Total lack of respect for Brad Davison on this list if you ask me
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There aren’t enough advanced stats for charges taken or being a pest. If there were a heat map for those stats he’d make the cut.
You’re probably right overall and Potter was huge for them…but you also have Reuvers at #12 and in your Potter write-up you discuss the challenge Gard will have of finding enough minutes for both of them unless he figures out how to play them together.
Maybe another way to say it is that they both feel right with their rankings in a vacuum…but given their situation it seems unlikely that both of them could play up to the #6 and #12 players at the same time. Either they plateau and match last year or one of them blows up somewhat at the expense of the other. Or Gard is a genius and plays two bigs all season successfully I guess…
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I mean that’s probably not too far out there. Reuvers was so highly thought of going into last year because of his play as a sophomore, when he played 23 MPG despite Happ playing 32 MPG. Fast forward two years to next season and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a lot of 2 big sets and both Reuvers and Potter playing 27+ MPG. And if you say Potter ends up being slightly better, Potter at 30 MPG and the #6 player while Reuvers is at 25 MPG and the #12 player seems reasonable.
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Brad would be Top 5 on a completely different list.
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So if there are no fans at these Big 10 games, which is likely, what teams are going to suffer the most? Wisconsin, Rutgers and Nebraska for sure. I actually think it’ll be an advantage for Michigan.
I mean sure, but why didn’t Gard do it last year? Potter did transform the team and yet he still didn’t even play half the minutes. Gard didn’t show a willingness to play Potter and Reuvers together even though Potter was playing really well. Unless he figures out a way to play them together and more importantly, be comfortable doing so, I’m just not sure either guy plays significantly more minutes than last year.
And disagree that Potter is the reason Wisconsin is a preseason favorite. Wisconsin is a preseason favorite because they have essentially their entire team back after winning a share of the Big Ten last year. And the other teams that they shared the Big Ten title with both lost significant pieces. I don’t think people say Potter specifically is the reason they are favorites. They essentially have 5 senior starters who all could average double figures. They are the truest sense of a team over individual stars.
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Props where they’re due.
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Thanks @Pittsnogled. Let’s not pretend I’m a wizard though - we knew who the top five names were and I think the first two were layups. 
A fun addition to this awesome piece every year might be to let the readers vote on their top X ahead of time and see how it compares to what ends up being published.
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I would have had Eli in the top 25, perhaps 23, 24, or 25, but then I HAVE been a big Eli Brooks fan for a long time. Having said that, I would definitely have him in the next tier, 25-30 were there such a tier. It is hard for me to imagine that Eli Brooks would not make the SIXTH team All B1G if that existed.
Having said that, I respect the work that both you and Dylan do, and I am sure there are fans of other B1G programs who are concerned that some of their favorite players didn’t make the top 25. Picking players and an order for these kinds of lists is never easy, and people always have their opinions. Overall, I think you guys did a GREAT job!
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Like any list, you have to identify who you’d kick out. That’s the way Dickie V, during the season, names 15 different guys First Team All-American.
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Your essays never disappoint me.
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If every team were of equal standing the “6th team” would be made up of the 2nd best players on big ten teams. I don’t think you could put Eli in that grouping
“If every team were of equal standing the “6th team” would be made up of the 2nd best players on big ten teams.”
But, of course, all teams in the B1G are not of equal standing, AND two of those Sixth Team All B1G players, numbers 29 and 30 would be the third best players on their teams. You may not agree, but I consider Eli to be our third best player, especially if one considers everything Eli provides for the team.
Another way of looking at it would be that if Eli were the number 30 player in the league he would be in the top 43% of all the 70 starters in the league. Now, I personally believe he is well within that range.
It IS possible, too that there is a difference between my definition of “Best Players” and yours, or many others folks’ definitions, too, for that matter. I’m a “team” guy and that plays a part in my determinations of who I think are the “best” players.
Again, though, to your point, not every team is of equal standing in the Big Ten (14).
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