During Saturday afternoon’s telecast of the Eastern Michigan-Purdue men’s hoops game, former Purdue standout and current NBA player Brian Cardinal joined the BTN telecast. Cardinal, who won the NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks this past season, joined the guys to talk about his successful Purdue career, his future in the NBA and his recent role with his old school, among other things. Watch our entire interview with Cardinal now. As for the game, the Boilermakers drilled EMU, 61-36.

Wednesday night brought a slew of closer-than-expected games for Big Ten teams. Most were able to escape without deflating losses, but the way they played may tell us more than the final result. Let’s dive right in.

It was a struggle for the Big Ten on Wednesday night. The conference eked out several wins against inferior opponents, including Illinois over St. Bonaventure (box), Nebraska over Florida Gulf Coast (recap) and Purdue over Western Carolina (recap), while Penn State lost to Lafayette (recap). There were a couple drama-free games, though, as Wisconsin drilled Green Bay (recap) and Michigan State blew away CCSU (recap). Catch up on all the action on our Big Ten scoreboard.

Roughly halfway through the nonconference basketball season, CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm decided to take another look at what the NCAA tourney bracket looks like. First impression: Jerry really likes the Big Ten. Nine teams make the field, more than any other conference, including Northwestern (No. 10), which eyes its first NCAA berth, and Indiana (No. 7), which hasn’t made the tourney since 2007-08. See all the Big Ten teams Palm included in this post.

Nearly a month into the men’s hoops season, it’s clear the future of the Big Ten is in good hands. I say this because of the conference’s loaded sophomore class, one headlined by possible NBA departures Jared Sullinger and Tim Hardaway Jr.