Team of the Week

Texas

Coach Rick Barnes has given us the No. 1 team in the country – on seven ballots, including ours – and he's also given us a case study on whether a tough early schedule impacts how you play in March. Today against No. 9 Michigan State, Texas will face its second Top 15 opponent in four days. Meanwhile, No. 2 (in our poll) Kansas won't play a ranked opponent until Jan. 10 (Tennessee). Which approach is more advantageous in the long run?

Check the Big 12 standings in March. Regardless, the two best teams we've seen are from the Big 12. Both KU and Texas have speed in the backcourt and imposing big men in the frontcourt; KU's Cole Aldrich is 6-foot-11, 245; UT's Dexter Pittman is 6-10, 290. Watch those bruisers and you'll see how far Illinois has to go before the Illini are national players. With 23 points and 15 rebounds, Pittman helped Texas to a 103-90 win against North Carolina, a win that lifted the Longhorns to Team of the Week status.

What To Watch

1. No. 9 Michigan State at No. 2 Texas (6 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN2) – Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw, who's in his third season coaching UI recruit Jereme Richmond, attended a Michigan State practice in the preseason. He learned that Tom Izzo charts every rebound – and every attempt at getting a rebound – in every practice. Making it a daily point of emphasis has helped Sparty lead the Big Ten in rebounding in 11 of the past 13 seasons.

2. Missouri vs. Illinois (8:30 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN2) - Missouri's leading scorer, Kim English, has some insight on the Illini. "I worked out with Chester Frazier every morning in the offseason," Baltimore-product English said Monday by phone. More on that in Wednesday's News-Gazette.

3. West Virginia at Seton Hall (2:30 p.m. Saturday, CBS) – A rare day-after-Christmas gift jump-starts the Big East season. The best league in college hoops last season has been the best this season, too. Nine Big East products were selected in the NBA draft – and the conference responded with a 41-0 record to start this season.

Conference Call

1. Big East (1)

2. Big 12 (2)

3. SEC (3)

4. ACC (5)

5. Big Ten (4)

6. Pac-10 (7)

7. Mountain West (6)

8. Conference USA (9)

9. Atlantic 10 (8)

10. Missouri Valley (–)

Wooden Watch (All-Illini vitriol edition)

1. Jon Scheyer, Duke – If it's possible for a Dukie to go under the radar, the Glenbrook North alum has done that. Did you know the transformed point guard has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 6.4-to-1? Yet he's rarely mentioned as a legitimate Wooden candidate.

2. Maurice Creek, Indiana – Coach Tom Crean said before the season Creek had All-Big Ten potential down the road. He currently leads Division I freshmen in scoring (18.5 ppg), including his 31 points against fellow point guard John Wall and Kentucky.

3. Scotty Hopson, Tennessee – Yes, he plays for Bruce Pearl. If Illinois fans can get past that – and that's a big "if" – it's easy to appreciate a 6-foot-7 swingman who shoots 46.5 percent from three. He had 16 points in a 77-55 loss at USC, the worst loss in Pearl's time as coach.

Random thought

Ticket update

As of Monday, there were about 1,000 tickets remaining for the Braggin' Rights game Wednesday at Scottrade Center. Illinois sold its allotment of tickets. Missouri didn't request as many tickets as usual, so there were more available to the general public. The Gonzaga game in Chicago is a bigger draw. Fewer than 200 tickets remain for the Jan. 2 matchup at the United Center. When those tickets are sold, there will be some standing-room-only tickets for sale. Those will go for $15 (www.Ticketmaster.com). As for games at the Assembly Hall, the Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin games are the closest to selling out and have single tickets remaining (www.FightingIllini.com).

The Ex-Files (Braggin' Rights edition)

1. Brian Randle, (Altshuler Saham Galil Gilboa) – Former Illini proud of his 4-0 record vs. Tigers, now averaging 10.3 points and 7.1 rebounds in second season in Israel.

2. Dee Brown (Air Avellino) – Former Illini had 18 points, six boards, six assists to help win Bruce Weber's Braggin' Rights debut in 2003, now averaging 18.2 points in Italy.

3. Brian Cook (Houston Rockets) – Former Illini had 25 points in 2000 win against Missouri that started current nine-game win streak, has played in eight games this season.

Klee's Top 25

Team – Klee's comment

1. Texas – Watch the massive, mean 'Horns and you see how far Illinois has to go

2. Kansas – Demotion to No. 2 more a testament to Texas than a slight toward KU

3. Syracuse – Next challenge arrives with Dec. 29 trip to upstart Seton Hall

4. Kentucky – Wildcats earned program's 2,000th win by beating Drexel on Monday

5. Duke – Once again, games against UNC (Feb. 10, March 6) should decide ACC title

6. Purdue – All of the other pollsters ranked Boilermakers higher than No. 6

7. West Virginia – Didn't take long for WVU to assume Huggins' Cincy-like attitude

8. North Carolina – No shame in losing to top-ranked Longhorns in Dallas

9. Villanova – Only loss came to Temple, which broke into our Top 25 this week

10. Michigan State – Big Ten could use a statement win, and Texas tonight qualifies

11. Connecticut – One outside sharpshooter away from being a Final Four contender

12. Mississippi – Could be the sexy bracket pick in March that fades in the first weekend

13. Kansas State – One of six teams in Big 12 with one or fewer losses

14. Dayton – Win against Old Dominion looks better after ODU beat Georgetown

15. Georgetown – Went 2-1 against difficult Washington/Butler/Old Dominion stretch

16. Florida – All but two voters still ranked Gators after losses to Syracuse, Richmond

17. New Mexico – Surprise of the Top 25 rocked The Pit with notable win vs. Creighton

18. Texas A&M – Aggies visit Washington to play Huskies tonight (10, Fox Sports Net)

19. Clemson – Recovered from Illinois collapse to post four wins against weaker foes

20. Tennessee – Without a resume-enhancing win, Vols need to make up ground in SEC

21. Temple – Owls returned to AP Top 25 for first time since 2001

22. St. John's – Only loss this season for former UI assistant Norm Roberts was to Duke

23. Butler – Gordon Hayward's big week helped Butler to wins vs. Ohio State, Xavier

24. Wisconsin – Trevon Hughes scored his 1,000th career point in a win against Cal-Poly

25. Cincinnati – Dropped Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Memphis and UNLV from our ballot