ESPN's Early college basketball poll 16-17

[EZ2BJZ]

Wisconsin #8
Michigan State #10
Indiana #11
Purdue #14
Maryland #18

Thoughts?

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...23/revised-way-too-early-top-25-some-movement

 

[WORTHYWISH]

Am I missing something about Wisky? 8?

 

[EZ2BJZ]

Am I missing something about Wisky? 8?

Yep, that one really surprised me too. I was definitely thinking Top 25, but Top 10?

 

[Lone Clone]

Wisconsin #8
Michigan State #10
Indiana #11
Purdue #14
Maryland #18

Thoughts?

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...23/revised-way-too-early-top-25-some-movement

Cyclones will be in the rankings at some point.

 

[EZ2BJZ]

Cyclones will be in the rankings at some point.

I imagine a lot of teams will at some point. But this isn't actually a Cyclone thread, Lone Clone. Lol. I'm sure it gets confusing for you, though, since there are so many of them on here all the time.

 

[DanL53]

Wisconsin #8
Michigan State #10
Indiana #11
Purdue #14
Maryland #18

Thoughts?

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...23/revised-way-too-early-top-25-some-movement

We will play Indiana, Michigan State and Purdue once each. We will play Maryland twice. Wisconsin is still up in the air. I would say we're going to have one of the easier schedules and just maybe THE easiest. We play Rutgers twice. Imagine if we get Minnesota twice and Wisconsin once!

 

[DenverTurtle]

I don't think Purdue will be a top 25 team. I do think the rest of those teams will be somewhere in that listed vicinity

 

[Carlton]

Yep, that one really surprised me too. I was definitely thinking Top 25, but Top 10?

# 8 is certainly possible but this "way to early poll" resolves all questions about Bucky's offense in their favor. Defense and bench depth will be strengths. The pre-season is tougher this year and should give B1G fans a better idea of who the contenders in conference play will be.

 

[spbc7]

Wisky- returns everybody, very experienced, and adds some pieces. Seems about right
MSU- loses Valentine, Costello, Davis, and Forbes + a couple contributors. Too many pieces to replace for me to feel good about them top 10. A very good recruiting class, so I'd start them at around 20.
Indiana- Have some very talented players returning and the only ? is PG. I'd say anywhere from 10-15 for them.
Purdue- Swanigan, Edwards, and Haas is a very strong front court. I don't know if their guard play will improve enough to push them into the top 15. I'd put them at about the same as MSU.
Maryland- Might have the best back court in the B1G when it's all said and done, but they don't look like they'll get much production from their bigs. Too much to replace to be in the top 20 right now. I'd go late 20's for them.

 

[Carlton]

I don't think Purdue will be a top 25 team. I do think the rest of those teams will be somewhere in that listed vicinity

With Swanigan back, I am a buyer of Purdue.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

ARLR says "Hi." I'm curious how Haas + Swannigan will score if the ball can't get past half court.

 

[lucas80]

Am I missing something about Wisky? 8?

With Hayes coming back they have everything they need to be a Top 10 team again.

 

[Lone Clone]

I imagine a lot of teams will at some point. But this isn't actually a Cyclone thread, Lone Clone. Lol. I'm sure it gets confusing for you, though, since there are so many of them on here all the time.

You may consider me appropriately admonished. Sorry.

 

[David1979]

Wisconsin #8
Michigan State #10
Indiana #11
Purdue #14
Maryland #18

Thoughts?

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...23/revised-way-too-early-top-25-some-movement

MSU is too high. Miles Bridges is pretty good but not top ten ranking good. Maryland is too high as well they lost four really good starters. There is a possibility 3 of the 4 they lost get drafted. I would put Indiana and Purdue above MSU and MSU for me would be anywhere from 20-25. Maryland shouldn't be ranked.

 

[David1979]

Wisconsin should definitely be top ten with how they finished the season and what they have coming back.

 

[EZ2BJZ]

You may consider me appropriately admonished. Sorry.

Lol. I was just kidding, Lone Clone. Personally, I enjoy reading your responses and perspective on things.

 

[EZ2BJZ]

It seems like a lot of people are sold on Wisconsin being a Top 10 team. It should be interesting to see how they do now that the post-Bo era will really begin this season. Given how they finished last season, I wouldn't bet against them, I'm just a little surprised with such a high ranking to start the season.

