Nick Swisher homered on the second pitch of the game, and it only got worse for the Detroit Tigers.

Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong inning and the Chicago White Sox batters rocked Justin Verlander in a 13-2 rout of the Tigers on Sunday, Detroit’s sixth straight loss.

“This is very frustrating,” said Verlander, who gave up a career-high nine runs. “I think everyone on this team needs to do some soul searching.”

Despite the second-highest payroll in baseball, the Tigers are the only winless team in the majors and are off to their worst start since going 0-9 in 2003, when they lost an AL-record 119 games.

“I’m sure people are expecting me to rant and rave, but this team has too many professionals for me to have to do that,” manager Jim Leyland said. “They shouldn’t need to be told what they are doing wrong.”

All six of Detroit’s losses have come at home, in front of nearly 250,000 fans. Sunday night, one of the few cheers was a sarcastic ovation after Yorman Bazardo got the last out of Chicago’s four-run ninth.

“There’s no question that we are embarrassed,” Carlos Guillen said. “We can’t even win one game.”

Buehrle (1-0) rebounded from being tagged for seven runs on opening day, holding the Tigers to two runs and seven hits. He was helped by double plays in each of his last four innings.

“When I’m getting groundballs and breaking bats, I know that I’m in a groove,” he said. “I wanted to keep the team in the game until the bats took over.”

Chicago turned five double plays, all in the last six innings.

“I always say that defense wins games,” Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. “That’s what happened today. Defense like that makes your pitcher look better.”

Verlander (0-1) didn’t get much help from his teammates. He allowed five unearned runs and saw several balls scoot through Detroit’s infield.

“I was making good pitches and getting groundballs, but they kept going to places where no one could get to them,” he said. “That’s what makes this so hard.”

Swisher hit the first leadoff homer of his career down the right-field line.

“Against a great pitcher like Verlander, I just wanted to go out there and mix things up,” he said. “I got a fastball down the middle, got good wood on it and it went out. I was really excited.”

The Tigers tied it on Ramon Santiago’s RBI double in the third, but Chicago went ahead 3-1 in the fifth on an RBI single by Joe Crede and a run-scoring groundout by Juan Uribe.

The White Sox put the game away with six runs in the sixth. With one out, Paul Konerko reached when Carlos Guillen dropped a throw at first, and Jermaine Dye followed with a double. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Verlander hit Carlos Quentin,who had four RBIs, to force in a run.

Crede and Swisher added RBI singles, chasing Verlander. Orlando Cabrera then made it 9-1 with a three-run double off Aquilino Lopez.

“We made too many inexcusable mistakes tonight,” Leyland said. “I don’t mean errors—I don’t have a problem with errors. I mean plays that just cannot happen. We have to deal with that.”

Talk about role reversals.

Converted closer Ryan Dempster was solid as a starter and got the win. One-time ace Kerry Wood, now called on to finish games, earned his first career save.

Chicago’s offense, meanwhile, thawed out. Aramis Ramirez homered, Alfonso Soriano had two RBIs and the Chicago Cubs got their first win, 6-3 over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.

Dempster knows how tough the closer’s role can be and as he waited for Wood to wrap it up, he could hear the crowd chanting “Kerry, Kerry” in the ninth inning.

“Part of me was nervous.. … A couple of the pitches I turned away and stuff like that,” Dempster said. “He’s come a long way, battled through a lot of things to be where he was 10 years ago to be where he is now. It’s pretty remarkable what he’s done to bounce back.”

His once promising career as a starter slowed by arm injuries, Wood made a miraculous recovery from shoulder problems last season and rejoined the Cubs as a reliever for the final two months. This spring he won the closer’s role that Dempster vacated when he rejoined the rotation.

“It’s been a long road,” said Wood, the 1998 NL Rookie of the Year, who once fanned 20 batters in a game.

In a non-save situation Monday, Wood gave up three ninth-inning runs. He had to wait three days to atone.

