HoosierFan1994

I hope! If he plays like he did Saturday on a consistent basis. Not sure how they determine first team and what not but if it includes multiple guards I think Jalen and Xavier have a chance to be 1st team.

Wow...I missed this. This isn't a good look. I've never seen a coach lower expectations.

This is probably the most challenging year to pick B1G has been in a while. I think IU is the clear #1. Michigan and Illinois are 2-3 in some order. 4-10 IMO can be in any order. Here are my picks: B1G Poll 1. IU- Too much talent..at least on paper...compared to the rest of the conference. Key will be shooting. 2. Illinois- High ceiling team. How will they play out? I really like Skyy Clark and Ty Rodgers. I think Shannon will be very good for Underwood. How big of the jump does Hawkins make? 3. Michigan- I trust Juwan Howard to have Michigan in the mix. Hunter Dickinson is going to put up huge numbers this year. I like Llewllyn the transfer from Princeton. Bufkin will have to step up. 4. Ohio State- LOVE their freshman class. I think McNeil (Who IU Wanted) will be good. How healthy will Sueing be? I think this is a team that will be top ten good NEXT year. 5. Michigan State- In terms of experience they are second to IU. But who steps up for Sparty? My bet is Walker or Malik Hall. Center is a big question mark for them. 6. Iowa- I think Murray will make a jump but not as much as some think. They return some decent players from last year. Depth is a concern for me. and Defense. Not a Fran fan but I think he will get this team in the big dance. 7. Maryland- My surprise team. I think Willard will do well at Maryland. He has a few transfers (Young) with some experience coming back. I think Maryland was much better than their record shows a year ago. It didn't help they had an interim coach. 8. Purdue- Borderline tournament team. Can Edey play a lot? I'm not sure he can. Backcourt is a concern for me. Loyer and Smith, two true freshmen, have to step up. However, Matt Painter will have them in the mix. I say Boilers sneak in. 9. Wisconsin- Decent frontcourt. I'm not buying the Chucky hype like some people. I was in person last year at Assembly Hall for the collapse by IU. It was literally Johnny Davis and Brad that killed us. I think losing those two will really hurt them. But, it's Wisconsin. They are kinda like Michael Myers. I won't believe they will suck until they actually do... 10. Rutgers- I was kind of high on this team in the preseason. However, losing Geo and Harper is going to hurt. Saw McConnell is out with an injury. I think Clifford will have a big year. Just don't sure they will be that deep this year. 11. Minnesota- Battle and Garcia along with Cooper will make things fun. I like their starting 5. But, not sure they have the depth. NIT team maybe? But a year away. 12. Penn State- I like Micah (as a Cowboys fan I think anyone with the name Micah who is associated with Penn State is a bad a**). Again, I think they are a year away. 13/14. Northwestern/Nebraska- They will get beat up this year. Only two "gimmies" in the B1G. I think both will have a new coach in 23-24. Awards B1G Player of the Year: Hunter Dickinson. I would love for Trayce to win. I think he will be second. However, I think Hunter is going to put up massive numbers on a top 25ish team. B1G Freshman of the Year: Skyy Clark. Again, I want to pick Jalen. I just think Skyy is going to have to do more for Illinois than Jalen will for us..unless Xavier plays the way he did on Saturday. B1G Coach of the Year: Kevin Willard. I think he will make Maryland respectable again. He really took Seton Hall as far as he could with them. He has a solid roster. I want to pick Woody but they're pick to finish first. All-Conference 1st Team: Hunter Dickinson (Michigan), Trayce Jackson-Davis (IU), Kris Murray (Iowa), Terrence Shannon Jr (Illinois), Xavier Johnson (IU-yes. I think when he's on he is the best PG in the B1G). 2nd Team: Zach Edey (Purdue), Malik Hall (Michigan State), Jaelin Llewellyn (Michigan), Skyy Clark (Illinois), Jahmir Young (Maryland) 3rd Team: Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin), Jamison Battle (Minnesota), Justice Sueing (Ohio State), Caleb McConnell (Rutgers), Jalen Hood-Schifino (IU) Tournament: IU- 4 seed (IF IU goes 2-2 or better in our 4 non-con games it will help their seeding. I'm afraid this will be like 2016. Win the B1G but get a crappy seed in the tournament.) Illinois-6 seed Michigan-7 seed Ohio State-8 seed Michigan State-9 seed Iowa-10 seed Maryland-11 seed Purdue-11 or 12 seed (last 4 in) BONUS: IU Record 9-2 in non-conference (beat UNC and Arizona; lose to Xavier (first true road game) and Kansas (close one). 15-5 in B1G play. Regular season champs. Conference Tournament Champs. Make the Sweet 16 and lose to pUKe (you d**n well know they'll put us together in Louisville if they can). 29-8 overall. I think it'll be a good year, but we fall short. Trayce becomes an IU legend. Woody has this program going in the right direction..I hope. I won't apologize for having high expectations. IF they are the #13 team in the country and B1G favorite their season will look like this. Time will tell.

