Who ya got this year? Who will surprise? Who will disappoint? The league is as deep as I can ever remember, with six legitimate top-25 teams.

My predicted order of finish (predicted postseason destination):

1. Indiana (NCAA)
2. Ohio State (NCAA)
3. Michigan (NCAA)
4. Michigan State (NCAA)
5. Minnesota (NCAA)
6. Wisconsin (NCAA)
7. Purdue (NCAA)
8. Iowa (Bubble)
9. Illinois (NIT)
10. Northwestern (NIT)
11. Nebraska
12. Penn State

All-Big Ten team:
C: Zeller (IU)
F: Thomas (OSU)
F: Mbakwe (Minn)
G: Burke (Mich)
G: Craft (OSU)

I'm really curious to see how Thomas does without Sullinger. Will he benefit from getting the ball more or will it hurt that opposing defenses focus more on him.

I actually like Michigan State to win it. Ohio State and Indiana both right behind them. I think Indiana deserves to be #1, but I think they are a bit overrated considering the team is largely the same group that was terrible in 2011. Zeller is obviously a huge difference, but we'll see how Ferrell does from day one. If Maurice Creek can come back and at all be useful, that could be a big difference for them though.

I said it last year and still believe it. MSU is better off without Draymond Green. Nix and Payne are a great 1-2 combo on the inside. Still not sold on Appling being a great PG, but he's got the capability of running the team. Dawson returns from the knee injury and I really like both Brandon Kearney and Travis Trice. Gary Harris is a impact Freshman, so I don't see with those options how MSU will struggle on the perimeter. If anything, they may have issues on the wings defensively which is going to put a TON of pressure on Payne's interior defense and needing to stay out of foul trouble.

Illinois is my pick for a surprise team. We'll see how they are going forward, but I see them being at least as good as last year and fighting to be near .500 or better in the league.

Azubuike24;1296439 wrote:I actually like Michigan State to win it. Ohio State and Indiana both right behind them. I think Indiana deserves to be #1, but I think they are a bit overrated considering the team is largely the same group that was terrible in 2011. Zeller is obviously a huge difference, but we'll see how Ferrell does from day one. If Maurice Creek can come back and at all be useful, that could be a big difference for them though.

I said it last year and still believe it. MSU is better off without Draymond Green. Nix and Payne are a great 1-2 combo on the inside. Still not sold on Appling being a great PG, but he's got the capability of running the team. Dawson returns from the knee injury and I really like both Brandon Kearney and Travis Trice. Gary Harris is a impact Freshman, so I don't see with those options how MSU will struggle on the perimeter. If anything, they may have issues on the wings defensively which is going to put a TON of pressure on Payne's interior defense and needing to stay out of foul trouble.

Illinois is my pick for a surprise team. We'll see how they are going forward, but I see them being at least as good as last year and fighting to be near .500 or better in the league.

I don't think anyone could fault you for choosing MSU - with their coaching they'll always be in it. Really, any of the top 4 teams could win the league and I would not be surprised. Any of the top 6 could finish top 2 and I wouldn't be surprised.

Interested to see how Illinois does with the new staff, I think Iowa is the surprise team this year though. They lose Gatens but return a lot of their scoring and McCaffery can coach. They don't need to improve a lot from an 8-10 league record in 2011/2012 to be a bubble - or better - team come Selection Sunday.

1. Indiana (NCAA)
2. Michigan State (NCAA)
3. Ohio State (NCAA)
4. Wisconsin (NCAA)
4. Michigan (NCAA)
6. Iowa (NCAA)
7. Minnesota (NCAA)
8. Penn State (NIT)
8. Illinois (NIT/Bubble)
8. Purdue (NIT)
11. Northwestern
12. Nebraska

All B1G teams:
First
Zeller (IU) (POY)
Craft (OSU)
Burke (UofM)
Thomas (OSU)
Frazier (Penn St.)

Second
Mbakwe (Minny)
Evans (Wisconsin)
Watford (IU)
Dekker (Wisconsin) (NOY)
Dawson (MSU)

Third
Nix (MSU)
Oladipo (IU)
Paul (Illinois)
Hardaway (UofM)
Appling (MSU)

HM
Ross (OSU)
Ferrell (IU)
Sheehey (IU)
Payne (MSU)
Woodbury (Iowa)

All Freshman
Dekker (Wisconsin)
Ferrell (IU)
Harris (MSU)
Woodbury (Iowa)
Gesell (Iowa)/McGary (UofM)

I look for Iowa to be the biggest surprise of the year and make the NCAAs. Illinois and Purdue to be the biggest disappointments, though does anyone have them ranked high to start?? Not sure really. I think UofM also disappoints and doesnt live up to the top 5/10 reanking they have and finish around 4th (If that qualifies as underachieving).

This is a VERY strong freshman class, which is good since the conference will lose so many players/underclassmen to the Graduation/NBA. I think its the deepest and the best at the top conference in America this year. I look for Indiana to live up to their preseason ranking because I think Zeller makes a huge jump in production this year and the wings are probably the deepest in the conference. IU has a PG for the first time in about 10 years (and thats if you count Coverdale), meaning Jordan Hulls will move to a more offensive position and look for his shot...and I think he might be the best shooter in America.

Ohio State is a wildcard to me. They could be dynamic or struggle with an identity. Ross is unproven, and we dont know what to expect. Thomas and Craft without Buford and Sullinger...who knows?

Wisconsin I love. But the B1G is so deep, I cant put them above 4th. Ryan Evans should be the nest Bo Ryan breakout player, but he will be challenged on his own team by Freshman of the Year Sam Dekker for the teams best and go to player. Brusieogjtzzz will be back and Ryan just knows how to get his team to get better all the time. Dekker is his best player ever recruited so I think they will be very good.

