleveland, and a Big East tournament semifinal broke out. These teams might be league rivals, but because the Big East is so big, it's not like they play each other all the time. In fact, they met only once this season, and Marquette won 76-70 back on Jan. 29. The Golden Eagles guards penetrated the Orange's 2-3 zone and got to the rim, shooting 33 free throws and getting the Syracuse post players in foul trouble. They even outrebounded the Orange that night in Milwaukee. Syracuse has a distinct size advantage, but Marquette hopes to neutralize that with quickness.

Who to watch: Syracuse's Rick Jackson had a big night against Indiana State on Friday with 23 points and seven rebounds. Marquette doesn't have many guys who can match his 6-foot-9, 240-pound body. But Golden Eagles forward Jae Crowder had 25 points and seven rebounds in the first matchup of the Orange.

Guards Jimmy Butler and Darius Johnson-Odom will be key for Marquette against the zone. Syracuse guards Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche will have to do a good job handling the Golden Eagles' pressure on the perimeter and slowing down Butler and Johnson-Odom.

Why to watch: Syracuse is a dangerous tournament team because of its length in that zone, which can overwhelm unfamiliar opponents. But Marquette knows the zone and is coming off a terrific performance against Xavier on Friday night. This might be an 11 vs. 3 matchup on paper, but this has all the makings of a hard-fought, Big East-style game.

What they're saying: "You've got to move the ball more than once, and we can't fall into taking quick shots. The key thing is to get it in the middle or behind the zone. We pretty much know where we can get into the gaps and make plays for each other, by us already having seen it." -- Marquette guard Dwight Buycks

"The first time around, our defense wasn't as good as it is now. Our defense is much improved, and it should mess them up a little because we'll be quicker in getting to spots we weren't able to get to in the game we lost to them." -- Syracuse guard Brandon Triche.

"I told one of our assistants, when we were leaving [Madison Square] Garden, after Louisville beat us the [in the Big East tournament], I'm so thankful that we don't have to talk about or prepare or play against a Big East program until next Christmas. And so on Sunday we're doing the Selection Show and they show Xavier first, they're the higher seed, then they show us. Everybody's like rah, rah, rah. And then the next team that pops up is Syracuse." -- Marquette coach Buzz Williams.

Of note: The Jan. 29 game was the last of a four-game losing streak for Syracuse. Orange players said their strong second-half effort in that game helped them get their season back on track by playing with more effort. ... Marquette has lost its second game in the NCAA tournament in each of the last two years and hasn't won two games since the 2003 Final Four run. ... If Marquette hits a big 3, you can be sure to see players making the "3-point goggles" gesture. The Golden Eagles claim to be the first college team to adopt the new trend, which started with the Portland Trail Blazers this season. Marquette grad Wesley Matthews told the Golden Eagles about it, and they have run with it. The goggles made an appearance in Friday's win against Xavier.

ESPN.com’s Pat Forde talks with Ohio State’s Jon Diebler after the Buckeyes’ win over Michigan.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ohio State answered a second-half Michigan threat with an overpowering 16-0 run on its way to a 68-61 victory. The score was deceptive, as Ohio State watched an 18-point lead unravel at garbage time; the Wolverines never had a realistic chance at winning. The Buckeyes advance to the Big Ten tournament final while Michigan figures it has done enough to earn an NCAA tournament bid.

Star player: Jon Diebler was aggressive early and William Buford assertive late, but the consistently immovable presence of Jared Sullinger was more than the Wolverines could handle inside. Sullinger had 14 points and 13 rebounds, giving him 34 points and 31 rebounds for the tourney. Unlike Friday, Sullinger did not shoot well at the foul line, which limited his scoring output.

Turning point: After Michigan pulled within two at 47-45, Ohio State counterpunched with a 16-0 run keyed by defense and offensive rebounding. The Wolverines had seven straight empty possessions and Buford scored six straight points in that stretch.

Key stat: Michigan never could get anything established inside and wound up shooting 30 2-point shots and 29 from 3-point range.

What's next: Ohio State plays the winner of Michigan State-Penn State for the Big Ten tourney title. Michigan goes home to learn its NCAA seeding, location and opponent Sunday.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three things I can't wait to see in Northwestern-Ohio State:

• Can Michael Thompson continue his roll? The spunky little Northwestern guard set a Big Ten tournament scoring record with 35 points against Minnesota Thursday. Theoretically, he'll be facing a tougher defense against the Buckeyes, so it will be difficult for a 5-foot-10 guard to dominate a game. But Thursday he very much looked the part of a senior who is driving to extend his career as long as possible, so we'll see what carries over to Friday.
• Can Jon Diebler continue his roll? The Ohio State senior sharpshooter has been ridiculous of late, making 17 of 20 3-point shots in the Buckeyes' last two games. Four words for Northwestern: get a hand up. And even that might not be enough.
• Can Northwestern shock the world? You may not remember, but the Wildcats just about had Ohio State beaten in Evanston in late January before letting it get away. Northwestern had the ball in a tie game in the last 20 seconds before turning it over, then fouling Jared Sullinger with three seconds remaining. He made one free throw for the victory. With that as a backdrop, Northwestern doesn't go into this game lacking hope the way most of us probably think it should.

