NCAA Big Ten Conference Preview

After getting 7 NCAA Tournament bids, netting the national runner up in Michigan State, and with Penn State winning the NIT, one would think that we have seen the best of the conference for a few years. Not true………. The Big 10 could possibly get even better this year with most coaches returning virtually their entire rosters from last season. The team with possibly the biggest holes to fill is the Spartans since they lost center Goran Sutan and conference Defensive Player of the Year Travis Walton. Surely other teams like Purdue and Ohio State, as conference contenders, hope those key losses will keep them a little closer to Coach Izzo’s squad than the 4 games which State won last year. Tubby Smith helped to put the Golden Gophers back on the national scene and will only get better. Michigan could again be a sleeper since they return 7 players from last season’s NCAA Tourney squad. Bruce Weber has one of the top recruiting classes in the nation to help the Illini contend for another tournament berth. Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Penn State all have major holes to fill, while it will be interesting to see how quick Tom Crean can rebuild the once proud Indiana Hoosiers once he has his own recruits. Unfortunately, Coach Lickliter at Iowa may be on the way out since they were 11-25 in the conference the last two seasons and things don’t look good for this year.

Predicted Order of Finish

1) Michigan State

2) Purdue

3) Ohio State

4)Minnesota

5) Michigan

6) Illinois

7) Wisconsin

Northwestern

9) Penn State

10) Indiana

11) Iowa

Teams On the Rise

Michigan, Illinois, Indiana

Teams On the Decline

Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa

Player of the Year Candidates

Evan Turner – Ohio St, Kalin Lucas – Michigan St, Robbie Hummel – Purdue

Other Big 10 Players To Watch For

Manny Harris, Jr. Michigan

Talor Battle, Jr. Penn St

Mike Davis, Jr. Illinois

Jajuan Johnson, Jr. Purdue

Kevin Coble, Jr. Northwestern

Freshmen of the Year Candidates

DJ Richardson – Illinois, Christian Watford – Indiana, Royce White – Minnesota