duane washington

repeat coming? [Marc-Grégor Campredon]

PreviouslyPart One (Illinois-Minnesota)Part Two (Nebraska-Wisconsin), Part Three (ranking 8-14)

The rankings so far:

14. Minnesota (Tier VI)

13. Penn State (Tier VI)

12. Rutgers (Tier VI)

11. Wisconsin (Tier V)

10. Iowa (Tier V)

9. Nebraska (Tier IV)

8. Illinois (Tier IV)

I have to begin this post with an apology. When putting together my tiers, I... uh... forgot Northwestern. I do not, in fact, believe that the Wildcats will shoot into the top half of the Big Ten. I'm sorry to the readers for the omission. I also want to state that this isn't an apology to Northwestern basketball for reasons I shouldn't need to get into.



sorry, also not sorry

Let's take care of their section, fix these rankings, and get on to the real top half of the conference.

Northwestern. The good news is Chris Collins' squad returns most of their production. The bad news is that they're mostly the same team that wasn't very good last year. Once opponents got the scout on Northwestern's revamped five-out offense, which Michigan laid the blueprint for shutting down, they were cooked. They should improve by virtue of player development and familiarity in the system but I'm not convinced their team experience will translate to as many wins as Torvik's early projections, which have them 8th in the Big Ten.

Room for movement? I'm not seeing much. The spot where Northwestern had an unexpected loss—wing Miller Kopp transferring to Indiana—is where they have an incoming four-star freshman.

Alright, let's try this again:

14. Minnesota (Tier VI)

13. Penn State (Tier VI)

12. Rutgers (Tier VI)

11. Wisconsin (Tier V)

10. Northwestern (Tier V)

9. Iowa (Tier V)

8. Nebraska (Tier IV)

7. Illinois (Tier IV)

Much better. Back to our regularly scheduled good teams.

[After THE JUMP]

you've got to be kidding [Marc-Grégor Campredon]

Previously: Part One (Illinois-Minnesota)

Today's post will cover the back half of the Big Ten and next week I'll post a part three that (finally) ranks the league by current roster outlook. Let's get this going before anyone else moves.

Nebraska

Key departures: W Teddy Allen (left team during season, transfer), F Yvan Ouedraogo (Grand Canyon transfer), G Elijah Wood (transfer), W Akol Arop (transfer)

Key additions/super seniors: G Kobe Webster (super senior), W Keon Edwards (DePaul transfer), W CJ Wilcher (Xavier transfer), G Keisei Tominaga (JuCo transfer), 5* W Bryce McGowens (2021 signee), 4* F Wilhelm Breidenbach (2021 signee), 3* C Oleg Kojenets (2021 signee)

Up in the air: F Thorir Thorbjarnarson (possible super senior), F Shameil Stevenson (considering pros)

Color me shocked, there's a lot of transfer action in a Fred Hoiberg program. While that reflected a poor Nebrasketball program the last couple years, however, this offseason shows some promise for the Huskers.

Hoiberg did a good job of holding the roster together after leading scorer Teddy Allen left the program midway through the season. The only other rotation player to leave is backup big Yvan Ouedraogo, while the other players who've transferred or are considering their futures either didn't play significant minutes or are fringe Big Ten talents. Starting guard Kobe Webster, a good outside shooter, decided to use the COVID exemption for an extra senior year.

Meanwhile, the players coming in look like they'll move the program forward. Hoiberg isn't shying away from heaping expectations on freshman wing Bryce McGowens, the #22 overall player in the 2021 class—easily the highest-ranked signee in Huskers history—and younger brother of senior guard Trey McGowens:

"I believe that signing Bryce changes the whole trajectory of our program." Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He is the centerpiece of what I believe is the strongest class that Nebraska basketball has ever signed. Since I've been here, we have talked about building a program that can have sustained success, and adding a player of Bryce's caliber shows that we building something special here. It shows that Nebraska can compete for some of the top players in the country. It also says a lot about the type of person that Bryce is. He wanted to go to a place where he can create a legacy and help Nebraska basketball reach new heights.

He's on the skinny side and his outside shot is reportedly streaky but he has the look of a high-level scorer from day one. Top-100 big man Wilhelm Breidenbach is merely the third-highest ranked signee in program history; at 6'9, 200 pounds, his lack of bulk may matter more than McGowens' because of their respective positions.

