Early BIG Projections (2020-21)

[Brass Cannon 24,211]

1 minute ago, IUc2016 said:

Article from 247 speculating that Kofi will be staying in the draft. He did get invited to the combine, if there is one. Deadline to withdraw is next week. 

"Cockburn returned to Champaign in late May and he took part in voluntary workouts with his teammates for a few weeks. However, the 2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year returned to New York earlier this month.

Throughout the offseason, the expectation has been that the big fella will be back. The latest development has flipped that script.

"Nothing in life is worthwhile, unless you take risks,” Cockburn posted on his SnapChat on Sunday."

Oh no that’s so sad, I’m heart broken. 

[IUc2016 7,121]

https://www.insidethehall.com/2020/08/03/an-updated-look-at-who-is-coming-and-going-in-the-big-ten-for-the-2020-21-season-4/

Final Look at who is coming and going in the BIG after the draft deadline. 

My updated projections.....

1. Wisconsin

2. Illinois

3. Michigan State

4. Iowa

5. Indiana

6. Rutgers

7. Michigan

8. Ohio State

9. Purdue

10. Maryland

11. Penn State

12. Minnesota

13. Northwestern

14. Nebraska

 

I think the BIG gets 8-9 teams in this year depending on what the season schedules look like. Unlike last year where I felt like IU was middle of the pack in terms of talent and skill, I think they will be able to match up with any team in the BIG top to bottom. Hopefully we get a season because the BIG will be nasty once again. 

[mdn82 25,510]

After everyone is back, I think B1G gets 8 in.  I think Illinois and Iowa will be in that top 10-12 at the end of season.  I think we will steadily have 4 teams ranked the most of season.  I would interchange IU and MSU but I trust Izzo more over a season.  Indiana will be in that 3-9 range.  I think where I would go after everything is announced is:

1.  Illinois

2.  Wisconsin

3.  Iowa

4.  MSU

5.  Indiana

6.  Michigan

7.  Rutgers

8.  Ohio State

9.  Maryland

10.  Purdue

11.  PSU

12.  Northwestern

13.  Minnesota

14.  Nebraska

[IUc2016 7,121]

16 minutes ago, mdn82 said:

After everyone is back, I think B1G gets 8 in.  I think Illinois and Iowa will be in that top 10-12 at the end of season.  I think we will steadily have 4 teams ranked the most of season.  I would interchange IU and MSU but I trust Izzo more over a season.  Indiana will be in that 3-9 range.  I think where I would go after everything is announced is:

1.  Illinois

2.  Wisconsin

3.  Iowa

4.  MSU

5.  Indiana

6.  Michigan

7.  Rutgers

8.  Ohio State

9.  Maryland

10.  Purdue

11.  PSU

12.  Northwestern

13.  Minnesota

14.  Nebraska

Yeah I have Wisconsin at number 1 even though I think Iowa and Illinois are probably better teams. But Wisconsin owns the BIG even when they are very mediocre. A top 6 finish in this years BIG will be an accomplishment for any team. 

[WayneFleekHoosier 47,890]

1 hour ago, mdn82 said:

After everyone is back, I think B1G gets 8 in.  I think Illinois and Iowa will be in that top 10-12 at the end of season.  I think we will steadily have 4 teams ranked the most of season.  I would interchange IU and MSU but I trust Izzo more over a season.  Indiana will be in that 3-9 range.  I think where I would go after everything is announced is:

1.  Illinois

2.  Wisconsin

3.  Iowa

4.  MSU

5.  Indiana

6.  Michigan

7.  Rutgers

8.  Ohio State

9.  Maryland

10.  Purdue

11.  PSU

12.  Northwestern

13.  Minnesota

14.  Nebraska

I could see the B1G getting 10 in even.  Rutgers will be interesting.  They will prove if last year was a fluke.  I suspect it wasn't.  Purdue and Maryland lesser than normal but could easily see them as NCAAT teams.  But there will be a lot of good teams this year if they play basketball, will be one of the more loaded years in a while.  

