This was rumored during the Big Ten Tourney, and now it seems official: According to Jeff Goodman of FOX Sports, Iowa is parting ways with Todd Lickliter after three seasons.

There are two sides to this one:

Half-full: Anyone else think he got a bit of a raw deal? Sure, Iowa hasn’t done much under his watch. But like the Hoosiers, the Hawkeyes are a very young squad with some promise. They also have a decent recruiting class coming in. The man needs more time.

Half-empty: In three years, Lickliter hasn’t done much to show he can build a winning program there. He didn’t inherit a program in disarray. He just hasn’t gotten it done. Time to move on.

Which side do you fall on?

We’ve reached out to Paul Klee, the Illinois basketball beat writer for The Champaign News-Gazette, to answer five questions for the Illinois edition of Know Thy Opponent. You can follow Paul on Twitter here. The transcript of our Q & A, conducted via e-mail, is below:

It’s been an up-and-down start to this season for the Illini. They’re 10-5, including a solid come from behind win at Clemson in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and then a few disappointing losses: Utah, Bradley and Georgia. Preseason, Illinois was a top 25 team in the AP Poll. What’s been the reaction in Champaign of how this team has performed thus far?

The fans have been hugely supportive of this team. The crowd for the Gonzaga game was the biggest United Center crowd for an Illinois game since the Final Four season in ‘04-05. It was loud, too, despite a
21-point deficit. The Big Ten opener was a sellout and played a big part in Illinois beating Northwestern. Illinois fans are a resilient group.

There is disappointment, and there should be. Illinois hasn’t played up to expectations and the preseason ranking you talked about. Expectations for the freshmen were way too high. But I think the fans see it’s their most talented team since Dee Brown and James Augustine, and they recognize this group has promise. Truth is, this team is going to be defined by what it does in the postseason – if it gets there.

One Illinois player that’s really come into his own this season is forward Mike Davis (no, not that Mike Davis, Hoosier fans). He’s leading the team in minutes (32.1), rebounding (10.0) and is second in scoring (12.4). What’s been the key to his emergence?

Mike Davis emerged last season, really. He was a second-team All-Big Ten guy, ranked second in the league in rebounding. Once in a while, in practice and in games, he’ll go on a run where you’re surprised if he
missed a shot. He has a natural scoring ability. It comes easy to him. He doesn’t play hard enough all the time. He knows that. As soon as he decides to box out, it’s not a stretch to say he could lead the nation in rebounding. He’s a laid back guy. That personality clashes with Bruce Weber, who’s high-energy 24/7, and they’ve had their share of run-ins in practice. But Weber really likes Mike, and he knows how good he can be.

In the latest issue of ESPN the Magazine, Jay Bilas said freshman guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson have yet to adapt to Bruce Weber’s complex motion offense. Do you agree with that assessment? Have you seen progress from them so far?

The best and the worst thing Brandon Paul could’ve done was score 42 points over his first two games. That has a way of raising expectations. He’s a gifted athlete. I think it took Paul and Richardson a while to learn that stuff they got away with in high school wouldn’t work at Illinois. They would get in the air with nowhere to go. Both had a tough time fighting through screens.

They’re freshmen. Too much is expected of freshmen. That’s a nationwide thing and a product of recruiting rankings and Internet hype. I wrote before the season these weren’t blue-chip program-changers, and that description bothered some fans. But it’s true. There are very few of those. I think if you told Weber in October that Richardson would shoot 46 percent from 3, Paul would lead the team in Matto (hustle) points, and they’d average 21 points together, he’d take it.

The relationship between Indiana and Illinois obviously hit a low point a few years ago during the whole Eric Gordon fiasco. Now that Indiana has gotten rid of Kelvin Sampson, cleaned house and hired Tom Crean, has the level of resentment from the Illini side towards IU tempered at all?

No, not really. Illinois fans really dislike Indiana. That started long before Sampson and EJ Gordon. If you break it down to the coaching staff, Illinois’ has decades of reasons to enjoy beating Indiana. Weber also spent 18 seasons at Purdue. Jay Price spent 10 years at Purdue. Wayne McClain’s in his ninth season at Illinois, and his son almost attended Indiana. One of Jerrance Howard’s closest friends is A.J. Guyton. Jerrance played against Indiana and believes it’s a more important game than, say, Missouri. So there’s a long history there. You’re talking about a coaching staff that has a combined 54-plus seasons playing and/or coaching against Indiana. It’s not just a Sampson thing or a Gordon thing.