 

[nagemj02]

ARLR says "Hi." I'm curious how Haas + Swannigan will score if the ball can't get past half court.

That's definitely a question that has to be answered (Can they beat traps and presses without turning it over and giving up easy baskets?) but I'd bet they'll be improved in that area with incoming freshman Carsen Edwards and Michigan grad-transfer Spike Albrecht (assuming he can fully recover) joining the fray. CE will be the quickest and most athletic guard on Purdue's roster:

Also, Vince Edwards (no relation) is a pretty damn good overall player that seems to get overlooked at times.

 

[sanjosebill]

Am I missing something about Wisky? 8?

They return 100% of a roster that made the Sweet 16 and was the closest of all BIG teams to make the Elite 8. They also add players that were injured last year.

8 might be too low.

 

[WORTHYWISH]

They return 100% of a roster that made the Sweet 16 and was the closest of all BIG teams to make the Elite 8. They also add players that were injured last year.

8 might be too low.

I'll bet $100 they don't finish in the top ten.











* monopoly money

 

[EZ2BJZ]

They return 100% of a roster that made the Sweet 16 and was the closest of all BIG teams to make the Elite 8. They also add players that were injured last year.

8 might be too low.

Wisconsin had a good run at the end of the year, there's no doubt about that. I wouldn't bet the farm against them being a Top 10 team, but the other side of the argument is 1) this will be the first full year without Bo and 2) the question becomes was it a case of Wisconsin coming of age at the end of the season or just getting hot at the right time? For example, last season Iowa looked like a Top 5 team for about a month. We all know how that turned out.

We'll just have to wait and see. Obviously, there are experts who agree with you.

 

[DanL53]

Regarding Wisconsin I'm going full on conspiracy mode and saying that halfway through the Big Ten season the powers that be had a heart attack that Michigan State and Wisconsin we're getting thumped. The word went out that this freedom of movement thing only goes so far and the officials went right back to calling hockey games.

 

[EduNeerHawk]

We will play Indiana, Michigan State and Purdue once each. We will play Maryland twice. Wisconsin is still up in the air. I would say we're going to have one of the easier schedules and just maybe THE easiest. We play Rutgers twice. Imagine if we get Minnesota twice and Wisconsin once!

As Dan is always imo very astute to point out first...."look to the schedule" . Per Dan, kinda of got a good idea that Iowa's B1G schedule will be favorable this year....What will Wisky's and other team's B1G schedules look like? Hmmm....don't know this yet but very important for predictions?

 

[DanL53]

As Dan is always imo very astute to point out first...."look to the schedule" . Per Dan, kinda of got a good idea that Iowa's B1G schedule will be favorable this year....What will Wisky's and other team's B1G schedules look like? Hmmm....don't know this yet but very important for predictions?

Would be interesting. It's a lot of work going game by game for three years to figure out who played who twice and when.

 

[spbc7]

As Dan is always imo very astute to point out first...."look to the schedule" . Per Dan, kinda of got a good idea that Iowa's B1G schedule will be favorable this year....What will Wisky's and other team's B1G schedules look like? Hmmm....don't know this yet but very important for predictions?

MSU plays Minnesota, Nebraska, and Purdue twice. Wisconsin plays Rutgers, Michigan, and Ohio State twice. Indiana plays Northwestern, Penn St, and Michigan twice.

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

MSU plays Minnesota, Nebraska, and Purdue twice. Wisconsin plays Rutgers, Michigan, and Ohio State twice. Indiana plays Northwestern, Penn St, and Michigan twice.

Doesn't each team play 5 teams twice?

 

[DanL53]

Doesn't each team play 5 teams twice?

Yes. And the remaining two for each team hasn't been revealed yet. But they will be two of the five teams that were home/away two years ago (2014/15) Let's break it down with Iowa:

Teams we played twice in 2015/16:
Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue. We can't play back to back home/aways so these are for sure one game only.

Teams we've only played once in the last two years. (These we will have to play twice in 2016/17):
Rutgers, Illinois, Maryland.

Teams we played twice in 2014/15:
Ohio State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Minnesota, Nebraska (Two will be picked for H/A this season, the other three must then be H/A in 2017/18.

Just for fun, here's the total Big Ten win/loss of our five H/A's last year:
15-3
13-5
12-6
10-8
7-11

57-33. Dang tough schedule. No way we'll face that and a big reason we could take this young team and make the NCAAs!