#1 Wisconsin 14-1 (0-0)
Quality Wins
-Florida State 81-66
-Winthrop 82-79(OT)
-Marquette 70-66
-Pittsburgh 89-75
-Georgia 64-54 on the road
Bad Losses
-None
Starting Lineup
C-Brian Butch 6′11 240 JR
PF-Jason Chappell 6′10 245 SR
SF-Alando Tucker 6′6 210 SR
SG-Kammron Taylor 6′2 180 SR
PG-Michael Flowers 6′2 190 JR
Team Breakdown
There are not many teams in the country that have a better resume on paper than that of the Wisconsin Badgers. They’ve beaten five quality opponents this year with their lone loss of the season coming at the hands of Missouri State in what was a very close game throughout. The Badgers are led by one of the best players in the entire country in Alando Tucker(20.3ppg). He’s a big game player who is one of the most effective and efficient scorers from the field. He’s strong, experienced and tough as nails. His ability to get past defender and into the lane is nearly impossible to guard on the college level and he’s one of the best interior finishers as well as mid range shooters in the country.
Wisconsin wins basketball games by playing hard noised defense and rebounding the basketball. Anytime you can defend at a high level and hold opponents to one shot you’re going to win a lot of basketball games and that is just what Wisconsin has been doing. They’re also a very deep team that can match-up with just about any team in the country defensively. If they need to defend a big team they can go with their two twin towers and if they need to defend a smaller and quicker team they have excellent bench players in Joe Krebbenoft(5.5ppg), Marcus Landry(5.1ppg) and Jason Bohannon(5.0ppg).
On the offensive end Wisconsin relies very heavily on Alando Tucker to score for them and that’s not exactly a bad thing. However, in order for Wisconsin to be a consistent top five team this year they’ll need players like Kammron Taylor(12.5ppg) and Brian Butch(11.2) to step up and become reliable scorers. Taylor gives Wisconsin an accurate three point shooter(48%3pt) while Butch is a very skilled and polished offensive post player that can score inside and outside and is the only McDonalds All-American on the team.
This is not a team that is going to beat you with their talent, however, they are a smart and well coached basketball team. They don’t turn the ball over, they play sound defend, they rebound the basketball and they take good shoots within the floor of their offense. When you add Alando Tucker to the equation you have a top ten caliber team. The question now becomes whether or not they have enough fire power to become a final four caliber team come March.
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#2 Ohio State 12-2 (1-0)
Quality Wins
-Cincinnati 72-50 on the road
-Indiana 74-67
Bad Losses
-Florida 60-86 on the road
Starting Lineup
C-Greg Oden 7′0 255 FR
PF-Ivan Harris 6′8 210 SR
SF-Ron Lewis 6′4 205 SR
SG-Jamar Butler 6′1 185 JR
PG-Mike Conley Jr 6′1 175 FR
Team Breakdown
How good is Ohio State? That is yet to be determined. As for now they’re a very talented team that appears to have all the pieces to be a final four caliber team come March. The problem though is that they’ve really only played two top 25 caliber teams and they lost to both of those teams. Granted, those games were on the road against the #1 and #2 teams in the preseason top 25 and one of the games was without Greg Oden. Speaking of Greg Oden, he is the real deal. Defensively, he’s one of the best defensive centers in the world, not just college basketball. Offensively, he’s still a little raw and rough around the edges but his size, athleticism, determination and intelligence are second to none on the college level. The sky truly is the limit for this youngster.
This teams biggest strength though is not on the on the interior with Greg Oden. It’s on the perimeter with Mike Conley Jr(6.6apg), Daequan Cook(15.6ppg), Ron Lewis(13.4ppg) and Jamar Butler(4.2apg). Ohio State has two very solid lead guards that take excellent care of the basketball in Conley and Butler. They make good decisions and have the ability to get into the lane and creates shots for teammates. While Lewis and Cook give Ohio State two perimeter scoring threats that can shoot from the outside as well as put the ball on the floor and attack off the dribble. This is a very difficult team to defend because they can score inside and outside and they have good ball handlers.
Defensively, this team is going to get better and how much better they get will determine whether or not this team lives up to it’s lofty expectations. With Oden in the middle, Ohio State should be able to pressure the basketball on the perimeter and force teams into bad decisions and hurried shots. The main weakness this Ohio State team has outside of their own youth is the fact that they are not a good rebounding team and anytime Oden gets into foul trouble they became extremely vulnerable on the interior and on the glass.
