Big Ten Basketball: Preview and Predictions for 2014-15 Season

Scott PolacekNov 10, 2014

The Big Ten may take some heat from the national media during the football season, but once basketball starts it is one of the strongest leagues in the country.

That will once again be the case in the 2014-15 season, as Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa all contend for NCAA tournament spots. The Badgers, Buckeyes and Spartans have grander plans than just making the March Madness field.

The Wolverines won the regular-season crown last season, the Spartans captured the conference tournament title and the Badgers trumped them all by making it to the Final Four. Wisconsin was a heartbreaking three-pointer by Kentucky away from reaching the national championship game.

Will we see a repeat performance in 2014-15?

Read on to find out in the complete Big Ten preview.

Top Storylines

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Wisconsin’s Back in Power

You would be hard pressed to find another team in the country that has the experience and talent combination that Wisconsin does this season.

The Badgers bring back Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, Nigel Hayes, Josh Gasser and Traevon Jackson from the Final Four squad, which gives Bo Ryan a weapon at every position. Kaminsky in particular is a matchup nightmare who will hit threes and post up all season long.

There are multiple future NBA players on this roster, and it is clearly the best team in the conference.

Michigan State Taking a Step Back?

Michigan State has been one of the constants in all of college basketball over the past decade, but Tom Izzo has his work cut out for him this season.

He must find a way to replace Gary Harris, Adreian Payne and Keith Appling, which was as good of a trio as any in the country last year. The Spartans will be reliant on Branden Dawson, Travis Trice and Denzel Valentine, but the latter two may be better off as formidable role players than stars.

Nebraska’s Continued Rise

Nebraska was one of the feel-good stories in all of college basketball when it made the NCAA tournament last season, and that is undoubtedly the goal again in 2014-15.

Terran Petteway will contend for Big Ten Player of the Year, and Shavon Shields is a solid running mate. The key for the Cornhuskers this season will be how far these two potential stars can take them in a grueling Big Ten.

The Favorite

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Wisconsin Badgers

Kaminsky and Dekker are the headliners on one of the best teams in the entire country, but Matt Norlander of CBS Sports noted that you should not overlook Hayes:

"
Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker rightfully are going to get a lot of the love, but I'm telling you, watch out for Nigel Hayes. He'll wind up being more than just a role player. Expect Hayes to contribute in myriad ways and to be a big reason why Wisconsin is playing for a No. 1 seed come March.
"

That frontcourt trio will dominate the boards and outmuscle nearly everyone in the Big Ten.

The Badgers will be suffocating on defense once again, but the offense will be lethally efficient. They have options behind the three-point line, from mid-range and in the low block and will play at the pace they are comfortable with, regardless of the opponent.

Every one of the starters is a threat to score at any moment, which will make it nearly impossible to contain this team all season.

The Challengers

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Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the forgotten team in the Big Ten heading into the 2014-15 season because they lost to Dayton in the Round of 64 last year and saw point guard Aaron Craft graduate.

However, the Buckeyes brought a loaded recruiting class to Columbus, led by dynamic scorer D’Angelo Russell, and will be much more athletic and willing to run in 2014-15. There is an interesting mix of seniors (Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, Amir Williams and Temple transfer Anthony Lee) and talented youngsters who will make Ohio State the best team in the conference outside of Wisconsin.

Michigan State

Michigan State may take a step back on the national stage for the aforementioned reasons in the top storylines slide, but Izzo has led his team to a top-three conference finish in five of the last six seasons.

If anyone can mold the talent he has into a contending squad, it is Izzo. Look for Dawson to make a leap into superstardom this season, which will be enough to lead the Spartans to a third-place finish in the Big Ten.

Iowa

Iowa may be under the radar, but Aaron White is a superstar in the making, and a solid supporting cast is back.

The loss of Roy Devyn Marble will certainly hurt the offensive attack, but there is enough in place for the Hawkeyes from among White, Mike Gesell and Jarrod Uthoff and others to scare some of the upper-echelon teams in the Big Ten.

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The Bottom-Dwellers

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Rutgers

Rutgers finished 12-21 in the American Athletic Conference last season. The first year in the much more daunting Big Ten is going to be rough.

The Scarlet Knights do have some talent in Myles Mack and Kadeem Jack, but this is still largely the same team that ended its season with a 92-31 loss to Louisville in the AAC Tournament. There certainly will be some growing pains in their initial year in the Big Ten.

Penn State

D.J. Newbill has star potential and Brandon Taylor is a solid complementary piece for Penn State, but there just isn’t enough depth across the board for the Nittany Lions to compete in the Big Ten.

They are going to miss Tim Frazier.

Northwestern

One of these years, Northwestern is going to get into the NCAA tournament. It just isn’t going to be in the 2014-15 campaign.

Drew Crawford, who was Mr. Everything at times for the Wildcats last season, is no longer around, and an offense that averaged 59.5 points per game in 2013-14 will have to find new ways to score in the defense-first league that is the Big Ten.

