B1G Shootyhoops Preseason Thoughts

What the hell is this? Basketball?!? Why yes, yes it is. Big Ten basketball media days were this week, not that anyone really noticed. As part of that there’s an Official Unofficial Big Ten Media Poll.

Projected finish (first-place votes in parenthesis):

1. Michigan State Spartans 391 (27)

2. Maryland Terrapins 349 (1)

3. Ohio State Buckeyes 336

4. Purdue Boilermakers 311

5. Michigan Wolverines 255

6. wisconsin 241

7. Illinois Fighting Illini 239

8. Iowa Hawkeyes 174

9. Penn State Nittany Lions 164

10. Indiana Hoosiers 155

11. Minnesota Golden Gophers 127

12. rutger 95

13. UNL 69

14. jNW 34

Oh, and we have thoughts.

stewmonkey13: First impression is that some dummy (oh, THAT David Jones?) gave Maryland a first place vote.

Purdue too high, Iowa and Illinois too high

What the hell, Indiana?

Hoiberg is a slimeball, but he’s a good coach, I’d bet he finishes higher than 13th.

And woah, buddy. jNW, what is you doin’?

Creighton: Nebrasketball will finish higher than Iowa is my bold prediction

Too many pieces missing from Iowa

Hoiberg won’t really take off until he gets some recruits in, but they’ll be much better than 13th

stewmonkey13: It’s telling that the 2 Iowa writers had them much lower, 10th and 12th, than the rest of the media.

Creighton: Yeah I’d gladly settle for 8th

8th would be easy if we only lost players to graduation last year and not injury, transfer, and the NBA draft

stewmonkey13: Agreed, lose 4 of the top 6 players. 8th would mean improvement from the remaining 2 (Joe Wieskamp and Luka Garza), and the new comers are more than competent.

candystripes: I’m not sure Indiana’s top 6 in conference, but if they play to their potential, 10th is certainly too low. 8th wouldn’t be too bad if they still make the NCAAs. If they don’t, I think Archie’s seat might get a bit hot.

DJ: Iowa too high. Maryland finishes anywhere 2nd to 4th, but pre season there seems to be a huge gap after fourth

andrewkosciuszko: MSU 40-0 natty bitches

Nah they’ll lose like 3 games in the first month because holy fuck look at that schedule

Bman31: It’s Sparty’s world, everyone else is just living in it (assuming they stay healthy). Maryland is Top 4 of Turge can get out of the way. Purdue lost Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline but maintains a solid core, I’d put them in the 5-7 range. Michigan? Nah. In the bottom half, I’d move Iowa up maybe 1 spot, as well as Indiana up 2-3. Nebraska won’t finish that low, Hoiberg is too slimy not to.

DJ: Turgeon is literally in this teams way and limits them

Bman31: Oh crap, I didn’t realize all that Iowa lost. Knock them down.

mnw: As it is where my team will be residing all year, I’ll be your regular correspondent from the B1G basement. We’ve got pizza rolls, we’ve got Eggo waffles, and Mom has sworn she won’t bother us unless it’s really urgent.

This is depressing as hell for Northwestern, but given the loss of Dererk Pardon and Vic Law, it’s not surprising. A.J. Turner will need to take a huge leap forward, Anthony Gaines will have to become a more consistent scorer, and...yeah, I can’t spin this shit. With 28 voters and just 34 points, that’s a minimum of 24 last-place votes, and it’s a damning indictment of how the bottom has fallen out on Chris Collins’ club.

As far as the rest of the basement, it’ll be a temporary stay kind of place for everyone else--Nebraska is a pretty consensus #13 pick, but this smacks more of uncertainty as to how quickly Hoiberg can turn the show around. Look for Northwestern to be a 3-17 kind of Big Ten record, with everyone else in the 6-14, 7-13 range. Ho hum.

WSR: I don’t want to talk about winter sports.