All Things 2015-16 Big Ten Projections

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Should be a pretty strong conference next season. I'd probably rank them like this:

Michigan State
Maryland
Indiana
Wisconsin
Michigan
Purdue
Ohio State
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Northwestern
Penn State
Nebraska
Rutgers
 

Hope we get as many bottom tier (bottom 3-4 teams) as possible. Low expectations FTW!
 

MadtownGopher said:
Hope we get as many bottom tier (bottom 3-4 teams) as possible. Low expectations FTW!
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Gophers have 6 games vs. the bottom 4 (Neb, NW, PSU, Rut). Home-and-home vs. Northwestern & Rutgers, road only @ Nebraska & Penn State.
 





SelectionSunday said:
OK, got it. Curious to see the highest anyone (of any repute) will project the Gophers.
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This is a year where we know almost nothing about what the team will look like on court. I think it's more a year where we hope for a breakthrough more than having expectations. That top seven teams looks pretty solid. What I am expect is to see a lot of future talent that gets better as the year goes on.
 

The first thing that I thought when looking at the list....if Ohio State is projected eighth and it looks about where they belong, gulp....
 



BarnBoy said:
11th..... Sigh
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11th is probably the most obvious prediction for them. PSU and Nebraska lose very significant players (although both have pretty fair recruiting classes). Rutgers was awful and loses a significant player or two as well. Northwestern, on the other hand, returns almost all of their significant contributors and they will be a year older and wiser. A 10th seed for Northwestern might be a bit too low.
 

The first of many, pre-summer version.

MSU & Indiana will benefit not only from their talent but also from favorable conference schedules. Hard to slot Wisconsin below 4 because of Bo's history, but the Badgers probably have the B1G's most difficult schedule. Not sold on OSU for 2015-16. Might be a rare non-NCAA season for the Bucknuts? Top 7 go to the NCAA, Iowa and/or OSU the most likely to end up on the bubble.

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

You don't have much optimism on the incoming Gophers. I think you may be in for a surprise.


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The scary thing is Ohio State had a top 10 recruiting class with 5 rivals top 150 recruits. Not a good year to be rebuilding.
 



alchemy2u said:
You don't have much optimism on the incoming Gophers. I think you may be in for a surprise.


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That would be great, the Gophers surprised me the other way this past season. Every season is a new animal.

That said, I'll consider it a surprise if the Gophers finish in single digits (top 9). With the personnel other teams have coming back, 9th will be an accomplishment. That's how far I'm willing to lower the bar for Year 3. Not expecting a NCAA or even a NIT bid, but avoiding a double-digit finish shouldn't be expecting too much?
 

alchemy2u said:
You don't have much optimism on the incoming Gophers. I think you may be in for a surprise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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+1 And...I think there will be some surprises even among the returnees. The staff and team got stung last year. I expect a positive reaction and a fun, competitive season. Those first 6 are pretty strong and SS has convinced me to re-look OSU. After those first 6 nothing is locked in. We could be 12th- but I doubt it.
 

Right now I'd go like this. I'm not as down on Ohio State as some others they have a real nice recruiting class and a transfer big that should really help them improve inside. I know Bo always has wisconsin in the top 4 but I can see them struggling some this year and even though I have them at 8 there isn't much separation between 7-11 for me you could probably even through 5&6 into that group as well. The conference looks to be loaded this year with some national champion type contenders but also good depth I wouldn't be surprised to see 8-9 NCAA tournament teams.
1.Michigan State
2.Maryland
3.Indiana
4.Michigan
5.Ohio State
6.Illinois
7.Purdue
8.wisconsin
9.Iowa
10.Minnesota
11.Northwestern
12.Penn State
13.Nebraska
14.Rutgers
 

Forgive my ignorance here.. but where is all the fire power coming from at Michigan State? I know I know, they'll congeal over the course of the season and somehow or another end up as a final four team.. but from the outset/on paper why is everyone so high on them? Valentine?
 

Holf said:
Forgive my ignorance here.. but where is all the fire power coming from at Michigan State? I know I know, they'll congeal over the course of the season and somehow or another end up as a final four team.. but from the outset/on paper why is everyone so high on them? Valentine?
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They add Eron Harris, stud transfer from West Virginia, and two hamburger all-americans. Considering they just made the final four the year after they lost Keith Appling, Gary Harris, and Adreian Payne, losing Trice and Dawson doesn't look so bad.
 


Ohio State never plays up to their talent level for very long. Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois are very schizophrenic so who knows what will happen.

Northwestern may have hired the right coach, but still does not have the talent.. I think we can count on Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland and even Michigan to show up and be tough. Painter brought Purdue back this year, and when he has the depth at guard his pressure, and up tempo style is very effective. When he does not get the production at guard they are terrible.

I always write off PSU, Rutgers, and Northwestern (may be changing) and Nebraska proved that if they couldn't get it done last year, then Miles is the wrong guy.

With the right chemistry and a Dorsey and one or two others emerging a top 7 finish is possible.
 

alchemy2u said:
You don't have much optimism on the incoming Gophers. I think you may be in for a surprise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Yes, the Gophers may surprise, but they might not, too. Each year there are some surprise teams. Purdue was much better than expected last year. Two years ago Nebraska was much better than expected. Last year they were much worse than expected. Few people (other than maybe some insiders) could have predicted these surprises before those seasons started, so what's the point in trying? Unfortunately, the Gophers' most recent "surprise" seasons (2013 and 2015) have been negative surprises.

If the newcomers have enough talent and team chemistry develops, we could have a positive surprise, but I'll hold off until I see that developing.
 

