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2014-2015 B1G Men's Basketball

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I wouldn't necessarily say their run was a fluke, but KK played much better in the post season than he did in the regular season. He was pretty inconsistent all year, but put together 3-4 really good games in the post season. That and college basketball was fairly mediocre at the top last year. I think this years top teams are going to be a bit better. I however would not be surprised to see Wisky in the FF again this year, but its really going to take a special team to complete with UK (Duke, AZ and Kansas have a lot of young talent as well).
 
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I'd put Wisky at #2 or #3 nationally. Kentucky at #1, and Arizona is the only other team I would even consider above UW. My only concern if I were a Badger fan is if Kaminsky's run in the tourney was a fluke. If he keeps the same level of play then they are a beast of a team.
 
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MaxBuck said:
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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I tend to agree with most of what you say, but at the end of last season Wisky had grown into a team that had excellent offensive balance, they could legitimately rely on 6 or 7 guys to come in and contribute, I believe their starting 5 were all averaging 10+, and they had a great shooting team. They made the F4 in a bit of a down year for college basketball, but altogether I would not say that they were unworthy of the Final Four accolade. They made up for their athletic/length disadvantages by having an extraordinary offensive team.

I agree that it's not going to be nearly as simple as the preseason hype makes it out to be for Wisconsin. They will have a better regular season than last year, in terms of losing a couple less games. But so many times the B1G preseason picks are unanimous and ultimately unanimously wrong (e.g., MSU preseason fave last year). I tend to think OSU has an inside track at the title this year considering the schedule favors the Buckeyes with the lone meeting vs. UW in the Schott (and the OSU B1G schedule is not particularly strong otherwise). UW fans also seem to think they have a scheduling advantage, but the key matchup in the conference is a road game for them and Bo's teams almost always manage to lose a conference game or two that you don't expect at all (whereas with Matta's OSU teams, when they have a contender they have a better track record of not losing those head-scratching games that are very costly in the conference race like UW). I also think that it is by no means a foregone conclusion that UW will return to the F4, even though they return most of their team, because losing one big contributor offensively can be hard to replace for any team (like UW) that doesn't bring in McD's AAs every year) - losing only Brust can upset the perfect offensive balance they had last year, and that is important because as you say they don't have the elite athletes that many of the top CBB programs have, which means that UW inherently will give up a lot of points to certain skilled teams in the tourney and has to win at least one shootout (like vs. Oregon last year) to get to the F4.
 
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Don't get me wrong, I don't mind UW being the preseason favorite in the B1G, and I feel they are a top-10 team. But I think OSU also should have a top-10 team this season with all the talent they have. Iowa probably should be a top-25 team. I think Nebraska is being overrated to an extent, and not a top-25 team. Illinois should be pretty solid for a change, but Indiana is my pick for the biggest turnaround from last season in the conference. MSU and UM are good picks for the top-4 but they both have a lot of question-marks, I feel better about UM's chances of being in the top-4 in the B1G honestly.
 
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wisconsin's frank the tank kaminsky gets down
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OHSportsFan said:
MSU still has Trice, Valentine, and Dawson?? Yeesh.

BigTen always has about 4-5 guys that seem to stick around forever. Spartans lost to Dookies in Indianapolis tonight.
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But they don't still have Payne, Appling and Harris. That is why they are in for more of a rebuilding season as opposed to a contending season. I personally wasn't blown away by Duke due to their lack of defense and MSU - in spite of not having a very physically imposing team generally - was just able to beat them to too many rebounds I think due to the slight build/height of several Duke players. MSU outrebounded Duke 35-25 and had 13 offensive boards compared to just 5 for DU. I expect Wisconsin to beat Duke when they travel to the Kohl Center.

It's going to be hard for teams to beat KY when they are playing their hardest. But I think the margin yesterday was more of Kansas being in line for a rough year than KY being head and shoulders better than everybody else - a little of both yes but more of KU struggling.
 
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Surprised Iowa didn't get a little more love heading into the year. That's a pretty solid team, with a different tempo and some talented players coming back with experience including one of the conference's best in Aaron White.

Giving #10 Texas a game in NYC.
 
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