FanHouse Ohio State Basketball

Two weeks ago, Pat Summitt surveyed the national scene and said this:

"A lot of people don't have Mississippi State on their radar screen and they should."

Never argue with Pat.

Mississippi State is climbing the rankings -- moving from No. 25 to No. 19 in this week's poll -- and the ladder of national recognition, particularly after Sunday's 84-55 win over No. 20 Maryland.

Granted, Maryland is remodeling after the graduation of Kristi Tolliver and Marisa Coleman and the transfer of Marah Strickland, and Brenda Frese's program will likely struggle with change most of the year, but the Bulldogs took it to the Terrapins on their home floor.

Ohio State women's basketball coach Jim Foster isn't a guy prone to hyperbole, not one to oversell. The fact that his program last year reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005 last season was, in his estimation, "a step in the direction of success."

The steps that come next are much bigger and much harder. Case in point: the Buckeyes haven't been to the Elite Eight since 1987.

But this might be the team to break through that barrier.

Ohio State, with the inside-outside core of Jantel Lavender and Samantha Prahalis (pictured), are ranked as high as No. 3 in the country in the preseason magazines, behind only Connecticut and Stanford. The Buckeyes are favored to win their sixth consecutive Big Ten title with four returning starters, three of those among the top players in the conference.

Florida International has not played a game yet under new coach Isiah Thomas, but the program is acting like it is already a player in college basketball. They are threatening to pull out of the 2K Sports Classic Tournament, which benefits the Coaches vs. Cancer charity, because they are no longer slated to be the road patsy for Ohio State. Instead they are getting sent to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina.

The Golden Panthers had agreed to play in the preseason tournament even before Isiah Thomas was hired as the head coach. It had been presumed that they would go to Columbus to play the Buckeyes. Ohio State had indicated on its Web site that FIU would be the opponent. FIU and Thomas referenced starting the season there.

In 2008, the Big Ten sent only four teams to the NCAA tournament. None reached the Elite Eight The Big Ten toiled down with mid-majors in conference RPI and were nationally maligned as the "Average 11." This past season, however, the league enjoyed a resurgence. It ranked only behind the ACC in conference RPI. Seven schools earned a berth into the NCAA tournament, and Penn State won the NIT. Michigan State toppled the defending national champions and two number one seeds en route to a national runner-up finish.

First of all, allow us a moment to give Penn State some credit. They had never won 10 Big Ten games in one season until they garnered their tenth of 2009 Thursday night. They apparently have a flair for the dramatic, as they trailed by six with under two minutes left. A Stanley Pringle three, a huge offensive board -- followed by two free throws -- from David Jackson, some good defense, and a clutch runner from Talor Battle propelled them to an unbelievable victory over a very solid Illinois team for the second time this season.

A few weeks ago I did a halfway point roundup for the Big Ten, in which I buried Wisconsin and hailed Penn State to no end. Boy, do I look like an idiot now. Since then, Penn State crumbled, while Wisconsin has done a 180.

The Nittany Lions were embarrassed by Michigan, lost at home to Wisconsin, and handily lost at Purdue. They now sit just 6-6 in conference play, and their RPI has plunged into the 80s. With road trips to Illinois and Ohio State -- not to mention hosting Illinois and Minnesota -- it would appear they are fading back into obscurity.

With just over a month in the books and most teams having played about half their conference schedule, let's check out the big boys of the Midwest. We're seeing a slight upheaval when it comes to traditional powers, as Indiana and Wisconsin sit in the bottom third of the standings, Northwestern is respectable, and Penn State is in the mix toward the top.

At this point, the conference is very balanced, and much stronger than it has been in recent years. They have a shot at seven bids for the Big Dance, but six is the more likely number.

The recession has hit the Ohio State Athletic Department. Gene Smith, the athletic director, said that after running a surplus the last few years, the Buckeyes are going to be dealing with budget shortfalls for the next few years that could run to nearly $5 million in total. They plan to make up most of the money by raising ticket prices for football and men's basketball by $1, excluding student tickets.

The primary blame is falling on the basketball program. The revenues on men's basketball are apparently already down $300,000 to $500,000.

Ohio State's attendance has unsurprisingly been dropping since the 2006-07 season when they averaged over 17,500 per game with Greg Oden. That number fell by almost 1,000 last season. This season, the average is down to 14,307 per game. That's less concessions and merchandise sales. They are even dropping ticket prices in the higher seats just to get people to show up for most of the remaining conference games.

This week, the Illinois Fighting Illini made their first appearance in the polls since the end of the 2005-2006 season, and, apparently, they are planning on an extended stay. Tuesday night they summarily disposed of a very respectable Ohio State team, 67-49. Though OSU is still missing a key cog in swingman David Lighty, this was a quality victory for the Illini.

The inside duo of Dominique Keller and Mike Tisdale proved too much inside for the Buckeyes, as the two combined for 27 points on 11-17 shooting.

I've been trying to impress upon the FanHouse readers for a little while that the Big Ten is back to being a strong conference this year, but it seems to me the coaches are getting a bit ahead of -- or maybe too proud of -- themselves for it being early January.

Illinois coach Bruce Weber said as many as seven teams will play in the tournament. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo predicted as many as eight.

Alright, guys, step away from the microphone.

In order for a conference to get eight bids, there's going to have to be a ton of unusual circumstances. First of all, the top eight teams are going to have to basically win every single game over the bottom three. With Indiana and possibly Iowa, I could see that. Northwestern, though, has enough potential to win four or five conference games. Second of all, the teams must all have built stellar non-conference resumes, and Penn State, to name one, did not.