John Shoop long has admired Purdue’s offensive tradition from afar. Now, he gets a chance to add to that tradition by pushing the buttons on the Boilermakers’ attack under first-year coach Darrell Hazell.

First-year coach Darrell Hazell has his work cut out for him, playing arguably the toughest schedule in the Big Ten. There is no more challenging non-conference schedule in the conference, with a trip to Big East co-champ Cincinnati and home games vs. Notre Dame (BCS title game) and Northern Illinois (Orange Bowl). Getting one Big Ten road victory may be a difficult proposition, too. Bottom line: A 1-6 start isn’t out of the question.

Tom Crean and Indiana spent a big portion of last season ranked No. 1 in the nation. As we all know, though, the Hoosiers lost a ton of talent, including Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo, Christian Watford and Cody Zeller. They return Yogi Ferrell and Will Sheehey and also welcome a decorated incoming class, so the question needs to be asked: Should Indiana be ranked in the preseason polls? BTN.com’s Tom Dienhart and Brent Yarina offer their thoughts below.

This time of year, it’s always fun to look at the rosters and try to pick out the conference’s breakout stars. A year ago, if you had your eye on, say, Venric Mark, Allen Robinson, Jake Ryan or Ryan Shazier, you hit it out of the park. It’s time to go out on a limb and offer my top five candidates for who will go from an under-the-radar player to a household name in 2013.

The biggest spring football star in the Big Ten may have been a 7-year-old. Jack Hoffman is a cancer patient who stole the hearts of America and the show at the Nebraska spring game, taking a handoff and racing 69 yards for a touchdown. Highlights of the run went viral, as little Jack’s story swept the nation.