Tom Crean

Bragging rights go to Purdue.

“He surely understands what Indiana basketball means to the state,” says ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg. “And it looks to me like his players are having a blast playing for him.”

Two legendary Purdue basketball players and two misses add up to a lifetime of heartache.

“Everybody’s expectations are the same—mine, Tom’s, Hoosier Nation, the players,” says Fred Glass. “Hang a sixth banner.”

Six Indiana University basketball players have made headlines for off-the-court shenanigans since last February.

“There are actually a lot of fish that have this condition, but I thought it was pretty damn hilarious,” says Matthew Niemiller.

Despite the accolades and compliments, the 18-year-old has kept his focus: “I try not to pay too much attention to that stuff.”

Of all the curious selections announced last night by the Big Ten Conference during its annual awards show, perhaps the most puzzling was the pick for Coach of the Year.

Just two short weeks ago, Indiana was even with the likes of Duke, Miami, and Kansas on the list of teams most likely to win this year’s NCAA title. Not anymore.

Joani Crean has a pretty stressful week ahead with high-pressure IU games against Purdue and Michigan before the family leaves for New Orleans. Forget scanning the Assembly Hall crowd for Meg Ryan; we’ll be looking for the feisty Mrs. Crean and Crimson in the stands now—and in the Superdome this Sunday.

Fans seem to think that the game at Purdue on Wednesday will be an easy feast, and I can see why that might be—after all, Purdue is barely above .500. IU has lost just twice and now is finding ways to win with minimal point production from Cody Zeller.

The winner of the Big Ten will be a team like the Badgers who can score road wins and protect their own house. The problem is that by the end of the year, the highest ranked Big Ten team may not even be in the top 10.

Indiana University basketball coach Tom Crean was busy over the weekend, and not just game-prepping for today’s Big Ten opener against Iowa (4 p.m., ESPN2). Early Saturday morning, while driving home from Assembly Hall after the Hoosiers’ 93-59 win over Jacksonville, Crean stopped to help a motorist who was stranded at the side of snow-covered State Road 45, just outside of Bloomington.

Yogi brings so many things—his change of speed, change of direction, his ability to shoot the three, his ability to play in transition, his ability to shoot the pull-up. Now he’s adding the ability to explode around people, and he’ll continue to get better at that.

“The IU culture actually started to change back in the spring of 2011. The players we had started to mature. Work ethics that had been substandard got a lot better. I think what they started to absorb was that there was going to be real competition for playing time. It’s been fun to watch.”