“If I go out and do my job, it should be quick. Obviously it’s not going to work every time. … So you try to get comfortable and get a routine down and just go to work,” he added.

“It’s one inning and it’s an important inning when you’re out there. You just want to be sharp.”

Dempster made his first start since May 4, 2005—his second season with the Cubs when he began the year in the rotation and then became the closer. He had 87 saves from 2004 through last season.

Surviving a shaky first when the Brewers scored twice, Dempster (1-0) settled down and allowed just three hits in six innings with two walks and five strikeouts. He won as a starter for the first time since April 16, 2005.

Dempster won 29 games as a member of the Florida Marlins’ rotation from 2000-01 before his career was sidetracked in 2003 by elbow ligament-replacement surgery—a procedure that Wood also has endured.

“Absolutely I’m proud of myself,” Dempster said. “I dedicated myself as much or more than I probably ever have because I knew I had a big challenge ahead of me.”

Moved back to the leadoff spot after hitting second the first two games, Soriano drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to force in the go-ahead run and added an RBI single in the sixth to snap a season-starting 0-for-11 slump.

Ramirez was 0-for-7 when homered against Dave Bush (0-1) in the fifth to put the Cubs ahead 4-2. Bush gave up six hits and six runs in 5 1-3 innings.

The game got off to raucous start in the first when leadoff hitter Rickie Weeks flattened Cubs catcher Geovany Soto as he raced home on Prince Fielder’s sacrifice fly.

Weeks, hit twice by pitches in Monday’s opener, led off with a walk and moved to third on Tony Gwynn’s double. Chicago right fielder Kosuke Fukudome made a strong throw to the plate after catching Fielder’s fly, but Weeks knocked Soto down before he could catch the ball.

The ball rolled away and Dempster retrieved it, but his throw to Soto couldn’t get Gwynn, who also raced home and made it 2-0. Fukudome was charged with an error on the throw.

“I’m not dirty, now,” Weeks said. “I had zero options on that play. He was up the line. Sometimes you can get out of the way and slide, but he was straddling the line, so I had no choice.”

Soto had no problem with the play during a spirited opening series between two teams that battled for NL Central title last season.

“If I’m blocking the plate, you’re going go get hit,” he said. “It’s part of the game.”

Chicago tied it in the second on Fukudome’s double, which left fielder Ryan Braun misjudged, Mark DeRosa’s bad-hop RBI single and Soto’s sacrifice fly.

Chicago added two in the sixth when pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot doubled and Soriano dropped a soft run-scoring single to left. After Soriano stole second, Ryan Theriot greeted reliever Seth McClung with an RBI double.

Fielder had an RBI single off Carlos Marmol in the eighth.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella’s lack of patience is well known.

But Derrek Lee had to laugh out loud when he found out after Wednesday’s 8-2 loss to Milwaukee that Alfonso Soriano was heading back to the leadoff spot only two games into the season.

“It’s surprising a little bit, but I guess it shouldn’t [be],” Lee said. “Lou likes to shuffle it around.”

The Cubs fell to 0-2 after a sloppy defensive effort against the Brewers, and Piniella already had seen enough of Soriano in the No. 2 hole after watching him go hitless in nine at-bats.

Piniella used 125 different lineups in 2007. He switched Soriano to the No. 2 hole in the middle of spring training when the Cubs still believed they could pry leadoff man Brian Roberts from Baltimore. But that didn’t work out and Soriano has looked uncomfortable batting second ever since.

Before Wednesday’s game, Piniella said he was amazed the Chicago media constantly is asking about his lineups.

“We just started,” he laughed. “You know what’s amazing—if I don’t change the lineup I get asked ‘Why aren’t you changing it?’ And if I do change it, [reporters say] ‘You’re tinkering.’ … Hopefully, it works out and we don’t have to change it.”

Four hours later, Piniella swallowed hard and changed it, moving Ryan Theriot back into the No. 2 spot behind Soriano.

