After a few years of being considered a down league on the national scene, the Big Ten will look to reclaim its place of prominence among the elite divisions such as the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East and the Big 12.
The league has three teams ranked in the top 25 to start the season: No. 5 Illinois, No. 13 Michigan State and No. 21 Wisconsin and will be returning many of its top players. Illinois and Michigan State are both returning all five of their starters. Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State will return four starters each and Indiana, Penn State and Purdue return three.
\I think people sometimes evaluate a conference a little too much on the number of top five teams in a conference,"" Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson said during Big Ten Media Day in Oct. ""The Big Ten is a very good conference and I think that over the last couple of seasons it has just been very even and that has caused a lot of close games.""
Seven of the conference's top 10 scorers from last season will return. One of those leaders is Illinois junior guard Deron Williams, who has been named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year. Williams is the fifth Illini player to be named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year in as many years (junior guard Dee Brown, Brian Cook, Frank Williams and Cory Bradford are the others). He is joined on the Preseason All-Conference team by Brown, Indiana junior guard Bracey Wright, Wisconsin senior forward Mike Wilkinson and Michigan State junior center Paul Davis.
For the second season in a row, the Big Ten will probably be a two-class division. Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin and possibly Michigan look to be the top tier of the division. Illinois, MSU and UW all won at least 12 games in the conference last season, while no other team was able to win more than nine games.
Illinois brings back every key player from a team that won the Big Ten regular season title and gave Duke a run for their money in the Sweet Sixteen. For the Illini, this season is Final Four or bust.
""Last year was such a transition season; now that is over,"" Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber said at Big Ten Media Day. ""We know our goal. We know each other, and now we're going after it ... We have our system, now we have to perfect it so we can play on in late March and April. The kids are much more focused than a year ago.""
Michigan State also returns all its key players from a team that started last season ranked No. 4 in the country. With a year of experience, they believe they will be back in the conference title hunt this season.
While MSU and Illinois return most of their starters, the Badgers will rely on many new faces for the upcoming season. They lose starters Devin Harris, Freddie Owens, Boo Wade and Dave Mader from a team that fell one game short of a regular season conference title.
Luckily for them, they will be adding a lot of talent into the mix. Sophomore forward Alando Tucker, who missed all but four games last year, looks to return this season stronger than ever. The Badgers will need him to step up and become the team's leader on and off the floor in the absence of Harris. Sophomore guard Kammron Taylor will move into the starting point guard spot and has a ton of ability, but lacks the experience necessary to run the team.
The Badgers also add transfer senior guard Sharif Chambliss, redshirt freshman center Brian Butch and true freshman center Greg Stiemsma to the core group of Tucker, Wilkinson, Taylor, senior forward Zach Morley, senior guard Clayton Hanson, junior forward Ray Nixon and senior forward/center Andreas Helmigk. There is enough talent to overcome the loss of the four starters, but it will all come down to how well the team comes together.
Michigan has a lot of young players and hopes to improve on its NIT Championship of a year ago by making it into the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines have the talent to join the elite teams at the top of the conference.
Not only does Indiana return three starters, but they also have plenty of reserves from a year ago and one of the top recruiting classes in the Big Ten. They should improve from last season, but it will still be another year before they return to the upper echelon of the conference.
Iowa, Ohio State and Northwestern will likely join Indiana to make up the middle of the pack. Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State round out the bottom of the Big Ten. All three are will be in rebuilding mode this season and in the process they all could struggle.