Three things I can't wait to see in Michigan-Illinois

• Can the Wolverines sew up a bid? Actually, I think they probably already have, but with fellow bubble-dwellers such as Colorado, Boston College and Georgia winning, Michigan would enhance its peace of mind with a victory today. Nobody wants to spend all day Sunday dithering about whether they're playing in the Big Dance or the NIT.
• Does Illinois have a run in it? The likelihood of the Illini making a major statement in this tournament seems remote, because they haven't won consecutive games since early January. But even though they're seemingly in the NCAA tournament, there needs to be some reason for Illinois fans to expect something noteworthy next week. Time to give them some hope.
• Which guard shines brighter, Tim Hardaway Jr. or Demetri McCamey? Hardaway has been on fire lately, averaging more than 20 points per game in his last six -- and his famous father is in Indy to watch him this weekend. As for McCamey, the senior for Illinois has had a fairly disappointing senior season but has shot a higher percentage in the last four games -- he's 27-of-49 from the field in that span. In fact, McCamey's 18 points in Illinois' two-point victory last month triggered his return to form.

Three things I can't wait to see in Michigan State-Purdue

• Can the Spartans walk, much less play? Point guard Kalin Lucas had an ice pack on his right ankle Thursday night after re-injuring it against Iowa. Power forward Delvon Roe had ice on his chronically problematic right knee, and playing back-to-back games will be tough for him. The Spartans don't have the bodies to endure a lot of injuries, especially in the backcourt.
• Does Purdue bounce back? The Boilermakers have had a great season, but they ended the regular schedule with a brutal two-point loss at Iowa. A lot of people, including the NCAA selection committee, will be watching to see if that was a blip or the beginning of a negative trend. Getting a No. 2 seed could depend on the showing today.
• How Purdue-intensive is the crowd? With Indiana having a terrible year and already being eliminated from the tournament, will Conseco Fieldhouse be an ocean of old gold and black? It will be tough to rattle veteran Michigan State, but having the fans behind you never hurts.

Three things I can't wait to see in Penn State-Wisconsin

• Will Talor Battle ever sit down? The Nittany Lions point guard has played 238 of a possible 240 minutes in his last six games, including the full 40 Thursday night against Indiana. It will be tough to maintain that pace in Indy against a fresh Badgers team.
• Will Jordan Taylor ever get sloppy with the ball? The Badgers point guard leads the nation in assist-to-turnover margin, and his numbers in that area have only gotten better in recent weeks. He has 24 assists and three turnovers in his last five games.
• Can Penn State upset Wisconsin again? The Nittany Lions beat the Badgers in State College in late January and split the season series. Given their motivation level to keep winning and get into the NCAA tournament, expect the best that Penn State can bring to the table.

Five observations from the week that was:

1. It’s time, once and for all, to shelve the no-great-teams line. You’ve heard this before. You’ve heard it a lot, in fact. The line has been ubiquitous: “There are no great teams in college basketball this season.” If hearing the line is tedious, constantly arguing against it isn’t much better. I don’t want to be the guy who keeps bringing this up, trust me. But now that the regular season is over, the entire concept deserves one last thorough dismissal, because the Ohio State Buckeyes are definitively a great team.

If we needed further evidence to this effect, see Sunday’s insane offensive effort against Wisconsin in which Jon Diebler and the Buckeyes only put on the single greatest long-range shooting display in Division I hoops history. (Ohio State shot -- get this -- 14-of-15 from beyond the arc. They scored 1.63 points per possession. Their effective field goal percentage was 83.0, which is as historically insane as anything we’ve seen in the past five years, and probably longer.)

Thing is, we didn’t need further evidence. We certainly didn’t need one of the greatest offensive performances in college hoops history to convince us. Why? Because even if the Buckeyes had merely beaten Wisconsin by, say, 10 points -- even if Thad Matta’s team had simply added another win to their docket -- that was enough. Ohio State would still have finished the regular season 29-2 and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Those two losses would still have come at two of the toughest places to play in the country versus two top-10 teams. In other words, they were the kind of losses that even a “great” team can suffer without losing much of the sheen of its greatness. Short of an undefeated regular season, the Bucks did just about everything right.

Of course, a national championship is often our best -- sometimes only -- retroactive barometer of greatness. Ohio State may have to win it all in early April to get the sort of historical credit it deserves. But if the Buckeyes fall short of a national title -- if they, like so many other teams, fall victim to the oh-so-crazy nature of the NCAA tournament -- don’t listen to the eventual no-great-teams naysayers. After 31 games, what better adjective do we have to describe this team than, well, great?

