Pretty cool little project coming from Basketball Prospectus. Drew Cannon ranks the performance of the 2011 top 100 class. Cody Zeller (ranked preseason 14) comes in at #2. The top 20 players average ranking is 28. 48 of the top 100 were classified as starters/strong rotation players.

"Purdue, it was pretty great. It’s not like IU though, it’s not like IU."

They must have an excellent photoshop department at Iowa; they are really good at these things.

NY2LA Hoops in an attempt to convince you to drop $200 bucks on their subscription service has posted Luke Fischer and the Wisconsin Swing's game against Purdue recruit Kendall Stephen's Illinois Wolves. It is the full hour long game and I am currently in the process of watching it. Check the comments for observations as I work my way through it.

Les Carpenter writes a story about Crean for the tourney. In it, he briefly revisits the early, dark days when Sampson had just left and Crean had just taken the reins of a fallen program. The story shows everyone that the accomplishments this year aren't limited to just getting more ticks in the "Win" column, but rather goes farther and deeper into restoring a program's dignity and honor. This piece, short as it is, is worth a read. I only wish Carpenter had gone deeper into a longer, multipart story. It would be damn interesting to read a "Season On The Brink" type work of the program's early days under Crean.

I told you Buss is going to be a fan favorite in the long run. The kid has a great story and attitude to go with it. Here's to him proving his detractors wrong and celebrating the fact he chose IU over Purdue.

The B1G strikes again. That is two road games the best team in the conference has lost. Remind me again how struggling in a major conference on the road means you're a bad team?