Big Ten Conference

Foremost of these super programs are the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery Coach Bobby Knight!  The General has great talent but Knight knows how to make even the role players great and understands how the game should be played, his way, more than any coach in the country.  They are the favorites to win the Big Ten behind Senior center Walt Bellamy at the center and legendary Chicago point guard Isaiah Thomas (he may be only a sophomore but he is the unquestioned leader of this team) and a plethora of solid players to fill in the roles including sweet shooting sophomore Steve Alford and tough Scott May at one forward. It is TBD whether or not George McGinnis comes back for his junior year.  If he does this team will skyrocket in the polls and Big George might have the most talent on the team.   One thing you must be able to do to be a Hoosier you must be able to play man defense which is something McGinnis has never been a fan of.  He likes it much better when his team has the ball and especially when it is in his hands as he an incredible offensive performer who can score from anywhere.  Rumors are that George was going to go pro after his superb sophomore year as he did not like the reins Knight put on him as he undoubtedly could be a 20-10 guy on a lesser team.  He stuck his toe into the deep water that is the draft but quickly pulled it back out.  He had not hired an agent and wants to return to Bloomington, even with Knight still around.  He should be allowed to return but you never know with the powers to be.  This situation might define the Hoosiers season as all of the other pieces including a deep bench are in place. 

Right behind them are the Ohio State Buckeyes, OSU fans would argue right in front of them, as another national top ten team led by the best player in the conference and arguably in the country in Senior Jerry Lucas.  The sweet shooting rebounding machine is not the only Buckeye in Fred Taylor’s deep roster who can play and from what we hear there is as much talent coming up to challenge for spots this year as any team in the league.  Much like their football program OSU reloads and never seems to have to rebuild!  Lucas has an experienced sidekick at the forward in fellow senior John Havlicek who does not mind being second fiddle to Lucas.  Havlicek is a complete player who complements Lucas perfectly.   This dynamic duo are the only players on the roster assured of starting as Taylor will have competition at all of the other positions for playing time.  The good thing though is all of these players competing are studs who would probably start for 80% of the teams in the country.  That is a good predicament to be in but Taylor must still find the right chemistry no matter how deep the talent pool is.  These two are the top of the heap but there are four or five other teams that can win this conference and advance very far in the BD if they get there and that is a big if as the selection committee has made it clear that they do not want to put more than six teams from any conference in their prestigious bracket even if they have added 4 teams to make it a non-symmetrical 68!  Both Michigan schools, Purdue, Iowa and Minnesota have the requisite talent to get the job done in the Midwest’s supreme league. 

Magic Johnson of the Spartans gets all of the hype and rightfully so as he is the ultimate big point guard with charisma up the wazoo and passing skills to match hence the nickname and his decision to come back for his junior year with the pros calling makes the boys from East Lansing a contender.  Before he got there this program was in shambles and he has almost individually made them ‘players’ but many thought he would leave when legendary Coach Jud Heathcote, and the man who recruited him, retired but Magic welcomed with open arms young Tom Izzo and this old school coach has made it worth his while to stay by bringing in a great group of talented freshmen both locally and nationally and this team could surprise especially if the Magic Man is anywhere near as good as he looked in his dynamic sophomore season.  The Spartans main rivals from down the road in Ann Arbor have a more complete roster and were picked to finish third in the preseason polls and could be a contender especially if the highly ballyhooed  ‘Fab Five’ freshman they recruited live up to the high expectations of the fans in the magnificent Crisler Center. 

Both Michigan schools are a bit weak at the post in this physical league so that might be a shared Achilles heel but in today’s game of basketball so reliant on shooting the Wolverines have a superb pair of wings who can shoot it out with anyone in Senior stud Cazzie Russell and sophomore sharpshooter Glen Rice!  The Wolverines may have a problem though with coaching as there are rumors AD Bo Schembechler might move recruiting magnet Bill Frieder before the start of the year for a more loyal ‘Michigan Man!’ and since Bo only really knows football there might be some truth to that!  The Boilermakers from Purdue are picked to finish 3rd and for good reason as they have one of the most experienced teams in the country coming back.  Coach Gene Keady’s inherited a stellar group of offensive players last year but the key to their season will be if they can play his hard-nosed man defense ala Hoosier style and adjust to his motion offense!  The legend from Lebanon Rick Mount and his perfect jump shot is the ‘rocket’ to this team’s offense though fellow senior Terry Dischinger  is perfect for the new offense but the key is big man Joe Barry Carroll.  Unlimited in potential on both ends if JBC improves as he has his first two years this team will be in serious contention for the conference title and beyond.  Last year they made huge progress but this is the Boilermakers’ year especially since they have recruited one of the best high schoolers in the country to play in West Lafayette in Glenn Robinson from down the road in Gary more famously known as the home of the Jackson 5. 

Speaking of talent there might not be no more talented team in this league than the Minnesota Golden Gophers with a duo of big men that is incomparable at least in this league as far as skill and talent.  Juniors Mychal Thompson and Kevin McHale have every move in the book in the low post and then some and if the game was played on only one end the GG’s would be a cinch to make the BD.  But it is not and they have brought in tough-minded defensive coach Bill Musselman to assist legendary Minnesotan John Kundla.  Kundla is only staying for a short time and is here to ‘mentor’ Musselman in head coaching and basketball etiquette while the young coach tightens up the porous defense in the Twin Cities.  How well these two work together and accomplishes this task and still keep this experienced team in tact will decide how far they go? 