Michigan I just dont know. I think Burke may have maxed out his ability in terms of improving in large ways the way a wing/big man can. Guards seem to show a lot early, but then its tough to get much better. Hardaway is inconsistent and that means a large part of their season hinges on McGary and Glenn Robinson as freshman. They are super talented, so they will be fine. But not top 3 in the B1G fine.

Michigan State will be loaded...but with smaller names. Nix and Payne are a special frontcourt and Dawson is electric. Gary Harris should be an immediate impact and Appling is good enough if not great for what Izzo needs out of him. Depth might be an issue.

I said Illinois only because pretty much everything I've seen, mostly from their owns fans, is the belief that they will suck. It's all relative I guess. They underachieved and seemed to basically quit last year. They still were on the wrong side of the bubble, and should have been, but I still think they are capable of being a notch above that.

I can't wait to see the development of Shannon Scott, Ross, and craft(offensively)

The bigten as a whole should be a fun league to watch. Looking forward to it!

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

I think this is the year Trevon Hughes finally gets NPOTY.

Old news, but Wisconsin's starting PG Gasser has been lost for the year with an ACL injury. Big loss for Bo Ryan, he logged 34 minutes a game last year.

Excited for this upcoming season. Will be getting tickets for the OSU at MSU game and OSU vs Indiana. Would also love to go to the B1G tourney but depends on what HS games I'm gonna cover

Michigan's Jon Horford was injured last week, but expected to be back for the opener now. At first they thought he may be done for the season. That would hurt depth more than anything.

Michigan has the talent to do good things this year. It's finally a good time to be a Michigan basketball fan again.

New entrance to the Crisler Center.

That's a sick entrance. It'd be even cooler if they had actual wolverines running around loose in the halls. Kind of an extra element of home-court intimidation.

FatHobbit;1296435 wrote:I'm really curious to see how Thomas does without Sullinger. Will he benefit from getting the ball more or will it hurt that opposing defenses focus more on him.

I think the wildcard for OSU is Lenzelle Smith. We've seen glimpses of what he is capable of offensively, but will he be able to do it consistently? He can take the pressure off Thomas and Craft if he can step up and take some of the scoring load.

reclegend22;1307974 wrote:That's a sick entrance. It'd be even cooler if they had actual wolverines running around loose in the halls. Kind of an extra element of home-court intimidation.

More pics. Pretty damn nice.

http://www.mgoblue.com/view.gal?id=128059

WebFire;1308634 wrote:More pics. Pretty damn nice.

http://www.mgoblue.com/view.gal?id=128059

That's a night and day difference in the pavilion area from the last time I was at Crisler (which was the '08 Duke game). Great uprades. When was the practice facility built?

reclegend22;1308707 wrote:That's a night and day difference in the pavilion area from the last time I was at Crisler (which was the '08 Duke game). Great uprades. When was the practice facility built?

I think before last season, but I'm not sure. I know (or think, rather) that they used it last season.

WebFire;1308634 wrote:More pics. Pretty damn nice.

http://www.mgoblue.com/view.gal?id=128059

Dang they working on that when I went up for the Big Chill. Can't believe it took so long but it's nice

Indiana is going to be very short-handed in the frontcourt for awhile.

Derek Elston is out with Meniscus tear (few weeks ago)

Hanner Perea, the 5* Freshman Forward, is expected to be suspended for 5-10 games for travels back to Columbia to see his family as the receipts for all the trips cannot be accounted for. A key receipt related to international travel for Perea dating to 2008 reached the NCAA late last week (which is good since it clears others of paying for him). However, there are still a number of undocumented expenses. Typically the amount of uncounted for expenses for an international player like this is a bit more and Pereas amount wouldnt be more than maybe 2-3 games, but because of the issues at Baylor with Perea before the IU Commitment, it is being speculated that Perea might get closer to the 10 games than the lower end 5. I guess we will find out later.

Peter Jurkin, a 7-1 Freshman, is expected to be cleared today by the NCAA for flying back to Sudan when his mother passed away as he nor his family had the funds for such a flight. Sounds as though the NCAA finally used some common sense on that one, but Peter will likely have to pay back the amounts he received for flights and COULD still be suspended, but unlikely.


The big news in all of this is that IU will head to a possible date with UCLA and then UNC without Elston and without Perea. Meaning it will be a very raw Jurkin to back up Zeller and Watford in the post. Who ever thought Id long for Tom Prichard to still be on the team??? lol

Just watchied Iowa on BTN yesterday. I had them as a sleeper in the B1G and they look every bit of it.

Tip off tomorrow! This weekend's B1G games:

Friday, Nov 9
Michigan State vs UConn (in Germany) - ESPN
Ohio State vs Marquette - NBCSN
St. Francis vs Penn State
Bucknell vs Purdue
Colgate vs Illinois
Bryant vs Indiana - BTN
American vs Minnesota
Slippery Rock vs Michigan
Texas-Pan American vs Iowa

Sunday, Nov 11
Albany vs Ohio State
Hofstra vs Purdue
SE Louisiana vs Wisconsin
Southern vs Nebraska

Whole lot of blowouts so far (not unexpected). Sparty has to be yearning for a W tonight against Kansas. Somewhat surprising to see Iowa struggle for a lot of the game against Central Michigan last night.

Big win for Sparty. 67-64

[INDENT]1. Indiana
2. Ohio State
3. MSU
4. tsun
5. Iowa
6. Minnesota
7. Wisky
8. Illinois
9. Purdue
10. Northwestern
11. Nebraska
12. PSU[/INDENT]