Finish this sentence: Illinois wins Saturday’s game in Bloomington if …

… it doesn’t start flat. Your Assembly Hall wouldn’t be conducive to another Illinois comeback. The Illini started slowly in losses to Bradley, Georgia, Missouri and Gonzaga. And Demetri McCamey is the best player for either team. He’s the key for Illinois – Saturday and beyond. If Illinois has a good start and plays solid defense, it wins.

We’ve reached out to Bob Baptist, the Ohio State basketball beat writer for The Columbus Dispatch, to answer five questions for the Ohio State edition of Know Thy Opponent. You can read the Dispatch’s OSU basketball blog, Hoops & Scoops, here and follow Bob on Twitter here. The transcript of our Q & A, conducted via e-mail, is below:

Tough start in the Big Ten for the Buckeyes. A 65-43 blowout at Wisconsin and then a 73-64 loss in Ann Arbor to Michigan. What’s the quick synopsis of why Ohio State has struggled in their first two conference games?

Very quick synopsis: They don’t have Evan Turner making plays for every other player on the team, and every other player on the team save for William Buford needs Turner to do that for him.

The loss of Turner (18.5 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 5.9 apg) has obviously been a major blow. When does Ohio State expect to get him back into the lineup?

The team’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Grant Jones, told me Sunday at Michigan that Turner was scheduled for an X-ray Monday and that, if all looked good, his activity would be increased this week. If his back tolerates the increase in activity, he could return to the lineup within the next two weeks.

Assuming Turner comes back and is the same player he was early in the season, what’s the ceiling for this team? Sweet 16? Elite Eight?

It could take awhile for Turner to get back in the flow he was in, but Ohio State’s schedule lightens up after a game at West Virginia on Jan. 23, so I think it could have a very good February leading into the tournament. And I think the tournament selection committee will take Turner’s absence into consideration for how Ohio State played early in the Big Ten.

That said, I think this team at best is a Sweet 16 team. It’s too reliant on making outside shots, isn’t a good rebounding team besides Turner, is vulnerable inside defensively if Lauderdale isn’t in the game and gets no offense off the bench unless Jeremie Simmons is hitting his threes.

Looking at the boxscores for the past few games, the Buckeyes are only playing seven players. How big of a problem is depth going forward?

It’ll be eight when Turner returns. P.J. Hill will go back to the bench and be their defensive spark when they need it, and Simmons can bring scoring off it, even if he hasn’t the past two games (his nickname is A.O., for Automatic Offense).

Where they really are vulnerable, as I said before, is inside when Kyle Madsen gives Dallas Lauderdale a blow. He can be scored over and isn’t a threat to score. So far, they’ve gotten nothing but garbage minutes from Zisis Sarikopoulos and Nikola Kecman. Matta keeps saying they’re going to be factors before the end of the season, but so far it’s just empty rhetoric.

This matchup with Indiana is certainly a game fans had penciled in as a win prior to the season and with road games at Minnesota and Purdue coming up, this is a game the Buckeyes need to win. What do you see as the keys to this game for Ohio State?

They need to make shots, something they did prior to the conference season starting but haven’t in the past two games. I don’t think they’ll have a problem defending Indiana, except maybe giving up some threes. But, especially at home, they need to get back to shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. Especially with two more road trips coming up.

+ Jeff Goodman writes that Purdue is a much different team than it was a season ago when he watched the Boilermakers get crushed by Duke. (Fox Sports)

+ Andy Katz writes that Purdue can thank its upperclassmen for the big win over West Virginia. (ESPN)

+ Rick Bozich writes that the Michigan Wolverines are falling far below expectations. (Fox Sports)

+ KJ breaks down Michigan State and Northwestern. (The Only Colors)

+ Michigan State opens its defense of Big Ten championship against pesky Northwestern. (Grand Rapids Press)

+ Illinois steps out of conference on Saturday for a matchup with Gonzaga at the United Center. (The News Gazette)

+ The latest on Evan Turner of Ohio State is that he’s yet to be cleared for contact in practice. (Columbus Dispatch Hoops and Scoops)

+ Myron Medcalf writes that Minnesota freshman Royce White is back. Sort of. (Star Tribune Gold in the Barn)

+ Medcalf also writes that the loss of Ralph Sampson will stretch Minnesota’s bench even thinner today at Iowa. (Star Tribune)

Michigan was ranked No. 15 in the preseason in both the AP and Coaches’ Poll. Looking back on that, was the ranking too high or has this team just not lived up to its capabilities?

It sounds like a cop out, but it’s almost certainly a mix of both. Michigan wasn’t the 15th best team in the country. They were a 2nd round NCAA tournament team that finished .500 in conference play and snuck into the NCAA tournament. However, their youth last year coupled with John Beilein’s coaching pedigree gave folks reason to overestimate their abilities.

