Illinois

Like civilizations, all great basketball programs eventually fall.. replaced by an upstart newcomer. In this week's Rise & Fall series, we'll take a look at which BCS programs are rising, falling, or merely treading water. Up today, the:

 

BIG TEN

 

With the off-season now upon us and the spring signing period well under way, this is a good opportunity to attempt to forecast some of the teams who could make the jump next season. Is there a team out there like this past season’s Drake Bulldogs, who went from ninth place to a dominating run through the Missouri Valley? Or how about Arizona State, a team that went from dead last in the Pac-10 to fifth place and could have the makings of a conference title run this season?

The Report Card

 

A - Mike Green

The Report Card

 

 

The Report Card

 

A new series, the Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

The Report Card

 

A new series of articles I'll be writing daily, the Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

As usual, the 2007-08 college basketball season will kick off with a slate of early season, made for-TV tournaments, and once again one of the best among them will be the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Five of this year’s eight team field have been to the Final Four in the last four years: Marquette (2003), Duke and Oklahoma State (2004), Illinois (2005) and LSU (2006). Two of them (Duke and Marquette) will begin their new campaign ranked in the Top 10 nationally.

Following the ACC Top 25 Players earlier in the week, I move to the Midwest to take on the Big Ten. Outside the top handful of players, the talent is not comparable to the other BCS leagues. Still, there's new talent at Purdue, Ohio State, and elsewhere that could push some of these mediocre veterans off the list by season's end.

 

Big Ten Top 25 Players

 

Illinois Fighting Illini