Indiana sits atop the national polls and the Big Ten standings – it's currently tied with No. 4/5 Michigan State – and yet the Hoosiers have picked up just three Big Ten Player of the Week honors and one Big Ten Freshman of the Week laurel all season. That doesn't seem to sit right with the head Hoosier, Tom Crean. And the coach vented his frustration during Monday's weekly teleconference.

[ BigTen.org: View the full list of 2012-13 Big Ten weekly honors ]

On the call, before Crean addressed questions from the media, he shared a testy exchange with call moderator and assistant director of communications Dan Mihalik. Read the full exchange below:

Crean: ?Dan, I have a question for you. Can you give me the criteria, so I can understand this once and for all, what the criteria is for the player of the week, what you?re judging that on??

Mihalik: ?I can give that to you off line.?

Crean: ?Just give me this: Where does winning fit into it??

Mihalik: ?It?s part of the criteria.?

Crean: ?Just part of the criteria? OK, that helps me. Thanks.?

With that out of the way, Crean fielded questions. But he wasn't done with Mihalik. Here's what he said to end the call: ?Dan, when you send that to me, please put where winning is ranked when you guys do that, with your criteria, and I?ll look forward to reading that. OK, thanks. Bye.?

Crean also went to Twitter to clear the air after the teleconference:

From the BT teleconfrence, let me be clear. I was not questioning a player. I was questioning the criteria for choosing an award. — Tom Crean (@TomCrean) February 18, 2013

For what's it worth, Michigan's Trey Burke (59%, 23.5 ppg, 4.5 apg in 1-1 week) and Michigan State's Gary Harris (58%, 15.5 ppg, 2 spg in 2-0 week) won this week's Big Ten Player of the Week and Big Ten Freshman of the Week, respectively.

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Crean must be taking issue with this week's selection because Burke's team went 1-1, with the loss being of the blowout variety.

He's right to wonder how much winning is taken into account, because in a league loaded with as many solid players as the Big Ten, there are several worthy candidates who go 2-0 every week, much less ones whose team didn't suffer a 23-point loss. That said, this is the Player of the Week, an individual honor, not the Most Valuable Player, more of a team-oriented individual honor.

Regardless, Crean has a right to know the specifics – although he could have broached the topic in a better way. Like with a personal call to the conference office.

Who was it that Crean wanted honored, anyway? Probably either Will Sheehey (65%, 15.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1 spg) or Cody Zeller (52%, 17.5 ppg, 7 rpg, 1 spg, 1.5 bpg). The former also set an Indiana record with his 9-of-9 effort from the field in Saturday's rout of Purdue.

h/t: Mark Snyder