On our “Tip-Off Show” leading up to No. 1 Indiana’s victory over Nebraska on Wednesday, we aired a Victor Oladipo dunk montage. We’ve done this a couple times this season, already featuring Sam Thompson and Rodney Williams.

Twenty-four games into the season, Indiana guard Victor Oladipo has reached the minimum (125 field goals made) to qualify for the Big Ten’s all-time single-season field goal percentage list.

Wisconsin picked up an overtime win over Michigan in a contest with plenty of late-game drama. Wisconsin and Michigan both found themselves with plenty of fouls to give at the end of regulation on Saturday, but neither team opted to hack to deprive the opponent of a desperation heave.

CBS analyst and former Ohio State standout Clark Kellogg offered quite the descriptive analysis of Indiana guard Victor Oladipo’s game during No. 1 Indiana’s win at No. 10 Ohio State. After showing a montage of Oladipo’s highlights coming out of a timeout, Kellogg spewed this memorable line: “Victor Oladipo is like a baby’s bottom – smooth and sometimes…explosive!” For real. Watch the analysis in this video.

Yes, the object in basketball is score. You need athletes, shooters, passers and rebounders. But good teams also possess toughness.

Here’s a first: Writing a post about a missed dunk. Never thought the day would come when such a thing would be worth highlighting, but no one could have guessed Victor Oladipo would come so close to completing an absolutely silly alley-oop. Watch the near highlight-reel dunk and a replay of it in this post. Or, hey, just check out the image of it on the video player here.

Indiana held serve against Michigan State to move into a tie with Michigan atop the Big Ten standings. Normally, I’d use this opportunity to point out that although Indiana won by 5, the outcome actually suggests that Michigan State is the better team. But I don’t think that’s true here, because Indiana was equal to or better than the Spartans in all but one category—three-point shooting. MSU made 11 of its 23 attempts from behind the three-point line, and I’ll go ahead and call that an aberration.

This weekend featured a lot of games where the home team came out of the gate strong, though there were some second half scares as well. Indiana ran all over Minnesota in the first half on Saturday, opening up a 23-point lead after the first 20 minutes.

When talking most improved player, the Big Ten boasts plenty of candidates. There are proven guys who have taken their game to another level, such as Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, and there are previously unproven guys who have made the most of extra playing time, such as Ohio State’s Shannon Scott.

As we finish up non-conference play, we’re getting a better picture of where the teams stack up, and where they have holes to fill. No team is perfect, so everyone could stand to benefit from some gifts from Santa (or whoever). Here’s a rundown of what everyone needs.

There are posterizing dunks, and then there is Victor Oladipo’s in-your-face slam from Saturday night. Oladipo, he of several highlight-reel dunks in his two-plus seasons (remember this one?), threw down perhaps the best poke of his career in the first half against Central Connecticut State. In transition, no one accounted for Oladipo, and he drove to the rim, where Terrell Allen went for the block. Needless to say, Allen didn’t get it.

Josh: It’s time to reflect on another season of Big Ten hoops. I think the rest of college basketball has finally taken notice of something that’s been true for the past 18 months or so–the Big Ten is the best conference in college basketball. Still, you look at the conference today, you see two great teams, 3 pretty darn good teams, a team good enough to make the Dance, and then mediocrity. Heck, even a couple of pretty bad teams. I mean, it’s hard to say the conference underachieved, but here goes–the conference underachieved. Sure, this is still the best action you’ll find, and it’s not close, but we’re still talking about a league that’s probably going to get 6 bids, with only a couple of standout teams. Does that sound much different than the past decade, when the Big Ten wasn’t measuring up to the likes of the ACC and the Big East?

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.

There were some rim-rattling slams on the hoop going to the right on your TV screen in Indiana’s victory over Michigan State on Wednesday. Draymond Green started it with a steal that he turned into a powerful And-1 in the first 20 minutes; in the second half, Victor Oladipo added a thunderous dunk, and Cody Zeller matched Green’s steal and slam. As they say, things come in threes. Which dunk was the best? Watch Zeller’s slam now and see the other two in this post. Then, cast your vote for the top dunk. Prediction: It’s going to be a close one.

Another night, another set of at-large hopes dashed. On Wednesday evening, Minnesota hoped to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, at least for another few days, with a crucial home matchup against Michigan State. Things were looking up when the Gophers took a nine-point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. Maybe Minnesota really would pull this off and get back onto the bubble.