That being said, this team wasn’t supposed to be this bad. The biggest problem is that they just can’t hit shots. They are shooting 28.3 percent from three-point range which ranks last among all major-conference teams. It’s tough to win with any offense when you can’t hit shots but when you are undersized and running John Beilein’s offense, it’s almost impossible.

Statistically speaking, Michigan is relying heavily on Manny Harris and DeShawn SIms to carry the load. Tell us a little bit about how each of these guys has performed this season to-date. What is each doing well? And what could they improve upon?

Manny Harris is simply phenomenal. He does it all. His 20.1 points per game ranks first in the conference but he is also second in assists (5.1 per game) and third in rebounding (7.5 per game). It’s unlikely that his 20,7, and 5 stat line will keep up over conference play but there is no doubt that he is a complete player.

For DeShawn Sims the struggle has always been consistency. Half of the time DeShawn Sims looks like the best player on the court while the rest of the time he is nearly invisible. Michigan’s problem is that they need DeShawn Sims to round out their offense on the inside. Sims averages 20 points and 9 rebounds in Michigan victories compared to only 11.4 points and 5 rebounds in losses. This year it has become apparent that Michigan goes as DeShawn Sims goes.

Beyond Harris and Sims, it’s obvious John Beilien is going to need more production from the supporting cast. Who emerges are Michigan’s third option from this group: Laval Lucas-Perry, Zack Novak, Stu Douglass and Zack Gibson? Pomeroy’s numbers seem to suggest that Gibson’s play warrants more minutes.

This is the magic question. Zack Novak, Stu Douglass, and Laval Lucas-Perry all gave Michigan a huge lift at one time or another last year but no one has developed into a consistent scoring option.

Indiana fans probably remember Laval Lucas-Perry’s three-point barrage that sent last year’s game into overtime but at this point he appears to be a streaky shooter at best. Despite his size, Laval is more of an off-guard due to his shaky handle, but he has proven capable of getting hot from three-point range.

Indiana native Zack Novak plays the four position for Michigan despite his 6-foot-5 listed height. His problem is that he simply hasn’t been able to put the ball in the hoop. Novak is shooting 15 percent from three-point range in the month of December and has only made one of his last 18 three-point attempts.

Stu Douglass is really the guy that Michigan needs to step up. He has emerged as the starting point guard and he finally put together a hot shooting performance versus Coppin State (6-10 three-point shooting for 20 points). He is sound with the ball and understands the offense well. If he is able to get hot it could be a huge boost for Michigan.

Finally there is Zack Gibson. Gibson played so well in limited playing time early on that I was calling for him to get more minutes. Since then he has done his best to prove me wrong, shooting 2 of 10 from the field over the last four games. Gibson has his moments but it is a stretch to expect him to become a major contributor.

Sitting at 6-5 entering the Big Ten schedule, what’s the outlook like for conference play? Is there still optimism Michigan could turn this around and make a run at the NCAA Tournament? Or are fans bracing themselves for the N.I.T.?

There is still a glimmer of hope. Michigan fans are hoping that Michigan can utilize their easier schedule to open Big Ten play (@ Indiana, Ohio State (sans Evan Turner),at Penn State, Northwestern, Indiana) to turn their season around a build momentum. The problem is that Michigan hasn’t beaten anyone this year (0-2 vs RPI Top 100) and on top of a hot start they probably need to beat UConn as well to even get back in the bubble picture. And if you are keeping score, Ken Pomeroy predicts that Michigan will lose four of those first four conference games.

Prediction for Thursday’s game?

I wasn’t confident in Michigan’s chances in Bloomington before Creek’s injury but now this is certainly a winnable game. That being said, as a Michigan fan I know that wins do not come easily at Assembly Hall no matter the situation. Last year one of Michigan’s best teams of the last decade barely escaped with an overtime win over one of Indiana’s worst. This year I would expect nothing but a close game but I think that Creek’s injury allows Michigan to sneak away with a five-point win.

If not, you’ll now know him as the kid who pleaded guilty to shoplifting at Mall of America, reportedly stole a laptop and in perhaps the most bizarre development of this young college basketball season, announced he was leaving Minnesota via YouTube:

I’m pretty sure this isn’t what Tubby Smith envisioned when he signed the No. 19 recruit in the country, but White clearly has problems beyond basketball that need to be addressed. So, what’s next for White? Most likely a program willing to give him a second chance (where have you gone, Jerry Tarkanian?) or if he tries to go pro, presumably the NBDL.