Most of the national "experts" thought the Big Ten was "down" last year, and we put two teams in the Final 4 and won the B1G-ACC Challenge for the umpteenth year in a row. The year before that also was thought to be down and we put three teams in the Elite 8. I think next year the B1G will once again be the class of college basketball, BUT you never know what's going to happen in the tourney.

Just saw that Maryland might get Rasheed Sulaimon next year as a grad transfer. Would be fitting to have him replace Dez Wells. :rolleyes:
 

WanderingGopher said:
Most of the national "experts" thought the Big Ten was "down" last year, and we put two teams in the Final 4 and won the B1G-ACC Challenge for the umpteenth year in a row.
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That's because national "experts" don't follow any one conference as closely as its die hard fans and some of the conference teams had early season stumbles. I never shared that viewpoint because I've been following this conference for 35 years and it looked like a fairly typical year to me.

You might be overstating the Big Ten's success in the challenge a bit. The Big Ten went 8-6 this year. The previous two years were ties. 2011 was a big advantage for the conference: 8-4. The prior two years were 6-5 Big Ten. Prior to that, the ACC had 10 straight years of winning the challenge so the conference still has some catching up. Last year the conferences were about even overall with the ACC having a little more depth at the top but the Big Ten having more quality in the bottom half. Their top half may be weakened this year with significant losses at Louisville, Duke, and Virginia and the situation at Syracuse.
 

Holf said:
Forgive my ignorance here.. but where is all the fire power coming from at Michigan State? I know I know, they'll congeal over the course of the season and somehow or another end up as a final four team.. but from the outset/on paper why is everyone so high on them? Valentine?
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This past years MSU team was not the normal MSU team. They don't generally have a team that "works their way through it". Generally they have a much more talented crew at their disposal. MSU gonna be tough, always.
 

B1G in Tier's or Tears

In tiers:

Michigan St.- Valentine, Harris, and 2 top 15 FR.
Maryland - Trimble, Layman, top 5 c D. Stone
Indiana - Yogi, Blackmon, williams, Fr c Thomas

Tier 2:
Wisconsin- Hayes, Koenig, and bo's system.
Michigan- Levert, walton, Irvin all return.
Purdue-Hammons & Haas, Davis, stephens and edwards all solid.

Tier 3:
Ohio St-Lose a lot. Loving and tate retun and a good rec class.
Iowa - Lose White. Uhtoff, Jok, woodbury solid.
llinois- Abrams, Hill, FR coleman
Northwestern- McIntosh, Olah, Demps. V Law
Minnesota- Mason, Morris, and King. If mn is to suprise Morris has to figure out how to play defense and what a good shot is.

Tier 4:
Nebraska-very average w/o Petteway
Penn st-w/o Newbill, just isnt that dangerous.
rutgers- Mack graduates and so does hope of moving up.
 

march madness said:
In tiers:

Michigan St.- Valentine, Harris, and 2 top 15 FR.
Maryland - Trimble, Layman, top 5 c D. Stone
Indiana - Yogi, Blackmon, williams, Fr c Thomas

Tier 2:
Wisconsin- Hayes, Koenig, and bo's system.
Michigan- Levert, walton, Irvin all return.
Purdue-Hammons & Haas, Davis, stephens and edwards all solid.

Tier 3:
Ohio St-Lose a lot. Loving and tate retun and a good rec class.
Iowa - Lose White. Uhtoff, Jok, woodbury solid.
llinois- Abrams, Hill, FR coleman
Northwestern- McIntosh, Olah, Demps. V Law
Minnesota- Mason, Morris, and King. If mn is to suprise Morris has to figure out how to play defense and what a good shot is.

Tier 4:
Nebraska-very average w/o Petteway
Penn st-w/o Newbill, just isnt that dangerous.
rutgers- Mack graduates and so does hope of moving up.
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Go team go!
 

oak_street1981 said:
Ohio State never plays up to their talent level for very long. Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois are very schizophrenic so who knows what will happen.

Northwestern may have hired the right coach, but still does not have the talent.. I think we can count on Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland and even Michigan to show up and be tough. Painter brought Purdue back this year, and when he has the depth at guard his pressure, and up tempo style is very effective. When he does not get the production at guard they are terrible.

I always write off PSU, Rutgers, and Northwestern (may be changing) and Nebraska proved that if they couldn't get it done last year, then Miles is the wrong guy.

With the right chemistry and a Dorsey and one or two others emerging a top 7 finish is possible.
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Well no doubt the underachieving senior class headlined by McD's AA busts Amir Williams and Shannon Scott being out the door could help with that. Plus, Russell shot 35% against top-50 teams over the course of the season, so it's not like he was consistently playing up to what was supposedly his talent level last year. They are in kind of a transition season, it is hard to say how good they will be (may or may not be a tourney team), but being rid of an underwhelming senior class isn't all bad.
 

OSUfan said:
They are in kind of a transition season, it is hard to say how good they will be (may or may not be a tourney team), but being rid of an underwhelming senior class isn't all bad.
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I think everyone on this Board would say just about the same thing (or at least we're hoping).
 


BleedGopher said:
per BTN:

BTN.com's super-early 2015-16 Big Ten hoops power rankings

11. Minnesota – 11, 11, 11 (33). Rising sophomore Nate Mason’s development figures to dictate the Gophers’ 2015-16 season.

http://btn.com/2015/04/30/btn-coms-super-early-2015-16-big-ten-hoops-power-rankings/

Go Gophers!!
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Mason is solid- he needs to keep getting better, but I don't view him as an X factor other than assuming leadership. It's the other young guys and newcomers that need to surprise for the Gophers to move forward.
 

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