Ladies and gentleman, your possible National Player of the Year (after the commerical and Manny Harris’ shot):

Money.

Now, it seems sort of silly Michigan would let arguably the best player in the country essentially have a free shot to win the game. But in his post-game presser, John Beilein explained that the 1-3-1 in the half court assured them that such a  shot — a near half-courter — was all Ohio State would get. (Remember, Ohio State only needed a two to tie.)

He’s right. It is all they got. It just happened to go in. Because it’s Evan Turner.

Video HT: BTN

Purdue no longer has Robbie Hummel. Illinois is still riding the bubble. Wisconsin lacks star power. Michigan State is rising at the right time; this is how Tom Izzo teams roll.

But if there’s one that has the potential for a deep tourney run this March, bet on Ohio State.

For starters, there’s Evan Turner, the likely Player of the Year and No. 2 pick behind John Wall in this summer’s NBA Draft. As we’ve seen countless times throughout history, a star player can put you on their back in the tourney and prime you for a deep run. And Turner doesn’t just score; he’s a threat for a triple-double every time he steps onto the court.

But there’s plenty of other reasons why Ohio State has a chance of being a great team in the tourney when we judge them against their Big Ten peers. First off, this team takes high-percentage shots. Outside of Jon Diebler — who’s a terrific three-point shooter; his true-shooting percentage of 63.1 ranks him 48th in the country — all their guards can slash to the hole for an easy two at the rim.

The Buckeyes have the third-highest eFG percentage in the country at 56.1 percent, and their offensive efficiency ranks 10th. And their length and athleticism helps them on the defensive end, as their defensive efficiency ranks 20th in the country.

This team also takes care of the ball, as their turnover percentage is 17.4 percent — good for 30th among all DI teams.

If there’s one way exploit this team, it’s to get into their bench. They only go six-seven deep on most nights, so if the opponent can get them into some foul trouble, it could work to their advantage.

Am I saying this team is going to make the National Championship game? No. Am I saying they’re going to make the Final Four? Eh, maybe. Elite Eight? They’ve got a good shot. Sweet Sixteen? Anything less would be a disappointment.

For now, this team will enter the tournament as a very deadly 2, 3 or 4 seed, one that has the best chance of any team in the Big Ten to strike some fear into its opponents.

All stats courtesy of KenPom.

Trick shots are fun to watch, but rarely do we see any on display in an actual game.

You know, like a dude shooting from his knees at half-court …. … … wait a minute:

One question: did he call bank?

HT: Le Dagger

… and then there is this from Brady Morningstar last evening in the waning moment of the Kansas-Texas game:

Cue the Yakety Sax!

Morningstar told the Lawrence Journal-World the ball was wet, and that’s why it slipped.

Wet balls. They’ll get you every time.

That’s what Brooks is reporting. (Keep in mind he’s been wrong before.)

If true, my gut, blink reaction to all this is that if TV networks and the NCAA are agreeable to it, it makes sense on their end. It’s all about the cash money, and if expanding to 96 teams means more games and thus more money, the NCAA makes out nice by selling a huge TV deal, and the network that wins the bid has the opportunity for a cash cow as well.

So kudos to them, I suppose.

But fan-wise? Not so fun. Sorry for sounding like an old-timer here, but if the tourney expands to 96 teams, it dilutes the talent, makes it less competitive. This would add a whopping 31 games to the tourney slate. Every bubble team in the current setup makes it in no problem with expansion, and then there’s a whole host of other teams that would make it in as well. I guess the argument for it would then be there’s a chance for more upsets, a chance that if the No. 75 team is peaking at the right time and can slide all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, we can all gush about how great they’ve been playing and how they’d be the first 75th-ranked team to make it that far.

But I’m not sold on that. There’s already plenty of opportunity for that in a 65-team field; our brackets are big enough as it is.

In the end, if true, this seems like little more than a power play to bring in more revenue for the powers that be, and little to do with the sanctity and tradition of the tourney. And in that sense, it’s not something I’m particularly a fan of.

When news came down that Northwestern stud Kevin Coble would be out the entire season for Northwestern with a foot injury, I did not expect them to be much of a factor this season.

Because this is Northwestern, and they’ve never made the NCAA Tournament. These are just the facts, people.

But the Wildcats have held court pretty well: they’re currently 13-5 (2-4), with a nice win over Purdue on their resume. Keep it up, and they have a decent shot of advancing to the Big Dance.

Enough with my low-level analysis of their season, though. Let’s see what Coble has been up to during practice (via the Daily Herald):

Well then. This just goes to show you kids out there that when you have a boot on your foot, there is no limit to the type of trick shot you can pull off.

Sky is the limit, really.

HT: Former MPS blog star and current ESPN basketball blogger extraordinaire, Eamonn Brennanbro

The Big Ten-ACC Challenge has been sort of a joke the past 11 seasons. This is because there hasn’t been much challenge. The ACC is 11-0. The Big Ten came close last season — they finished 5-6 against the ACC — but still, it’s never come out on the winning side of this thing. WHERE IS YOUR MIDWESTERN PRIDE, BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF THE LAST 11 YEARS.

Yet, if there’s any year to strike on this, it’s now. As some guy with a weird Irish name points out, the Big Ten is more complete top to bottom this season, while the ACC is just sort of top-heavy. Purdue (No. 4), Michigan State (No. 9) and Ohio State (No. 15) are playing good basketball out the gate. (Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota were also ranked earlier this season, but losses have dropped them out of the 25.)

The Big Ten also has a head start: Penn State beat Virgina last night. So they need five more wins.

Gary Parrish adds this:

Consider that home teams are 61-28 all-time in Big Ten/ACC Challenge play, and that the Big Ten — which entered with home-court advantage — already has a road win thanks to Penn State winning at Virginia. In other words, six of the final 10 games in this year’s event are in Big Ten arenas, and the Big Ten only needs five more wins to clinch.

Oh, and here’s the lineup:

Tonight: Maryland at Indiana, Michigan State at North Carolina, Northwestern at North Carolina State, Virginia Tech at Iowa, Wake Forest at Purdue.

Tomorrow night: Boston College at Michigan, Duke at Wisconsin, Illinois at Clemson, Florida State at Ohio State, Minnesota at Miami (Fla.).

So yeah: the Big Ten is in a nice spot right now. But, you know, there’s still time to blow it.