At long, long last

A decade of suffering is over. The Big Ten conference has an ACC-Big Ten challenge trophy in hand. The best thing about this is that it should assist in the continuation of a very good idea- the showcase of the two best conferences in college basketball. Occasionally, the Big East or the Pac-10 have a good year, but the ACC and the Big Ten are where the best slate of conference games -from beginning to end- are found every year.

Great Coach Taylor-style speech about fans by Tom Crean. Gotta say, I like what he's bringing to the table. Except the defense- I don't like our defense right now, and Crean doesn't either. Grow up quick, freshmen, we need you.

Look who came back to celebrate the win, if only for just one night. Best comment about it goes to "witless chum" over at The Only Colors, who wrote John Gasaway was now the Artist "Formerly Known As Big Ten Wonk Except When We Win The Big 10/ACC Challenge Wooooo (TAFKABTWEWWWTB10/ACCCWOOOOO!)"

And as long as I'm linking, check out this cool run-down of reasonable expectations of freshmen by Luke Winn. He really does some homework here, and provides some really nice graphs. Short takeaway- your #62-ranked freshmen are just not going to be Robbie Hummel in the first year. It doesn't happen, so don't expect big things of kids ranked outside the top ten. That said, there's an interesting bounce for freshmen point guards and wings ranked in the RSCI 61-80 range. Is there a natural bias towards undeveloped, raw talent with height that's not going to help you very much in your first year or two? Maybe we should ask Bawa.