As long as Oden stays healthy and out of foul trouble Ohio State has the talent to compete with the elites of college basketball. Offensively, they have plenty of perimeter firepower and plenty of players that can generate offense. The key will be defense, rebounding and experience. People need to realize that this is an awfully young team that is still trying to find it’s identity and until they do find their true identity they should not be put amonst the elites of college basketball.
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#3 Illinois 12-4 (0-1)
Quality Wins
-Missouri 73-70
-Bradley 75-71
Bad Losses
-None
Starting Five
C-Shaun Pruitt 6′10 245 JR
PF-Warren Carter 6′9 225 SR
SF-Brian Randle 6′8 210 JR
SG-Jamar Smith 6′3 175 SO
PG-Chester Frazier 6′0 185 SO
Team Breakdown
The #3 spot in the Big Ten is pretty much wide open right now but this Illinois has the best combination of players, balance and experience out of everyone else so they’re getting the nod for now. This team doesn’t really have any marquee victories at all and they don’t really have a go to scorer but they also don’t have any siginicant weaknesses or poor losses as well. This is probably the deepest team in the Big Ten and they have ability to use a number of different lineups depending upon what it is that they need. The problem with their depth though is that they don’t have a single player that can be considered their go to scorer.
The Illini’s leading scorer is Warren Carter(13.9ppg) but Jamar Smith(13.5ppg) is probably their most explosive scorer. With Shaun Pruitt(11.3ppg) on the interior, Illinois has good offensive balance inside and out. Chester Frazier(5.8apg) runs the offense and he’s done a very admirable job of playing under control and has handled the point guard duties fairly well to this point. However, his inability to shoot from the perimeter makes him very one-dimensional. This team may not currently have a go to scorer but they do have a number of different players that have the ability to step up and the lead team in scoring on any given night. Players like Brian Randle(6.9ppg) and Rich McBride(8.4ppg) were starters last year and while McBride has struggled and is currently coming off the bench, both of these players are capable of stepping up and leading the team in scoring.
Defensively, this team is not as solid as Illini teams of the past but they’re not bad either. They have good defensive forwards in Warren Carter and Brian Randle that have size and athleticism. The perimter defense hasn’t been as solid and in order for Illinois to be considered a top three team in the Big Ten their overall team defense must improve. This team is big though and they do rebound the basketball fairly well. Carter, Pruitt and Randle give Illinois size, experience and rebounding in the front court.
Finally, this is a very balanced team but they’re almost too balanced. They don’t have a lot of glarying weaknesses but they also don’t have a lot of strengths that they can go into a game and expect to dominant with. The key is defense because this team has the tools and the athletes to be a good defensive team but they don’t have the offensive firepower to outscore elite teams.
#4 Michigan State 13-3 (0-1)
Quality Wins
-Texas 63-61
-Bradley 82-53
-BYU 76-61
Bad Losses
-None
Starting Five
C-Goran Suton 6′11 240 SO
PF-Marquise Gray 6′8 210 SO
SF-Isaiah Dalhman 6′6 175 FR
SG-Drew Nietzel 6′1 185 JR
PG-Travis Walton 6′2 190 SO
Team Breakdown
This could be the best defensive team in the Big Ten this year. They have good athletes and smart basketball players and they’re very well coached. Their win over Texas was very impressive because they were seriously outmanned in terms of talent but they played their style which is tough half court basketball. It’s not pretty basketball but it’s effective and it’s worked well for MSU thus far. The key player has been Drew Neitzel(18.4ppg). He’s the only current player that is averaging double figures but he’s doing it in a very efficient manner while still creating shots for teammates(4.8apg) and running the offense. It’s very unlikely that Neitzel will be able to continue to keep this pace up once Big Ten play gets underway though.
There is simply too much pressure and too much responsbility on Neitzel’s shoulders right now. MSU needs some other players to step up and score but with freshman Raymar Morgan out with an injury there just simply is not enough offensive talent on this roster. Neither of MSU’s starting big men, Goran Suton(9.6ppg) and Marquise Gray(8.1ppg) are reliable post options so the offense has had to come from the perimeter but the only perimeter scoring threat this team has is Neitzel. Travis Walton might be the best defensive lead guard in the Big Ten and he’s a good setup lead guard but he’s extremely limited offensively and has absolutely no periemter shooting ability.
