Nov. 27, 2006

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Undefeated Big Ten Squads: Less than a month into the season, Illinois (7-0), Michigan (7-0) and Ohio State (6-0) are the only Big Ten teams to maintain unblemished records. With a 7-0 start, the Fighting Illini won their first seven games for the fourth time in the last five seasons. For the second straight year, the Wolverines have started the year with a perfect record through seven contests. Under third-year head coach Thad Matta, the Buckeyes have opened with a 6-0 mark for the second-consecutive season as OSU registered an 11-0 start last year.

2006-07 Naismith Trophy Preseason List: Five Big Ten men's basketball student-athletes were listed among the top 50 preseason candidates for the 2006-07 Naismith Trophy, announced on Nov. 22.  The Big Ten's group of honorees included Indiana's D.J. White, Iowa's Adam Haluska, Michigan's Lester Abram and Wisconsin's Kammron Taylor and Alando Tucker. The 50-player preseason list, which was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, will be narrowed to a midseason top 30 in January and the recipient of the Naismith Trophy will be announced in April at the NCAA Men's Final Four in Atlanta.

Big Ten Coaching Milestones: Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan captured his 500th career victory on Nov. 25 when the Badgers defeated Auburn, 77-63, at the South Padre Island Invitational. With a 500-153 all-time record in 22 years of coaching, Ryan is the 15th active NCAA Division I head coach with 500 or more career wins.  Two other Big Ten mentors are in reach of claiming several coaching milestones during the 2006-07 season. Illinois' Bruce Weber needs just one triumph to tally his 200th career victory with a 199-70 mark that includes a five-year stint at Southern Illinois before joining the Fighting Illini staff in 2003. In his 16th year of coaching, Iowa's Steve Alford stands seven wins away from claiming his 300th career victory with a 293-172 record.

Tournament Crowns: Illinois became the latest Big Ten squad to capture a tournament title after registering a 3-0 record in the Chicago Invitational Challenge last weekend. The Fighting Illini have now won four consecutive regular-season tournaments - 2001 Las Vegas Invitational, 2004 Las Vegas Holiday Classic, 2005 South Padre Island Invitational and 2006 Chicago Invitational Challenge. This season, the conference has already collected two tournament crowns as Ohio State won the BCA Classic to earn its first tournament title since the 1998 non-conference season. Michigan also claimed the John Thompson Challenge, defeating Central Connecticut State, Davidson, Eastern Michigan and UW-Milwaukee.

Double Threats: Several Big Ten teams have two players ranked among the conference's top 10 statistical leaders this season. In scoring, Ohio State's Daequan Cook ranks third in the conference with 17.8 points per game, while teammate Ron Lewis is tied for fifth (17.0 ppg). Iowa also has two players among the conference's top scorers in Iowa's Adam Haluska, who is tied for fifth with 17.0 points per game, and teammate Tyler Smith, who  rounds out the top 10 with a 14.6 scoring average. On the boards, Michigan's Brent Petway is third in the Big Ten (8.3 rpg) while teammate Courtney Sims is tied for seventh (7.0 ppg). The Ohio State duo of Othello Hunter (7.2 rpg) and Cook (7.0 rpg) are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively.

Illinois' Home Winning Streak: Illinois defeated Savannah State on Nov. 21, marking the Fighting Illini's 51st consecutive victory at the Assembly Hall over a non-conference opponent. Illinois' 51 straight triumphs ranks as the longest active non-conference homecourt winning streak in the nation, leading Oklahoma (48) by three wins. Illinois' last loss at home against a non-conference opponent was against George Washington on Nov. 20, 1989.

ACC/Big Ten Challenge -- Year Eight: In its eighth year, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge will take place on Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 27-29. For the second consecutive year, the event will feature 11 games (an increase from nine in the six previous years) from 11 different college campuses and include two telecasts on ESPNU. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the remaining nine games.

Postseason Success Stories: Both leagues have produced a long history of NCAA Tournament success. In fact, the two conferences rank first or second in NCAA Tournament appearances (Big Ten -174, ACC - 160), victories (ACC - 316, Big Ten - 281) and Final Fours (Big Ten - 38, ACC - 38) since the event's inception in 1939.

History of the Challenge: The ACC holds a 40-23* advantage in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, claiming the Commissioner's Cup all seven years. The seven-year records of the Big Ten participants in this annual series are listed to the right.

Challenge Trends: Michigan State leads the Big Ten contingent with four victories in the seven-year event. Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota follow with three triumphs ... If Ohio State earns the No. 1 ranking in this week's polls, it will mark the third consecutive year that the top-ranked team will have competed in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Last year No.1/1 Duke posted a 75-67 victory over Indiana, while Illinois upset No. 1 Wake Forest, 91-73, in 2004 ... Home teams are 38-16* in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (ACC is 22-4, Big Ten is 16-12*) . . . The ACC holds a 6-3 edge in neutral site games . . . 37 of the 63* Challenge games played to date have had at least one ranked team playing . . . 20 games have had both teams ranked.

Protecting Your Home: With Iowa defeating The Citadel, 75-53, on Nov. 13, the Hawkeyes extended their home winning streak to 19 games, tying for the third-longest in the nation (Gonzaga - 43, Connecticut - 24, Akron - 19). Iowa was the only conference team to go undefeated at home last year and the Hawkeyes' last defeat occurred on Feb. 19, 2005 against Illinois. Iowa's 19-game streak still trails the Big Ten record of 53 straight home triumphs set by Michigan State from 1998 to 2002.

Big Ten's Grand Company: Last Wednesday, Michigan's Lester Abram became the latest member of the Big Ten's 1,000 career point club after tallying 13 points against Youngstown State. Abram (1,013) joins teammates Dion Harris (1,216) and Courtney Sims (1,047) as well as Wisconsin's Alando Tucker (1,622), Ohio State's Ron Lewis (1,338) and Iowa's Adam Haluska (1,310). After scoring 588 points during the 2005-06 season, Tucker is now aiming to become the first 2,000-point producer for the Big Ten since Indiana's A.J. Guyton tallied 2,100 points from 1997-00. Last year, the Big Ten concluded the season with 19 members of this grand club, marking the second consecutive season that the conference produced more than 15 1,000-point scorers.