Before this year’s basketball season began, it seemed like there were six teams that could compete for the Big Ten title this year. Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio State were the favorites due to returning significant contributors from last year and/or adding significant pieces from the transfer portal.
Nebraska also returned most of its best players, but would need to take another step forward. Michigan returned most of last year’s Elite 8 team, but was also losing the best player in program history in Naz Hillmon. And Maryland had lost more than any team in the transfer portal, but replaced those losses with intriguing players. The question for the Terps was whether all those transfers could fit well on the same team.
Those preseason expectations have largely held true. Nebraska probably isn’t a title contender at this point, but no one would be shocked if any of the other five teams ended up winning at least a share of the conference title.
We’ve also had one shock entrant into Big Ten title discussions: Illinois. The Illini were 7-20 overall and 1-13 in conference last year. Despite that, new coach Shauna Green has the Illini at 13-2 overall and 3-1 in conference. Green should certainly be in the discussion for Coach of the Year nationally.
Below is a breakdown of each of the Big 7 teams in the Big Ten and their remaining games against other Big 7 teams. I don’t have analysis below for Purdue, Penn State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, or Wisconsin. Each of those teams could pull a big upset (Michigan State did so over Indiana a few days ago) but each is one or two steps below the Big 7 as of now.
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Nebraska also returned most of its best players, but would need to take another step forward. Michigan returned most of last year’s Elite 8 team, but was also losing the best player in program history in Naz Hillmon. And Maryland had lost more than any team in the transfer portal, but replaced those losses with intriguing players. The question for the Terps was whether all those transfers could fit well on the same team.
Those preseason expectations have largely held true. Nebraska probably isn’t a title contender at this point, but no one would be shocked if any of the other five teams ended up winning at least a share of the conference title.
We’ve also had one shock entrant into Big Ten title discussions: Illinois. The Illini were 7-20 overall and 1-13 in conference last year. Despite that, new coach Shauna Green has the Illini at 13-2 overall and 3-1 in conference. Green should certainly be in the discussion for Coach of the Year nationally.
Below is a breakdown of each of the Big 7 teams in the Big Ten and their remaining games against other Big 7 teams. I don’t have analysis below for Purdue, Penn State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, or Wisconsin. Each of those teams could pull a big upset (Michigan State did so over Indiana a few days ago) but each is one or two steps below the Big 7 as of now.
MORE HERE:
Go Iowa Awesome - Big Ten WBB Breakdown: The Title Race
Breaking down the Big Ten championship race four games into conference play.
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