2. Virginia Tech really, really likes to be on the bubble. It was a tough week for the Hokies. Last Saturday, Tech fans were storming the floor in Blacksburg after a résumé-making win over then-No. 1 Duke. Nine days later, those fans are back in a familiar early-March position: rooting for a team sitting squarely on the bubble. Consecutive losses to Boston College (by 15) and Clemson (by 9) assured as much. Now Seth Greenberg’s team will almost certainly have to get at least one win in the ACC tournament to stay on the right side of the cut line. And depending on the constantly shifting bubble, will just one be enough?

3. But hey, it could be worse. Sure, Virginia Tech fans might be feeling a little bummed right now. You never want to sink back to the bubble just when it looked like you were headed to the tournament for only the second time in 15 seasons. But if Tech fans ever need a little perspective, they should go ahead and phone their friends in Winston-Salem, N.C. Yes, that’s the home of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and yes, anytime you think your team couldn’t be any more frustrating, feel free to take a gander at what Jeff Bzdelik’s team went through this season. Sunday’s 84-68 loss at BC dropped the Deacons to 1-15 in the ACC, the worst record in the conference since Maryland’s went 1-13 in the league in 1989.

Even worse, this Wake team hasn’t been losing tough, close games. It hasn’t been getting unlucky. No, this team has been getting thoroughly trounced just about every time it takes the court. The Demon Deacons scored .88 points per possession in conference play this season, which ranks them No. 334 in the country in ppp vs. conference foes. They’ve allowed 1.15 points per possession, which ranks No. 336 in the nation. Yes, only eight teams -- eight teams! -- in college hoops have played this poorly relative to their conference opponents this season. Bzdelik might yet get the Deacons on the right path in the years to come.

But first on the agenda is forgetting this season ever happened.

4. Indiana State is no bid-stealer. Ah, yes, the notorious bid-stealers. They come out of nowhere in otherwise inconspicuous one-at-large leagues, besting the prohibitive favorites and snatching a bid from the hands of the desperate teams hovering around the bubble cut line. It happens every year. But it hasn’t happened yet. Yes, Indiana State’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament title was a surprise to most. Still, because Wichita State fell flat late in the year, and regular-season conference champion Missouri State lacks any notable nonconference results on its résumé, the MVC was always likely to be a one-bid league. Whoever that bid belongs to -- and we now know it belongs to the Sycamores -- it won’t exactly shrink the bubble picture.

5. Virginia Commonwealth, however, could be. The Rams seemingly fell off the bubble for good a few weeks ago, so Shaka Smart’s team likely needs to win the Colonial Athletic Association tournament to get back to the Big Dance again this season. After Sunday’s CAA semifinal win over George Mason, they’re in excellent position to do so. If VCU beats Old Dominion in the title game Monday night, they won’t just earn an automatic berth -- they’ll be the first legitimate bid-stealer of Champ Week. Old Dominion and George Mason would sure seem to have résumés good enough to get them in the tournament. But one team along the bubble will be hoping for a big Monarchs win Monday night, because a VCU victory will only make the bubble that much tighter as we race toward the completed bracket on Selection Sunday. In other words: big game. And not just for the Rams.

In Sunday’s 93-65 victory over 10th-ranked Wisconsin, all Ohio State did was put on the greatest 3-point display in Division I history. The No. 1 Buckeyes made 14 of 15 from beyond the arc, which is nothing short of absurd. How absurd? Multiple-record absurd.

After Jon Diebler missed OSU’s first attempt with 13:42 remaining in the first half, the Bucks proceeded to nail their final 14, which set the Division I record for consecutive made 3-pointers. Diebler contributed seven of those and finished with 27 points. After hitting 10 of 12 from 3 in a win at Penn State on Tuesday, Dieber ended up 17-of-20 from downtown for the week. That’s just silly.

As for the team, here are the lists that these Buckeyes now head up after Sunday’s performance:


In case you are curious, here are the top three all-time performances from beyond the arc by a Big Ten team:


Here's another statistical nugget from ESPN researcher Mark Simon:

Ohio State, a team that entered the day shooting the 3-pointer at 40.5 percent, made 14 straight 3-pointers this afternoon. If you wanted to look at what the chances of the Buckeyes making 14 consecutive 3s are (not taking into account the opponent they were playing), you could use the following approach ...

The chances of an event with a probability of 40.5 percent happening in 14 straight instances is roughly 2.68 in a million (or 1 in approximately 373,000).

Research courtesy of Harold Shelton, Mark Simon, Jason Starrett and Lee Singer of ESPN Stats & Info.

An inside look at the numbers behind Monday’s top performances:

1. Jon Diebler set a school record with 10 3-pointers in Ohio State’s 82-61 win against Penn State. He’d previously shared the record of nine with Jay Burson. This also tied the Big Ten record set by Michigan State’s Chris Hill in 2003. Diebler was 10-for-12 from the field with every attempt coming from 3-point range. After missing his first, he hit 10 straight. It’s the most points by a player who scored only with 3s since Portland’s Jared Stohl also had 30 last season. Stohl had a pair of two-point attempts though. The last Div. I player to score 30 without attempting a two-pointer or a free throw? Denver’s Erik Benzel against Southern Utah in 2004.

