Big Ten Basketball

The No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the unranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights 67-66 on Thursday night on a three-point buzzer-beater by Tanner Holden.

However, the Big Ten announced Friday that Holden's three-pointer shouldn't have counted, per NCAA.com's Andy Katz.

The Big Ten said in a statement:

"During regulation play, an OSU student-athlete passed the ball to a teammate who had drifted out of bounds and returned to the court to complete the game-winning shot. The action of stepping out of bounds and being the first player to touch the ball after returning inbounds constituted a violation of NCAA Rule 9, Section 3, Article 1. The play should have been stopped, and the ball ruled dead.

"The officiating crew that was on the court is one of the best in the country, but unfortunately missed the call. The Big Ten Conference takes officiating very seriously and has addressed the matter with both member institutions and the officiating crew. Additionally, the conference will be providing added education and rule reinforcement to our basketball officials."

Almost immediately after Holden hit the game-winning shot, Rutgers coaches and players were telling officials that the shot shouldn't count because Holden was out of bounds just before catching the ball.

"I thought it was (out of bounds) because it was right in front of me," Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said after the game, per NJ.com's Brian Fonseca. "... Again, I'm not sure about the sideline thing. I thought he clearly was, but again, I didn't see anything."

Considering Rutgers was up by two points when Holden caught the ball, a turnover would likely have resulted in a Buckeyes loss at Schottenstein Center.

Instead, Ohio State moved to 7-2 on the season, while Rutgers dropped to 6-3. Though it's early in the season, Rutgers could have used the conference victory.

The Buckeyes have had a solid season thus far, but they have lost each of their two games against ranked opponents, falling to No. 22 San Diego State on Nov. 21 and No. 15 Duke on Nov. 30.

Ohio State is back in action on Saturday against North Carolina, and they have a pretty tough January on tap with matchups against No. 4 Purdue, No. 13 Maryland, No. 17 Illinois and No. 14 Indiana.

The Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights will meet again on Jan. 15, and Rutgers will have revenge on its mind.

Basketball Hall of Famer, UCLA legend and ESPN color commentator Bill Walton hopes his alma mater's impending move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten in 2024 will be "rescinded."

Longtime Oregon sports columnist and commentator John Canzano reached out to Walton on the matter, and he responded four months later with a written statement expressing his strong feelings.

Of note, Walton said that the move will have a negative impact on the physical and mental health of UCLA student-athletes, citing the "exponential increase" in travel to face Big Ten teams.

USC will join UCLA in the Big Ten, making Nebraska their closest conference rival otherwise at roughly 1,500 miles away.

The Big Ten conference stretches as far west as Nebraska and as far east as Rutgers in New Jersey.

Walton also noted the negative impact on travel for family, friends, fans and alumni.

In addition, the 69-year-old said that the move would run counter to UCLA and the UC system's "professed environmental sustainability goals" and that it would also have a negative impact on a fellow UC school and Pac-12 team in Berkeley.

He also said that "increased costs of joining the Big Ten" would "negate the projected increased revenue assumptions of this proposed move."

Walton also cited the rest of the teams and student-athletes (outside football), wondering how many of them were "represented and willing participants in this proposed deal."

"This proposed move to the Big Ten, is all about football, and money," Walton wrote.

"What about all the other 24 sports and 600-plus student-athletes at UCLA, who are responsible for 99-plus percent of UCLA's national championships?"

The California native starred at UCLA from 1971-74, winning three straight National Player of the Year awards and two national titles under legendary head coach John Wooden. The 1971-72 and 1972-73 teams both went 30-0.

Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari announced Wednesday the Wildcats have "agreed in principle" to restart an annual rivalry series against Indiana beginning with the 2025-26 season.

Calipari said further information will be provided at a later date as the deal with the Hoosiers is "at the administrative level now, so all the details will be worked out."

Kentucky and Indiana faced off in men's basketball for the first time in December 1924, a 34-23 Hoosiers victory. The schools met every season from 1969 through 2011.

The Wildcats and Hoosiers have met twice since that point, both times in the NCAA tournament. UK won a 2012 meeting in the Sweet 16 and IU came out on top in the 2016 second round.

Kentucky holds a 35-23 advantage in the all-time series.

Indiana coach Mike Woodson said in May he wanted to resume the series, even if it meant playing a yearly neutral-site contest rather than a standard home-and-home structure.

"It might not be Bloomington, Lexington, I don't know," Woodson said. "But however way we can get it done, I'll take it. So we've just got to figure that part of it out."

He added it would be special to play the games on the respective campuses, though.

"I'm going to stay on [Calipari's] heels about getting the Kentucky-Indiana series back on the table," Woodson said. "Because I just think over the years, man, that was a hell of a game, going to Lexington and them coming down to Bloomington."

Calipari didn't address whether home games were under consideration as part of his comments Wednesday at SEC media day.

Both Kentucky and Indiana head into the 2022-23 season inside the Top 15 of the Associated Press poll, with UK at No. 4 and IU at No. 13.