Best Rivalry

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Michigan/Michigan State

The rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan on the football field is not only the best in college football, it may be the best in all of sports.

However, come winter, it takes a backseat to the Wolverines’ hoops rivalry with Michigan State. Indiana and Purdue have stakes to the best historical rivalry on the hardwood, but neither the Boilermakers nor the Hoosiers have been consistent enough in the past few years to give that matchup the juice it had in the past.

Between calling each other “little brother” and “little sister” to the conference-championship stakes that have been on the line the past couple of years, Michigan and Michigan State is must-watch television. They even met in last year's conference tournament title game.

Both teams lost some star power from a year ago, but they figure to be among the conference’s top five teams.

This year’s matchup may take on extra importance for the Wolverines, considering how far ahead the Spartans are on the football field in this rivalry right now.

Coaches Under the Most Pressure

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Bo Ryan

Ryan is under a different kind of pressure this season than those who are on the hot seat—there are elevated expectations in place in Wisconsin.

The Badgers are always a dangerous team. They rarely ever lose at home and nobody wants to play them in March, but they took a giant step forward in 2013-14 when they reached the Final Four. Now that the entire starting lineup will consist of returning players, the pressure is turned up for Ryan to bring home some hardware.

Matt Painter

Matt Painter built Purdue into a consistent winner that regularly challenged for Big Ten titles not that long ago, but the Boilermakers are trending in the wrong direction.

Purdue has A.J. Hammons manning the middle, but it may not sniff the NCAA tournament this season. That is a problem for the Boilermakers, especially since last year was rather disappointing as well.

Tom Crean

There is always pressure to win at Indiana, especially with those banners hanging above at every home game.

The momentum Tom Crean had early in his Hoosiers tenure is long gone, and this team could struggle without Noah Vonleh in 2014-15. In fact, it would be a surprise if Indiana finished in the top half of the Big Ten standings, which is far below the expectations found every single season in Bloomington.

Best Frontcourt

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Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin is the best team in the Big Ten, largely because it boasts a potentially dominant frontcourt.

Kaminsky is arguably the best player in the country, or at least the best one who isn’t wearing a Duke, Kentucky or North Carolina jersey, and he will be a walking mismatch all season. The larger centers in the league won’t be able to stop his outside shooting or ball-handling, and the smaller ones won’t be able to contain his post game.

Dekker is a future first-round pick in the NBA and has three-point range to go along with his driving abilities and defensive prowess. Throw in Hayes as perhaps the most underrated player in the entire Big Ten, and there is no doubt that Wisconsin has the best frontcourt in the conference.

Best Backcourt

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Minnesota Golden Gophers

You can make the argument for a handful of Big Ten teams in this category, including Wisconsin and Ohio State, but the Minnesota Golden Gophers pull the backcourt upset here. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports may agree with that notion.

Both Andre Hollins and DeAndre Mathieu earned honorable mentions on last season’s All-Big Ten teams and return to anchor a Golden Gophers squad that has NCAA tournament aspirations.

Mathieu is the distributor at point guard who will look to set Hollins up to score all season, but Mathieu is more than capable of scoring on his own. He can drill it from downtown and is quick enough to get to the rim with an explosive first step and will make defenses pay for directing too much attention toward Hollins.

Hollins can score from anywhere on the floor and will compete for All-Big Ten status as a senior leader.

If Minnesota is going to make the NCAA tournament, it will be because of these guards.

Freshmen to Watch

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D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State

Ohio State’s biggest issue the past couple of seasons was scoring, and now it has a potentially elite shooting guard who has unlimited range and get to the rim with an explosive first step.

Freshman or not, the Buckeyes’ offense will likely run through D’Angelo Russell from the opening game. He already led the team in scoring in its exhibition contest against Walsh and drilled four three-pointers in the process.

Russell is versatile enough to play either guard position and is much more than just a scorer. Look for him to lead the Buckeyes in points per game and finish right near the top in the assists category.

James Blackmon Jr., Indiana

The James Blackmon Jr. and Yogi Ferrell combination in the Indiana backcourt will be lethal for the Hoosiers this year if Blackmon lives up to his potential.

Ferrell needs help in the scoring department, and Blackmon can light up the scoreboard with a silky smooth three-point stroke and the strength to get to the rim. Blackmon is also a capable enough ball-handler to spell Ferrell at the point guard spot if needed.

Look for Blackmon to rank near the top of the Big Ten in freshman scoring.

Kameron Chatman, Michigan

If Michigan is looking for a replacement for Glenn Robinson III, it should look no further than freshman Kameron Chatman.

Much like Robinson, Chatman is a stretch forward who can hit from the outside or attack the lane off the dribble. His length and athleticism at 6’7” will help him on defense, and he will contribute on the boards from the wing.

Chatman is versatile enough to play anything from shooting guard to power forward and will play significant minutes in his first year at Michigan. It may be asking too much for him to replace Robinson’s production right away, but he is a very similar player.