2. Kentucky entered Tuesday with an 0-6 record in games decided by five points or fewer. That’s an alarming statistic, but one that didn’t figure to come into play on Tuesday when the Wildcats led Vanderbilt by 13 with less than 13 minutes to play. That’s when Vanderbilt went on an 18-4 run to take the lead with 4:25 remaining. But for the first time this season, Kentucky captured a game decided by five points or fewer, winning 68-66. The Wildcats went 7-for-8 from the line in the final two minutes to hold off the Commodores.

3. Playing its last ever Big 12 home game, Nebraska kept its tournament hopes alive with a 69-58 win against Missouri. Lance Jeter led the way with another solid all-around performance, finishing with 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. If Jeter has at least six rebounds and four assists Saturday against Colorado, he will average five assists and five rebounds during conference play. In that case, Jeter would join some elite company. In Big 12 history, only two players have averaged 5+ assists and 5+ rebounds in a season during conference play: Jamaal Tinsley (2000) and Kirk Hinrich (2002).

4. It might have been Senior Night in Athens, but a sophomore once again stole the show for Ohio. D.J. Cooper had 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in an 80-55 win against Akron. Just a 30.4 3-point shooter going into the game, Cooper went 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. In the process, he broke his own school record for assists in a season. Cooper is averaging 7.5 apg (second in the nation) and 5.1 rpg. Only six other players have done that in the past 15 seasons. If he keeps it up, Cooper would join Marist’s Jared Jordan (2007) as the only player to do so while also averaging more than 15 ppg.

5. The upset of the night came in the Big South tournament where 7-seed High Point upset 2-seed Liberty 66-60. The story in this was Shay Shine. He scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half, as the Panthers overcame a nine-point deficit. During one stretch, Shine accounted for 10 straight Panthers’ points. In the middle of February, Liberty was 13-2 in conference and seemed to be the only legitimate choice to knock off Coastal Carolina. Tuesday marked Liberty’s fifth straight loss.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- As he walked Thad Matta onto the court for the start of the game, the security guard leaned into the Ohio State coach’s ear.

“We’ll go out the back way when they rush the court,’’ he explained to Matta.

“So I said to my guys, you’re not going to believe this, but this guy just told me they’re going to storm the court,’’ Matta recounted.

The prediction here, by the security guard and the record crowd that packed the Bryce Jordan Center, was an upset of No. 1. And who really could blame the fans of a pedestrian Penn State team for thinking otherwise?

This is the season in which nothing is safe: not homecourt advantage, not a top ranking, not a seemingly secure spot on the No. 1 seed line.

Just last week, Duke assumed the mantle of the No. 1 ranking only to be court rushed by storming Virginia Tech fans who figured they had finally sewed up their NCAA hopes with the upset of the Blue Devils (and those same fans are back to chewing their nails now that the Hokies lost to Boston College).

In Louisville, a cheerleader was so excited that his Cardinals had beaten Big East-leading Pittsburgh that he grabbed the ball and hurled it toward the Yum Center rafters, putting Louisville’s victory in danger.

And at BYU, Jimmer Mania resurfaced anew after the Cougars topped San Diego State and earned some newfound respect with talk of a No. 1 seed. Three days later, starting center Brandon Davies was booted for violating the honor code and just like that the Cougars are presumed to be in trouble.

So who could blame the security guard for thinking ahead? He had the perfect storm -- senior night for the Lions’ all-everything guard Talor Battle, a chance to beat No. 1 and a chance to get to 9-8 in the Big Ten and at least start up some bubble talk.

One problem: No one planned on the Ohio State tsunami.

In a season in which no one wants to assert anything with much conviction, the Buckeyes certainly offered a definitive statement about their abilities in an 82-61 annihilation that wasn’t even as close as the 21-point difference would indicate.

The win assured Ohio State of at least a share of the Big Ten title, news the players greeted with the same enthusiasm they might greet news of an impending root canal.

“It’s like sharing your girlfriend or your husband,’’ freshman Jared Sullinger said. “You wouldn’t want to share your husband, would you? We don’t like to share.’’

If the greedy Buckeyes keep playing like this, they might not have to share anything for the rest of the season.

Critics might think Ohio State merely assumed the top ranking once again, a beneficiary of other teams’ mistakes. That, however, doesn’t give enough credit to the Buckeyes’ abilities.

What could make this team a hard out this month was in display in tenfold against the Lions. There is a natural tendency against Ohio State to pack in the inside thanks to the presence of Sullinger.

And that just means someone is waiting out on the wings.

This time it was Jon Diebler, who made his first 3-pointer at the 16:59 mark and his last with 2:38, all together connecting on an amazing 10-of-12 from beyond the arc. He didn’t even bother attempting a 2-point. Why would he?

“I think every shooter dreams of a night like that,’’ Diebler said. “It’s just hard to explain what it feels like.’’

Let Sullinger try.

“Freaking crazy,’’ he said. “I wish I could curse right now, because I don’t know how else to explain it.’’

