Big Time

For some of us, Big Ten basketball will always mean the original ten great teams that comprised the league. But for all fans, the teams during this time period bring back memories of some of the best teams and players that have ever played basketball.

In the sweeping history of two decades of Big Ten basketball, Murry Nelson chronicles the conference when it was the most successful of any basketball conference in the nation. Coaches such as Lute Olson, Lou Henson, Johnny Orr, Gene Keady, and Bob Knight led the nation in national titles, influencing the league with their playing styles, changes to rules, recruitment and, of course, intensity. Follow Joe Barry Carroll as he leads the Purdue Boilermakers to the Final Four in 1980, Steve Alford as he takes the Hoosiers to a national championship win, Kent Benson's undefeated conference record, and Magic Johnson as he leads the Michigan State Spartans to multiple titles and championships.

With chapters devoted to each season from 1972 to 1992, you can relive the action as if you were attending the games.

Murry R. Nelson is an author and has written several books about the history of American sports, basketball, and America's school curricula. He is Emeritus Professor of Education and American Studies at Penn State University. Nelson graduated from Grinnell College with a BA, Northwestern University with a master's in teaching, and Stanford University with a master's in anthropology and a PhD. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania.