The Big Ten didn't win it all this season, but it was an unbelievable season nonetheless, capped by the conference tournament's 5 seed playing for the national championship, illustrating the league's depth of great teams.
Michigan and Indiana were among the nation's best all season, and Michigan State, Ohio State and to a lesser extent Wisconsin, per usual, were right there behind them.
Illinois had a surprisingly strong season in its first year under new coach John Groce and Iowa took another step forward, to the point where it very nearly was a tournament team.
Purdue had a disappointing season in the final analysis, but an 8-10 regular season record in the best league in college basketball is nothing to sneeze at, whatever that even means. Minnesota was good enough to be a tournament team, but bad enough to get its coach fired.
It was a Big Ten season highlighted by the league featuring some of the game's top individual players, including player-of-the-year Trey Burke and player-of-the-year runner-up Victor Olapido, as well as Cody Zeller, Deshaun Thomas, etc.
But it was also a great season for impact freshmen. Gary Harris at Michigan State, Sam Dekker at Wisconsin and Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary were all major factors in Michigan going from playing on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament to playing for the national title. Purdue's freshmen, obviously, had their moments, enough of them to give reason to think the future is bright in West Lafayette.
It was a great season for the Big Ten. Can it be matched next season? We'll see.
NBA defections will obviously change the landscape in the coming weeks, and time will tell whether the 2012 freshman class will stay intact long enough to carry the league over an extended period of time the way the 2007 class did a few years ago.
ESPN.com released an early top 25 this morning, one that puts four Big Ten team in its rankings (Michigan State, 3; Ohio State, 6; Indiana, 19; and Iowa, 25), and two others (Michigan and Wisconsin) in its "Fifteen Others To Watch." No Purdue, which is not surprising considering that the Boilermakers fell hard off the national radar this season.
USA Today also put out a top 25, as well.
It is way too early to project much of anything about anyone at this point, but here is a quick look around.
Illinois: Illinois was 23-13 in Year 1 under Groce, but rebuilds next season with guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson among those departing.
The biggest step I thought Illinois made this season was with its buoyancy. The Illini started 12-0, but lost seven of their first nine Big Ten games. Past Illinois teams might have given in to their trademark schizophrenia and rolled up in the fetal position for the rest of the season. Instead, they put together a midseason winning streak and ended the season in the NCAA Tournament's second (err, third) round, with 23 wins.
Groce has a strong recruiting class coming in, but the Illini should be very young next season, Tracy Abrams, Joe Bertrand and Nnanna Egwu give it a solid base to rebuild its roster - four seniors and three transfers are gone - around.
Indiana: That IU's being listed in preseason top 25s is indication that it's already to the point where the Hoosiers are simply being given the benefit of the doubt, which speaks to how far they've come.
Zeller and Oladipo are lottery picks and as good as gone.
But so too will be the experience and substance that its adversity-tested senior class provided. Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls will be badly missed as well.
That will leave point guard Yogi Ferrell as Indiana's lone returning starter. He's good, but the changing dynamics around him, whether it be in the caliber of players or the experienced support system provided to him this season, could be an adjustment. He and sixth man Will Sheehey really are IU's two top returnees, as Ferrell was really the only member of IU's touted freshman class to do much of anything this season. Need was part of that, obviously, as IU had so many veterans.
The freshman class coming in is a talented one but from an experience perspective, IU will fall off the map next season. And experience was a huge component to that team's success this season, a season in which all the stars were lined up.
Jeremy Hollowell and Hanner Mosquera-Perea need to be players now for Indiana and McDonald's All-American Noah Vonleh will have to be a major-impact guy.
Iowa: Maybe the Big Ten's foremost emerging team, the Hawkeyes just missed the NCAA Tournament, then reached the NIT title game.
And just about everybody's back, including Roy Devyn Marble and Aaron White, who could be All-Big Ten sorts of players next season, as well as senior-to-be Melsahn Basabe, who could be in the same boat.
Mike Gesell was good as a freshman and more experience will benefit the Hawkeyes at the point guard position, where it wasn't always great. But what Iowa needs more than anything is for Adam Woodbury to grow up quick. The former elite big man recruit really struggled as a freshman.
It will be interesting to see what Wisconsin transfer Jarrod Uthoff can provide, now that the Bo Ryan claw marks have scabbed over.