DePaul transfer Keon Edwards is, in effect, another top-100 commit. The lanky 6'7 wing was ranked in the 40-80 range depending on the evaluator after he gave up his senior season of high school to reclassify to 2020 and enroll in December. Edwards played only a handful of minutes over five games as a freshman. The Huskers say he'll have four years of eligibility and he had some high-level programs after him as a transfer, including Alabama and Florida State.

Xavier transfer CJ Wilcher is in a similar position. The #113 prospect in the 2020 class rode the pine for most of the season before emerging as a useful rotation player and even a spot starter on the wing in its final month. He, too, will have four years of eligibility. While limited as an athlete, he was touted as one of the better shooters in his class.

Speaking of shooters, top-ten JuCo transfer Keisei Tominaga is touted as "the Japanese Steph Curry" after shooting 48% from downtown for Ranger (TX) College, which is coached by Billy Gillespie(!). His range and quick release are evident on film and he should at the very least be a fun player to track.

[Hit THE JUMP for teams with a bit less change except for... Wisconsin?]

the real player of the year? [Marc-Grégor Campredon]

Scores from last week (home team listed second):

  • Rutgers 51, Nebraska 72
  • Illinois 76, Michigan 53
  • Wisconsin 69, Purdue 73
  • Indiana 58, MSU 64
  • Minnesota 65, PSU 84
  • Northwestern 60, Maryland 55
  • MSU 50, Michigan 69
  • Nebraska 64, Iowa 102
  • Illinois 73, OSU 68
  • Indiana 58, Purdue 67
  • Rutgers 77, Minnesota 70 (OT)
  • Michigan 64, MSU 70
  • Wisconsin 73, Iowa 77
  • Nebraska 78, Northwestern 79
  • PSU 66, Maryland 61

As you're probably aware, Illinois closed strong enough to whinge about Michigan ducking, uh, Northwestern, Penn State, and Indiana. Purdue, meanwhile, took advantage of Ohio State's tough late-season schedule to slip past them for the #4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. On the other end, Maryland stumbled to the finish line, though they're still in good shape for an NCAA bid.

The Final Regular Season Standings

  Record   NET   Rankings   OFFENSE   DEFENSE
Team OVR B1G RK Q1 Q2 KenPom Torvik KP BT KP BT
U-M 19-3 14-3 3rd 7-2 6-1 3rd 4th 6th 8th 4th 10th
ILL 20-6 16-4 4th 9-5 5-1 5th 6th 8th 11th 6th 14th
IOWA 20-7 14-6 6th 7-5 5-2 4th 5th 2nd 1st 61st 71st
PUR 18-8 13-6 20th 6-6 7-1 13th 21st 22nd 28th 18th 21st
OSU 18-8 12-8 9th 7-6 5-2 7th 8th 4th 4th 80th 79th
WIS 16-11 10-10 26th 4-9 5-2 11th 11th 29th 36th 13th 11th
RUT 14-10 10-10 37th 4-8 5-2 33rd 41st 73rd 86th 16th 18th
MD 15-12 9-11 34th 4-9 2-3 29th 34th 43rd 49th 26th 29th
MSU 15-11 9-11 67th 5-9 4-2 56th 58th 88th 94th 34th 39th
IND 12-14 7-12 61st 2-11 6-2 39th 51st 53rd 54th 39th 49th
PSU 10-13 7-12 40th 3-11 4-1 34th 42nd 33rd 39th 45th 56th
NW 9-14 6-13 88th 2-11 3-2 69th 75th 105th 104th 44th 58th
MIN 13-14 6-14 79th 4-10 2-3 62nd 68th 50th 52nd 79th 82nd
NEB 7-19 3-16 128th 1-12 1-6 92nd 84th 166th 179th 40th 38th

Indiana and Minnesota are missing the tournament barring miracle BTT runs. Incidentally, there are rumors that both Archie Miller and Richard Pitino will be looking for new jobs this offseason.

The Actual All-Conference Awards

Are a debacle. They will be discussed in a separate post.

[Hit THE JUMP for awards that make sense.]