s you know by now, Penn State pulled off a pretty impressive comeback yesterday to pull even with Minnesota with just 10 seconds left, before Lawrence Westbrook nailed a buzzer beater to send the Lions to 0-11 in the conference. It’s tough to blame this one on Ed DeChellis. And because I don’t feel like recapping, I’ll share with you something I found pretty funny. Remember last year, how, after beating Illinois, we thought we were headed to the tournament? And then, less than two days later, we lost in Iowa City to a 4-13 Iowa team after Jake Kelly banked in a 3 at the end of double overtime (after nailing a three at the end of regulation, to boot), and missed the tourney, basically because of that one shot? Jake Kelly remembers. Oh, and Bill S., because I’m sure you’re reading this, take a look at who the first commenter was:

Illinois at (16) Wisconsin

7:00 PM ET, February 9, 2010
Kohl Center, Madison, WI
BTN

(7) Purdue at (5) Michigan State

9:00 PM ET, February 9, 2010
Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing, MI
ESPN

Indiana at Northwestern

2:30 PM ET, February 7, 2010
Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, IL
BTN

Iowa at (18) Ohio State

12:00 PM ET, February 7, 2010
Value City Arena, Columbus, OH
BTN

Hours before Illinois and Michigan State take the court for Saturday night's Big Ten showdown on ESPN, the coaches of the two teams plan to provide a bit of pregame intrigue. Illinois coach Bruce Weber has challenged Michigan State coach Tom Izzo to a free-throw contest immediately following ESPN's live broadcast of College GameDay, which rolls into Champaign on Saturday morning. Izzo accepted Weber's challenge, which will consist of 10 free throws for each coach. The losing coach promises to raise a minimum of $5,000 per missed shot through appearances for the Coaches vs. Cancer charity. "The ESPN broadcast allows Tom and I a great opportunity to show our passion for Coaches vs. Cancer fundraising as well as give people a sense of the rewarding friendships that exist within the coaching community," Weber said on FightingIllini.com. "This should put an exclamation point on the College GameDay event for Fighting Illini fans and put the spotlight on Coaches vs. Cancer once again." Izzo, who regularly practices shooting free throws, is equally excited about the challenge.

The last time Bill Frieder was at Crisler Arena for a basketball game, he was Michigan’s coach. It was the end of the regular season — 21 years ago. What happened next is Michigan basketball lore. At the end of the regular season, he accepted the Arizona State job effective when Michigan finished its season. He told athletic director Bo Schembechler right before the NCAA tournament. Schembechler promptly fired him. That team was inspired and won all six tournament games en route to the program’s lone national championship. Aside from attending former athletic director Don Canham’s public memorial at Crisler in 2005, Frieder has not been in the arena. He makes his return during Saturday’s game against Wisconsin for the 25th anniversary of his 1984-85 team, the first of back-to-back Big Ten title squads — the last for Michigan. Though Frieder coached at Arizona State until 1997 and criss-crossed the country since doing national radio basketball broadcasts, he did not return to Michigan. “(Current U-M coach) John Beilein called me a couple times and said he wanted to get me back there, then he called me a month ago about this,” Frieder told the Free Press on Thursday from his home in Del Mar, Calif. “It does (mean a lot). It brings back a lot of fond memories. I grew up there, went to school there and coached there.”

Lane Kiffin really is getting a jump on recruiting. No sooner had the Trojans new coach put the finishing touches on the Class of 2010 recruits, that he turned his attention to the Class of 2015. That's right, 2015. Thursday evening Kiffin received a verbal commitment from 13-year old wunderkind quarterback David Sills of Bear, Del. Too young? Not according to his personal coach Steve Clarkson, who has mentored some of the game's best quarterbacks including current USC starter Matt Barkley. "His skill set is off the chart," Clarkson said. "I've never seen anyone at his age do what he's been able to do." The commitment, which was first reported by ESPN's Shelley Smith, has happened in college basketball previously, but is unprecedented for college football where it's harder to project how a player as young as Sills will develop physically. Clarkson says that won't be a problem. "He's already six feet as a 13-year old," Clarkson said. "And he's breaking down NFL footage."

Minnesota at Penn State

2:00 PM ET, February 6, 2010
Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, PA
BTN

(16) Wisconsin at Michigan

4:00 PM ET, February 6, 2010
Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, MI
CBS

(5) Michigan State at Illinois

9:00 PM ET, February 6, 2010
Assembly Hall, Champaign, IL
ESPN