Some freshmen live up to the hype while others struggle to adjust to the speed and rigors of college basketball. And every so often, a special talent comes along who not only meets expectations, but shatters them. Through eight games of what is sure to be his only season in Lexington, John Wall is that special talent.

His numbers are remarkable: 19.0 ppg (56% FG), 7.0 apg, 3.8 rpg and 3 spg. But more importantly, Wall is the primary reason that Kentucky basketball has transformed from an N.I.T. team last season to 9-0 and No. 4 in the nation this season.

After the Billy Gillispie experiment failed miserably, UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart needed a hire that would instantly put the program back at the forefront nationally. Recruits were no longer viewing Kentucky as a top tier destination. Fans were restless with the lack of NCAA Tournament success since the program’s last championship in 1998 under Tubby Smith. So Barnhart, with his job likely on the line if he didn’t make the right hire, went to Memphis and hired John Calipari.

Calipari sold Patrick Patterson, Kentucky’s top returning player, on the idea of returning to school to play for a national championship. He quickly assembled the nation’s top recruiting class: Wall, Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Darnell Dodson and Gillispie holdovers Daniel Orton and Jon Hood. And in a matter of months, Calipari quickly captured the adoration of Kentucky’s rabid fanbase.

To this point, the script couldn’t have played out much better. The Wildcats have wins over a pair of top 15 teams – North Carolina and Connecticut. They also have character building close calls: An OT win over Stanford in Cancun and and a buzzer-beater from Wall to drop Miami (OH) in their second game of the season.

Patterson, primarily a back to the basket player his first two seasons, is thriving in the dribble drive offense (16.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg). Wall and Bledsoe, a pair of point guards, have seamlessly meshed in the backcourt. And Cousins, a one-time Mike Davis UAB recruit, is nearly averaging a double-double despite consistently finding himself in foul trouble.

What remains to be seen is how this talented group will respond in a true road environment, which they’ll experience for the first time on Saturday in Bloomington.

Based on its final AP ranking — No. 4 — and NCAA Tournament seeding — No. 1 in the East region — you can argue that the 2008-2009 version of the Pittsburgh Panthers failed to reach its own expectations. Jamie Dixon had the horses to reach Detroit, but a brilliant regional final performance by Villanova sent Dixon, DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields and Sam Young back to Pittsburgh a weekend early.

Dixon’s nine tournament wins in the past six seasons are tops for any coach who’s yet to reach a Final Four. His ability to teach defense and rebounding makes him one of the more respected coaches in the country. And until he landed freshman Dante Taylor in the 2009 class, all of his success at Pitt has come without the help of a single McDonald’s All-American.

So it should be no surprise that despite the losses of Blair (2nd round pick by the Spurs), Young (2nd round pick by the Grizzlies), Fields and Tyrell Biggs, Dixon is having early season success with this year’s team. Pitt is 7-1, with its only loss coming to No. 2 Texas back on November 24. Even more impressive is that they’ve done it without the services of senior guard Jermaine Dixon, the team’s lone returning starter who is recovering from a foot injury and Gilbert Brown, who was suspended for the fall semester for academic reasons.

It’s a new cast of characters, but the basic principles remain the same: defend, rebound and most importantly, be tougher than your opponent. It’s the formula that has placed Dixon atop the wish list of many an athletic director the past few off-seasons. But still he remains at Pitt, where he’s won 170 games in 6+ seasons and holds an impressive 70-30 record in Big East games.

Sophomore Ashton Gibbs, a 6-2 guard, has emerged as the go-to-guy offensively through eight games. Gibbs is averaging 16.1 points and is hitting 90 percent of his free throws. Junior guard Brad Wanamaker is arguably Pitt’s best rebounder (6 per game) and their second leading scorer at 12.5 per contest. Both players will likely see their scoring numbers decline upon the returns of Dixon and Brown.

The rest of the cast, with the exception of Taylor (more on him in a minute), is largely composed of role players from last year’s team. Gary McGhee, a 6-10 forward from Anderson (IN), is the leading rebounder after scarce minutes a season ago. Nasir Robinson, a 6-5 forward, has been thrust into a starting role after playing just five minutes per game in 2008-2009. And their point guard is Travon Woodall, a 5-11 redshirt freshman who played in only 10 games last year before suffering a season-ending injury.