[Stuhoo 79,469]

25 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I could see the B1G getting 10 in even.  Rutgers will be interesting.  They will prove if last year was a fluke.  I suspect it wasn't.  Purdue and Maryland lesser than normal but could easily see them as NCAAT teams.  But there will be a lot of good teams this year if they play basketball, will be one of the more loaded years in a while.  

Geez...I’m thinking Purdue is gonna suck.

They lose a bunch of rotation players from a 16-15 team, and their freshman additions are not instant impact IMO.

Painter has two last place finishes in his fifteen years - there is precedent for his teams failing badly at times.

 

[mdn82 25,510]

43 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Geez...I’m thinking Purdue is gonna suck.

They lose a bunch of rotation players from a 16-15 team, and their freshman additions are not instant impact IMO.

Painter has two last place finishes in his fifteen years - there is precedent for his teams failing badly at times.

 

I definitely don’t disagree with Wayne.  But I agree with you too.  There is always that one team that surprises.  I could easily see Purdue 10-13.  If they can find one or two people to hit a shot, and luck with Williams throughout the year I could see them in the 6-9 range.  But if they lose Williams for anything we are talking Nebraskaball bad.

[Brass Cannon 24,211]

49 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Geez...I’m thinking Purdue is gonna suck.

They lose a bunch of rotation players from a 16-15 team, and their freshman additions are not instant impact IMO.

Painter has two last place finishes in his fifteen years - there is precedent for his teams failing badly at times.

 

Agreed.  It all comes down to guard play in college basketball. When your only reliable player is a big man.  You are already going against the grain. Then to boot your one injury away from calamity. Look how bad we were when we had Morgan.  
 

Williams is going to get worn down as well I bet. Just about every team is gonna be able to rotate bigs on him. Purdue won’t be able to give him a rest defending opposing bigs when he’s on the court. 

[WayneFleekHoosier 47,890]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Geez...I’m thinking Purdue is gonna suck.

They lose a bunch of rotation players from a 16-15 team, and their freshman additions are not instant impact IMO.

Painter has two last place finishes in his fifteen years - there is precedent for his teams failing badly at times.

 

Eric Hunter is good.  TWilliams is good. Newman (RSFr) can really play.  Jaden Ivey is a good freshman. Mason Gillis, it depends, heard good things. Ethan Morton isn’t scary but a solid piece.  Stefanovic can shoot the ball. Wheeler could be a breakout candidate.  Losing Haarms was a killer though. 
 

I see this as a 7-10 B1G ranked team.  Painter will get them to play hard. 

I hope they suck though, that would be nice. 

[Stuhoo 79,469]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Eric Hunter is good.  TWilliams is good. Newman (RSFr) can really play.  Jaden Ivey is a good freshman. Mason Gillis, it depends, heard good things. Ethan Morton isn’t scary but a solid piece.  Stefanovic can shoot the ball. Wheeler could be a breakout candidate.  Losing Haarms was a killer though. 
 

I see this as a 7-10 B1G ranked team.  Painter will get them to play hard. 

I hope they suck though, that would be nice. 

EHunter is good enough. Williams is excellent.

Wheeler has zero b-ball IQ and it’s a large sample set that says so. Stevanovic is a good shooter but limited in every other way.

The other four? Only Ivey is top 100. Freshmen ranked 100-200 are very rarely impact players. Even a mega success story like Vic was just okay as a freshman. And he’s a crazy outlier.

Most importantly they only have one good player, and only two players likely to play much that are over 6’7”. They are really undersized for a team that doesn’t project to run much.

 

[IUc2016 7,121]

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/big-ten-basketball-preview-2021

Really good in-depth analysis of each BIG team heading into the season. The authors also project the BIG and have IU at #6 just behind Purdue. 

[Demo 19,543]

3 hours ago, IUc2016 said:

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/big-ten-basketball-preview-2021

Really good in-depth analysis of each BIG team heading into the season. The authors also project the BIG and have IU at #6 just behind Purdue. 

