STF Conference Preview: Big Ten

BIG TEN



CONFERENCE: Big Ten

LAST SEASON RECAP - Wisconsin appeared to be the class of the Big Ten for about 90% of last season. Behind the play of Alando Tucker, the Badgers appeared to be the Big Ten team heading to the Final Four. But something funny happened towards the end of the season; teams realized that if you eliminated Tucker, that the Badgers couldn't score. Add that with the fact that Ohio State's talented freshmen matured at the absolute right time, and we saw the Buckeyes heading to the Final Four and not the Badgers.

TEAM TO BEAT - This season is going to be a two team race between Indiana and Michigan State. The Hoosiers are return the monster that is DJ White and bring in super frosh Eric Gordon. The Spartens are extremely deep and return 37th year senior Drew Neitzel and the underrated Raymar Morgan. As long as Kelvin Sampson can stay off of the cell phone, we'll give the slight nod to the Hoosiers.

SECOND TIER - There is drastic dropoff following the top two squads. Illinois may have the conference's best frontcourt with Brian Randle and Shaun Pruitt, but the talent level continues to drop in Champaign following 2005. Ohio State lost just about everyone from last year's National Runner-up, but will try to recapture the freshmen magic once again with Kosta Koufos and Jon Diebler. Wisconsin thought they had problems scoring with Tucker... ..Good luck putting up points without him.

SLEEPER - I could have gone with Purdue, but are they really a sleeper if they made the tournament last season? Minnesota was an option, but Tubby is probably a year away. So, I'm grudgingly going with Penn State.... I realize that I'm putting the entire legitimacy of this blog on the line already, but with Geary Claxton and Jamelle Cornley returning, the Lions should be a legitimate sleeper in a weak Big Ten. "Should" and "will" are two very different things at Happy Valley, home to the most underacheiving program in college basketball. I could go on, but I'll finish with my uneasy pick of the Nittany Lions as a sleeper.

OVERRATED - Wisconsin is entering a world of trouble this season. No, we're not talking about Bo Ryan's dancing, we are talking about who is going to score on this team? That responsibly seems to rest directly on the shoulders of Brian Butch, who seems like the last guy on Earth that I would want leading my team. Add in the loss of Michael Flowers, and it could be a long season in Madison.

WORST TEAM - Northwestern - Personal observation: Don't you think it would be easier for an academic school like Northwestern to be more competitive at basketball than football? How can Northwestern basketball be this bad (No tourney berths ever) while the football team won the Big Ten crown a decade ago. Seriously, recruit some three point shooter and play quirky zone defense....that should be good for at least one bid every 5-7 years.

STF Prediced Order of Finish

1. Indiana
2. Michigan State
3. Illinois
4. Ohio State
5. Wisconsin
6. Purdue
7. Penn State
8. Minnesota
9. Michigan
10. Iowa
11. Northwestern