Yaklich-era Beilein would make the national title with Walker, Jett, Hall, Hauser and Dickinson
Michigan would take Walker and Hall?
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Yes please
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Absolutely?
What about
Walker
Bufkin
Jett
Bates
Dickinson
You get one New Year’s wish!
- T-Will becomes a high volume 40% three point shooter
- Tarris never misses another free throw… ever
- Hunter destroys MSU so bad Tom Izzo has to stop the game and give Hunter a “stern talking to”
- One Dug McDaniel windmill poster dunk in game on Zach Edey
- Kobe goes for 81 (again)
- Yo-Yo evolves into a star
- The entire 5 all-Ivy first team transfers to Michigan next season
- Phil Martelli does a cart wheel mid-game
0 voters
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Awesome list! I voted, although somewhat insincerely - the jinx is strong with me, and if Dug doesn’t dunk on Edey because of me, I can live with that.
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Epic Penn State meltdown / vintage Iowa late-game run going here on BTN…
Keegan’s bro w/30.
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I’m going to have to reluctantly admit defeat on my Penn State take and switch it to “okay, but how sustainable is it really when they lose Pickett, Funk, Dread, Wynter, and possibly Lundy after this season.”
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Question for the board: If Purdue is alone in the top tier, who is in the second tier of Big Ten schools?
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How did Rutgers make their way to the top 20 in KenPom? That Indiana win is doing a lot there, sheesh
*caveat that I don’t believe Purdue is in their own tier despite the undefeated start, I think they’re very gettable and will at best tie for the title
Tier 1 (for now), the favorite(s): Purdue
Tier 2, guaranteed contender: Ohio State
Tier 3, teams that should be taken seriously as contenders but likely won’t be: Wisconsin, Penn State, Rutgers
Tier 4, teams that were sorta supposed to be contenders but aren’t, but could be if obvious problems magically fix themselves: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State
Tier 5, teams that just aren’t as good as we thought and will fight to make the NCAAT: Maryland, Iowa
Tier 6, bad, but with a pulse: Northwestern, Nebraska
Tier 7, Minnesota: Minnesota
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They stole the Iowa playbook and blew out all their cupcakes this year. Though they should also have a road win at OSU.
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I like that Wisconsin has played its way to Tier 3 by beating Tier 5 teams 
I think I agree that OSU and Purdue feel like they are emerging as better than the rest but sorting through the noise in the middle of the league is difficult.
I also think that tier 4 teams are probably scarier scouts than the tier 3 teams you have listed.
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Yeah, I like this. Pretty spot on. Like Dylan notes, that Tier 4 is rough to sort thru. If all 4 of those continue to scuffle its not going to be good for the league, though I think at least a couple of those teams will right the ship.
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Fair point re: Ohio State. That just shocked me when I looked up and they had losses to all but one respectable team they played. They could finish anywhere from 2-8 in conference and it wouldn’t shock me
Yeah I’m open to the idea that Rutgers/Wisconsin are fraudulent but idk I trust their cores/coaches more than the more volatile coaches right now and Rutgers really should be 2-0. I know Iowa’s a mess but Wisconsin was pretty impressive in Iowa City to me, and looking back their Atlantis performance was pretty good, shoulda beat Kansas, etc.
I really think Penn State will finish top 4 this year. The MSU win at PSU could be a big one looking back, they have a very clear identity that most of the middle pack teams lack and one of the best guards anywhere in the country. Reminds me of an early era Beilein team.
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Wisconsin is fraudulent. I will stand by that. They’ll prob make the tournament but there’s 0 upside there
If I had to guess, at end of year we see:
Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State and one of the tier 3/4 teams I listed in a four-way tie. Wouldn’t shock me if it’s any of Wisconsin/Rutgers/Indiana/Illinois/Michigan/MSU.
Think 15-5 maybe even 14-6 gets there this year