In preseason, my thoughts were Michigan State, Maryland, Ohio State were the top 3. Then Purdue and Michigan because of their history , then a scramble with Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Penn State, Rutgers and Iowa, with Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska bringing up the rear. The bottom 3 has not changed in my opinion but the league that was down in the early games because of losses by Nebraska and Northwestern has bounced back and will be stronger than I originally thought.
Ohio State and Michigan are at the top after 7 games. Michigan going from unranked( so the national opinion was their would be a drop off losing Beilein), to probably top 5-10 this week is the biggest suprise with back to back to back impressive wins , comfortable ones against Iowa State, UNC, and Gonzaga. Brooks has stepped up to help Simpson, Teske, and Livers has taken his game and shooting up a notch. The 2 games against them at MSG and the RAC should be sellouts and raucous environments.
Ohio State is playing their suffocating defense with a deep bench and look like the best team early, although they have some tests coming up. Washington, Mohammed, and their sensational freshman , Carton, and the FSU transfer , Walker, who killed us in FSU’s comeback win at the RAC in the challenge are the guards that are feeding the post for the Wesson brothers and Young who is an animal on the glass. Despite all this I think we match up well against them and Jacob will be asked to handle Walker to disrupt their offense. Myles against Wesson and who gets in foul trouble first will go a long way to deciding that game .
Michigan State is still a top 10 team but without Langford and consistency from the 2 and 3 spots, they do not look unbeatable like the experts thought. If Hall the freshman doesn’t shoot that well, they lose to Seton Hall, but besides Winston, they are not getting that 15-20 every night from Henry, Hall or their freshman Rocket Watts. Xavier Simpson cannot do it alone up front and has been challenged in the early games . Another team we match up with pretty well.
Maryland. I know they are ranked 6 but they are over rated. Harvard ( who is very good,along with Yale and Penn for you Ivy nuts ) had the lead for 35 minutes yesterday. They have gotten off to slow starts and their starting 5 better bring it every night because I question their depth. I am putting them 4th so far, because they are undefeated but I am not convinced they will end up that high.
Purdue has lost a couple of close ones early but gutted out a big win over a very tough VCU team last night and they did it down the stretch with Haarms and Williams both fouling out and Eastern did not score. They lose Edwards and Ryan Cline, who bailed out so many games last year from 3 , and it does not look one guy has emerged to replace but a bunch of capable guards and forwards who can shoot and play defense. They will always be a tough game.
The next 2 are a toss up between Illinois and Penn State . I will pick Penn State as they have played a tougher schedule and demolished Georgetown on the road and Syracuse last night. But for their blowing a 19 point lead to Ole Miss 2 nights ago I would have put them ahead of Purdue. Stevens and Watkins have taking their games up a notch as seniors, and Wheeler and Dread are playing really well. They also have depth. They are going to be tough in both games this year .
Illinois had that early OT scare against Nichols State( same conference as SFA and gave other teams firs early) , but seem to really found their stride. They are deep at guard with Dosunu, Frazier,and Felix, but the difference is this man child Cofi Cockburn who looks unstoppable down low, to go along with Giorgi, who we already know was unstoppable down low. The are rebounding on both ends and going once they get a defensive rebound. If we do not keep them off the glass , the games this year will not be like that OT game last year that we should have won . Again , these games will be real physical and interesting in styles as we both like to run and play in your face defense.
Indiana has gotten healthy and has not played anyone yet but they are undefeated . Devonte Greene was hurt early but has been good the last 3 games and he along with Phinisee the point guard and Al Durham their 2-3 guard are really a handful. Davis and Justin Smith up front will be a handful . Kinda like us that on any given night one of their guys can get 20 with 3-4 other guys in double figures. They are shooting better than us especially from 3.
I am placing Rutgers next off of the last 3 games, but the competition level in the next 4 will tell us a lot. SFA and Umass were really good teams and were great solid wins with tremendous defense . I also think the coaching at Drexel and Bryant will keep those teams in the hunt in their conferences.
Iowa, has turned out better than I thought with some good early wins, but I question their toughness, as they blew a big first half lead against San Diego State last night and got out toughed. They are deeper than last year and Luka Garza and Greiner up front have improved and besides Buchanan, Weiscamp and this guy Frederick can still shoot the three . I know they beat Texas Tech the night before but Creighton beat them as well last night so Tech is still a work n progress. In my opinion we are tougher, play better defense, and are better than Iowa.
Wisconsin is next as they are just mediocre . They might shoot well at home and always play good defense so they might pull an upset at home , but they have absolutely no player that scares you. Davison , Brice are okay at guard , and Nate Reuvers is a good stretch 4 that can shoot the three, as is Ford, and Kobe King and Pritzl can have an occasional great game but I will be disappointed if we do not handle them at home. They are clearly the least talented team on this list so far . They will miss Happ.
Minnesota , Northwestern and Nebraska are still the bottom 3 and I am not going to go in depth but I will say Minnesota has some players that must be neutralized to bring home a W , and Nebraska with these 8 transfers seem to be playing better than earlier in the year where I thought they would not win a game .
