No doubt that reasonable minds can disagree, I was just saying that I dont think the Michigan fanbase is the only collective that would strongly disagree with that pre-season ranking, because so many subscribe to advanced analytics.
But, to further your point, I have no idea what our attempts to compensate for the loss of Walton and Irvin (especially Walton, though) will look like. We have a lot of returning talent, but it’s coming in different shapes and forms than what JB usually uses to sculpt his offenses.
Early indications are that he’s likely going to Mizzou. I haven’t been terribly impressed with Martin’s coaching ability, but he is pretty good at acquiring talent.
As though Mizzou/Illinois needs more reasons to dislike each other, Martin allegedly made a trip during the school day to East St. Louis HS after being hired by Missouri… it’s said Martin has a sister employed as a teacher there but the rumors are he wanted to send a message to Tillmon…Tillmon asking out of his LOI to Illinois so soon after that visit is not sitting well w/Illini fans…
Wow. Didn’t Tilmon just re-affirm his commitment to U of I on Monday?
Funny they mention the Cliff Alexander saga. He trolled U of I by picking up an Illinois hat at his commitment event, before putting it back down to grab the KU hat.
Big ten is gonna be a nightmare this year. If swanigan and bridges stay or one of them even more so. Say their out though I see a bunch of top 25 type teams and some final 4 contenders.
Purdue, Michigan, Michigan st, northwestern, minny m, Indiana all could win the division. Id add in Maryland too. Iowa is goOd, penn st finally gaining ground, Ohio st? Not sure about then I’d have to check their roster. Wisconsin with happ still dangerous. That’s the best and deepest conference. I see 11 tourney level teams. Really hope we’re ready .
The Big Ten might have a bunch of teams in the 5 - 11 seed range, but I’m not seeing any great teams (unless maybe Purdue and MSU if Swanigan and Bridges come back and MSU picks up McCoy).
With so many players still needing to make NBA decisions it’s hard to predict, but I think the ACC for sure will be a better conference than the Big Ten, both in terms of final four contenders and depth. One could maybe make the argument that there are fewer easy games in the Big Ten, but I think there are also fewer games that (in looking ahead) are likely losses.
The great thing about next year, in the Big Ten and all NCAA, is it’s going to be wide open again. There doesn’t seem to be a dominant team taking shape.
