Originally Posted by
JTBenefield
Or maybe an easier question would be, will any shimano bottom bracket work with any crank, regardless of grade or brand?
There is no simple answer. IF the BB is square taper, you can find non-shimano manufacturers that make cranksets that will work with it. If it's Octalink, then the only source for cranksets is Shimano.
There's another splined interface, ISIS, which is not proprietary, but Shimano makes no components compatible with it.