If may intervene here......
The BigTen has been down the past few years, but it's on the rebound.
Ohio State is obviously going be a force, now that their post-season ban is over with, and considering they were the only team to beat Illinois besides North Carolina (albeit on a lucky shot) and return most of their personnel plus freshmen and a good transfer from Bowling Green, they will be formidable.
Minnesota proved that having star egotistical players (Humphries, Rickert) can hurt a team more than help, by going to the tourney for the first time in a few years last year..... They return a decent core group and add a few players, too.
Wisconsin loses a few good players, including Mike Wilkinson and Zach Morley (the guy with the cool hair), but Alando Tucker will be healthy, and Brian Butch will have a chance to reach his potential.
Indiana is still youthful, and losing Ewing Jr and Wright certainly hurts..... There a few transfers plus the core of Vaden and White.
Purdue should not have been that bad last year. I think with Painter having full control the Boilers will definitely improve. Teague, Kiefer, and Landry are a very good trio.
Penn State loses Aaron Johnson, which is a big loss, but Geary Claxton, Ben Luber, and Travis Parker are all good players...... Perhaps Marlon Smith can return to the team, too.
For Iowa, Brunner, Horner, and Haluska are a very good trio...... They managed to play well even after Pierre Pierce got dismissed again.
Illinois loses Head, Powell, Williams, and Nick Smith, but they'll still be good, with Augustine and Dee Brown.
Northwestern has been solid under Carmody..... TJ Parker is leaving and the Wildcats might be the worst in the BigTeh next year, but no worse than South Florida, for example.
Michigan State loses Anderson, Bograkos, Hill, and Torbert...... They still have Paul Davis, Mo Ager, Shannon Brown, Neitzel, Naymick, and Trannon, though...... They won't be as deep, but they'll be solid.
And then there's Michigan...... Unfortunately for me, the Wolverines have been the epitome of an enigma....... You all probably rememeber the NIT championship a year ago, against Rutgers..... I was amidst that sea of red that night that was chanting "R.........U........R........ U....." numerous times..... and then it stopped. Michigan hit its free thows towards the end, and there was nothing that Lamizana could do for the Scarlet Knights despite his amazing performance the rest of the game...... Douby was shut down the whole game.
The problem, last year, though, was that the player who dominated Douby that night was a rookie in the NBA - Bernard Robinson Jr - who had a decent year for the Bobcats this season...... Furthermore, the best player on the team, Lester Abram, tore his ACL...... and then Daniel Horton got injured..... and shortly after he returned, he got suspended for the rest of the year on a domestic abuse accusation by his girlfriend..... Furthermore, pretty much the entire team, except the only freshman on the roster, Ron Coleman, missed at least a game due to injury.
This upcoming season, though, EVERYBODY returns..... Abram is healthy, Horton's legal problems are behind him, everyone else is healthy, and there is DEPTH with 4 newcomers.
Please stop bashing the BigTen - it will probably be the #3 conference and could be the #2 conference next year, with a lot of personnel lost in the ACC, some teams in the Big12 losing good players (esp Kansas, Oklahoma State), the SEC being raided by the NBA (Florida, Kentucky, LSU in particular), and the Pac10 not being so hot either.
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