ROSEMONT — There was no need to parse Jim Delany's opening statement during Thursday's Big Ten media day. The league's commissioner made his point clearly and concisely. College basketball shouldn't give up November and December.
"We're not going to cede the college sports scene to college football," Delany said. "I don't think there's anything less interesting than bad college basketball in the month of November. We're trying to improve it."
That last part brought a hint of a smile on Illinois men's basketball coach Brad Underwood's face when he heard it later Thursday morning. Turns out there might have been a reason for that.