Big Ten

Everyone who predicted the Big Ten would be stronger this season was right. They just had some of the teams wrong. Four of the six Big Ten teams in last week's Associated Press Top 25 suffered staggering losses to unranked teams. Three of them let one loss add up to two. Michigan (No. 15 last week) was stunned in consecutive losses to Marquette and Alabama in the Old Spice Classic. Minnesota (No. 22) dropped games to Portland and Texas A&M in the 76 Classic. Illinois (No. 20)

FRIDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS AFL Jacksonville@Orlando NFL8 IndyCar Indianapolis 500: Carb Day NBCSP11 a.m. F1 Monaco Grand Prix: practice SPEED1 a.m. MLB Kansas City@Orioles MASN27 Tampa Bay@Boston MLB7 Washington@Atlanta MASN7:30 C. base. ACC tourn.: Ga. Tech vs. Virginia CSN11 a.m. Big Ten tourn.: Ohio St. vs. Nebraska BIGTENNoon ACC tourn.: Fla. State vs. Clemson CSN3 Big Ten tourn.: TBA vs. Mich.

Commissioner Jim Delany expects the Big Ten to hold a championship game next season, when Nebraska joins and brings the league to 12 teams. He also says teams likely will play nine conference games instead of eight in the future to help preserve rivalries. Ohio State is the media's pick to win the Big Ten and Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor is the offensive player of the year for the second straight season. Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was tabbed the top defensive player again, making it the first time in 12 years that both preseason player of the year picks were repeat selections.

Let's look at what we know so far about Maryland's men's basketball nonconference schedule. We know about the Kentucky game in Brooklyn (the Barclays Center Classic) on Nov. 9. We know about the game at Northwestern in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 27. Maryland is committed to play again in the BB&T tournament at Washington's Verizon Center in December. While final details are being worked out, the Terps are expected to play George Mason this year. And then there are three more games - LIU-Brooklyn, Morehead State and Lafayette - that the Terps will host as part of the Barclays tournament.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo recounts how Delvon Roe's hand frequently was planted firmly in front of Purdue center JaJuan Johnson's shot and how it just didn't matter. Loads of Big Ten opponents already know that moving Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger off the block is like trying to push a boulder with a pencil. One has been a work in progress for four seasons, the other an instant success. One has the power of strength, the other the skill of versatility.

They met last month at a secret location to exchange materials on mission and branding and culture and finances — all those athletic-department buzzwords that make you want to flip the channel. But what struck Jim Delany, the Big Ten's button-down commissioner, was something more emotional, something that led him Friday to call Nebraska a "phenomenal fit." Delany recalled Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne telling him about how Cornhuskers fans gave Texas' Ricky Williams a standing ovation after he rushed for 150 yards in a 1998 game — a 20-16 Longhorns victory.

Tom McMillen knows why the University of Maryland would be an attractive target to growing conferences such as the Big Ten. "With 7 million people in the Baltimore-Washington area, that's a very attractive market," said McMillen, a member of the Board of Regents who starred in basketball at Maryland. But McMillen — along with others associated with Maryland — expressed reservations Monday about schools bolting conferences for the lure of higher annual payouts from television revenue and other sources.

Notre Dame floated a trial balloon yesterday about surrendering its football independence and sources say its intended target is the Big Ten. Notre Dame spurned the Big Ten in 1999 after lengthy negotiations because it didn't want to give up its independent status in football as it has in other sports as part of the Big East. But the changing landscape in college athletics apparently has forced the school to re-evaluate its stance. This time, though, sources say the Big Ten isn't likely to court the Irish; Notre Dame would have to initiate talks.

If you're wondering why the Big Ten has earned its well-deserved reputation as the most arrogant and overrated conference in the country, simply examine its recent decision to sign with the Holiday Bowl and the Citrus Bowl.With the stroke of commissioner Jim Delany's pen, the Big Ten managed to remove itself from the so-called bowl alliance and the consortium's quest to create, beginning next year, a more viable national championship scenario. The conference also made few friends among the consortium's bowl participants -- the Orange, Cotton, Sugar and Fiesta.

