Out West, Eric Musselman (USC) and Danny Sprinkle (UW) have been brought in to elavate programs that have been terrific before in the past, yet needed a fresh approach for this daunting travel schedule. UCLA scrapped a strategy that was heavy on international and went into the modern D1 transfer portal for some major upgrades. And at Oregon, Dana Altman a deep team is building around Jackson Shelstead.
Brad Underwood and Tom Izzo continue to coach and recruit at the highest levels of the league. Illinois will welcome in Kylan Boswell, a leader at Arizona and a pair of international phenoms in Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic. The Illini think their vets can bring them along. Ben Humrichous may have been the biggest prize however after he scorched the Valley last season with 41.4% three-point shooting. In East Lansing, a cast of characters are prepped to take on larger roles. Jaden Akins is still around to lead the group.
Pressure is mounting at places like Indiana and Maryland where fans take expectations to the next level. Mike Woodson has done a nice job getting Indiana back to the tournament, but after a subpar year last year, folks in Bloomington are now on the edge of their seats. In College Park, Kevin Willard enters the season looking to improve on a 7-13 disappointment during league-play last year. Willard grabbed Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel in the portal to help build some more winning habits.
Penn State is a team still led by Ace Baldwin, and I suspect Mike Rhoades will overperform expectations as he usually does. The true mysteries are Iowa and Wisconsin in my book. The Hawkeyes arguably have more to work with behind Payton Sandfort and Owen Freeman. This same core of guys produced a 10-10 rollercoaster run last year, that ultimately ended in the NIT. Hawkeyes need to tweak a few things to win on the margins in this improved and deeper B1G. The Badgers are taking a slight step back in talent. Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit are still around and are great leaders. Let’s see what Cam Hunter’s comeback from Central Arkansas looks like and what Xavier Amos or John Tonje can deliver before declaring them an NCAA-level team.
The hype is coming in hot from Piscataway. Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper have made waves with their commitment to play this year at Rutgers. It has already been an action-packed build up to the season. Seems like it may be a struggle with maturity for Steve Pikiell at some point, so I remain in wait and see mode, with tempered team expectations.
Regular Season Champion:
Purdue
Conference Tournament Location:
Indianapolis, IN
Auto-Bid Winner:
Michigan
Player of the Year:
Bruce Thornton - Ohio State
Newcomer of the Year:
Oumar Ballo - Indiana
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Purdue, Ohio State, UCLA ,USC, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Oregon (First Four)
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Purdue, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Oregon, Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, Maryland
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
8
BIG 12 CONFERENCE
A cornucopia of basketball powers have now combined to form the top tier of the Big 12. The blue blood of Kansas was always there. Today, the additions of Houston recently and Arizona this coming season along with the past two decades of sustained Baylor success, makes the top of this league unparalleled. Especially when you throw in a recently loaded Iowa State team. That gives the league as many as five anchors for the other 11 schools to go after and build resumes against. Fascinated to see how this computes when the Bracketology forecasting season of mid-January really begins to intensify.
Houston will open the season at the number two overall spot, with Iowa State coming close at fifth overall on the Big Board. Tremendous respect for the way Houston plays with physicality, and let’s not forget they won the regular-season crown a season ago. It is clear the defense, the relentless rebounds, and the toughness are converted into road wins, which is the hardest thing to do in college basketball. Cyclone Nation is buzzing after last season’s Big 12 Tournament Title and run to the Sweet 16. The returning roster features Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, and Keshon Gilbert. Four portal additions, including two quality bigs, make this roster old and ready to go deep in March.
Kansas, Arizona, and Baylor will be poised to make sure they are each in the hunt for a conference championship. The three powerhouses rarely lose at home, if ever, so it will come down to who can stockpile road wins. In Arizona’s case, it will be interesting to see how Tommy Lloyd’s offensive rim-to-rim system translates with Big 12 travel. They will be playing in mostly tougher environments and seeing some of the nations best defenses in this gauntlet of a conference.
Texas Tech is poised to join the top five projected teams, and Cincinniati is setup nicely to challenge. Grant McCasland enters his second season in Lubbock ready to improve upon last year’s run to the Second Round. JT Toppin comes into this program oozing with confidence and is just a Sophomore. The big man played a key role in New Mexico’s rise to the MWC Tournament title a season ago. Red Raiders are building perfect pieces around the trio of key returnees: Darrion Williams, Chance McMillan, and Devan Cambridge. In Cincy, Wes Miller and the Bearcat community are starving for a tournament bid. The depth and the maturity of the roster is deep this coming season and I believe they make it happen. Four seniors starting with Dan Skillings, Jr., Day Day Thomas, Simas Lukosius, and interior enforcer Aziz Bandaogo.