Michigan: See Indiana.
Much like Indiana, this was a silver-bullet sort of team for the Wolverines in that everything was lined up, and now it will scatter. Trey Burke is a goner, and Tim Hardaway Jr. might unwisely follow. NCAA Tournament phenom McGary will go, too, if I had to guess. Robinson III should stay and my uneducated guess on that front is he will.
During its NCAA run, Michigan started five guys who'll play in the NBA - yes, Nik Stauskas is a pro, eventually - but many of them will be gone next season.
But John Beilein has that program rolling right now and the Wolverines should be a factor in the Big Ten race for years to come.
Michigan State: We'll see what Adreian Payne does. He was great as a junior.
But regardless of Payne's status or the loss of Derrick Nix, the Spartans should be loaded.
Sophomore Gary Harris, who'll return for his sophomore season, is your preseason favorite for Player-of-the-Year - maybe a first-team All-American if he can stay healthy - and Branden Dawson, provided he does return, will be a first-team All-Big Ten sort of guy, as will Payne if he's back. I thought point guard Keith Appling was over-rated this season, but he's certainly a talent.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the post if Payne goes and Michigan State loses both him and Nix at the same time. That would leave the Spartans without their traditional size in the paint.
Minnesota: Who knows? Richard Pitino comes in as one of the league's two new coaches, looking to probably make the Gophers more up-tempo and more of a pressuring defense. Andre and Austin Hollins are a decent foundation, but this would seem like a rebuild job after the Gophers lost Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams.
Consistency is Job 1 for Little Pitino, who may or may not still be twisting Derek Willis' arm to decommit from Purdue. Much like Illinois, Minnesota has had an unfortunate penchant for petering out mid-season.
Northwestern: Hey, I almost forgot the plucky Wildcats, who'll be totally different now under new leadership. Former Duke assistant Chris Collins takes over for Bill Carmody.
It'll be interesting. Carmody's annoying systems always made Northwestern a pest even in the face of massive talent differentials. I don't know what Collins is going to run, but assume Princeton is no more in Evanston. That'll leave the promising new coach with a bunch of system-specific niche players to play more traditionally.
They have to have Drew Crawford back. Otherwise, Dave Sobolewski is a good point guard and winner and center Alex Olah has a chance to be very good.
But this could take a while.
Ohio State: Deshaun Thomas is gone, but Ohio State still has the makings of a top-10 sort of team.
Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr. and Shannon Scott give the Buckeyes a terrific backcourt trio, and LaQuinton Ross looked in the NCAA Tournament like a budding star. Sam Thompson ain't bad, either.
Here's guessing, too, that incoming freshmen Marc Loving and Kameron Williams don't suck.
Penn State: The Nittany Lions were awful this season, just overmatched without Tim Frazier, but never quit, as evidenced by their win over Michigan.
Assuming Frazier is back to past form, Penn State will have one of the Big Ten's best players, to go along with two other good guards in D.J. Newbill and Jermaine Marshall. Ross Travis in the frontcourt isn't bad.
On paper right now, I wouldn't expect Penn State to get out of the lower division and probably won't make the NCAA Tournament, but it'll beat some people.
Purdue: Objectively speaking, no one in the Big Ten has more upward mobility than the Boilermakers, and after a 16-18 season, it will obviously need to make a jump.
Really, Purdue is the team with the most potential to improve most from one season to the next, because of the young talent in the program that'll benefit from experience.
A.J. Hammons and Ronnie Johnson could be All-Big Ten types sooner rather than later. But potential doesn't mean jack if it's not fulfilled and Purdue goes into the offseason with a lot of fixing to do.
Nebraska: As Purdue can attest, Shavon Shields is pretty good. Otherwise, can't claim to really have a good feel for what Nebraska will look like next season, but Year 1 under the energetic Tim Miles was probably a step in the right direction.
Baby steps. The Big Ten Tournament win over Purdue was a big one for the Cornhuskers.
Wisconsin: No matter what, Bo Ryan will find a way. Wisconsin will be in the thick of the league race come late February.
Dekker's gonna be an absolute star; Ben Brust can shoot it; Traevon Jackson has a chance to be very good; and my inherent biases toward Illinois Wolves AAU alums leads me to think Frank Kaminsky is going to be a player.
Don't forget, too, that Josh Gasser should be back from injury. He was going to be a critical piece for them this year.
