With so many tight conference races likely to emerge this season, picking the most hotly contested one is difficult. However, further examination reveals that one league should be a little harder to win than others.
Over half of the Big Ten could take the conference crown this season. Anyone in the top half of the 14-team conference can make a run.
According to the rankings, the class of the Big Ten is Maryland. The Terps return most of the core of the squad, but the loss of leader Dez Wells could acquire more importance than some are willing to acknowledge. Melo Trimble surprised some by returning for another season. Maryland also welcomes freshman Diamond Stone and transfer Rasheed Sulaimon from Duke. Those additions have Maryland looking strong on both ends of the court and have Mark Turgeon in position to not only repeat, but very possibly exceed, last season’s level of success.
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Coming off last season’s Final Four run, it is impossible to doubt Tom Izzo in East Lansing. Michigan State brings back Denzel Valentine from a late-blooming team which more than salvaged its season after being left for dead early. That seems to be the norm for Izzo, who always has his teams playing the best basketball by the end of the season. However, the Spartans lose Travis Trice and Branden Dawson, making the replacements more vital to this season’s progression. Matt Costello and Bryn Forbes will help fill the void to some degree, along with some newcomers who are expected to make an immediate impact.
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Indiana returns several players from an up-and-down team last season, including strong performers Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams. Tom Crean once again brought in another solid recruiting class, giving the Hoosiers no reason to not succeed this campaign. Many are drinking the Kool-Aid for the Hoosiers and have them at or near the top of the conference. Crean is on the hot seat from the beginning of this season. However, the talent is there and Indiana looks like a season-long contender.
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Staying in Indiana, Purdue returns a majority of a team that broke through last season to get into the NCAA tournament. With A.J. Hammons returning to school, the inside is set for the Boilermakers. Freshman Caleb Swanigan has been cleared, creating even more buzz around the program. Teaming Swanigan with Hammons and fellow seven-footer Isaac Haas, Purdue certainly has size. The only question is how the Boilermakers will replace the leadership of Jon Octeus, the transfer from Colorado State who made such a difference for Matt Painter last season.
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Bo Ryan is starting over at Wisconsin with the defending national runners-up. Though the cupboard is fairly empty, it remains that — just like Izzo — it is impossible to doubt Ryan and his abilities. The Badgers return Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig from last season’s squad, but not much else. Koenig was strong last season after starting point guard Traevon Jackson went down with an injury. While he had some help, Koenig minimized what could have been a devastating loss, and actually played better than the veteran to lead UW to the Final Four. The main question for the Badgers is the frontcourt, where only Hayes returns from a group that dominated last season. Once again, though: You can never count out Ryan and his teams.
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Michigan also made strides as the 2015 season went along; a young squad got better as the campaign wrapped up. However, the group finished with a mere .500 record. Injuries to Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton, Jr. derailed the momentum the Wolverines were attempting to build. They were close on many occasions, and even took Wisconsin and Michigan State to overtime. With LeVert, Walton, and several other highly experienced players returning from last season, now looks like the time for Michigan to make another run.
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Thad Matta is also expected to keep Ohio State competitive, even with the loss of D’Angelo Russell and five other contributors. The team will have no seniors and just one junior, making the Buckeyes easily the youngest team in the conference. While this could be viewed as a challenge, Matta has brought in another strong class and will keep the Buckeyes competitive.
While the bottom half of the Big Ten looks like it will have its struggles most of the season, any of the top seven teams in the conference can win it.