Taylor, for all the hype that surrounded his arrival, has yet to scratch the surface of his potential. Dixon has limited him to 16.4 minutes a contest off the bench, but his numbers (5.4 points and 6.1 rebounds), suggest he’ll supplant McGhee from the lineup sooner rather than later. The team Indiana will see Tuesday is likely a shell of the one Dixon hopes he’ll be able to mold into his seventh consecutive tournament team. Once Taylor blossoms and the combination of Dixon and Brown returns, Pitt will be well one it’s way to another 20-win season and a likely NCAA berth.

The best way to describe the tumultuous 2008-2009 season for the Maryland Terrapins is by the use of two words that are not often paired together: effectively inconsistent.

There were shining moments: A 84-71 first round NCAA Tournament win over California, an early season rout of national runner-up Michigan State and an 88-85 home overtime win on February 21 over national champion North Carolina.

And there were moments that were downright ugly: A war of words between school officials and Gary Williams, a home loss to Morgan State and a 85-44 beatdown at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

If not for its wins over North Carolina and Michigan State, Maryland’s 7-9 ACC record probably wouldn’t have been enough to receive an at-large bid. But those victories, coupled with two conference tournament wins, pushed the Terps into the field of 64.

This year’s Maryland team enters Assembly Hall on Tuesday coming off of back-to-back losses in the Maui Invitational to Cincinnati and Wisconsin. And their four wins, much like Indiana’s three, are nothing to write home about: Charleston Southern, Fairfield, New Hampshire and Chaminade.

Senior guard Greivis Vasquez (pictured), who tested the NBA Draft waters following last season, is the top returnee for Williams. The 6-6 guard is struggling with his shot through six games (33 percent), but he’s picked up where he left off a season ago at the foul line (83 percent) and also with distributing the ball (5.3 apg).

Joining Vasquez in the backcourt are 6-4 sophomore Sean Mosley (13.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 3.8 apg) and 6-4 senior Eric Hayes, who hit 86 percent of his free throws a season ago. Adrian Bowie, a 6-2 junior who started last season, is now coming off the bench and is shooting just 31 percent thus far.

Up front, 6-7 senior Landon Milbourne returns as Maryland’s most dangerous threat on the block. Milbourne is leading the team with 13.7 ppg and is shooting 56 percent from the field. A pair of freshman, 6-9 Jordan Williams and 6-8 James Padgett, are leading the Terps in rebounding. Williams is averaging close to eight rebounds in 22 minutes and Padgett is pulling down 5.5 a game.

The strength of this team lies in taking care of the ball, experience and knocking down free throws. They’ve done remarkably well early with limiting turnovers — just 10.7 per game. But they’ve struggled from the foul line, hitting just 65 percent to this point, down from 76 percent a season ago. They’re relatively undersized, which should bode well for the Hoosiers, who have had trouble defending the post.

All in all, this game should be a good barometer for Indiana to measure its progress since Puerto Rico. Maryland is significantly more experienced than IU, but they’re also going to be playing in front of a crowd hungry for the first big win in the Tom Crean era.

The 2-2 Patriots nearly knocked off No. 5 Villanova on Thursday and played No. 19 Georgia Tech to a tough 70-62 loss on Friday.

Like the Hoosiers, George Mason are the youngest team in their conference and have just three upper classmen on their roster. Despite their youth, the Patriots were picked to finish fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The top returning player for Jim Larranaga is 6-4 junior guard Cam Long, who averaged close to 12 points and five rebounds on his way to making third team All-CAA. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, you may remember this ridiculous dunk he threw down last season on VCU. This guy is an athlete.

Long primarily played the point last season and joining him in the starting lineup this season is 5-10 sophomore Andre Cornelius, who is second on the team in scoring at 10.2 per game.

Ryan Pearson, a 6-6, 230-pound sophomore forward, is leading the Patriots in scoring (12.5) and rebounds (6.8). The lefty made the CAA all-freshman team a season ago. Joining Pearson in the the starting lineup up front are 6-8 sophomore Mike Morrison and the team’s only senior, 6-7 Louis Birdsong.

While no freshman has cracked the starting lineup, the talent the group possesses is a big reason why Larranaga’s club could contend for the CAA title.

6-7 red-shirt forward Kevin Foster led George Mason with 15 points against Georgia Tech. 6-5 forward Luke Hancock is averaging 10 ppg. And 6-4 guard Sherrod Wright, a three-star recruit who had high major offers, is expected to become a big contributor once he adapts to the college game.

Teammates at Hargrave: Maurice Creek and Hancock played together at Hargrave Military Academy.

20 years ago: Indiana won the last meeting between the two schools — 99-85 on March 17, 1989 in the NCAA Tournament. It was the first tournament appearance for George Mason. Eric Anderson scored 15 points to lead the Hoosiers.