Was he doing it to make Soriano more comfortable?

“I don’t know, but we’ll just do it that way,” Piniella said.

The Cubs were 69-56 with Soriano leading off in 2007, but Piniella said in spring training he didn’t want his left fielder running much to prevent any leg injuries. Wednesday he said Soriano is “running better,” adding, “We’ll leave him in the leadoff hole and let him hit.”

Soriano, obviously, likes the leadoff spot better than the No. 2 hole. His worst at-bat Wednesday came in the seventh with the Cubs trailing 5-2 and runners on second and third with two outs. Salomon Torres made Soriano chase a 2-2 slider out of the strike zone, and the Cubs were toast.

Soriano certainly wasn’t the only one to blame for the Cubs’ lackluster afternoon.

Ted Lilly served up a leadoff home run to Rickie Weeks on the first pitch and allowed four runs in 42/3 innings. Felix Pie missed a cutoff man that led to a run in the Brewers’ two-run fourth. Geovany Soto let a runner score from third in the sixth when he made an ill-advised throw into center field on Jason Kendall’s stolen base, and Kendall reached on an infield hit in the eighth when Mike Fontenot threw high to first, where pitcher Carmen Pignatiello was late covering.

“It’s only two games, but it’s certainly not a good start,” Piniella said. “I told our team they better be ready to play. And I meant it too. I wasn’t joking around. [Monday] we got beat. Today we didn’t play well, and one of the things we need to do is play good defensive baseball and not give away runs .”

Lilly, who gave up five home runs in 19 spring innings, has not shown the fastball that made him so effective last season.

“That pitch is missing,” Piniella said. “That wasn’t his best stuff.”

Lilly said he “wouldn’t argue with Lou,” probably his best decision of the day.

Tom Crean agreed to become the IU men’s basketball coach after signing a letter of agreement Tuesday to coach the Hoosiers, IU trustee Philip Eskew Jr. confirmed Tuesday.

Crean, formerly the coach at Marquette, will be introduced at a press conference at 11 a.m. today in the Hoosier Room at Memorial Stadium, IU Athletics spokesman J.D. Campbell said. The press conference is closed to the public.

Crean, 42, arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn on College Avenue at about 11 p.m., met by a few members of the media and a couple fans.

“If you’re a college basketball coach, you identify this as one of the greatest jobs in the country,” Crean said outside the hotel. “I’m incredibly honored to have a chance to do this.”

He asked the fans near the hotel to sing him the IU fight song, which he said he did not know. He even took the phone from an IU fan to wish the student on the other line a happy birthday.

Crean flew from Milwaukee into Monroe County Airport shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday and was greeted by a handful of IU fans and members of the media.

IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan was with Crean at the airport.

“What are you all doing here?” Greenspan joked with the crowd. “We had a visitor come visit us today, and we’re pretty happy about it.”

Greenspan said one of the reasons he wanted Crean is because the coach has been successful over a long period of time.

He coached at Marquette for nine years, leading the Golden Eagles to a Final Four appearance in 2003.

“He has an impeccable background, and I’m just thrilled,” Eskew said. “I think he is just an outstanding coach for Indiana.”

Crean, who helped the school make the switch from Conference USA to the Big East during his tenure compiled a 190-96 record with Marquette.

“He did very well at Marquette,” said Joe Weis, IUSA president-elect, adding Crean was able to recruit one Indiana high school star, Dominic James, to play in Milwaukee for the Golden Eagles. “Hopefully we can see that trend continue.”

Marquette released a statement wishing Crean well Tuesday night.

“Marquette University wishes Tom Crean, his wife Joani and the Crean family the very best as he pursues new professional opportunities,” the statement read. “Coach Crean has brought pride, honor and a winning mentality to our men’s basketball program. It is no surprise that other universities would seek him out.”

At IU, Crean inherits a program facing possible NCAA sanctions.