The Iowa Hawkeyes are nowhere near as talented as the Golden Gophers at least for now but they were the ‘Fabulous Five’ before those boys from Michigan stole their moniker.   The Hawkeyes lost their coach Bucky O’Connor to a car accident and are still reeling from the tragedy.  The Hawkeyes are a proud lot and this is a resilient state and though basketball is not king here (neither is football by the way) these guys have a grappler’s mentality to taking on challenges.  The biggest challenge might be finding some talent that is a bit more than the solid, workmanlike players the Hawkeyes usually get.   This program has even started to go the JC route to get better but one final piece is missing and he is the real ‘Hawk!’  New Coach Tom Davis is working furiously behind the scenes to get New York City legend Connie Hawkins (wonder why he choose to come to the Hawkeyes) eligible for this season.  Too much drama in the ‘courts’ from this league with players who should be on the ‘court’, especially studs like Hawkins and McGinnis.  If they do not they can still compete with a solid nucleus of upperclassmen and with depth for as many miles as you can see cornfields in the Hawkeye state but it may not be enough. 

The Fightin Illini have a long, proud history but a recent lack of success has led to some changes at the top and are even going to try and ‘fly’ up and down the court even more.  Always an up tempo team the Illini are going to go rely on a plethora of back court players and some gifted shooters to try and outscore the competition.  That means Senior Johnny ‘Red’ Kerr will have to man the post alone and though he is solid he will have his hands full with the Bellamy’s and Thompson’s this league has to offer not to mention the beast that is JBC if he comes to play!  The three cellar dwellers do not have much to look forward to as Wisconsin, Northwestern and the new guys will be battling to stay out of last place.  The first two have not sniffed the postseason in decades and the NL’s are in for a rude awakening at least on the basketball court as none of these teams have near elite talent in hoops. 

The Badgers have really emphasized defense and new coach Bo Ryan is right up that lane and will have the boys from Madison competitive in the near future hopefully but they need to get some talent up there because defense only goes so far.  The surprise run the Badgers made a few years back is ancient history and though some of those guys are still playing  for Wisconsin their style of basketball has long been left for the dollar bin.  Modern basketball is all about the offense and athleticism and yes shooting threes and the Badgers defense first model and old school players are as archaic as the Electoral College.  Still, Madison is a progressive town and change is a coming with Ryan in town who has supposedly recruited the best class the Badgers have ever had so there is hope as always in Wisconsin and that increases as the weather turns colder.  But hopefully this year it is not all about the Packers and the fans realize they have a basketball team to root for too (and no we are not talking about the Bucks who haven’t been to a finals since BD)!  

Northwestern’s best player might be their quarterback of the football team and he (Otto Graham) won’t suit up until at least December so that tells you the priority there.   The Wildcats have long been the basement dwellers of this conference who only allows them to stick around as it brings up the GPA of the entire conference with their incredible academic standing.   There is hope in Evanston to at least finish 10th (which is no longer last) as a new football first program joins this league and their basketball program is nowhere near ready for this level of competition. 

Penn State will find that being mediocre as an Indy or in the A-10 means basically you are going to suck in the Big 10 (11)!  The worst thing about the situation in Pennsylvania is that the Nittany Lions best player has only one more year of eligibility before he moves on.  Senior Jesse Arnelle is a legend at Penn State (he was recruited to be a TE) after he switched from football to become a dominant beast in the paint.  This chiseled man among boys in the A-10 is only 6’5 and will be facing far bigger and better players than he has in the Indy and mid-major world where the Lions roared.  That is going to be a soft little meow this year as this proud football program leads their cagers into the arena to be sacrificed to the animals of the Big 10.  Help is coming as new coach John Egli has recruited some size (Arnelle was actually playing center two years ago) but that will take time to adjust as will their entire roster trying to catch up with the elite talent and athleticism which is the Big 10!

 The Wildcats of Northwestern are used to finishing in the basement in this league though the Badgers have pushed them for that honor a few times.  These ‘smart’ kids come to that Chicago area school for an education and it is not like they can bring in every Tom, Dick and Harry.  You have to qualify with their strict testing and grade expectations (ala Notre Dame and all of them Ivy schools) and this had hindered their ability to compete.  You know the Big 10 is keeping the Wildcats around for the scholastic part of the process and to be fodder for those monster Universities but these kids don’t mind.  They are getting one of the best educations on the planet but that is apparently not good enough for everyone.  The fans don’t seem to mind either but they would like to be able to get out of the cellar once in a while.  This might just be their year with the Lions entering the arena as neither one of these three bottom feeder programs have much of a chance of beating the powerhouses at the top of this most elite conference.  As for who will win here. it is anyone’s bet.  As a matter of fact preseason favorite Indiana was picked 2nd by the coaches behind the Buckeyes but that will flip if McGinnis is deemed eligible.  Both of those teams are in no jeopardy of not making the Big Dance and Purdue and all three of the M schools are pretty set as well.  It is just how far these programs can move up the Big 10 totem pole and how high of a ranking and a seed they can get.  Two of the three I schools in this league (why wasn’t Idaho invited instead of those devils that start with a P) have some work to do with the Hawkeyes having a damn good shot if the PTB let the Hawk fly.  Let them ALL play.  This is the best conference in the country when you combine the two major sports but in recent years they have not won a truck load of national titles.  We know that either Michigan or Ohio State (or both) will be in the mix for the football championship but can any of these powerhouse basketball programs finally get over the hump and take out those monsters from Kentucky, LA and the Carolinas?  I wouldn’t bet against them as one thing is for sure in college athletics, if the Big 10 wants something to happen, it usually does!