Watch out for incoming freshman Broson Koenig. He will torch nets.
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Michigan and Indiana were among the nation's best all season, and Michigan State, Ohio State and to a lesser extent Wisconsin, per usual, were right there behind them.
Illinois had a surprisingly strong season in its first year under new coach John Groce and Iowa took another step forward, to the point where it very nearly was a tournament team.
Purdue had a disappointing season in the final analysis, but an 8-10 regular season record in the best league in college basketball is nothing to sneeze at, whatever that even means. Minnesota was good enough to be a tournament team, but bad enough to get its coach fired.
It was a Big Ten season highlighted by the league featuring some of the game's top individual players, including player-of-the-year Trey Burke and player-of-the-year runner-up Victor Olapido, as well as Cody Zeller, Deshaun Thomas, etc.
But it was also a great season for impact freshmen. Gary Harris at Michigan State, Sam Dekker at Wisconsin and Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary were all major factors in Michigan going from playing on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament to playing for the national title. Purdue's freshmen, obviously, had their moments, enough of them to give reason to think the future is bright in West Lafayette.
It was a great season for the Big Ten. Can it be matched next season? We'll see.
NBA defections will obviously change the landscape in the coming weeks, and time will tell whether the 2012 freshman class will stay intact long enough to carry the league over an extended period of time the way the 2007 class did a few years ago.
ESPN.com released an early top 25 this morning, one that puts four Big Ten team in its rankings (Michigan State, 3; Ohio State, 6; Indiana, 19; and Iowa, 25), and two others (Michigan and Wisconsin) in its "Fifteen Others To Watch." No Purdue, which is not surprising considering that the Boilermakers fell hard off the national radar this season.
USA Today also put out a top 25, as well.
It is way too early to project much of anything about anyone at this point, but here is a quick look around.
Illinois: Illinois was 23-13 in Year 1 under Groce, but rebuilds next season with guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson among those departing.
The biggest step I thought Illinois made this season was with its buoyancy. The Illini started 12-0, but lost seven of their first nine Big Ten games. Past Illinois teams might have given in to their trademark schizophrenia and rolled up in the fetal position for the rest of the season. Instead, they put together a midseason winning streak and ended the season in the NCAA Tournament's second (err, third) round, with 23 wins.
Groce has a strong recruiting class coming in, but the Illini should be very young next season, Tracy Abrams, Joe Bertrand and Nnanna Egwu give it a solid base to rebuild its roster - four seniors and three transfers are gone - around.
Indiana: That IU's being listed in preseason top 25s is indication that it's already to the point where the Hoosiers are simply being given the benefit of the doubt, which speaks to how far they've come.
Zeller and Oladipo are lottery picks and as good as gone.
But so too will be the experience and substance that its adversity-tested senior class provided. Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls will be badly missed as well.
That will leave point guard Yogi Ferrell as Indiana's lone returning starter. He's good, but the changing dynamics around him, whether it be in the caliber of players or the experienced support system provided to him this season, could be an adjustment. He and sixth man Will Sheehey really are IU's two top returnees, as Ferrell was really the only member of IU's touted freshman class to do much of anything this season. Need was part of that, obviously, as IU had so many veterans.
The freshman class coming in is a talented one but from an experience perspective, IU will fall off the map next season. And experience was a huge component to that team's success this season, a season in which all the stars were lined up.
Jeremy Hollowell and Hanner Mosquera-Perea need to be players now for Indiana and McDonald's All-American Noah Vonleh will have to be a major-impact guy.
Iowa: Maybe the Big Ten's foremost emerging team, the Hawkeyes just missed the NCAA Tournament, then reached the NIT title game.
And just about everybody's back, including Roy Devyn Marble and Aaron White, who could be All-Big Ten sorts of players next season, as well as senior-to-be Melsahn Basabe, who could be in the same boat.
Mike Gesell was good as a freshman and more experience will benefit the Hawkeyes at the point guard position, where it wasn't always great. But what Iowa needs more than anything is for Adam Woodbury to grow up quick. The former elite big man recruit really struggled as a freshman.
It will be interesting to see what Wisconsin transfer Jarrod Uthoff can provide, now that the Bo Ryan claw marks have scabbed over.
Michigan: See Indiana.
