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Is Iowa going to finish anywhere between 8th & 10th in the B1G, as predicted by SI & CBS Sports writers?
Big Ten Offseason Report: Power Rankings and Burning Questions for 2019-20
By
MOLLY GEARY
July 16, 2019
As the midpoint of college basketball’s offseason approaches, it’s time to check in on every major conference. Every team in the country has questions at this point of the summer, some more pressing than others. So in addition to power ranking each league, we’ll be asking some burning questions about the conference that won’t be answered until tip-off. With the
AAC,
ACC,
Big 12 and
Big East down, next up is the Big Ten.
Big Ten Summer Power Rankings
1. Michigan State: With All-American Cassius Winston leading the way, the Spartans will likely open the season as the
No. 1 team nationally, not just in the Big Ten.
2. Maryland: Anthony Cowan and Jalen Smith return to lead a still-young but very talented group that fell just shy of the Sweet 16.
3. Ohio State: Big man Kaleb Wesson is back and a top-15 recruiting class is on the way in. Chris Holtmann has more than proved himself in his first two years in Columbus.
4. Purdue: Carsen Edwards and sharpshooter Ryan Cline are gone, but a solid group of rising juniors and sophomores should keep the Boilermakers chugging.
5. Michigan:
Juwan Howard inherits a pretty good core, but the loss of the Wolverines’ top three scorers points toward a step back from the recent big-time success in Ann Arbor.
6. Illinois: Optimism is high in Champaign despite coming off a 12-win season, and that’s because the bulk of a young team that made impressive strides in the second half is back.
7. Wisconsin: The Badgers enter life without Ethan Happ, but retain offensive weapons in the form of shooters D’Mitrik Trice, Brad Davison and Nate Reuvers.
8. Penn State: Lamar Stevens should be one of the best players in the conference once again after a monster junior year.
9. Indiana: The Hoosiers need some of their promising role players—or freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis—to break out after losing their only double-digit scorers.
10. Iowa: The big question here is whether Jordan Bohannon will play (see below) this winter. For these rankings purposes, we’ll err on the side that he will not.
11. Minnesota: Three starters are gone, but sophomores Daniel Oturu and Gabe Kalscheur are solid young pieces, and spring addition Isaiah Ihnen was a nice get. Still, it's an uphill road to the conference's top half.
12. Rutgers: Tangible forward momentum took a step back when top player Eugene Omoruyi surprisingly transferred out, but Geo Baker leads seven returning rotation players.
13. Nebraska: An almost entirely new roster pulled from transfers and recruits will need time to adjust under new coach Fred Hoiberg.
14. Northwestern: The top three scorers are all gone from the team that finished last in the Big Ten, with A.J. Turner and Anthony Gaines leading the returnees. Even with four-star Robbie Beran coming in, it could be another long year in Evanston (but the Wildcats do have
Pat Spencer!)
Burning Questions
Can Anyone Challenge Michigan State?
The Spartans won regular season and Big Ten tournament titles and brought back more than any of the other 2019 Final Four teams did, a big reason why they’ll likely deservedly open the year as the AP No. 1. Numbers-wise, it will be tough for Cassius Winston to repeat his
stellar junior campaign, but he shouldn’t need to put Michigan State on his back this time around. Starter Joshua Langford is set to return after missing most of 2018–19 with injury, while junior Xavier Tillman makes up for the departing Nick Ward down low after impressing down the stretch. Aaron Henry and Gabe Brown showed potential as freshmen, and a top-25 recruiting class led by talented scorer Rocket Watts comes on board. Tom Izzo teams always seem to only get better as the year goes on, which is a scary thought for the rest of the Big Ten.
Where Will Michigan’s Offense Come From?
It’s been an interesting offseason for the Wolverines. They lost three players—Charles Matthews, Iggy Brazdeikis and Jordan Poole—to the NBA draft, then
lost longtime coach John Beilein to the NBA as well. First-time head coach Juwan Howard now runs the program, which is looking to keep the momentum going after back-to-back 30+ win seasons. And while
Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske and Isaiah Livers form a solid returning core that should once again be strong defensively, it’s not hard to imagine Michigan’s offensive struggles of 2018–19 being magnified this winter after losing its top three scorers. Simpson and Teske are reliably solid on offense but not likely to light up the scoreboard, while Livers is going to be counted on to produce in a bigger role. Can the likes of David DeJulius, Brandon Johns and Colin Castleton—all four-star 2018 recruits who played minimal roles as freshmen—emerge as dependable options? What about incoming four-stars Franz Wagner (yes,
younger brother of Moe) and Cole Bajema? They’ll all play a key role in determining this team’s ceiling.
Are Maryland’s Sophomores Ready to Take the Leap?
When it came to experience, the Terps were one of the five youngest teams in the country last season—and sometimes even played with five freshmen on the floor at once. All of those freshmen (Jalen Smith, Aaron Wiggins, Eric Ayala, Serrel Smith and Ricky Lindo) are back, and Mark Turgeon has a senior point guard (Anthony Cowan) for the first time in his College Park tenure. With just one notable departure (Bruno Fernando), expectations are high, but what will truly dictate whether this team can meet or surpass them is the offseason development of the now-sophomores. In particular, Jalen Smith, a former five-star recruit, has the talent and ability to become one of the best players in college basketball—especially if he can get stronger and improve his outside shooting—and Wiggins, who shot 41.3% from three on 150 attempts as a freshman, is a breakout candidate. If both make the leap, or someone else—like Ayala, junior Darryl Morsell or one of the five incoming freshmen—emerges as a double-digit scoring option, it could be the year everything comes together for Turgeon.
The discussion continues in the next post....
