Fran McCaffrey got off to an inauspicious start to his Big Ten career today as Iowa lost 79-69 to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.  The offense was largely to blame here, as the Hawkeyes scored at 0.91 points per possession.  The number is right what you'd expect from an interior-focused offense that converted just 43 percent of its two point attempts.  While some leeway should be given because Iowa's best player, Matt Gatens, was recovering from his injury, this is still a bad loss.  SDSU figures to be a mid-level Summit team this season after bidding adieu to four starters from last year's mid-level Summit team.  It's going to be a long year in Iowa City, but that shouldn't be breaking news. 

We got our first glimpse of Ohio State's talented freshman class in the Buckeyes' 102-61 victory over North Carolina A&T on Friday.  In fact, those freshmen might have been the best players on the floor.  DeShaun Thomas led the scoring, with a 24-point outburst on 16 shots.  Jared Sullinger chipped in with a 19 point, 14 rebound performance.  Meanwhile, Aaron Craft staked his claim to the point guard position with a 9 assist, zero turnover performance.  Pretty positive, right?  Sure, until consider the handsy defense employed by the youngsters.  The freshman combined for 17 of Ohio State's 22 fouls.  They're good, but they're still young.  Also, you're not going to see rebounding like this too often, so it's worth noting.  There were 44 offensive rebound opportunities in Friday's game, and the Buckeyes captured 30 of them.  In a word, that's insane, and easily the most impressive statistic of the weekend.

Indiana's offense was en fuego against Florida Gulf Coast in a 88-60 victory for the Hoosiers.  IU shot 50 percent from three, and 55 percent from two point range and were led by Christian Watford's 24 points on 12 shots.  It wasn't all good news, however.  Indiana turned it over on a third of its possessions, a sign that the turnover bug that has plagued the team for the past two seasons may not yet be removed.  Still, that makes the offensive outburst even more impressive.  IU gives up 1 out of 3 possessions, and still averages over 1.2 points per possession?  Yikes.  IU also beat Wright State 67-44 on Sunday with the same combination of hot shooting and sloppy ballhandling.  The Hoosiers made 65 percent of their twos, but again turned it over on a third of their possessions.  Watford and Verdell Jones combined for 44 points on 24 shots, but they also were the source of 11 turnovers.  Tom Crean has plenty to work on with his team. 

High percentage shots were the order of the day in Illinois' 85-63 win over Southern Illinois.  The Illini converted 58 percent of their two pointers in the win over Bruce Weber's former team.  The shooting was also excellent from distance, as Illinois ended up with an effective field goal percentage north of 60.0.  Weber was probably more pleased, however, with the defensive effort that held SIU to just 0.83 points per possession.  Demetri McCamey led the way with an 18 point, 9 assist, turnover free performance. 

Michigan State also got defensive in its 96-66 victory over in-state opponent Eastern Michigan.  This was an extremely fast game--an NBA-paced 90 possession affair--so the 66 points represents tremendous effort by the MSU defense.  That said, the offense wasn't exactly vintage Izzo.  The Spartans grabbed just a quarter of the available offensive rebounds.  Last season, MSU had just one game where they grabbed fewer offensive boards (in their tournament win over Northern Iowa).  I wouldn't worry, however.  Certainly, there's no reason to gnash teeth over a 30-point win.  Draymond Green with a another night at the office--12 points, 8 boards, 7 assists, 3 blocks, and just one turnover.  I don't care if he looks like a power forward, he's also not a half-bad option at point guard. 

South Carolina Upstate provided the answer to Andre 3000's question, "what's cooler than being cool?," managing to make just 12 of their 54 attempts in a 66-35 loss to Michigan, including a frigid 4 of 24 from three point range.  While I'd love to give all of the credit to John Beilein's stingy defense, the Michigan coach isn't exactly known for putting great defensive teams on the floor. The Wolverines' 1.12 points per possession was also very impressive, however.  Tim Hardaway Jr. and Darius Morris combined for 36 points on 22 shots.  

Last year, Purdue coped with the loss of Robbie Hummel by focusing on defense and grinding out victories in the NCAA Tournament.  In the Boilers' 76-40 win over Howard University, Purdue added offense to the equation.  It's just Howard, so it's too early to declare Robbie officially replaced, but it is nice to see the 1.2 points per possession effort nonetheless.  The real drama here is to see which of Purdue's supporting cast is going to pick up the scoring slack in Hummel's absence.  Both John Hart and D.J. Byrd staked an early claim, each scoring 12 points off of 4-5 shooting from behind the arc. 

Also looking to replace parts is Wisconsin, as Bo Ryan went into the offseason not knowing who would start in his backcourt alongside Jordan Taylor.  In today's 99-55 win over Prairie View A&M, the starters were seniors Tim Jarmusz and Wquinton Smith, who combined for 2 points on 7 shots in 38 minutes of action.  Meanwhile, true freshman Josh Gasser went off for 21 points on 8 shots in 26 minutes.  Sure, it's early, but I'm guessing we'll see a different starting lineup by Big Ten season.  Gasser's output helped the Badgers score 1.5 points per possession.  I'm not even sure the Stockton/Malone NBA Jam duo could match that. 

Penn State overcame a halftime deficit to Lehigh in a comfortable 70-56 victory.  This was a typical Penn State game--Talor Battle scored the points, the Lions crashed the glass, and nobody turned it over or got to the line (so far, it appears no big changes are coming).  Also typical--the short bench.  When just seven players see more than five minutes against Lehigh, how many guys will be in the rotation against Michigan State?  Frankly, I don't like all this status quo from a team coming off a last-place finish. 

Speaking of status quo, Northwestern posted gaudy offensive and shameful defensive numbers in a 97-78 shootout win over Northern Illinois. I was excited to see Alex Marcotullio in the starting lineup, but the sophomore didn't take advantage, going for just three points in 24 minutes.  Even with that kind of dead weight, the Wildcats figure to be an offensive powerhouse as long as John Shurna is suiting up.  The junior foward had 31 points on 16 shots in a strong start for one of the top candidates for conference player of the year.  The personal accolades are nice, but Shurna wants to go dancing this season.  To do so, the Wildcats will need much better defense than allowing MAC teams to score 1.08 points per possession. 

Defense wasn't a problem for Minnesota in a 69-55 win over Wofford, holding the Terriers to a 39.7 effective field goal percentage.  Defense was a big issue for the Gophers last season, so this is a good sign.  Also a big issue was the non-arrival of impact players, including junior college transfer Trevor Mbakwe.  His legal troubles behind him, Mbakwe's premiere was a rousing success, as the big man put together a 14/10 double-double in just 18 minutes.  I'll admit, I'm not quite sure what to make of Mbakwe this season.  Top recruits tend to be overrated by analysts and fanbases (at least the immediate impact of those recruits), and the same goes for junior college transfers.  While it's worth noting that it's just Wofford, but so far Mbakwe looks like the real deal. 

Finally, basketball's back.