What is all the hype about with Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue, and Maryland?

College Basketball
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I see all of these teams as overhyped. I am not saying they are bad or worse (or better) than Michigan, but I do not see the love for those 4 teams. I would even through Michigan State in. I see Indiana as a team with a JBJ coming off an injury Robert Johnson is a good defender and Thomas Bryant is all around solid. The OG Anunoby hype is too much he only had a handful of good games last year. Ohio State returns an NIT team who lost their whole bench and it is not like they have any stars. Bates Diop, Loving, Tate, Lyle, and Thompson are all solid but not the top in the big ten. Purdue lost a lot of key players. Haas, Swanigan, and Vince Edwards are all good players but none have shown Capability of taking over a team. Their PG play is off a mediocre returner, a guy coming off double hip surgery :cry: and a freshman. Their bench is really thin also. Maryland has little experience with guys playing big minutes and MSU has no big men. Does anyone agree or am I missing something?

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Off the top of my head:

  • Indiana - most pros
  • Maryland - easy Big Ten schedule, Melo
  • Ohio State - return a lot of guys
  • Purdue - Couple All Big Ten guys in Swanigan/Vince
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I agree with you. The big ten is pretty open this year. I think beginning to end of big ten play, Wisconsin will be at the top. After that, it can be anyone up there especially with msu missing their two starting big men for awhile. I dislike Illinois more than anyone but if they stay healthy all year long, they have the most depth in the big ten by far I believe. It’s going to be a fun year to watch.

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It’s frustrating that nearly everybody in the conference except Wisconsin and Michigan loses a lot – Valentine, Ferrell, Stone, Hammons, OSU’s entire 2015 recruiting class – and yet Michigan is predicted to be a boring, middle-of-the-pack bubble team yet again. Really, it should be Michigan’s year.

Not a popular view, but I think that Hayes and Koenig are fairly close to their ceilings. Still, I know Wisconsin always has a bunch of guys come out of the woodwork who end up being annoyingly good. And we already know that Happ is annoyingly good.

MSU is still my pick to win the conference. I suppose we’ll know better after they play Kentucky.

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Purdue won 12 B1G games last year with PJ Thompson as their PG who was ok didn’t score much protected the ball. The year prior Purdue won with Octeus and Thompson as lead guards and still won 12 games in the conference. So Purdue in the 3rd straight year is going with their 3rd different PG. They don’t ask their PG to do a lot protect the ball, hit a couple shots here or there. They can rely on their horses as mentioned above. I also like designated 3 point shooter Ryan Cline hits the outside shot at a nice level, doesn’t turn the ball over.

OSU is returning just as much as Michigan and had a better B1G record than Michigan.

Indiana has a lot of talent returning I don’t believe they will win the title again but enough talent to win 11-12 conference games.

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The 2015 class was jettisoned because it was a disaster. Not many of those guys provided a positive contribution last year and I think Matta even told boosters somewhere along the way that the attrition was a positive development.

Hayes and Koenig are definitely close to their ceiling, but Wisconsin was great last year. Don’t really see why they wouldn’t be the pick to win it.

After them I think it is sort of a crap shoot. Purdue and IU both lose key pieces, but return some guys that I think could probably be first team All-Big Ten (OG, Bryant, Vince, Swanigan).

MSU loses a ton, more than just about anyone, but has a great class. They have depth issues up front already though and I think it’s underrated just how much shooting they lose.

OSU is kind of like Michigan in that they return a lot of guys that have kind of been around, but never really taken the next step. Michigan was the better team last year (51 vs 76 KP), but it seems like they are in the same spot in most projections.

I’m high on Maryland because the best PG wins a lot of games and I think Trimble is going to have a bounce back year. And they have the easiest conference slate.

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I agree with Maryland and their schedule will help. Last year Ohio St finished above Michigan due to a weak conference schedule and still had a few quality wins. Their bench is worse this year, I have a hard time seeing them be a significant amount better. Indiana has Bryant who is solid, I need to see more from OG to buy the hype he has not done enough for me yet other than show a few flashes, very similar to Mo Wagner. I really think Purdue will struggle Hammons was their go to guy offensively, defensively, and rebounding. I think Wisconsin is the best and should finish first. MSU losing carter and Schilling kills them they will get killed down in the pain. Wisconsin and Purdue should have a field day with the mismatch there. Illinois is for sure a sleeper Malcolm Hill has lots of talent and the depth and experience is there. Ultimately I think the big ten goes as follows.

  1. Wisconsin
  2. Maryland
  3. Indiana
  4. MSU
  5. Michigan
  6. Purdue
  7. Illinois
  8. Ohio St.

I think after Wisconsin I can see anyone of those teams finishing anywhere

8

I do not see this love for Maryland, they lose a lot and Melo to me is over rated. Wisconsin looks to be the favorite. MSU lost a lot of seniors who played heavy minutes and I think with the injuries the freshmen are going to be in for a rude awakening. Indiana lost the two players who were the heart and sole of the team Yogi and Williams we will see if this team becomes dysfunctional with Blackmon who plays no defense and is a black hole with the ball. Purdue and Ohio St. are always steady. Illinois has to show me. After Wisconsin I think its wide open.

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I actually see Purdue as losing the least. Hammons and Davis were cornerstones, sure, but is losing those guys the same as losing: Yogi and Williams/Valentine, Costello, and Forbes/Carter, Stone, Layman, AND Suliamon? And I dont think the losses of Yogi and Valentine can be understated, their respective teams absolutely ran through them. Haas-Swannigan-Edwards is still the best front court in the conference.

I get what Dylan is saying, about Maryland having the best PG and (probably) best player in the league, but we are writing off Iowa after losing 4 starters. The 4 guys leaving Maryland all averaged over 10+ points per game. MSU was my pick to win the conference–narrowly, over Wisky-- but now Izzo has to coach a young team AND a small team (both out of his comfort zone, at least to date). Wisconsin must be the run-away favorite, and I would have the standings as:

  1. Wisky
  2. Purdue
  3. Indiana
  4. Sparty
  5. Michigan
  6. OSU
  7. Maryalnd
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I don’t think Michigan is boring.

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11

Pretty good call in retrospect.:slight_smile:

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