FanHouse David Lighty

For the third straight year, Ohio State has lost a 7-footer to the NBA draft after only enjoying him for one season. Like Greg Oden and Kosta Koufos before him, B.J. Mullens is out the door after his freshman year. The 19-year-old from Canal Winchester, Ohio won the Big Ten sixth-man of the year in his freshman season, but didn't really flash NBA-ready skills consistently.

Mullens averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 boards a game, and he never appeared dominant. His best game against worthy competition was a 17-point, 8 rebound outing against Purdue. He only had double-digit rebounds once all season. This could cause some question as to whether or not he's ready.

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.

We learned a few things in just one week of Big Ten play. All of them point back to one conclusion: This is a strong league, nearly from top to bottom.

Michigan beat Duke at home. Wisconsin went into Michigan and won this past week, yet had trouble at home against Penn State. Purdue made Davidson look horrible, yet they lost at home to Illinois. Illinois proceeded to go into Michigan and lose. The one thing we could definitively say is that Michigan State looks like the best team in the conference after winning in Minnesota. Of course, Northwestern hung with the Spartans in East Lansing yesterday.

Dan Shanoff is one of those taking note of the Big Ten resurgence, as he referred to the conference as "Big East Lite" today.

Team to Watch: Penn State
Wisconsin, coming off the aforementioned triumph in Ann Arbor, had trouble with the feisty Nittany Lions in the Kohl Center -- a place in which they have only lost twice in Big Ten play under Bo Ryan. The upset would have been quite a feat for Ed DeChellis' program. They have an outstanding inside-outside duo in Jamelle Cornley -- who plays like a very poor man's Charles Barkley -- and Stanley Pringle. While eventually they'll need much more balance -- the two combined for 46 of Penn State's 61 points in Madison -- they provide an impressive foundation.

Minnesota passed their second Big Ten test with flying colors today, turning back Ohio State, 68-59. This was a huge game for Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers, in light of the fact that they were coming off their first loss of the season -- a home loss to Michigan State by 12 earlier this week.

Some drastic improvements were made from the last game. After being decimated on the boards by Michigan State (41-22), Minnesota controlled the boards today against Ohio State. The defense was much tougher, especially inside, as the Buckeyes were held to 34 percent shooting from the field overall. A balanced scoring attack, along with really solid ball movement (17 assists on 25 field goal attempts), also helped them control a game which was never really in doubt in the second half -- even though a late Buckeye surge trimmed the margin to seven on a Jon Diebler three with 45 seconds left.

When the ball is tipped -- in a sure-to-be blowout of Indiana by Gonzaga -- Saturday at 1:30, it will mark the first time basketball is played in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. While there have been some complaints from fans in the upper levels of the stadium, I personally think it's a phenomenal venue. As I stated in a FanHouse in the Stands for a Colts game, the concourses and exits are designed beautifully. You will rarely feel crowded when trying to reach your seats, and the restroom lines are nowhere near any concession stands.

I'll be very interested to see how everything works out for basketball, but space shouldn't be an issue, since half of the stadium will be unused. You can view a picture of the basketball setup by clicking here. I believe it's going to be a very solid basketball stadium for years to come, with many final fours in its future -- beginning in 2010 and coming back in 2015.

From all the post game reaction you'd have a tough time telling that the Buckeyes lost this game against North Carolina. I've read gushing columns, blog posts that declared the only difference between North Carolina and Ohio State to be a lack of turnovers on the Tar Heels part, and I've also received a ton of emails from people saying Ohio State looks like a Final Four team, even without Oden. That's a lot of praise.

And I understand why the reaction has been this way. It's a lot to ask of a young team to go into North Carolina and come away with a win this early in the year, but the Buckeyes came close. They looked downright spectacular in the first half, and their main weakness seemed to be a lack of post presence. When your main weakness is about to be addressed by Greg Oden it's understandable that people will be forgiving of a loss like the one Ohio State suffered against North Carolina.

This was the first Ohio State game I've seriously watched this year, only seeing chunks of the first six wins, and I came away incredibly impressed. It's hard to believe that Greg Oden can make a bigger impact than a guy like Mike Conley Jr., and I'm just now seeing how ridiculous their high school team must have been. But it doesn't stop with Conley. Daequan Cook is a monster off the bench. David Lighty is fun to watch. Older players like Ron Lewis and Jamar Butler keep it all together.

It's still early, but it's already clear that this is one hell of a team. It's really hard to see them having trouble with most of the teams on their schedule, especially when they get Greg Oden back. And for those of you who watched the game Wednesday night, my apologies for mentioning Greg Oden so much. I know you heard the name enough from Dick Vitale, who mentioned him about four times a possession. Greg Oden.

Sorry. Oden.