1) I'll put this frontcourt against anyone in the country. All week I've talked about getting the reserves minutes in these kind of games. I don't know how often Logan Duncomb will play this year but I think he is going to play a huge role in this program down the road. Malik is a grown man..more on him later. Was awesome to see Race hit 3's. I saw where Anthony and Tamar both said he was going to be much better beyond the 3 point lien this year. 2) Coach Woodson is going to have to get Malik minutes. I saw someone suggest this...Race at the 3, Trayce at the 4, Malik at the 5. Not sure that is possible. What do you guys think? Malik is a starter right now on 13 of the 14 Big Ten Teams. Nothing against Miller Kopp. He's a great person and ambassador to IU. But there need to be questions asked if he's starting at the end of the season. This leads me to my next point.. 3) It's an exhibition game but Race showed up today however I was disappointed in the other returning guys today. Especially X and Geronimo. They are all going to have to earn their minutes. This includes Tamar, Trey, Miller, etc. I think this freshman class has three guys that are going to be in the rotation. CJ Gunn really impressed me today. I hope he continues. Unfortunately it looks like Kaleb Banks won't see much time this year. I heard good things about him in the offseason but I guess he is too raw. It's an exhibition. Can't get too high and can't get too low. But it's awesome to see this team in live action. I thought they actually ran an offense today and it was refreshing to see.

The Varsity app is another way to stream the games. I think they also have IU related Podcasts. I know they'll show the Coach Woodson show once it gets started up.

As I said yesterday, especially in exhibition games, play the 2nd unit. Don't play Trayce and Tamar if they aren't near 100%. Curious if Malik would play the 5 or if they'd slide over Race and put Jordan at the 4 spot to star the game.

This, specifically good teams. This is the difference between this team losing the first weekend and making the second weekend and beyond.

Spot. On. Man, I hope Jalen isn't a one and done. I'd love to see him and Malik start together.

I'm kind of with you..as long as Jordan can play a much bigger role (reserve to a starter). But, it won't happen. Race has been getting 28 minutes a game the last two years. I think that number, along with producation, will decrease a little. Don't get me wrong, he's a good player and an awesome teammate. But, there are times his game doesn't fit the flow of the game. I'd kind of like to see him and Jordan split that 4 spot at times.

I know this will happen in our exhibition games but I hope in the non-conference games (NOT UNC, Xavier, Zona, or Kansas) that if IU has a comfortable lead they play the "2nd unit". Race, Xavier, and Miller are all for sure gone next year. Trayce probably is as well. If Jalen impresses he could be. For the 23-24 season this team needs Trey, Tamar, Jordan, Malik, Kaleb, and the rest to really step up. Don't get me wrong, the starters need to play. However, if IU is up 20 with 8 minutes to go, play the reserves. They need meaningful reps. I think as the season goes on the rotation will shrink a little. Get these guys the reps now. I think it will help long term. There will probably be a little drop off next year but I don't want it to be IU has a good year and follows it with a bad year of missing the tournament.

I'll give my "official" picks soon with standings, all-conference, and awards but a few things: 1) Illinois and Purdue, IMO, have an easier conference schedule than IU does. I won't flip out if IU does not finish first in the B1G regular season. However, they need to finish top 4 so they can get a bye. 2) I think Maryland is extremely underrated. Kevin Willard was solid at Seton Hall. They have some nice transfers coming. 3) Don't know if this is good or bad but the talent level in the Big Ten is down. I feel IU is head and shoulders above everyone right now. But...they have a more difficult conference schedule. It's possible they could have 3 All-B1G guys. Illinois is probably 2nd in terms of "on-paper" talent. I think many are overrating Michigan and Purdue because they have an All-American coming back. However, they don't have enough talent around them. I think Michigan State/Ohio State could easily finish top 3/4 if they have a guy that breaks out this year. Don't sleep on Rutgers or Wisconsin.

