Once upon a time, winning three consecutive Big 10 titles qualified a team as a college basketball titan. Wisconsin -- just six games away from its third straight conference crown -- is not included in that company, primarily because the conference is no longer considered all that "Big." But the Badgers can only win the conference they're presented.

The Big 10 is "down" in 2004. You've heard everyone from Dick Vitale to Digger Phelps make the claim, and generally, it's hard to argue the point. Is the conference as strong as it was just four years ago when the Badgers made their Final Four run? To refresh your memory, that team finished 8-8 in conference play, good for sixth place. They lost in the national semifinals to Big 10 and eventual national champion Michigan State. I guess the Big 10 was "up" in 2000.

It would be foolish of me to argue the Big 10's overall strength relative to recent vintage. Michigan State is 8-3 in conference play and -- along with Illinois -- represents UW's primary competition for the Big 10 crown. But they went a piddling 4-6 in non-conference play. Yes, the Spartans played the likes of Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse. But shouldn't a typical Tom Izzo team win at least one of those games?

Illinois is 7-3 in conference play and should also provide UW with a run for its Big 10 money. Wednesday's contest at Champaign's Assembly Hall may be the game of the year in the conference. But the Illini stood at No. 40 in the RPI rankings last week -- just seven slots ahead of Michigan, who currently sits in eighth place.

Iowa, Northwestern, Indiana and Purdue are all 6-5 in league play, but all save the Boilermakers are likely headed for the NIT in March. If Purdue manages to make it this season -- and an early-season win over Duke makes them a good bet barring more than three losses down the stretch -- the conference may place four teams in your office bracket.

So it's easy enough to bash the Big 10, and, thus, the Badgers. Many national analysts stress UW's inability to win on the road, a valid chink in its first-place armor. But last year's squad went just 4-4 in conference road games and still managed to come within a possession or two of knocking off everyone's team to beat (Kentucky) in the Sweet 16.

In short, the overall level of quality teams and players in collegiate men's basketball is -- like Howard Dean's political fortunes -- trending downward. There are two undefeated teams in Division I play at the moment, Stanford and St. Joseph's. Can you name two players on each team? How about two overall? OK, how 'bout one? OK, probable St. Joe's All-American Jameer Nelson gets you off the hook.

Duke -- the NCAA's answer to the New York Yankees dynasty -- dropped from its No. 1 ranking after a loss to NC State on Sunday. Is this a typical Blue Devil team? Coach K's club is balanced and deep, but there is no Jason Williams, Shane Battier, Elton Brand or Grant Hill leading the way. J.J. Redick is the team's best player. He's an impressive 3-point marksman to be sure, but one who would have been the third option on most Duke teams of the last 10-15 years.

How about college basketball's other traditional powers? North Carolina is 5-6 in ACC play, Kentucky is 17-4 but hardly overpowering (witness two losses to a 12-10 Georgia team), UCLA is 10-11 overall, Florida is 5-5 in SEC competition and Kansas lost at Allen Fieldhouse to Richmond last month, a team which currently sits in fourth place in the Atlantic 10.

How about closer to home? Conference USA bully Cincinnati was undefeated until Jan. 21 ... before promptly losing by 27 at Louisville. The Cardinals looked impressive, too, until Marquette won by seven in Freedom Hall two weeks ago. Since then, the Golden Eagles have gotten spanked by Memphis at home, lost to DePaul on the road and (how about this?) somehow stumbled against TCU at the Bradley Center. Wow -- TCU has a basketball team; who knew?

Granted, just because "traditional" powers aren't dominating doesn't automatically mean the entire sport is weakened. But where are the great teams? Gonzaga, the little team that could, is ranked No. 7. And, yes, the 'Zags can play -- but the former Cinderella team could enter the tournament as a No. 2 seed! Looking around the rest of the Top 10, everyone looks quite fallible on a neutral floor in March. Maybe St. Joseph's -- whose signature win came in the season opener against those same Bulldogs -- really is the best team in the land.

Last year's Final Four featured Dwyane Wade, Kirk Hinrich, T.J. Ford, Carmelo Anthony and Nick Collison. Are there even five players that good in the entire sport this year? How about Jameer Nelson, Emeka Okafor, Ryan Gomes, Julius Page and Kris Humphries -- are they good players? Yes. Star quality? Not really.

Is the Big 10 down? Yes, it certainly is. But an ebbing tide strands all boats.