The storied programs will each open the new campaign Nov. 7, when the Wildcats host Howard at Rupp Arena and the Hoosiers welcome Morehead State to Assembly Hall.

Tom Izzo isn't going to overstay his welcome at Michigan State, but he has no plans on retiring anytime soon.

The 67-year-old sat down for an interview on the Draymond Green Show and told the former Spartans forward he's "rejuvenated" heading into the 2022-23 season.

"I know one thing I'm not gonna do: I've watched some guys stay or year or two too long," Izzo said (20:51 mark). "I'm not into anything but the day that I feel I don't want to take redeyes, I don't want to go out recruiting, I don't want to have meetings in my office like some of the ones we had, I'm gone. And, if I'm not, I know you [Green] will tell me. ... I got some guys that will tell me, 'It's time.'

"But you are right: I am rejuvenated. Right now, the campus, it's electric right now. Mel [Tucker] has done an excellent job. We've put $70 million into football. We just put a bunch into hockey. We got cranes in the sky again. We got students walking. Two years of COVID. Two-and-a-half years, we had nobody walking around. ... I'm energized by that."

Izzo has been at Michigan State since 1995-96, delivering eight Final Four appearances and the 2000 national championship. Speculation about Izzo's future has spiked in recent season as Michigan State failed to perform to its typical standard, but the Naismith Hall of Famer quelled all rumors in August by agreeing to a five-year extension.

Michigan State will understandably allow Izzo to set his own timeline for retirement, and his new contract even calls for a post-retirement job with the university.

The retirements of Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski in recent years has only served to increase the spotlight on Izzo and Jim Boeheim, the sport's last two remaining pillars of their generation of coaches. Izzo is five years younger than Williams, eight years Krzyzewski's junior and a full decade younger than Boeheim, which likely means we'll see him for at least the next half-decade.

LeBron James may have been an Ohio State Buckeye if the one-and-done NBA draft rule was in place when he went straight from high school to the sport's highest level.

Perhaps his son Bronny will be the one to don Scarlet and Gray.

According to Joe Tipton of On3, the younger James is "looking to visit Ohio State" and will "likely" make such a trip Sept. 3, when the football program plays Notre Dame in a highly anticipated primetime showdown.

Tipton reported LeBron also hopes to be in attendance.

The Buckeyes are far from the only ones recruiting Bronny, as Tipton listed USC, Memphis and Oregon as interested. LeBron was quick to shut down rumors that the Ducks were the favorites:

LeBron is from Akron, Ohio, and is a longtime advocate of the Buckeyes. He has attended football games in the past, consistently shouts the team out on social media and has provided apparel for the men's basketball team.

"If I would have had one year of college, I would have ended up down here in Columbus at Ohio State," James previously said (h/t Tipton). "No matter where I go in the world, I will always rock Ohio State colors."

He will certainly be rocking those colors if his son joins the team.

While the men's basketball program is often overshadowed by the powerhouse football team, head coach Chris Holtmann brought in the No. 8 class in the 2022 recruiting cycle and has the No. 4 group in 2023, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Landing James, a 4-star prospect and the No. 40 player in the 2023 class, would only strengthen what is already a bright future.

And it surely wouldn't hurt the Buckeyes' chances if he were on campus to experience the environment at Ohio Stadium when the football team hosts Notre Dame.

The Big Ten will be raking in cash under its new media rights contracts with six different media outlets.

The conference announced Thursday it has agreed to distribution agreements with CBS, Fox, NBC and NBCUniversal's Peacock, as well as returning partners Big Ten Network and FS1, that will begin July 1, 2023, and run through the 2029-30 season.

Per Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, the deals will earn the Big Ten between $7 billion and $8 billion with escalators that could bring the total value up to $10 billion.

As negotiations between the Big Ten and networks were ongoing, John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reported last week that ESPN pulled out of talks after the conference proposed a seven-year deal worth $380 million per year.

Per Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, the offer to ESPN would have given the network around 13 football games per season (down from 27 on the current deal) and the second- or third-best Big Ten game of the weekend in prime time.

ESPN has broadcast Big Ten games without interruption since 1982. This season will mark the final year of its deal with the conference.

In 2020, ESPN and the SEC announced a 10-year media rights deal beginning in 2024 that is worth around $300 million per year. ESPN will gain the rights to every SEC football game and men's basketball game, and ABC will air at least one football game each week.

CBS has broadcast rights to SEC games through the 2023 season.

The broadcast agreements come as the Big Ten is on the verge of expansion. USC and UCLA will join the conference as full-time members in 2024.

There has been speculation that Notre Dame football could join the Big Ten, but Ourand noted Monday that the school will probably remain an independent as it continues to negotiate a new rights deal with NBC.

According to Ourand, the Fighting Irish would "likely" add more Big Ten games to their schedule in the future given the conference's new rights deal with NBC and Peacock.

McMurphy added the Big Ten is still targeting Pac-12 programs Oregon, Washington, Stanford and Cal in its ongoing expansion efforts.

