On a freezing winter-break night in Evanston, I happened to run into Northwestern starting point guard T.J. Parker.

I identified Parker by his trademark goatee and the Northwestern basketball sweat suit he was wearing.

We started talking about Big Ten hoops, and my affiliation was immediately acknowledged by my patented, fitted Illini hat.

I boldly predicted to T.J. that my school was going to lose no more than one game in conference this season.

I would classify Parker as at a level below a minor celebrity, somewhere along the lines of former Chicago Bulls PA announcer Ray Clay and the Snapple woman. Therefore, I was very comfortable making these bold predictions.

He quickly admitted that the Illini were going to be very tough to beat but that the conference as a whole was extremely weak this year.

I replied by saying that yes, the conference was weak and that his Wildcats might even be able to go 8-8 in Big Ten play.

He just smirked a little bit and said that the Wildcats were capable of finishing with 11 Big Ten wins and a postseason birth.

I must tell you that since my little encounter, my respect for the entire Parker family has grown immensely. I’ve recently learned that T.J.’s brother Tony, the starting point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, is dating Desperate Housewives co-star Eva Longoria.

T.J.’s Wildcats are only 1-3 in the conference so far and 8-8 overall.

The Big Ten is proving once again they are no longer a conference that can earn six or seven bids to the NCAA tournament.

Sure, Michigan is 3-0 in league play right now and 12-5 overall, but two of their wins have come against Northwestern and Penn State (0-4 Big Ten, 6-11 overall). The Wolverines will have to play better than their 66-62 victory over the Nittany Lions Saturday to finish near the top of the standings.

It has occurred to me that the main reason why the Big Ten has been so down the last few years is because two storied programs, Indiana and Purdue, are no longer at or near the top of the conference standings.

I bet Purdue coach Gene Keady wishes now he had retired at the end of last year instead of having one more go around. I still say the Purdue administration is forcing his exit after his refusal to fix whatever that is growing on top of his head.

Indiana has won two of their first three conference games, but one of the wins was in double overtime to Purdue. Meanwhile, the one loss was an embarrassing 21-point trouncing in Evanston at the hands of Northwestern.

This Indiana team is too young and too inconsistent to be dancing in March this year.

The early season surprise has been Minnesota. The Gophers at 2-1 don’t have any quality wins but were expected to be at the bottom of the conference with Penn State.

Meanwhile, the early season disappointment has got to be the Iowa Hawkeyes, who impressed the country with their non-conference record and top 25 ranking.

However, two losses so far to Michigan and Ohio State have me wondering whether or not this will be another classic Iowa meltdown with Steve Alford at the helm. It won’t be stellar guard Pierre Pierce’s fault, though.

This Big Ten will get at most four teams into the tourney and will once again pale in comparison to other conferences around the country. There is only one serious title contender to boast.

The weight of the whole conference lies on the shoulders of the Illini.

It remains to be seen whether or not that will be too much to handle come March.

Jacob Bressler is a senior in communications. He wants to remind people that it is too late to jump on the Chicago Bulls’ bandwagon.