“It will be a challenge, I understand that,” Crean said.

Former coach Kelvin Sampson resigned in February after the NCAA released five alleged major recruiting violations committed by Sampson and members of his staff. In October, IU reported a series of impermissible recruiting phone calls to the NCAA and classified the violations as “secondary.” IU self-imposed a handful of recruiting sanctions, including the loss of a scholarship for the 2008-09 season and restrictions on off-campus recruiting visits for assistant coaches.

The NCAA’s February report revealed new information and reclassified the violations as “major.” It could impose more punishments if it deems necessary.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions will conduct a hearing regarding IU’s situation on June 14 in Seattle and is expected to make its final decision within 30 days of the hearing.

“There’s no way I would have accepted this if I didn’t feel I was up to it,” Crean said.

Ray Schneider, who played basketball at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, Mich., while Crean was an assistant at the school, said he believed Crean could handle the challenges of the program.

“He understands what he’s getting himself into,” Schneider said, though he added he had not talked to Crean since the hire. “I think he himself is accountable, and he’s going to hold everybody associated with the program accountable.”

Schneider, now a professor of sports management at Bowling Green State University, credited the new IU coach with helping him play collegiate basketball at Central Michigan.

“He has lived his entire life to be the best college basketball coach in the country,” he said. “He’s always wanted to coach at one of the top basketball programs in the country. Even when he was a high school coach, you kind of knew he’d be successful.”

Within minutes of hearing the news of Crean’s hire, IU senior Chris Eline started a Facebook group in support of the new coach.

“I’m very excited because hiring a new coach was going to be difficult with our short-term player and sanction issues,” said Eline, the “Crimson and Crean” Facebook group creator. “We needed a guy who would look at the long-term. I think we got someone who’s going to do really well.”

Junior Brian Bulgatz, founder of student fan group “The Hall Monitors,” supported the hire.

“I’m feeling it,” Bulgatz said. “It will do wonders for our recruiting.”

Schneider thinks it could do even more.

“I think everybody will be thrilled with the situation,” Schneider said. “I’m confident it will lead to many wins and somewhere down the line a National Championship.”

Kosuke Fukudome’s welcome to Wrigley Field moment came as he darted up the dugout steps and onto a playing field that was completely made over in the offseason.

Overcast and damp, the conditions were a bit different than the ones he encountered during six weeks of spring training in Arizona with the Chicago Cubs.

“It is cold,” Fukudome said Sunday after the Cubs’ 90-minute workout on a 40-degree day, adding he was eager to make his major league debut Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The narrow right-field corner near where he will line up is one of baseball’s trickiest, made even moreso by a bullpen mound that is nearly on the foul line.

Manager Lou Piniella, wearing a ski hat over his baseball cap, told both of his corner outfielders, Fukudome and left fielder Alfonso Soriano, to study the bullpen and see if it needed to be sloped more to decrease the danger when they run into it to chase a foul ball.

Fukudome, the Cubs’ main offseason acquisition as they try to repeat as NL Central champs and end a 100-year drought since their last world championship, said he would adjust.

“As long as I’m aware of where the mound is, I don’t think it will be that big of a factor. You don’t see that in Japan and it’s going to take more than one game to get used to it,” he said.

The Cubs are facing the team they had to catch and pass last season. Chicago was 8 1/2 games back on June 23 before overtaking the Brewers and winning the division on the final week of the season. It will be Chicago’s Carlos Zambrano facing Ben Sheets on Monday.

With the weather so fickle early in the season, some wondered why the opening series wasn’t played in Milwaukee instead of Chicago because Miller Park has a retractable roof.

Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee was asked about the possibility of playing early games in a dome or at a warm weather city.

“That way you ensure no rainouts or snowouts,” Lee said.

“You’d rather play when it’s warm than cold, but it’s also nice to play on your home field on opening day. … It kind of goes both ways.”