Much like Indiana, this was a silver-bullet sort of team for the Wolverines in that everything was lined up, and now it will scatter. Trey Burke is a goner, and Tim Hardaway Jr. might unwisely follow. NCAA Tournament phenom McGary will go, too, if I had to guess. Robinson III should stay and my uneducated guess on that front is he will.
During its NCAA run, Michigan started five guys who'll play in the NBA - yes, Nik Stauskas is a pro, eventually - but many of them will be gone next season.
But John Beilein has that program rolling right now and the Wolverines should be a factor in the Big Ten race for years to come.
Michigan State: We'll see what Adreian Payne does. He was great as a junior.
But regardless of Payne's status or the loss of Derrick Nix, the Spartans should be loaded.
Sophomore Gary Harris, who'll return for his sophomore season, is your preseason favorite for Player-of-the-Year - maybe a first-team All-American if he can stay healthy - and Branden Dawson, provided he does return, will be a first-team All-Big Ten sort of guy, as will Payne if he's back. I thought point guard Keith Appling was over-rated this season, but he's certainly a talent.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the post if Payne goes and Michigan State loses both him and Nix at the same time. That would leave the Spartans without their traditional size in the paint.
Minnesota: Who knows? Richard Pitino comes in as one of the league's two new coaches, looking to probably make the Gophers more up-tempo and more of a pressuring defense. Andre and Austin Hollins are a decent foundation, but this would seem like a rebuild job after the Gophers lost Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams.
Consistency is Job 1 for Little Pitino, who may or may not still be twisting Derek Willis' arm to decommit from Purdue. Much like Illinois, Minnesota has had an unfortunate penchant for petering out mid-season.
Northwestern: Hey, I almost forgot the plucky Wildcats, who'll be totally different now under new leadership. Former Duke assistant Chris Collins takes over for Bill Carmody.
It'll be interesting. Carmody's annoying systems always made Northwestern a pest even in the face of massive talent differentials. I don't know what Collins is going to run, but assume Princeton is no more in Evanston. That'll leave the promising new coach with a bunch of system-specific niche players to play more traditionally.
They have to have Drew Crawford back. Otherwise, Dave Sobolewski is a good point guard and winner and center Alex Olah has a chance to be very good.
But this could take a while.
Ohio State: Deshaun Thomas is gone, but Ohio State still has the makings of a top-10 sort of team.
Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr. and Shannon Scott give the Buckeyes a terrific backcourt trio, and LaQuinton Ross looked in the NCAA Tournament like a budding star. Sam Thompson ain't bad, either.
Here's guessing, too, that incoming freshmen Marc Loving and Kameron Williams don't suck.
Penn State: The Nittany Lions were awful this season, just overmatched without Tim Frazier, but never quit, as evidenced by their win over Michigan.
Assuming Frazier is back to past form, Penn State will have one of the Big Ten's best players, to go along with two other good guards in D.J. Newbill and Jermaine Marshall. Ross Travis in the frontcourt isn't bad.
On paper right now, I wouldn't expect Penn State to get out of the lower division and probably won't make the NCAA Tournament, but it'll beat some people.
Purdue: Objectively speaking, no one in the Big Ten has more upward mobility than the Boilermakers, and after a 16-18 season, it will obviously need to make a jump.
Really, Purdue is the team with the most potential to improve most from one season to the next, because of the young talent in the program that'll benefit from experience.
A.J. Hammons and Ronnie Johnson could be All-Big Ten types sooner rather than later. But potential doesn't mean jack if it's not fulfilled and Purdue goes into the offseason with a lot of fixing to do.
Nebraska: As Purdue can attest, Shavon Shields is pretty good. Otherwise, can't claim to really have a good feel for what Nebraska will look like next season, but Year 1 under the energetic Tim Miles was probably a step in the right direction.
Baby steps. The Big Ten Tournament win over Purdue was a big one for the Cornhuskers.
Wisconsin: No matter what, Bo Ryan will find a way. Wisconsin will be in the thick of the league race come late February.
Dekker's gonna be an absolute star; Ben Brust can shoot it; Traevon Jackson has a chance to be very good; and my inherent biases toward Illinois Wolves AAU alums leads me to think Frank Kaminsky is going to be a player.
Don't forget, too, that Josh Gasser should be back from injury. He was going to be a critical piece for them this year.
Watch out for incoming freshman Broson Koenig. He will torch nets.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
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