Very good. Have never seen this site before. Thanks for posting it.

[Stuhoo 79,469]

3 hours ago, IUc2016 said:

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/big-ten-basketball-preview-2021

Really good in-depth analysis of each BIG team heading into the season. The authors also project the BIG and have IU at #6 just behind Purdue. 

 

What an in-depth, excellent write-up!

I just cannot imagine that they are on point with their Purdue optimism or their Rutgers pessimism though.

Purdue coming off a 16-15 season and losing two rotation players ahead of Rutgers off a 20 win season, returning everybody, and adding a top 50 big? That seems way off. 

 

 

[IUc2016 7,121]

 

9 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

 

What an in-depth, excellent write-up!

I just cannot imagine that they are on point with their Purdue optimism or their Rutgers pessimism though.

Purdue coming off a 16-15 season and losing two rotation players ahead of Rutgers off a 20 win season, returning everybody, and adding a top 50 big? That seems way off. 

 

 

yeah I felt #5 for Purdue was interesting considering they lost a rim protector and their best defender on a team that finished 10th. I think they are a year away from getting back to the top half of the BIG. 

Rutgers on the other hand may have reached their ceiling last year, but I agree that it's still higher than Purdue's. 

[IUc2016 7,121]

Always enjoy Inside the Hall's and Umhoop's yearly projections of the top 25 players in the BIG. Today they released 25-21. The rest will be released daily throughout the week. 

https://www.insidethehall.com/2020/09/28/big-tens-top-25-players-for-2020-21-25-21/

For those that don't want to read....

25. Liam Robbins 

24. Adam Miller

23. Khristian Lander

22. Jordan Bohannon 

21. Seth Towns

Interesting enough, 4 out of the first 5 have yet to play a game in the BIG. 

[ebridges24 2,404]

26 minutes ago, IUc2016 said:

Always enjoy Inside the Hall's and Umhoop's yearly projections of the top 25 players in the BIG. Today they released 25-21. The rest will be released daily throughout the week. 

https://www.insidethehall.com/2020/09/28/big-tens-top-25-players-for-2020-21-25-21/

For those that don't want to read....

25. Liam Robbins 

24. Adam Miller

23. Khristian Lander

22. Jordan Bohannon 

21. Seth Towns

Interesting enough, 4 out of the first 5 have yet to play a game in the BIG. 

Considering Khristian may (and I emphasize "may") end up being our best player, he should be a lot higher than that.

[IUc2016 7,121]

Just now, ebridges24 said:

Considering Khristian may (and I emphasize "may") end up being our best player, he should be a lot higher than that.

I think it is very difficult to project where a reclassified PG fits in the BIG so 23 seems about right to me. 

Also, I know you said "may" but I don't see any way he is better than TJD this year. Just my opinion though 

[ebridges24 2,404]

47 minutes ago, IUc2016 said:

I think it is very difficult to project where a reclassified PG fits in the BIG so 23 seems about right to me. 

Also, I know you said "may" but I don't see any way he is better than TJD this year. Just my opinion though 

Hey, if what I said creates some conversation on this board, great. This place is dead.

[IUc2016 7,121]

1 minute ago, ebridges24 said:

Hey, if what I said creates some conversation on this board, great. This place is dead.

lol I agree, I hate to say it but I am ready for the negativity thread to show back up just for some stuff to read

[IUc2016 7,121]

Here's 16-20 of Inside the Hall's top 25 players in the Big.

https://www.insidethehall.com/2020/09/29/big-tens-top-25-players-for-2020-21-20-16/

20. Justice Sueing

19. Eric Hunter

18. Geo Baker

17. D'mitrik Trice

16. Myreon Jones

Tough seeing Eric Hunter on this list and no Rob Phinisee (doubt he makes top 15) as Rob had the much better freshman year but Hunter had the sophomore year most of us hoped Rob would have.