The Cubs got off to a slow start last season and were nine games under .500 in early June. Piniella spent those first two months of his first season in Chicago figuring his team out and experimenting with different lineups before the Cubs began to click.

“Like I told our team in a meeting the National League as a whole is tougher and our division has gotten tougher and we’ve got to be ready to play right out of the gate,” Piniella said.

“We play a lot of games at home early in the season and a good start is very important for us.”

Brewers star Prince Fielder, who led the NL with 50 homers last season, didn’t participate in the workout Sunday at Wrigley because of the flu. But he will play Monday.

“He’s fine,” manager Ned Yost said. “He threw up a little yesterday and had the chills and stuff. But today he rode the team bus, looked great, felt great, was laughing.”

Both teams were trying to test the remade playing surface at Wrigley during their chilly practice Sunday. Some opposing players criticized the surface in the final weeks of last season, saying it was dangerous.

The warning track has been widened. Seventy-one seats were added near the left-field bullpen, reducing the amount of foul territory. The crown of the infield was reduced, and the new grass was noticeably shorter with the cold Chicago winter stunting its growth. That made the infield play fast.

“It’s a lot more level,” Lee said of the surface, which was soft in some infield dirt spots. “Not as drastic a change as I expected in my mind, but definitely different. … I think the summertime it will play even better.”

This time there was no fourth-quarter fade for the Chicago Bulls.

Their 24-point cushion sliced to nine by the New Jersey Jets early in the final period Tuesday night, the Bulls responded, even if they were a little worried it was about to happen again.

“Somewhat,” Chicago guard Larry Hughes said after a 112-96 victory.

“`But instead of letting that stretch go on for three or four minutes, we cut it down. Instead of letting it go on like in previous games, we were able to refocus and get things going back in the right direction.”

In their two previous losses, the Bulls blew an 18-point fourth-quarter lead against the 76ers and then let a nine-point lead get away in the final period Monday night in New Orleans.

With the lead slipping this time, Ben Gordon hit a jumper and Kirk Hinrich sank a 3-pointer from the corner to start an 15-2 run that gave Chicago a 94-72 lead.

Gordon scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and Hughes added 16 in Chicago’s balanced attack. Luol Deng scored 20 points, and Drew Gooden had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago.

“We didn’t want that to become a habit,” Deng said of losing late leads. “We were talking to each other that we got to put a stop to it and we can’t become known for that.”

New Jersey played the second half without starting point guard Devin Harris, who sprained his right ankle and limped off the court with 1:56 to go in the second quarter.

Harris’ ankle was swollen after the game, but X-rays were negative and he will be evaluated daily.

Vince Carter led the Nets with 22 points and Richard Jefferson finished with 21.

Both teams have losing records but are vying for the playoffs. The Nets were ninth and the Bulls 10th in the Eastern Conference.

“Very disappointing, our effort,” Carter said. “We made a valiant effort in the third quarter, but we just let it slip away and put us back where we started.

“We’re playing for more than just to end the season this year—we’re playing to continue our season. We can’t have these type of showings if you want to make the playoffs.”

Chicago closed the first half with a 16-0 run to lead 58-34.

Thabo Sefolosha hit a pair of 3-pointers and Deng had a spectacular dunk on a pass from Hinrich to spur the 16-0 run by the Bulls that opened up the big halftime lead.

Chicago outscored the Nets 29-8 in the second quarter—New Jersey’s lowest-scoring quarter of the season, thanks to 3-for-19 shooting in the period.

“That second quarter was a combination of poor shots, turnovers, poor possessions. Then their transition attack wiped us out,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

“We put ourselves in such a huge hole. … 29-8 second quarter and just the way it was happening, that was disappointing.”

But Carter and Jefferson got the Nets back in the game, scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively, in the third quarter, as New Jersey cut the margin to 11.

Then the Bulls regrouped after it got down to nine.

