– Tim Buckley, Bennie Seltzer, Jayd Grossman and Brian Barone addressed the media on Tuesday and The Indiana Daily Student was all over it. Still no word on the third assistant, but perhaps this guy deserves a look?

– Terry Hutchens tackles several topics on his blog, including (but not limited to): Verdell Jones, Maurice Sutton, big men and Rick Greenspan.

– Former Purdue coach and Big Ten Network studio analyst Gene Keady is baffled by what Kelvin Sampson did at IU. Note to Gene: we’re in the same boat as you.

– Rick Bozich of The Louisville Courier-Journal agrees with Bob Knight and writes that the one-and-done rule was one of the worst things to happen in college basketball. In case you missed it, PostmanE had an interesting piece on The Dagger @ Y! a few days ago about O.J. Mayo and the one-and-done rule.

– Ben Homrig of The Indiana Daily Student encourages former IU basketball and football player James Hardy to get it together. Hardy, meanwhile, is calling the recent altercation with his father a mixup and has apologized. Try to stay on the good side of Commissioner Goodell, Mr. Hardy.

– The new Rivals 150 is out for 2009 and Derek Elston is No. 96, Maurice Creek is No. 136 and Bobby Capobianco is No. 138. What should this mean to you? Absolutely nothing.

– Quinn Buckner is ‘living in the now,’ according to The South Bend Tribune. I’m really not sure what that means, but you can read about it here.

Le Weekend is Inside the Hall’s look at what’s ahead this weekend in college hoops. It’s also a perfect opportunity to post pictures of hot chicks, like Jessica Biel.

- Not a lot going on in Hoosierland this weekend, but there is a game going on down in Lexington, Kentucky that could be interesting for those of you not obsessed with the NFL playoffs. Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals will travel to Rupp Arena to take on Billy Gillispie and the Kentucky Wildcats. Neither team is off to a good start, Louisville is 9-4 and Kentucky is 6-6. Louisville is coming off of a head scratching loss to Cincinnati at home and Kentucky has already dropped games at Rupp to Gardner Webb and San Diego. I’ve got no clue who will come out on top in this one (is it possible for both teams to lose?), but a loss from Kentucky pretty much seals their fate as a NIT-at-best team and a loss for Louisville will look terrible to the selection committee come March.

- The Big Ten schedule kicks into full gear with the following games:

• Saturday: Iowa @ Wisconsin; Michigan @ Purdue; Minnesota @ Michigan State
• Sunday: Northwestern @ Ohio State; Penn State @ Illinois

Nothing really great, but it’ll be interesting to see how Tubby Smith and the Gophers fare in the Breslin Center. My prediction: not very good.

- One final note: Indiana receiver James Hardy has moved on to the NFL and we’d like to wish him the best of luck. He’s got the necessary skill set to have a long and successful career at the next level and we can only hope he ends up on the Bears. Sorry Colts fans.

See you Monday.

Thanks to the Big Ten Network, I can’t watch IU football (an issue that will be resolved, as God is my witness, before basketball season arrives), but I can tell you what you already know.

After week two, the Hoosiers are 2-0. The Michigan Wolverines, and the Notre Dame Fighting Touchdown Jesuses, are 0-2. There is sincere, genuine, unabashed happiness at this news, because it combines the best of both worlds: the defeat (however indirect) of our enemies, and our own success. Does it get any better?

In all seriousness, though, this little batch of success might add up to something. I know, I know: I say this every year. I said it in 2005, when I covered IU, and when a trip to a bowl game meant an expenses-paid trip for me to, like, Detroit. In college, that sounded spectacular.

But there is reason for optimism, because the Hoosiers aren’t barely squeaking by the teams they used to struggle with; they’re winning big and easy, the way decent D-1 teams should during the dawn of the season. There is a passing attack and a spread offense and a decent D and … some semblance of a confident, solid football team. At the very least, we don’t have to wait until Midnight Madness to get excited about 2007.