Sorry, I was just never on board with Coach Allen. I think he is a great guy. But, he's only had two good seasons at IU (I guess we can call 2020 a full season). 0-3 in bowl games. They completely choked in the Gator Bowl and lost to a team with a losing record in the Outback Bowl. 5-15 since the contract extension. I don't care about the low standards for football...IU and their fans deserve better. I see him here another year or two unfortunately. I agree with most, I don't see a buyout happening after they just extended him in March of 2021. Side note: Why do teams/athletic programs reward coaches for okay results? Colts gave Reich, along with Ballard, a contract extension after ONE freakin playoff win. They've been a .500 team since the contract extension. Just like Glass giving Crean one after ONE good year. I don't get it...

No, Tamar won't be this year. For 23-24 I think he could. Part of me hopes Jalen is a one and done...I think that could take IU from a 2nd weekend team to a legit final four contender.

Not going to lie this is why I think it will be him. For Trayce to say that...he sees this every day. I think by seasons end Tamar will be starting. In fact, it's possible he will be the best player on this team next year.

Good video. My bold prediction (not so bold): Nothing against Miller but I think someone takes his starting spot by the end of the year. Not because of Miller's play but because someone is going to breakout and just demand more playing time. We will see. Tamar is my guess based on what I've read.

Different game but I am going with some work friends to the December 20 Elon game. Will things be open around that time as well? I know there is a game on the 23rd and avoided that one since I thought places might be closed.

While Xavier is the "least talented" it will be tough because they will be the first road test for this team. Assembly Hall will be fired up for the UNC game. Biggest home game since 2013 Michigan. Brings me back to 2011-2013 when this team had some big games there (2011 UK, 2011 OSU, 2012/2013 Michigan State, 2013 Michigan). Arizona will be a good test. They lost a lot from last year so I don't think they are as talented as the ranking suggests. Kansas too but nobody wins there. I see a 2-2 split which I will take. (Beat UNC and Arizona, lose to Xavier and Kansas).

I'm happy that they are going to resume playing. I'd like to go as the wife is a pUKe fan but I'm sure the tickets will be $$$. Hope this means the NCAA can stop putting us in the same region for the tournament on purpose. They are probably dying to put IU and UK in Louisville this March.

I hope so too but if he really is a one and done guy I think that bodes well for this current team...as in Final Four good.

Really think if he can lead this team to a B1G title and a deep tournament run he's going to be considered as one of the best this program has ever had. I remember before the 12-13 season Crean told everyone to enjoy Zeller as you don't get players that often. I think the same of TJD. Let's enjoy this year.

I'll give this program credit. They don't give up. I've been a CTA critic of late but you really are going to have to put this team away. They just fight back. Personally I don't see them winning next week but you never know. I still think this team can make a bowl game. 7 wins seems possible. Keep it rolling.

Imagine Jay as a senior with Calbert as a Sophomore. Woof.

Not quite on their level but kind of the same thing with IU...without a second half comeback against Michigan they are an NIT team. I highly doubt they're ranked as high as they are in some polls if that was the case.

I did the Big Ten a month ago. I'll try and do a nice guess at the National Top 25. I think my early "Final Four Teams" in order are UNC, Gonzaga, UK, and Houston. UNC has to be the preseason favorite with Bacot, Love, Davis, Black, and Co. coming back. Add in Nance the transfer as well. Gonzaga benefited the most from the NBA deadline. Timmie and a few starters back. Have to think UK will make some noise with Oscar being back. Houston's backcourt will be solid and have some motivation hosting the Final 4. The next group of teams are Duke, UCLA, Creighton, Texas, Arkansas, and Baylor. If Duke's freshman are as good as advertised they have a shot at going back to the Final Four. Really like Texas and Baylor's roster...For Texas the question is can they come together. Baylor's backcourt will be fun. Two 13 point a game scorers and a top ten freshman. UCLA will have another team that can make a run. Creighton will be good..just can't see McDermott taking them very far. Sweet 16 at best. Arkansas would be a top 3 team if Jaylin Williams had returned. Nick Smith might be the best freshman in the class. Come January Muss will have the Razorbacks rolling. I'd probably put IU in the #11-14 range. Would bet that's where they'll be to start in the AP Poll. I'll group them with Tennessee, Auburn, and Kansas. I'm not high on Kansas at all (on their standards/where the national guys are putting them). Jalen Wilson has to take a big step. They are also relying on their freshman to contribute. Freshman don't really contribute at Kansas.. B1G wise I'll say Illinois is the only other team to start the season ranked. Probably 21-25 range. Saw Rob Dauster from the Field of 68 (IF you are a huge college hoops junkie you have to listen to them) pick them to the Final Four as a sleeper team..wouldn't go that far. Michigan State, Ohio State, and Michigan IMO are in that 26-30 range.

The power of Assembly Hall!