“We got stops,” Hughes said. “We rebounded the ball. When you have a big lead you have to get stops and that’s what we did. … We won’t want to feel like we play well for three quarters and anything can happen in the fourth. … We have to learn how to win.”

Hinrich hit a jumper at the first-quarter buzzer and then added a 3-pointer and another basket to start the second quarter, sparking an earlier 12-0 Chicago run for a 34-26 lead.

Notre Dame was the surprise team of the Big East, almost winning the regular season title after being picked ninth.

It wasn’t a matter of the coaches who made the preseason selection being wrong, it was just that no one could have imagined how much Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody would improve between his freshman and sophomore season and how big an impact guard Kyle McAlarney would have as the top 3-point shooter in the conference.

The Irish put things together offensively like no one imagined and wound up winning 14 games before being knocked off in the Big East Tournament by Marquette.

That was good enough to get them a No. 5 seed in the East Regional, where they will play Colonial Tournament champion George Mason, a team that played in the 2006 Final Four.

Notre Dame plays a very different brand of basketball than Mason sees in the CAA and that could be a problem for the underdog but GMU is a team that is capable of scoring points if it gets in a shootout while, at the same time, it can win a low scoring game off its defense

While Indiana prepares for its first-round game in the NCAA tournament, the school said Monday that a former trustee will lead a 10-member committee to search for a replacement for disgraced coach Kelvin Sampson.

The head job became vacant last month when Sampson resigned amid allegations of NCAA violations. Dan Dakich, an assistant under Sampson and a former Indiana player and assistant under Bob Knight, took over as interim coach for the rest of the season.

Harry Gonso, a former Indiana quarterback and attorney, will lead the search committee, which includes athletic director Rick Greenspan and former Hoosier player Wayne Radford.

No timetable for the selection was announced, and Gonso said committee members would not comment publicly on progress until a decision is made.

“Harry Gonso is the ideal person to lead a search of this importance,” school President Michael A. McRobbie said in a statement. “Harry has a deep appreciation for both our academic mission and our athletic traditions. He is well aware of the high expectations our fans and alumni have for our men’s basketball program.”

The Hoosiers lost their final two regular-season games and their only game in the Big Ten tournament last week. They will open the NCAA tournament on Friday against Arkansas.

Jerel McNeal missed the Big East tournament last year because of a wrist injury. He’s making up for it big time.

The junior guard scored a career-high 28 points and Marquette (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) beat No. 14 Notre Dame 89-79 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals. He led the team with 21 points in the opening-round win over Seton Hall.

“It was very hard for us to watch him not have an opportunity to play here last year because of his injury,” Marquette coach Tom Crean said. “I think he has made up for lost time the last two nights.”

The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles (24-8) will play seventh-seeded Pittsburgh in the semifinals on Friday night. The Panthers advanced with a 76-69 victory over second-seeded and 13th-ranked Louisville.

McNeal was the conference’s defensive player of the year last season but he missed the last game of the regular season, the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament because of the injury.

“It was one of the hardest times of my life, working all the way up to that point in the season and not getting to play in the most exciting part of the season, which is March Madness,” McNeal said. “I had a whole year to think about it and I was real anxious to get back to this point.”

Marquette was 0-2 in its only two previous quarterfinal appearances in the tournament and its first win in that round came at the expense of the conference player and coach of the year, Luke Harangody and Mike Brey of Notre Dame.

“McNeal’s been fabulous the last two nights,” Brey said. “We could not get them under control in the second half. That’s a lot of speed coming at you.”

Reserve guard Maurice Acker scored 10 of his 11 points in a 4:07 span of the second half when Marquette took its first double-digit lead with 3:37 to play.

McNeal and Acker played together at Hillcrest High School in Chicago — “We’ve been together since the fifth grade,” Acker said — and they combined to control the game for the Golden Eagles.

Kyle McAlarney had 20 points for the Fighting Irish (24-7), who reached the semifinals last year for the second time in school history.

