We’re now officially in the college basketball offseason, a long seven months where the NBA playoffs, major league baseball, and eventually football serve as poor stand-ins for our sports attention. But before we shift into that fruitless exercise, let’s take a quick look at what awaits us beyond the gap.

It’s never too early to look ahead to next season, right? Actually, yes, the day after the completion of one season is entirely too early to start analyzing the next. But even if we don’t know which stars will return and which ones will go pro, it’s fun to consider what next season may bring. See my super-early 2013-14 power rankings in this post. And once all the NBA decision are made, I’ll update this list.

The 2012-13 hoops season now complete, it’s time to look back at all of the alternate/throwback uniforms Big Ten teams wore during the successful campaign. By my count, there were 13 new special looks, four of which came from NCAA runner-up Michigan.

Northwestern introduced longtime Duke assistant Chris Collins as its 24th men’s basketball coach Tuesday. Collins, who grew up in Northbrook, Ill., and starred at Glenbrook North High School, inherits a program that went 13-19, including 4-14 in the Big Ten, in Bill Carmody’s final season.  Watch our one-on-one interview with Collins now and find other video in this post.

Travel across the country for an NBA pre-draft workout, or walk down the stage and receive your college diploma? That’s the dilemma former Northwestern basketball standout John Shurna faced following his senior year. I recently spoke with Shurna over the phone as he shared that story and others in my latest installment of “Big Ten Tales.”