Terms of the new deals will have Big Ten football games on television virtually all day every Saturday during the season. Fox has rights to games at noon ET, followed by CBS at 3:30 p.m. and NBC in prime time.

Legendary Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo isn't stepping away from the bench anytime soon.

The school announced on Thursday that the Hall of Famer has agreed to a new contract extension that will solidify him as a "Spartan for Life."

According to the university's press release, Izzo received a five-year rollover contract that includes "non-performance related compensation of $5.92 million per year, including a $2.43 million base (up from an initial $430K base on his 2018 contract), $3.09 million in supplemental compensation and $400K from footwear and apparel provider Nike." When adding in additional benefits such as airplane use, the total compensation amounts to $6.2 million per year.

"Twelve years ago, Tom Izzo said he would be a Spartan for Life, and today's announcement further demonstrates and renews this commitment," Michigan State Director of Athletics Alan Haller said. "We have worked collaboratively to come up with a contract which benefits the University, Coach Izzo and his family."

A 2016 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Izzo will be entering his 28th season has head coach of the Spartans in 2022-23. The 67-year-old has coached Michigan State to 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big Ten record.

Izzo has been named National Coach of the Year eight times. Under his leadership, the Spartans have achieved 10 regular-season Big Ten Championships, six Big Ten Tournament titles, eight Final Four appearances and the 2000 NCAA National Championship. His career record of 666-267 gives him the highest win total of any coach in conference history.

With Izzo remaining in the fold for the next five years, the future appears to be bright in East Lansing. Per 247Sports, Michigan State's 2023 recruiting class is ranked third in the nation.

ESPN has reportedly ended contract discussions with the Big Ten after rejecting the conference's latest proposal, which was for a seven-year, $380 million extension.

John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal reported the update Tuesday, one day after Andrew Marchand of the New York Post noted the Big Ten was closing in on agreements with CBS, Fox and NBC worth over $1 billion in total.

ESPN's current deal with the Big Ten checked in at $190 million, and the extension talks didn't include guarantees for the conference's top games, per Stewart Mandel of The Athletic.

If talks aren't reopened, it'll mark the first time in 40 years that ESPN won't carry coverage of Big Ten football or basketball, per Marchand.

It'll also raise questions about the future of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, an annual men's basketball series showcased on the network during the nonconference schedule.

In the bigger picture, it's the latest adjustment in the rapidly changing landscape of college sports.

The first domino to fall came in July 2021, when Oklahoma and Texas announced they'd accepted an offer to move from the Big 12 to the SEC no later than June 2025.

That jump-started a whirlwind series of moves as conferences jockeyed to ensure they wouldn't be left out in the cold when the new alignments went into place, and it's continued in recent months with UCLA and USC confirming a move to the Big Ten in 2024.

Having those two high-profile West Coast programs joining a traditionally Midwest conference showed realignment has become less about regional rivalries and more about putting together as many notable schools as possible.

As a result, the Big Ten was able to carry more leverage into contract talks for its television rights and appears likely to secure three exclusive windows for football (all times ET): Fox at noon, CBS at 3:30 and NBC in prime time, per Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic.

Big Ten play kicks off August 27 with Northwestern vs. Nebraska in Dublin, Ireland, and Illinois' home game against the Mountain West's Wyoming Cowboys.

The Big Ten was reportedly "evaluating the worthiness" of adding a quartet of Pac-12 teams (Oregon, Cal, Stanford and Washington) into the conference, but Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported that interest has since cooled down:

"After the anxiety caused last week regarding further Big Ten expansion, industry sources have indicated the Big Ten is no longer as interested in adding California, Oregon, Stanford and Washington. Rightsholders were balking at paying the same amount for those schools as the 16 Big Ten schools going forward ($80 million-$100 million).

"While those four programs may eventually have options, the Big Ten is concentrating on its new deal in 2023 while trying to lure Notre Dame, which has an open invitation. More and more stakeholders now believe the Fighting Irish will ultimately stay independent."

The Big Ten currently has 14 institutions, but the conference is adding USC and UCLA into the fold in 2024.

The Big Ten finds itself in a position of great power by adding two powerhouse college sports programs in California, expanding the conference's footprint to the West Coast. The league doesn't necessarily have to expand any further after picking up USC and UCLA, although the Notre Dame rumors still persist.

The Big Ten and SEC, which will also have 16 teams after Oklahoma and Texas join the mix in 2025, ultimately will stand as a pair of superconferences in a few years time.

The biggest question is what will become of the Pac 12 without two of its most recognizable programs. The conference has already revealed that it's looking into expansion, although that news comes as other conference schools are connected to other leagues.

Dodd notably reported that Oregon alum and Nike founder Phil Knight was calling other leagues on his alma mater's behalf.

There was talk of the Big 12 and Pac 12 joining forces, but the former reportedly walked away from the table on that front, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

As it stands now, the Pac 12 will have 10 teams in a couple years' time unless the conference realignment carousel continues to move. The Big 12 already successfully added four schools (Houston, UCF, Cincinnati and BYU), and it remains to be seen if the Pac 12 can engineer a similar expansion as well.