As we still await Adreian Payne’s NBA draft decision, I thought it would be fun to take another way-too-early look ahead to the 2013-14 season. This time, I’ll do it in prediction form, offering five things I’m confident about in 2013-14. See all five in this post. Have a prediction of your own? Feel free to leave it as a comment.

At 10 p.m. ET tonight, “The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2013″ spotlights the Big Ten’s top point guards. The show airs immediately following the Wisconsin-Iowa game, and then airs again at 3 p.m. Sunday following the Indiana-Northwestern game and again at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Penn State senior point guard Tim Frazier will undergo surgery to repair a torn left Achilles tendon Tuesday, putting him out for the remainder of the 2012-13 season. Frazier, who suffered the injury in Sunday’s loss to Akron, is eligible to apply for a medical redshirt.

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.

This week on ”The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2012,” we took a look at the special friendship between Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and Michigan’s Trey Burke and went on campus with Penn State’s Tim Frazier and Illinois’ Brandon Paul. Also, we met Wisconsin’s Otto Puls, the Badgers’ team scorekeeper for four decades. Watch a clip from the show now and see a few bonus clips in this post. Find more on past episodes over here and follow the show on Twitter: @BTNJourney.

Who’s the best player in the Big Ten? It’s a spirited debate. Many feel it’s Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger. Others think Michigan State’s Draymond Green is the top talent. But what about Penn State guard Tim Frazier? That’s right: A player off of a last-place Big Ten team. Before you dismiss the notion, watch Frazier play—and look at his numbers. Neither lies.

After a long break in which it moved into first place, Illinois saw its offense lay an egg in a losing effort at Penn State. It was clear that, despite the rousing win over Ohio State, this is still the same Illinois team we’ve watched all season. Let’s again roll out what we’ll have to start calling the Illini table:

How do you break a Big Ten losing streak? Last night, the unlikely answer was to take a trip to snowy Indiana. Wisconsin and Minnesota got their seasons back on track with impressive wins in the Hoosier state.

It’s early in the conference season, but not so early that teams don’t have something they need to work on. To get them in shape, let’s hand out some homework assignments.

One week of Big Ten play in the books, it’s time to release my latest Big Ten men’s hoops power rankings. The rankings are not meant to mimic the Big Ten standings. What fun would that be? They aren’t scientific, either. They’re simply my thoughts on where each Big Ten team stands right now and who would win on a neutral court. Agree? Disagree? Tweet @BTNBrentYarina or leave your comments below. See Brent’s rankings in this post.

Tim Frazier stands all of 6-foot-1. So when the Penn State point guard elevates to swat an opposing big man, it’s kind of a big deal. The Nittany Lions’ do-it-all star emphatically blocked Cornell’s 6-foot-9 Deion Giddens’ layup in Wednesday night’s 74-67 home victory. The block was quite the highlight, no matter how many inches (8) Frazier was giving up. It was so good, in fact, BTN play-by-play man Eric Collins had this to say: “Blocked away by Frazier! How did he get up there?” Find out in this video 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.

Every Sunday night during the hoops season, BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina recaps the week that was on the men’s hardwood and hands out his weekly honors. See Brent’s latest installment, for action from Dec. 5-11, in this post. Also, watch Christian Watford’s last-second 3-pointer to stun No. 1 Kentucky and the resulting celebration Saturday at Assembly Hall. And get ready for the coming week of Big Ten action with our Big Ten scoreboard.

It’s been a quiet week so far in Big Ten land, but we did get two interesting games last night. Let’s review the light slate, as well as a couple noteworthy performers to this point of the season.

It’s time to release my latest Big Ten men’s hoops power rankings. The rankings are not meant to mimic the Big Ten standings. What fun would that be? They aren’t scientific, either. They’re simply my thoughts on where each Big Ten team stands at that time. Agree? Disagree? Tweet @BTNBrentYarina or leave your comments below.