Equally tough to explain was the absolute lackluster effort by Penn State. The game that was meant to serve as the Nittany Lions’ coming-out party instead will serve as its obit.

Barring an automatic bid, the Lions are out of the NCAA tournament, extending their dry spell to 10 years.

Battle, a player who will go down in history as perhaps the best to wear a Penn State uniform, was pulled from his last game in front of a half-full building to polite, but not raucous, applause.

“We didn’t practice well,’’ Battle said. “And we played like we practiced.’’

Meantime, Ohio State played like it was practice. The team that has been unbelievably relaxed, if not downright silly, has maintained both its confidence and its calm in what can be described as a turbulent season on the national front.

“It’s toughness,’’ Sullinger said. “We’re a tough team.’’

Some might put an asterisk to this game. The Lions aren’t Wisconsin or Purdue.

But in a season in which the frontrunners have been bullrushed, the only people rushing the court in this game were wearing Ohio State red. As the Penn State fans shuffled up the stairs and out the doors, it was the Buckeyes storming to the locker room, hooting and hollering the whole way.

The drill, you know it. Here are five things I can't wait to see in the Big Ten this season:

1. How -- and whether -- Purdue recovers

At the risk of overplaying the Robbie Hummel story (he was, after all, the story of Big Ten media day, too), I'm going with this at No. 1. To me, there is no greater intrigue in the league this season than in finding out just what effect Hummel's ACL tear will have on his team in 2010-11. We know from last year's injury that the forward added far more to Purdue's offense than to its defense. Purdue's offensive efficiency drastically declined after Hummel's first ACL tear last February (thanks in large part to a couple of 40-point stinkers in games against Michigan State and Minnesota, the latter of which saw the Boilermakers score 11 points in the first half), but there was some sign Purdue had righted the points-per-possession ship during their run to the Sweet 16. Defensively, the Boilers were not only fine, they were better with Hummel out; coach Matt Painter changed his team's style, focusing less on offensive rebounds demanding his team get behind the ball with all five players. With Chris Kramer still patrolling the perimeter, and a much more careful Boilermakers team on the floor, Purdue ended the season with the third-most efficient defense in the country.

The problem is that not all of Hummel's contributions, even on the offensive end, are quantifiable. Hummel's versatility as a point forward with 3-point range opened the lane for JaJuan Johnson and made it difficult to impossible to double the big man on the elbow and short post. Hummel drew a high number of fouls, distributed the ball well without turning it over, and was in many ways a glue guy who played with the efficiency of a star. Kramer's defense (and sneaky good, fourth-option-type offense) is also a major loss. Painter is a more than capable coach with more time than last year to figure out how to replace Hummel (and now Kramer), and he has a large amount of depth to utilize in that process. But it's hard to imagine these Boilermakers being as good as last year's pre-ACL version.

2. A healthy Kalin Lucas

It's no wonder Michigan State is ranked just behind Duke in just about everyone's preseason top 25. The Spartans went to their second-straight Final Four in 2009-10 without the help of their best player, guard Kalin Lucas, who was a contender for Big Ten Player of the Year until an Achilles tear forced him to the sidelines for the remainder of the season. The 2010-11 version gets Lucas -- and everyone not named Raymar Morgan and Chris Allen -- back. Toss in a talented recruiting class with at least one likely contributor (freshman Keith Appling) already in the mix, and you get a loaded, experienced team as talented as any in the country. The real draw, though, is Lucas -- how he recovers, how he leads, and how he closes his Michigan State career after being forced to watch from the sidelines during last year's triumphant and unexpected finish.

3. Bruce Weber's best team in years

Even in down years, Bruce Weber's teams did one thing. They defended. Weber is a defensive coach, and his ability to get his players to play stifling man-to-man defense out to 30 feet has been one reason why a lack of talent in the post-Deron Williams era hasn't gotten him in more trouble with his fan base. But no such problem exists this season: Illinois returns all five starters from last year's team. Three seniors, including All-Big Ten preseason pick Demetri McCamey, are back. Last year's two highly touted freshman -- Brandon Paul and Big Ten freshman of the year D.J. Richardson -- will look to make the freshman-to-sophomore leap. And another big-time recruiting class, including forward Jereme Richmond, the No. 23-ranked player in the class of 2010, shouldn't need much time to make an impact. There is no small amount of expectation surrounding this team: The Big Ten's media picked Illinois to finish fourth behind Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue, and the Illini are ranked No. 13 in the AP preseason poll. That's a big jump in expectations for a defensively mediocre team that limped to an NIT finish last season, but it's a warranted one. Now Weber just has to remember how to get his guys to play defense. With all that talent, the offensive end -- and an NCAA tournament bid -- should take care of itself.

4. Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger

Losing a high-usage player of the year like Evan Turner isn't the sort of thing your program is supposed to immediately overcome. But Sullinger, the No. 2-ranked player in the class of 2010, could push the 2010-11 version of the Buckeyes to be even better than last year's team. The four non-Turner starters -- versatile guards William Buford and David Lighty, sharpshooter Jon Diebler, and bruising center Dallas Lauderdale -- return. By plugging Sullinger (not to mention top small forward prospect DeShaun Thomas) in, Ohio State won't have to play four guards this season. They won't lack frontcourt depth when Lauderdale gets in foul trouble. They won't have to play their starters an insane number of minutes. And, if Sullinger plays to expectations, they'll have as effective a low-block scorer as any team in the country. It's hard to pick Ohio State over Michigan State to start the season, but by the end of it, Ohio State could very well deserve that distinction. They might just be the second-best team in the country.

5. Another ho-hum Wisconsin season

And rest assured, denizens of Madison: I mean "ho-hum" in the most complimentary way possible. This is a stat I've written before, but one that bears repeating: In Bo Ryan's tenure, the Badgers have failed to finish worse than fourth in the Big Ten exactly zero times. In nine seasons, the Badgers have failed to win 20 games only twice, and failed to win more than 24 games three times. The man and his program are models of consistency. That consistency hasn't exactly translated into tournament success; Ryan's teams have been past the second round of the NCAA tournament only three times in his tenure, and they've gotten past the Sweet 16 just once. But, still, how good must it feel to be a Wisconsin fan? To know, before the season even starts, that your team is going to be in the Big Ten mix?

That feeling shouldn't change this season. Wisconsin lost guards Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon, but it returned Jordan Taylor and potential Big Ten Player of the Year Jon Leuer, an efficient high-usage forward who rebounds on the defensive end and scores from everywhere on offense. He's perfect for Ryan's slow-swing system, and Ryan's system is perfect for the Big Ten. The Badgers will have to make sure last year's stellar turnover rate stays something near to stellar, and the loss of those experienced guards will be an early challenge, but would you wager, even in a very tough Big Ten, on a Bo Ryan team finishing outside the league's top four? There's no reason to start now.

Each Wednesday, your humble college basketball hoops blogger (er, me) will respond to your questions, comments and nonsensical rants in this space. To submit, visit this page by clicking the link under my name in the upper right-hand corner of the page. You can also e-mail me or send me your entries via Twitter. Let's begin with a video response to a couple of similar questions about Colorado and Louisville:

Matt from New Jersey writes: Where is Seton Hall? It returns the best scorer in the conference, the best rebounder in the conference, two great perimeter guards that can defend, an Ole Miss transfer (6-foot-6 forward Eniel Polynice) and has Jeff Robinson for a whole season. The best part is that they finally have a sane, calm coach with a good demeanor who will preach the two most important elements: defense and rebounding.

Eamonn Brennan: Matt, I assume you're asking about Seton Hall's lack of presence in various preseason discussions of the Big East, and not actually trying to find Seton Hall geographically. But just in case, here you go.

Also, I hope you are not insinuating that former Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez was insane. What would make you think that?

Google Maps-related jokes aside, your question, vague though it may be, is valid. But there are a few reasons why Seton Hall probably isn't on most preseason prognosticators' minds, and I think they're valid too. The first is uncertainty. Kevin Willard takes over as a first-year coach in the Big East, and that's not an easy job for anyone, even a guy like Willard, who is familiar with the territory. Forward Herb Pope is key to Seton Hall's chances, and no one was really sure whether or not he was going to be able to play in 2010-11 -- or, for that matter, ever again. (Pope collapsed during a workout last spring but appears to be able to play this season.) The third is talent: Even with Pope, leading scorer Jeremy Hazell, and forward Jeff Robinson for much of last season, Gonzalez's team struggled to get to 9-9 in the Big East. Returning talent is nice, and adding Polynice gives the Pirates some depth, but is this team really that much better than last year's? And if not, do they really deserve the preseason love?

Don't get me wrong: Seton Hall could definitely surprise some people this season. Willard is inheriting a solid nucleus. If Pope is productive, an NCAA tournament bid is well within reach. But you can't blame preseason scribes from warily avoiding Seton Hall until the Pirates prove a few things on the court. That's only fair.

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Tom D. from Austin, Tex., writes: I saw that Duke hung 141 points on last year's CIAA champs in an exhibition game with no player getting more than 22 minutes. Does this mean anything at all?

Brennan: Let's see: The reigning NCAA national champs and 2010-11 preseason No. 1 beat a CIAA team (St. Augustine's) that lost six players? And they did so by a considerable margin?

Uh, yeah. This means nothing at all. It might actually mean less than nothing. If there was an "absolute nothing," this would be it. (Like absolute zero? See what I did there? Har? OK, moving on...)

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Stephen from Evansville, Ind., writes: Everyone always seems to get caught up on how many teams a conference gets into the NCAA tournament as a measure for the quality of the conference. What should the Missouri Valley expect as far as NCAA tournament teams and success year-in and year-out?

Brennan: In terms of resources and conference affiliation, it's a little unrealistic to expect the Missouri Valley to recreate its brilliant 2006 run, when the MVC got four NCAA tournament bids and saw two teams streak to Sweet 16 appearances. Like many other mid-majors, it's hard for teams in the MVC to put together strong overall résumés, because it's so hard to convince the big boys to play them. It ain't fair, but that's just life in the sub-high-major world.

