We’re just days away from the start of the college hoops season and it’s going to be a year to remember in the Big Ten.
The league welcomes in its new West Coast friends, which includes some very accomplished coaches in UCLA’s Mick Cronin, Oregon’s Dana Altman and USC’s Eric Musselman. Speaking of accomplished coaches, Matt Painter is looking to win his third consecutive Big Ten regular season title — but this time, he won’t have a college hoops all-timer in Zach Edey down low.
The Boilers are coming off a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament, and if they claim the league trophy once again, Painter would join Tom Izzo, Thad Matta and Gene Keady as the only coaches to win three straight regular season titles over the last 40 years. Izzo continues to chug along in East Lansing, but he’s lost considerable steam over the past few years (41-38 in B1G play the last four seasons). Is that his new reality if he doesn’t change?
Contrary to Izzo, Illini head man Brad Underwood has fully embraced this new world of college basketball and he’s found great success in it. Underwood is riding high in Champaign after taking Illinois to its first Elite Eight since 2005 and then restocking the roster in a big way. Bart Torvik’s projections rank Illinois second in all of college basketball in talent score, only trailing UCONN. But it’s a tall task to mesh 10 new guys and survive the growing pains that are sure to come.
It’s a big year for Mike Woodson in Bloomington after missing the NCAA Tournament last season. Along the way, there became a very noticeable divide in the IU fan base between those who still had Woody’s back and those who were trying to back up the U-Haul in his driveway. Look up any hot seat list going into this season and he’s on it. It’s a ‘prove it’ year, but Woodson has a loaded roster at his disposal.
Who takes home the league crown? Who’s bound to disappoint? Will Braden Smith live up to the Preseason Player of the Year hype? And if he doesn’t win it, who else is a good pick? I answered that and more with my Big Ten preseason superlatives.
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