March Madness is three months or so in the rear-view mirror, the recruiting classes are more or less in, and the early defections have all but made up their minds on whether to stick around or go pro.
Sounds like a great time to look ahead to the 2019-20 basketball season to size up the Big Ten. Hey, it’ll at least bridge the gap and keep everyone’s attention until all the football shenanigans start up — or so we hope.
14. Nebraksa Cornhuskers
The future might be brighter in a couple of more years under new head coach Fred Hoiberg, but there’s a ton of work to do with this roster. Gone is almost the entire starting lineup, and that’s a team that only made the NIT. It’s going to take at least one recruiting cycle and development if not more to get things pointed in the right direction in Lincoln.
13. Minnesota Golden Gophers
It looks like a rebuild for Richard Pitino this year. The Gophers lose Amir Coffey, Jordan Murphy, Dupree McBrayer, and Matz Stockman. That’s some very key losses and it’ll be hard to turn the roster over without hitting some speed bumps this year.
12. Northwestern
The Wildcats had a very rough season last year, and losing the likes of Vic Law, Derek Pardon, and Ryan Taylor to graduation won’t help turn the page towards a more positive season. If there’s a silver lining, it’s the arrival of a top 35 recruiting class that a coach like Chris Collins should be able to mold and develop to be competitive enough.
11. Rutgers
Yeah, yeah I know the Scarlet Knights have folks thinking this will be the continuation of a positive turn from last year, but the rest of the league will still be good. Most of the key contributors are back and that bodes well, but the team will still need to take the next step to get into the upper division of the league. I’m not ready to make the call on that yet because of the teams still above them.
Next … 10 through 6
Middle of the pack pushing for the NCAAs
10. Wisconsin
The Badgers have a way of making us all look bad by taking a bunch of collective parts and almost seemlessly turning the page and finishing in the top five of the league. But losing a star player like Ethan Happ is nothing to sneeze at. Look for Brad Davison to be the leader of this team, but another player or two will have to step up for Wisconsin to make a push for the NCAA Tournament.
9. Indiana
The Hoosiers should have done more than they did last year. A very talented roster simply never played up to its potential and was left out of the NCAA Tournament. A lot of those key players are now gone, but there’s still talent on the roster, including the arrival of five-star talent Traycs Jackson-Davis, and hopefully he’ll acclimate to the roster better than Romeo Langford did last season.
8. Penn State
The Nittany Lions should be able to build off of the momentum it gained at the tail-end of last year. It’ll have to replace the production of Josh Reaves, but players like Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens return. Still, there was too much inconsistency with this roster and I’ve yet to be sold on the job that Pat Chambers can do with the roster.
7. Iowa
The Hawkeyes were a frustrating group to figure out last year. It was one of the top teams in the league for most of the season, but once again hit rough patches, especially late. Until Iowa can figure out how to play defense, you’ll get more of the same including this season despite returning key players like Jordan Bohannon, Ryan Kriener, and Luke Garza. Tyler Cook is a big loss from a size and athleticism standpoint.
6. Purdue
I look for Purdue to take a little bit of a step back with some key, key losses. Of course Carson Edwards is gone as is experienced leadership from guys like Ryan Cline and Grady Eifert, but there’s still some solid pieces there for Matt Painter to work with, and he’s shown the ability to plug and develop just like he did in the offseason after the 2017-18 season.
Next … 5 through 1
The contenders
5. Illinois
This is finally the year the Illini get over the hump. We’ve heard over the last couple of years that it was the a hard team to play, but the wins didn’t quite pile up to prove that point. With Aaron Jordan the only starter not returning, there’s a lot there to make some noise in the conference — especially with guys like Ayo Dosunmu and the extremely talented big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili. Now, if only Illinois can put it all together for once, it could be an even bigger year.
4. Maryland
The Terrapins surprised many last year and this year it should be a continuation of that. Despite losing big man Bruno Fernando, a very young roster returns and should be ready to reap the rewards of an additional year of seasoning. Anthony Cowan, Darryl Morsell, Eric Ayala, Jalen Smith, and Aaron Wiggins are all back.
3. Ohio State
Okay, not to be a homer here, but I really like the mix of youth and veteran presence the Buckeyes return. Getting Kaleb Wesson back in the blocks after he flirted with the NBA is a huge development. There’s a lot of interchangeable parts with guys like Musa Jallow, Andre Wesson, Kyle Young and Justin Ahrens, and C.J. Walker, Duane Washington and Luther Muhammad will compliment the best recruiting class in the Big Ten. Power Forwards E.J. Liddell and Alonzo Gaffney might figure in somewhere immediately, and point guard D.J. Carton could be a superstar in waiting. The team will be deep, really deep.
2. Michigan
The Wolverines nearly made a run to the Big Ten title once again, and despite losing a well-respected head coach in Jon Beilein to the NBA, getting Juwan Howard to replace him was the slam-dunk play. There’s plenty of talent and depth with guys like Zavier Simpson, Isaiah Livers, and John Teske back to make a run at another conference title — especially with the depth building behind them.
1. Michigan State
Ho-hum. Another year in East Lansing with the same lofty expectations awaits — and for good reason. Big Ten player of the year Cassius Winston is back. So too is Xavier Tillman down low to take the sting out of the NBA declaration of Nick Ward. Wing players Gabe Brown and Aaron Henry also return. The Spartans also welcome in another very good recruiting class with a future Hall of Fame coach. It might not be as deep as a couple other teams, but Michigan State is primed for another conference title run and deep showing in the postseason.