I think the Valley would be pretty excited if it could consistently place three teams in the NCAA tournament every year. That means at least two or three programs are building the sort of long-term success that doesn't require a one-year flash in the MVC tourney to get in to the Big Dance. That could be the case this year, as both Wichita State and Creighton (and maybe even Northern Iowa) look like potential NCAA tournament teams. But it's a lot to expect from a conference like the Missouri Valley on a year-to-year basis.

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Tim Watts from Philadelphia, writes: Will Ohio State still be a contending team without superstar Evan Turner? And do they have a chance of winning the Big Ten over Michigan State?

Brennan: Yes and yes. Turner was a special player, but Ohio State has a coterie of experienced guards who can share Turner's ballhandling and scoring roles (William Buford, David Lighty, Jon Diebler), and could end up being much deeper and more balanced than last season's team. That's because forward Jared Sullinger could be a Big Ten Player of the Year candidate in the post, and OSU's other highly touted recruits should be able to contribute right away. Sullinger remains unproven, so you have to give Michigan State the nod, but if he pans out, the Buckeyes might be even better than last season. Hard to imagine after the year Turner had, but imagine it anyway.

(As an aside, I hope I'm not the only college hoops fan who is thoroughly disappointed with how Turner's NBA career -- thus far marred by supposed attitude problems and lack of productivity -- has begun. Philly coach Doug Collins even benched Turner for Wednesday night's season opener, instead opting for ... Jason Kapono. What a bummer.)

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Tony Waffen from Wasilla, Alaska, writes: What is your evaluation of the Saint Mary's Gaels this year? And what happened to Omar Samhan?

Brennan: Greetings from Wasilla? I promise not to make any Sarah Palin jokes. I think I can hold off.

I also think St. Mary's is clearly a notch or two below Gonzaga this season, if only because coach Randy Bennett doesn't have a clear replacement for the inside-out forward combo of Samhan and Ben Allen. But Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova are as good a guard combo as the WCC will have -- McConnell shot 51 percent from 3 last season, which is just silly -- and with a few contributions from guys like Clint Steindl and Jorden Page, I think Saint Mary's is still a factor at the top of their conference.

As for Omar? After an encouraging stint with the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA summer league, Samhan signed a contract with Zalgiris Kaunus, a club in Lithuania. There's a decent chance Samhan gets a few more NBA looks -- he definitely made an impression on a handful of GMs this summer -- but for now, he's getting paid to play hoops in Eastern Europe. There are worse fates. (And let's hope Omar has been brushing up on his Lithuanian, so he can be the funniest basketball player on two continents, and not just one.)

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Derek Rainbolt from Bloomington, Ind., writes: With Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia leading the way for the SEC, why does it seem the league is not getting national buzz?

Brennan: And let's not forget Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, both of whom are likely NCAA tournament teams. This is a good conference.

That said, I'm not sure I agree with your premise. "National buzz" is sort of hard to gauge in the first place, but from where I'm sitting (and I might not be the best judge, since I basically spend every day holed away in front of my computer reading and writing about college basketball), I'm not sure the SEC has received any less of this mythical buzz than conferences like the ACC or the Big East, both of which have their strong teams, but both of which are less deep than we're used to. In any case, if the SEC isn't getting the requisite amount of love, that will change as soon as its top five or six teams start proving themselves this winter. Until then, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

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Eric from Bethlehem, Pa., writes: Would you consider C.J. McCollum of Lehigh one of the top players in the mid-major ranks? He dominated the Patriot League and played well against Kansas in the NCAA tournament last season.

Brennan: Why yes, yes I would. McCollum won player of the year and rookie of the year awards as a freshman at Lehigh last season. That's big-time stuff no matter the conference, and his performance in the first round of the NCAA tournament -- 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block -- was very impressive. Maybe the most exciting thing about McCollum (assuming he doesn't decide to transfer at some point, in which case, sorry, Lehigh fans) is that he was only a freshman. He's already one of the better mid-major players in the country, and his ceiling remains very high.

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Armand from Springfield, Mo., writes: How much more does Mike Anderson need to do to get some respect? Look at the last two seasons: Big 12 champs in 2008 with an Elite Eight finish. Second round in 2009, with inferior talent compared to K-State, Kansas, Texas and Baylor. Despite a proven system, every fall experts predict Missouri to finish behind all these teams. Well, now we have the best junior college transfer in the country as well as a five-star recruit in Tony Mitchell (eligible in the spring sem., right when conference play begins). Mizzou will be a force to be reckoned with and Big 12 coaches realize this, but the media never seems to. #TheFastest40Minutes

Brennan: First of all, hashtag in a mailbag question gets an immediate thumbs up. You should shorten that and use it to live-tweet Missouri games. After all, like Forrest Gump said, you never know what you're going to trend.

Second, Mizzou fans are awesome. I'm not being sarcastic. Every week the mailbag has at least two or three Missouri-related questions or comments. Columbia is excited about their program.