Obviously, this team is going to need to win with defense and rebound and that is just what they’ve done thus far. However, outside of Texas they really haven’t played a lot of offensive teams so it’s hard to tell just how good defensively this team is and whether or not they’re good enough defensively to make up for their offensive shortcomings. One thing is for sure though and it’s that MSU will rebound and play tough, hardnoised basketball. Whether or not that will prove to be enough this year is hard to tell. My bet is that it won’t be enough and MSU will likely finish the hovering around or below .500 in the conference.
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#5 Indiana 9-4 (0-1)
Quality Wins
-Southern Illinois 57-47
Bad Losses
-None
Starting Lineup
C-D.J. White 6′9 245 SO
PF-Lance Stemler 6′8 205 JR
SF-Roderick Wilmont 6′4 195 SR
SG-A.J. Ratliff 6′2 180 JR
PG-Earl Calloway 6′3 170 SR
Team Breakdown
Here is another typical Big Ten team that rebounds and defends the basketball at a high leevl but just doesn’t appear to have enough scoring power to be considered among the elites of college hoops this season. They also only have one significant victory thus far over Southern Illinois. Kelvin Sampson has brought about more toughness to this team though and they’re playing with a much different swagger than in years past. This team really gets after you defensively and they work really hard on the glass to rebound the basketball.
Outside of D.J. White(13.1ppg) though this team doesn’t really have a lot of consistent offensive options. They are a decent perimeter shooting team though with Roderick Wilmont(10.3ppg), Lance Sempler(9.7ppg), Armon Basset(8.4ppg) and Joey Shaw(6.1ppg). All four of these players have enough range on their jumpers to keep defenses and out of the lane for D.J. White to operate on the interior. The problem with team offensively is that they don’t get a lot of ball movement on offense. Their offensive is very stangnet and they don’t have a lot of playmakers. Earl Calloway(3.7apg) is the teams best playmaker but he’s really only a mediocre overall playmaker in terms of points guards and until this team finds better ways to manufacture offense in the half court setting they have to continue to rely on holding teams to low scoring totals.
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#6 Purdue 11-4 (0-1)
Quality Wins
-Oklahoma 74-71
-Virginia 61-59
-Missouri 79-62
Bad Losses
-Indiana State 70-89 on the road
-Minnesota 59-65 on the road
Starting Lineup
C-Carl Landry 6′7 255 SR
PF-Gordan Watt 6′6 225 SO
SF-David Teague 6′5 185 SR
SG-Keaton Grant 6′4 185 FR
PG-Tarrance Crump 6′1 180 JR
Team Breakdown
Matt Painter is a defensive minded coach and he has brought his defensive attutide to Purdue and it’s really paying off right now. This team loves to pressure the basketball and force turnovers on the perimeter and they do a good job of playing sound half court defense at the same time. However, this team does have some defensive limitations though and it’s mostly their lack of height which has really hurt them on the boards this year. Outside of Carl Landy(6.9rpg) and Gordon Watt(5.9rpg) this team does not have a lot of natural rebounders on it’s roster.
Offensively, this team relies very heavily on one player and that player is Carl Landry(19.1ppg). Landry is an absolute monster on the interior. He has very soft hands, catches everything in sight, finishes well, is strong around the bucket and has a nice soft touch around the hoop. He’s arguably the best interior scorer in the Big Ten. Outisde of Landry though Purdue doesn’t have a clear #2 option on offense. David Teague(11.5ppg) gives Purdue a slashing wing player with a decent outside stroke. Purdue also has shooters in Chris Lutz(52%3pt) and Chris Kramer(38%3pt) but they both seriously lack height, ball handling and athleticism. The key to this team will be at the point guard spots with Keaton Grant(5.3ppg) and Tarrance Crump(6.9ppg). Keaton is the more creative player of the two with a little more ability and a little more confidence, however, Crump is a very sturdy ball handler who won’t turn the ball over or make mistakes but at the same time will not look to make much happen.
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#7 Michigan
#8 Iowa
#9 Penn State
#10 Minnesota
#11 Northwestern
