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2014-2015 B1G Men's Basketball

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Wisconsin was the unanimous favorite and Ohio State was projected to finish second in the preseason Big Ten basketball poll assembled by the Columbus Dispatch.

Though the Big Ten top three will be released before Big Ten Media Day in Chicago on Thursday morning, this one – a poll I voted in with other Big Ten hoops writers – is the real, complete list.

Here's the poll:

1. Wisconsin

2. Ohio State

3. Michigan State

4. Nebraska

5. Michigan

6. Minnesota

7. Iowa

8. Illinois

9. Indiana

10. Maryland

11. Purdue

12. Penn State

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2014/10/wisconsin_badgunanimous_favoriers.html

13. Northwestern

14. Rutgers
 
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I am surprised MSU is tabbed to be so high given the significance of their departures (Payne, Harris, Appling, Kiminski) and no big time replacements (some guys to fill holes, but not replacements for the big 3). Wisky is the clear favorite, but it seems to me there is a lot of parity amongst teams 2-10. I think we have the most talent of those teams, but as mentioned by this writer, the full potential has yet to be realized.
 
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wigmon said:
Wisky is the clear favorite ...
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... and yet I regard them as grossly overrated.

There's precious little athleticism on that team, aside from Nigel Hayes and Sam Dekker. Kaminski has a sweet stroke, and Bo Ryan is a bench wizard, but I don't see all that much talent there. Certainly way less than Kentucky, Duke, Arizona and Kansas. And, I'd argue, Ohio State.
 
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Well, the conference should be a little down from the past couple of years IMO. I don't see any team I would put in front of OSU for the #2 spot. I'm assuming that some scoring will emerge.

I think Wisky is by far the #1. They were strong last year and they should only be better this year. They have more athleticism than a lot of their better teams over the past 10 - 15 years, and they even have some depth.
 
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MaxBuck said:
... and yet I regard them as grossly overrated.

There's precious little athleticism on that team, aside from Nigel Hayes and Sam Dekker. Kaminski has a sweet stroke, and Bo Ryan is a bench wizard, but I don't see all that much talent there. Certainly way less than Kentucky, Duke, Arizona and Kansas. And, I'd argue, Ohio State.
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Their athletes are good enough when coupled with their skill and experience. Granted Gasser has lost a step after his injury, but their other guards have decent quickness and the front line with Dekker, Hayes and Kaminiski is athletic enough. They also play what is now being referred to as a "pack line" defense, where they don't get out and challange you one on one more than 22 feet from the basket, so they don't need elite quickness to defend well. I do think they will have issues in defending some of the upper echelon teams nationally (mostly on the glass and in transition), but they also present some challenges for those teams to defend as well (is Okafor going to be able to step out to the 3 point line effecntively to defend Kaminski?). I think UK and AZ are the only teams that would probably be able to overwhelm UW with their athletecism.

But to be clear, when I was calling Wisky the favorite, I was speaking in terms of the B1G, not to win a national title. And I am not saying we hand them the title now, as I think we could have a team that could compete with them if a couple of seniors step up and some frosh are ready to make significant contributions. Wisky is much more of a sure thing going into the season.
 
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MaxBuck said:
... and yet I regard them as grossly overrated.

There's precious little athleticism on that team, aside from Nigel Hayes and Sam Dekker. Kaminski has a sweet stroke, and Bo Ryan is a bench wizard, but I don't see all that much talent there. Certainly way less than Kentucky, Duke, Arizona and Kansas. And, I'd argue, Ohio State.
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So where do you think it would be appropriate to rank them? The fact of the matter is they return 4 of 5 starters from a Final Four team, beat a more athletic Arizona team on the way there and then came within a possession of beating a supposedly vastly superior Kentucky team.

They lose Brust, who was their sharpshooter to be sure, but nobody would argue they lost any athleticism with his departure. Hayes could/should make a huge leap this year, as should Dekker, who is coming off a relatively disappointing campaign last season. Kaminsky may regress a bit - I don't think he's quite as good as the performance he put together down the stretch - but he's still a force. Gasser is one of the best defenders in the conference. Trae Jackson is an enigma, but he brings sound leadership. He'll have Bronson Koenig breathing down his neck for playing time.

Rebounding and stopping paint penetration will be their Achilles' heel, but to use the term "grossly overrated" makes me scratch my head a bit. When has a team in their situation NOT been ranked that high coming off the season they had?
 
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Wisconsin often epitomizes mundane basketball with average athletes overall, a killer scheme and a liberal approach to fouling. (Not unlike others in this league, though osu and sparty have shown more consistency at winning in whistle crazy games)

Wisconsin is one because they were pretty strong last year and there is no one else trustworthy. The two steady forces of the last decade - osu and msu - have a ton of question marks. The excellent coaching by Beilein can't overcome that much attrition, at least not early on to inspire confidence in preseason polls.
 
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ITs a pretty deep conference, but its more "middle heavy". OSU through Iowa are all 20-25 type teams. I certainly leave open the possibility that one or two teams might separate themselves from the group, but its difficult to predict who that might be. I do think we have the highest potential ceiling of those teams because we do have the most athletecism and a lot of experience with the most incoming talent.
 
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Bucky32 said:
So where do you think it would be appropriate to rank them?
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I have no problem with their being in the top 10, but nearer ten than five. Their advance to the Final Four last year was a fluke.

I also have no problem with calling them the favorites to win the B1G, though I'll be somewhat surprised if that's the way things finally work out.
 
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