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BIG TEN MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Purdue
- Indiana
- UCLA
- Illinois
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- Rutgers
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Maryland
- Iowa
- Wisconsin (tied 12th)
- Nebraska (tied 12th)
- USC
- Washington
- Northwestern
- Penn State
- Minnesota
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM:
-Oumar Ballo – SR, C – Indiana
-Payton Sandfort – SR, F – Iowa
-Dawson Garcia – SR, F – Minnesota
-Brooks Barnhizer – SR, G – Northwestern
-Bruce Thornton – JR, G – Ohio State
-Jackson Shelstad – SO, G – Oregon
-Ace Baldwin, Jr. – SR, G – Penn State
-Braden Smith – JR, G – Purdue (Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year)
-Dylan Harper, FR, G – Rutgers
-Great Osobor – SR, F – Washington
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
So, for the first time ever a player from Oregon and a player from Washington have made the Preseason All-B1G team!! Congrats to both of those players!!
In short, I do not think these bloated conferences are as good for the sport as leagues that are about half this size, play a double-round-robin, and consist of regional institutions. But, I also know we are way past that point now, and are perhaps never going back to it.
-Purdue was last year’s national runner-up, and despite losing Zach Edey, who was the most dominant player in the entire country, the expectations are once again high for the Boilermakers. Three starters return, including a very strong perimeter player in Braden Smith who can shoot and distribute the ball. He and Fletcher Loyer will make up a strong and experienced backcourt. It is the frontcourt where some of the questions seem to be. I like this Purdue team, and think they will be a top-25-caliber team all year, but I do not expect them to be quite as good as they have been the last two years, and do not think they will end up as the first place team this year despite the preseason prediction. But…who knows? They have outperformed expectations before.
-Indiana is getting a lot more love than I was expecting. Yes, four starters are back, and yes, I think they will be better, but I do not see them finishing as high as 2nd in the conference and contending for a protected seed. Let us not forget that this team did not even make the NIT a year ago. Transfer guard Myles Rice was a big part of Washington State’s success last year, and he will be a huge asset for the Hoosiers this year. They are balanced, they are experienced, and they will be good. I just do not think they are quite protected-seed-level good yet.
-UCLA, like Indiana, has four starters back. UCLA, like Indiana, should be much better this year after not playing in a postseason tournament a year ago. They also have six transfers coming in to join those four returning starters, and they should once again be a tough defensive team and can make some noise in this conference.
-Illinois had a nice run to the Elite Eight a year ago, but they are in a bit of a rebuild with just one starter returning and some contributing bench players also gone. But, they have two really-impressive-looking freshmen coming in, as well as some key players from the transfer portal, so the Illini should once again have a strong team. We are in an age where teams that turn their rosters over do not really drop off like they used to.
-Michigan State is coming off another NCAA Tournament appearance, but like a lot of other teams their roster has turned over. Jaden Akins is the only returning starter, but he will be joined by Frankie Fidler (a standout player at Omaha last year who is a very good shooter) as well as Szymon Zapala (a standout player at Longwood last year who will likely be the starting center). The Spartans may struggle more than what we usually see this year.
-Oregon is coming off a year where they made the Round of 32 despite dealing with injuries throughout the season. They have to replace their top-two scorers, but the other three starters are back as well as some guys who were able to contribute off the bench a year ago. I like this Ducks team and think they will once again be back inside the bubble this year.
-Rutgers was rather mediocre last year, and the good players that they did have seem to be gone. Having said that, Rutgers is adding the top-ranked freshman class in the conference, and has two guys in Dylan Harper/Ace Bailey who should be able to contribute right away. They are also adding some other really-good-looking transfers. I do not know if it is fair to call Rutgers a “sleeper” since so many people seem to be expecting them to be better, but I am expecting them to be A LOT better! This should be a fun team to watch.
-Ohio State won 22 games a year ago, but only made it as far as the NIT. Two starters are back, and Jake Diebler begins his first full year as head coach. They did play better down the stretch, but with so many new players it is hard to say how well the Buckeyes will do this year.
-Michigan was awful last year. Dusty May takes over as head coach, and he has his work cut out for him, but fortunately he has some key transfers who will be joining him. Michigan may not be a top-25 team this year, but they will likely be one of the more improved teams in the country.
-Maryland had a blah 16-17 season a year ago and did not show many signs of being that much better at the end of it than they were at the beginning. Three starters are back, and they appear to have some solid transfers coming in, so we should see some improvement from the Terps this year.
-Iowa was a modest 19-15 last year and a respectable (but not great) 10-10 in Big Ten play. They did show signs of improvement down the stretch, three key starters are back, and they have some solid transfers coming in as well. It would not shock me at all to see this team improve and land inside the bubble.
-Wisconsin is always a team I am big on, and always a team that I think is undervalued and can outperform their preseason expectations. And, this year, well…I kind of feel that way again! They made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and while their roster is turning over they do have two starters back and are adding several players from the portal who appear to fit their system. Their track record for starting out unranked and then finishing in the rankings is actually rather staggering…and I think this year they will do it again!
-I am a little surprised that Nebraska is not receiving a little more love. They were in the NCAA Tournament a year ago and three starters are back. I do not know if they will be quite as good as they were a year ago, but I expect to see them finish a little higher in the standings than this.
-The Eric Musselman Era is underway at USC, and he will have to rebuild the roster of a team that struggled a year ago. No starters are back, but they did hit the transfer portal pretty hard and seem to have a fairly strong roster. It will be interesting to see if they can come together and win some games.
-Washington will also be rebuilding under new coach Danny Sprinkle. No starters return, and like a lot of schools they went into the transfer portal to try and land some key players. Great Osobor followed Sprinkle from Utah State, and appears to be the top player on the team. He will need to get some help from the rest of the roster if the Huskies are going to be competitive.
-Northwestern made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row last year, and with three starters back, and the most returning minutes of anyone in the Big 10, the Wildcats are picked to finish….uhhh, 16th?? This is one I do not agree with at all. I realize that Boo Buie is gone, but they have multiple solid players who are back, as well as some decent looking players who are transferring in, and to think they will not do better than this is a little ridiculous. I actually think they will be back in the NCAA Tournament again this year.
-I like Mike Rhoades as a coach, and I think he will do well at Penn State, and that they will continue to improve. I also think they will do better than 17th in the conference, but they still have some work to do before they are a regular NCAA Tournament-caliber team.
-We saw a huge improvement last season in Minnesota, but unfortunately a lot of the key players from that team left and they once again appear to be starting from scratch.