Jared Sullinger and William Buford are gone, but Thad Matta still has plenty of talent coming back for the 2012-13 season. In Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State figures to boast one of the Big Ten’s elite duos. Throw in role player Lenzelle Smith and youngsters LaQuinton Ross and Sam Thompson, and the Buckeyes should be just fine. Athlon Sports believes in the Buckeyes, and that’s why the publication was in Columbus recently for a photo shoot. See a picture in this post.

In the sports world, there’s no better magazine to have your mug on than Sports Illustrated. Ohio State’s Aaron Craft knows what it’s like. The Ohio State point guard is featured on this week’s Final Four regional-based cover.  On it, Craft has the ball and is in midair against Syracuse, with the headline: “Ohio State Keeps on Dancing.” The Buckeyes take on Kansas, which beat them earlier this season, Saturday in the second national semifinal.

Aaron Craft is a very good defensive player. Let’s get that out of the way. Whatever you think of the next few paragraphs, remember that we all agree that Craft’s defense would improve just about any collegiate basketball team.

BTN announced the 2011-12 All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball Teams live on Monday night. Michigan State star Draymond Green was the only unanimous first-team player and also won Player of the Year from the coaches and the media, while Green’s coach, Tom Izzo, claimed both Coach of the Year honors. As for the highly debated Freshman of the Year laurel, Trey Burke (media) and Cody Zeller (coaches) were both selected. Let the debate continue!

On this week’s episode of “The Journey,” our crew spotlighted the recent Big Ten battle for the top spot between Michigan State and Ohio State, which featured Big Ten Player of the Year candidates Draymond Green and Jared Sullinger. We also profiled Indiana’s Tom Crean and his marriage into a famous coaching family. Watch our segment on Crean and the Harbaugh’s now and see four bonus clips in this post.

Last Tuesday, we watched Illinois and Michigan State fight it out to a 42-41 final. A week later, Ohio State and Purdue matched that point total on the first possession of the second half in an entertaining 87-84 Ohio State win. Both teams used outstanding three-point shooting and minuscule turnover rates to power themselves above 1.30 points per trip, marking a season-high output for both sides.

Here’s something you don’t see every night, much less twice in the same night: Ohio State’s Aaron Craft and Minnesota’s Julian Welch both hit halfcourt shots on attempted alley-oop passes Wednesday. We kid you not. Craft did it first, as his pass to Sam Thompson went through the rim in Ohio State’s easy win over Penn State. Later, Welch, from just behind the midcourt line, threw a pass in Rodney Williams’ direction and into the bucket in Minnesota’s loss at Michigan State. Watch Craft’s shot here and check out Welch’s in this post.

With an amazing 43-point performance from Brandon Paul, Illinois shocked Ohio State in Champaign. Coming in, this looked like a game that the Illini might hope to keep close with their defense, but it seemed unlikely that Bruce Weber’s struggling offense would be able to scrape together enough points against the nation’s top defense. That analysis went out the window once Paul got rolling.

For now, football is in my rear view window and the road for me ahead has plenty of Big Ten hoops. In my first installment of my Big Ten Three-Pointers, my aim is to fire up 3-pointers from around the Big Ten as I look back at the previous week’s news and then ahead to what’s coming. Ready, set, shoot …

Everything Aaron Craft does, it seems, begins on the defensive end. The sophomore guard led the Big Ten in steals (2.9) entering Thursday night’s game against Miami (OH), and he only added to his total in the game on BTN. Early in the second half, Craft turned one of his latest steals into an impressive and-1 opportunity. Watch Craft get the steal, drive the floor and finish despite the contact now.

Five Big Ten men’s basketball players have been named candidates for the Bob Cousy Award, handed out annually to the nation’s top collegiate point guard. The list includes Michigan’s Trey Burke, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft, Penn State’s Tim Frazier, Purdue’s Lewis Jackson and Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor. See the complete list of candidates here.

Northwestern showed no ill effects from its 10-day layoff in a 30-point shellacking of Texas Southern. The impressive results, as usual for the Wildcats, were at the offensive end, where they posted the second-highest efficiency allowed by the Tigers all season. Texas Southern has faced a couple teams relevant to the Wildcats, so the efficiencies posted by each team against the Tigers may be enlightening:

Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft has plenty of brains to go along with his skills on the hardwood. As it’s been reported recently, the sophomore sensation received the first “B” of his academic career last year. And it was a B-plus in chemistry, so it’s not like he should feel bad. On Tuesday, Craft was caught doing a Rubik’s Cube with one hand while conducting a phone interview with CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman. So, naturally, BTN asked Craft to give the Rubik’s Cube a try in front of one of our cameras Wednesday. He succeeded. In just more than a minute, too. Watch the video now.

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.

Everything went Ohio State’s way in Tuesday night’s 85-63 win over No. 4 Duke in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge (recap). At one point even, point guard Aaron Craft attempted to pass to Jared Sullinger through an opponent’s legs, only to have it deflect off Miles Plumlee’s leg and go right to himself in rhythm for a layup. If you didn’t watch it closely, it almost looked like Craft went five-hole to set himself up for the easy bucket. Either way, it was a great play on a night where it was all Buckeyes.