Overall, the Big 10 is much better than originally thought and 7 bids are on the line .. This is going to be a tougher journey than originally thought and we will have to upset a few(2-3)nationally ranked teams and at least split with the teams 4-10. Really getting interesting and exciting.
Ohio State and Michigan are at the top after 7 games. Michigan going from unranked( so the national opinion was their would be a drop off losing Beilein), to probably top 5-10 this week is the biggest suprise with back to back to back impressive wins , comfortable ones against Iowa State, UNC, and Gonzaga. Brooks has stepped up to help Simpson, Teske, and Livers has taken his game and shooting up a notch. The 2 games against them at MSG and the RAC should be sellouts and raucous environments.
Ohio State is playing their suffocating defense with a deep bench and look like the best team early, although they have some tests coming up. Washington, Mohammed, and their sensational freshman , Carton, and the FSU transfer , Walker, who killed us in FSU’s comeback win at the RAC in the challenge are the guards that are feeding the post for the Wesson brothers and Young who is an animal on the glass. Despite all this I think we match up well against them and Jacob will be asked to handle Walker to disrupt their offense. Myles against Wesson and who gets in foul trouble first will go a long way to deciding that game .
Michigan State is still a top 10 team but without Langford and consistency from the 2 and 3 spots, they do not look unbeatable like the experts thought. If Hall the freshman doesn’t shoot that well, they lose to Seton Hall, but besides Winston, they are not getting that 15-20 every night from Henry, Hall or their freshman Rocket Watts. Xavier Simpson cannot do it alone up front and has been challenged in the early games . Another team we match up with pretty well.
Maryland. I know they are ranked 6 but they are over rated. Harvard ( who is very good,along with Yale and Penn for you Ivy nuts ) had the lead for 35 minutes yesterday. They have gotten off to slow starts and their starting 5 better bring it every night because I question their depth. I am putting them 4th so far, because they are undefeated but I am not convinced they will end up that high.
Purdue has lost a couple of close ones early but gutted out a big win over a very tough VCU team last night and they did it down the stretch with Haarms and Williams both fouling out and Eastern did not score. They lose Edwards and Ryan Cline, who bailed out so many games last year from 3 , and it does not look one guy has emerged to replace but a bunch of capable guards and forwards who can shoot and play defense. They will always be a tough game.
The next 2 are a toss up between Illinois and Penn State . I will pick Penn State as they have played a tougher schedule and demolished Georgetown on the road and Syracuse last night. But for their blowing a 19 point lead to Ole Miss 2 nights ago I would have put them ahead of Purdue. Stevens and Watkins have taking their games up a notch as seniors, and Wheeler and Dread are playing really well. They also have depth. They are going to be tough in both games this year .
Illinois had that early OT scare against Nichols State( same conference as SFA and gave other teams firs early) , but seem to really found their stride. They are deep at guard with Dosunu, Frazier,and Felix, but the difference is this man child Cofi Cockburn who looks unstoppable down low, to go along with Giorgi, who we already know was unstoppable down low. The are rebounding on both ends and going once they get a defensive rebound. If we do not keep them off the glass , the games this year will not be like that OT game last year that we should have won . Again , these games will be real physical and interesting in styles as we both like to run and play in your face defense.
Indiana has gotten healthy and has not played anyone yet but they are undefeated . Devonte Greene was hurt early but has been good the last 3 games and he along with Phinisee the point guard and Al Durham their 2-3 guard are really a handful. Davis and Justin Smith up front will be a handful . Kinda like us that on any given night one of their guys can get 20 with 3-4 other guys in double figures. They are shooting better than us especially from 3.
I am placing Rutgers next off of the last 3 games, but the competition level in the next 4 will tell us a lot. SFA and Umass were really good teams and were great solid wins with tremendous defense . I also think the coaching at Drexel and Bryant will keep those teams in the hunt in their conferences.
Iowa, has turned out better than I thought with some good early wins, but I question their toughness, as they blew a big first half lead against San Diego State last night and got out toughed. They are deeper than last year and Luka Garza and Greiner up front have improved and besides Buchanan, Weiscamp and this guy Frederick can still shoot the three . I know they beat Texas Tech the night before but Creighton beat them as well last night so Tech is still a work n progress. In my opinion we are tougher, play better defense, and are better than Iowa.
Wisconsin is next as they are just mediocre . They might shoot well at home and always play good defense so they might pull an upset at home , but they have absolutely no player that scares you. Davison , Brice are okay at guard , and Nate Reuvers is a good stretch 4 that can shoot the three, as is Ford, and Kobe King and Pritzl can have an occasional great game but I will be disappointed if we do not handle them at home. They are clearly the least talented team on this list so far . They will miss Happ.
Minnesota , Northwestern and Nebraska are still the bottom 3 and I am not going to go in depth but I will say Minnesota has some players that must be neutralized to bring home a W , and Nebraska with these 8 transfers seem to be playing better than earlier in the year where I thought they would not win a game .
Overall, the Big 10 is much better than originally thought and 7 bids are on the line .. This is going to be a tougher journey than originally thought and we will have to upset a few(2-3)nationally ranked teams and at least split with the teams 4-10. Really getting interesting and exciting.
