Srtellis4585's Big Ten Basketball Preview
| 11
|
by user Srtellis4585
College basketball is just a few days away. The Big Ten has two teams in the Preaseason ESPN/USA Today top ten...but none in the rest of the twenty-five. Top heavy? Sure. Down? Probably. Am I excited? You bet.
Since I am very lazy and didn't want to do my own research, I used cbs.sportsline.com as a guide. Please don't sue me...unless you found a way to get blood from a stone.
Here is the 2006-07 Big Ten Preview:
1. Wisconsin Badgers I went with experience. Wisconsin brings back most of the scoring from last year. Tucker may be the Big Ten player of the year. Having a senior leader like him should put Wisconsin on top of the conference.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes The Buckeyes have a great big man in Oden. The only problem is, he's coming off of wrist surgery. He should be back in time for conference play though. The rest of the backcourt looks solid. Could go deep into the Big Dance.
3. Illinois Fighting Illini The Illini bring back three starters from last year's team. However, the two that they lost were key players. The group still has the talent and Coach Weber is still a great coach.
4. Indiana Hoosiers The start of the season is tough for the Hoosiers, and adjusting to Coach Sampson's style will take time. When conference play rolls around, the team should be fine.
5. Michigan State Spartans The team loses three key players. Coach Izzo is still there though. It's hard to imagine his team not in the NCAA Tournament, let alone the top half of the conference.
6. Michigan Wolverines The Wolverines bring back three starters from a year ago. However, this talent has only gone to the NIT. This year, they make it to the next level.
7. Penn State Nittany Lions Four starters return from the group that won at Illinois last year. Size will be an issue as the four returning starters are all uner 6'6".
8. Iowa Hawkeyes Haluska and Coach Alford are back. However, the three key players from last year's team are not.
9. Purdue Boilmakers Landry returns after knee surgery. Postseason depends on how the knee holds up.
10. Northwestern Wildcats Two starters are back from last year's 14-15 team. Tenth may be too high.
11. Minnesota Golden Gophers All five starters are gone. Not much else to say.