Notre Dame appeared to be in good shape at halftime, leading 38-32 despite Harangody, the conference’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, being limited to just seven minutes because of foul trouble.

The Irish started the second half on a 6-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 44-34 with 18:42 to play.

McNeal, whose previous career high was 25 points last season, scored seven points as Marquette answered with a 13-2 run to take a 47-46 lead with 15:51 to go. Harangody, who finished with 13 points, scored eight straight points for Notre Dame but McNeal had eight of Marquette’s next 10 as the Golden Eagles took the lead for good at 57-54 on his 3-pointer with 11:52 to play.

Acker, a 5-foot-8 sophomore who averages 4.5 points per game, started his personal run with a jumper that made it 66-57 with 7:44 left. When he hit his second straight 3 with 3:37 left to give Marquette a 76-66 lead, Notre Dame called a timeout and the Golden Eagles rushed to midcourt and picked up the diminutive Acker in celebration.

“That just shows how we are as a team,” Acker said of the gathering at midcourt. “When someone’s doing good we’re going to acknowledge it. It just makes you feel good knowing you have teammates behind your back.”

Harangody said the first-half fouls “got him out of his rhythm.”

McAlarney credited Marquette’s defense.

“In the second half they went on a few runs we didn’t answer,” he said. “They really got after us and for a stretch they were tougher than us.”

Notre Dame has not lost consecutive games all seasons and Brey seemed relieved that the Irish’s next outing would be in the NCAA tournament.

“I am glad we won’t be playing Big East games next week,” he said. “I’ve had enough and I’m sure other coaches feel the same way.”

Four teams, perhaps five, realistically could contend in the Big Ten tournament.

As Purdue coach Matt Painter put it, any of the teams that would have to play three games in three days has a chance. He could see a team that plays on today’s opening day at Conseco Fieldhouse reaching Sunday’s final, but winning that fourth game in four days could prove to be too much of a challenge.

“I do view it as wide-open,” Painter said.

The Boilermakers, regular-season champion Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan State all could leave Indianapolis with the hardware — those four teams really separated themselves from the conference pack during the course of the season. Ohio State also could have a shot, but faces a tough road that likely would include having to beat three of the conference’s top four teams, including probably the balanced Badgers.

“I’m proud of our young men and the job they did during the regular season,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “We couldn’t be happier for them.

“I don’t know if it’s any one thing — we just survived. I just think we defensively gave ourselves a chance every night, every day, to be on that left-hand side, and that’s where it started. I think our personality developed from the defensive end. We’ve been able to get points in transition. People say we grind — we’re just trying to get good shots.”

The outcome in tournament play could be determined by such factors as guard play, controlling tempo, shot selection, taking care of the ball and leadership.

“Possessions become more valuable,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “One-and-done time, the my-bads and the I-made-a-mistake are out the door now, because you don’t get to make many of those or you’re going home.”

Said Illinois coach Bruce Weber: “I always believe experience is so important, having been through it, dealing with clutch time. More than anything, you have to have a go-to guy, somebody who can make plays in close games.”

But one of the recurring themes heading into the conference tournament was the play of this season’s crop of freshmen, one of the deepest and most talented in recent memory. Several coaches commented about the difficulty in voting for the All-Freshman Team; 10 or more players could have been worthy of inclusion, as opposed to last season when it might have been a stretch to fill out five, even including Ohio State’s Greg Oden and Mike Conley.

The consensus was these freshmen won’t be affected by the atmosphere, with the high-level AAU tournaments around the country in which they have competed and the television exposure through which they’ve seen the intensity of college postseason play.

“Normally, experience is what wins the tournament,” Weber said. “I think Purdue has kind of been an asterisk all season. Their group of freshmen has showed so much poise. They’ve actually played better on the road. I’ve seen them make big shots in big games. I would say maybe freshmen would struggle when they get to the tournament, but certain ones, especially this year, it seems those kids rise up.”