Penn State University athletic director James I. Tarman said yesterday that every team on the present football schedule was in jeopardy of not being a future opponent once the Nittany Lions became "fully integrated" in the Big Ten Conference.The Nittany Lions play the University of Maryland Nov. 10 in University Park, Pa. The two teams have played 33 times since 1917, with Penn State holding a 31-1-1 advantage. Maryland has a contract with Penn State until 1993."We have yet to reach a decision but we've been meeting with Big Ten officials monthly pushing for a fully integrated schedule by the 1993 or 1994 seasons," said Tarman, whose school joined the conference earlier this year after years as an independent.

Watch for upsets Todd M. Adams Orlando Sentinel Three teams are better than everyone else — Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina. But they all could get upset. First is Syracuse, just because of the strength of the Big East. Marquette is a dark-horse national-championship contender, and five other teams — Notre Dame, Georgetown, Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville — have the talent to get hot. North Carolina would be next, just because Duke is in the bracket.

Former Glenelg standout Robby Creese has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year for indoor track. From Mount Airy, Creese anchored the winning distance medley relay at the conference championship meet at Nebraska over the weekend, and he also finished third in the mile (4 minutes, 7.01 seconds). Creese is just the third Nittany Lion to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in Penn State track and field/cross country program history. He was also featured recently in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd after setting American Junior and NCAA records in the 1,000 meters at the Nittany Lions Challenge.

The preseason talk in the Big Ten had Ohio State as the runaway favorite. Now, forward Jared Sullinger's mounting health issues raise questions about the No. 2 Buckeyes' national dominance and could have some conference teams eyeing an opening. Sullinger, a standout sophomore, will play against Lamar on Tuesday night despite suffering a left foot injury against South Carolina on Saturday. He previously had missed two games with back spasms. Coach Thad Matta told reporters Monday that Sullinger injured a tendon in his ankle before leaving the game against the Gamecocks in the first half.

If the young season is about setting precedents, here are two that first-year Maryland coach Mark Turgeon eagerly wanted his young team to establish: home-court dominance and tenacious defense. The Terps used sticky defense to race to a first-half lead, but couldn't hold on as Illinois snapped Maryland's string of 13 straight non-conference wins at home with a 71-62 victory Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Terps were undone partly by shooting just 60 percent (15-25)

Gary Williams used to take the ACC/Big Ten Challenge personally, in part because of his uber-competitive nature as well as the fact that he came to Maryland from Ohio State. It showed in the way his teams played, winning nine of the 12 games in the series, including the last six. In taking over for Williams this season, coach Mark Turgeon doesn't have the same history. Neither Turgeon, whose young team faces Illinois (6-0) on Tuesday night at Comcast Center, nor his players, even knew before Monday that Maryland has never lost in five home games in the series.

Beset by injuries and uncertainty, Penn State takes a nervous first step into Big Ten history tomorrow. Joe Paterno gets sweaty palms just thinking about it."This is a much different feeling than any opener we've gone into," said Penn State's coach of the last 27 years. "We're probably more tense about this opener.This opener -- against Minnesota at sold-out Beaver Stadium -- signals the end of Penn State's 106-year tradition as an independent program. It also marks the dawning of Big Ten football in the East.

OK, so picking 1,000-to-1 shot Indiana and lovable Bob Knight to go to the Final Four was not one of the smartest moves I ever made. But the NCAA tournament selection committee's picking six Big Ten teams was dumber to my dumb.With five from the Big Ten reduced to so much first-round fodder -- Purdue, which could have made it an imperfect 0-6, went down yesterday in the second round to Memphis -- logic is starting to prevail in what still has the makings of a wild final in two weeks.That the Atlantic Coast Conference has all four of its tournament teams still in the hunt isn't surprising, and illustrates why the committee should be second-guessed as much for not choosing Georgia Tech as it should be commended for taking Manhattan and Miami of Ohio.