Then again, why shouldn't they be? I have a couple of soft spots when it comes to Missouri basketball. I love uptempo play, I love a properly run full-court press, and I love a coach who is willing to buck the conventional X's-and-O's wisdom to run a chaotic, onions-to-the-wall style because he believes in it. Mike Anderson has done all three at Missouri, and there's no question it's paid off.

Last Thursday at Big 12 media day, Anderson made a comment to a reporter about his team's propensity to be ranked in the lower half of the league before the season, only to finish among the conference's leaders. I asked him if he thought his system explained the gap. He downplayed it, telling me he thought his players didn't get enough credit, that he had had some underrated talent in his tenure, and that his staff worked hard to develop his guys as the season went along.

It was a nice answer, but it's barely half-right; his system deserves a lot of the credit. Missouri puts opponents on their heels for a full 40 minutes. They shoot from anywhere on the court, they force you to rebound on every possession, they make you move the ball 80 feet to get into your offense, and they don't let up once you do. It's brilliant to watch, and I think it's better proof that undermatched teams can change the conditions of the game than anything Malcolm Gladwell cited last year.

The scary part is what happens when Missouri has the same kind of talent as Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Texas. Assuming Mitchell is able to get eligible for the spring semester, the Tigers will be a fearsome bunch. And, as always, incredibly fun to watch.

For the next month or so, our friends at The Mag are previewing one high-profile school per day for their Summer Buzz series. For the sake of all that is synergistic, yours truly will be attempting the same, complementing each comprehensive Insider preview with some adjusted efficiency fun. Today's subject: Ohio State . Up next? Illinois.

It's still too early to make 2010-11 season predictions. Instead, allow me to make a prediction about the 2010-11 preview season: In every single season preview written about the Ohio State Buckeyes, you are going to hear one name over and over: Evan Turner.

Why wouldn't you? Turner was the Buckeyes in 2010-11. Watching Ohio State play was to watch Turner dominate in the way most talented sixth-graders dominate: consistently and comprehensively. Turner was on the ball at all times. He played point guard, even though he's a 6-foot-7 wing player, mostly because it seemed like the easiest way to get him the ball. Ohio State head coach Thad Matta coached Turner and the Buckeyes the exact way you or I would coach the aforementioned talented sixth-grader: "OK, guys, let's keep it simple. Evan, go score. On three, win!"

And why not? It worked. Turner was the consensus national player of the year, Ohio State won a share of the Big Ten title, and the Buckeyes were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament before falling short in the Sweet Sixteen.

So, naturally, the impulse when previewing the Buckeyes is to wonder: What happens now? Who scores all those points? (Turner scored 20.4 points per game.) Who handles the ball? (Turner had the third highest possession percentage in the NCAA.) Who rebounds so well from the guard position? (Turner grabbed 9.2 rebounds per game; his defensive rebounding rate ranked him No. 65 in the country.) Who finds sharpshooting teammates for wide-open looks? (Turner's assist rate of 37.4 was the eighth-highest in the country.)

Who replaces Evan Turner?

The answer, of course, is nobody. But if the Buckeyes can recalibrate their lineup well enough -- and get big contributions from much-hyped incoming forward Jared Sullinger -- that answer could very well be: everybody.

After seeing Sullinger play at the Nike Skills Camp earlier this summer, I wrote that it was easy to see the Buckeyes completely changing their style in 2010-11. That means a menagerie of players have to chip away at what Turner did all by his lonesome.

The point guard spot is still up for grabs, and Matta is hesitant to turn over the reins to freshman recruit Aaron Craft. So why not slide guard William Buford and Jon Diebler into combo-guard roles and have both split some semblance of point responsibilities in the wake of Turner's absence? This could work: Buford turned the ball over on only 13 percent of his possessions in 2009-10, while Diebler, who gave it away at a rate of 11.3 percent, was even better. The addition of Deshaun Thomas, the No. 3 small forward in the class of 2010, means Buford and Diebler can afford to play even further from the basket.

Likewise, with Sullinger and Thomas entering the fold -- joining veteran big man Dallas Lauderdale under the hoop -- the Buckeyes shouldn't need a do-everything guard to clean up on the defensive glass. Their bigs should be able to handle that responsibility in more conventional fashion: block-out, rebound, outlet, run.

Offensively, Ohio State should be more balanced. Post looks for Sullinger and Lauderdale should lead to open shots for Buford, Diebler and senior guard David Lighty. No one player needs to dominate the ball, and no one player needs to take a majority of shots. The Buckeyes' look and feel should be totally different -- less guard-heavy, less reliant on a handful of similar talents, more plodding, bigger, stronger, deeper.

It will be very, very difficult to replace the impact Evan Turner had on the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2009-10. It would be impossible to do so with one player. But if the Buckeyes can mix the unconventional (the Buford-Diebler hybrid point guard setup) with the conventional (a greater focus on interior play, and better rebounding in the post) they might find a way to replace Turner's 34.7 percent possession rate by committee. In fact, it's the only way.