Not unlike this point in virtually every other season in recent memory, the race toward the Big Ten conference crown has a number of teams in the running.
Preseason favorites Michigan State and Illinois have both already hit a few bumps in the road, once again allowing Wisconsin to emerge as the leader of the pack.
To capture their third-straight conference title, however, the Badgers will need to fight off the likes of Gene Keady’s upstart Boilermakers, Bruce Weber’s Illini and Tommy Amacher’s now-tournament-eligible Wolverines. And don’t count out Chris Hill and the talented Spartans. Although they have come out of the gate slowly thanks to a brutal non-conference schedule, only time will tell if they will be legit contenders when all is said and done.
Game by game the pieces of the Big Ten puzzle will come together, and The Badger Herald has your early conference synopsis.
1. Wisconsin
The two-time defending conference champions just keep on rolling. Despite the losses of Kirk Penney to graduation and Alando Tucker to injury, Bo Ryan’s Badgers are once again in position to make a run at the conference title. Point guard Devin Harris has established himself as one of the top point guards in the conference as well as the nation. Long-armed sophomore guard Boo Wade has elevated his offense while continuing to provide shutdown defense alongside Harris. Without Penney, Freddie Owens has emerged as Wisconsin’s No. 2 option on the perimeter.
Junior forward Mike Wilkinson is the workhorse of the Wisconsin frontcourt. The 6-foot-8 Wilkinson poses an inside-outside threat. With the über-athletic Tucker on the bench nursing an injured foot, the Badgers have looked to 24-year-old Austrian sophomore Andreas Helmigk to pick up the slack.
The 2003-04 edition of the Badgers boasts the deepest and most talented bench in Ryan’s UW tenure, led by forward Zach Morley, who has quickly endeared himself to the Kohl Center faithful with his all-out style of play. UW has yet to lose a conference home game under Ryan, and that streak just may continue.
2. Purdue
The Boilermakers have one of the most balanced scoring offenses in the nation, as five different players are averaging 8 points per game or more and six different players have led the team in scoring this season.
Kenneth Lowe, who was named the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year and made the All-Big Ten third team last season, is Purdue’s most dangerous scoring threat and is Coach Keady’s leader on the floor. With fellow senior Ivan Kartelo in the frontcourt, the two give the Boilermakers a formidable 1-2 punch and help make Purdue one of the favorites to dethrone the Badgers as conference champions.
A Big Ten title would give Keady his seventh conference championship in his 24 years at the helm of Purdue. To come on top this season, however, the Boilermakers will need to prove they can consistently play at a high level. So far this season, they have already stumbled against WAC bottom-dweller Southern Methodist and the Colorado State Rams.
3. Illinois
Co-preseason Big Ten player of the year Dee Brown has not disappointed thus far in 2003-04. The 6-foot sophomore currently leads the Illini in scoring (12.5 ppg) and ranks second on the team in assists (5.0 apg).
After an 11-5 record and second-place finish in the Big Ten last season, Brown and the Illini will be hungry to take the next step and come away with the conference crown. However, they will have to make that step without Brian Cook, who led the team in scoring and rebounding last season. They will also be without head coach Bill Self, who opted to fill the coaching vacancy left in Kansas after Roy Williams decided to take the head job at North Carolina.
Whether first-year head coach Bruce Weber can lead the Illini to the conference title remains to be seen, but Illinois will likely be one of the teams to beat in the Big Ten in 2003-04.
4. Michigan
Michigan (10-3, 1-1) has struggled since the glory days of the “Fab Five” in the early ’90s, but under head coach Tommy Amaker the program has shown improvement. Last year, Amaker led the Wolverines to a 17-13 record, the team’s best season in five years. In his third season at Michigan, Amaker is currently on pace to eclipse that mark, and after the NCAA lifted the program’s postseason ban, the Wolverines seem poised to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1994-95 season.
Led by swingman Bernard Robinson Jr., the Wolverines have posted an impressive 10-3 overall record and currently stand third in the Big Ten with a 1-1 conference mark. Robinson, one of four returning starters, leads the Wolverines in scoring (14.2 points per game), rebounding (5.8 per game), assists (4.6 per game), and steals (2.2 per game).
The young Michigan squad, which features only three upperclassmen, has demonstrated a balanced attack with four players averaging double figures in scoring. The Wolverines have out-scored opponents by an average of 9.9 points this season, shooting an impressive 46.5 percent from the field.
5. Michigan State
The second half of this season could not possibly be as bad as the first for Michigan State basketball. Armed with a preseason No. 3 ranking, the Spartans have misfired their way to a Big Ten-worst 5-7 overall record. Head coach Tom Izzo’s customarily brutal first-half scheduling always makes his team a late-season threat, but this time around the strategy may have backfired. If the Spartans are able to regain some confidence and respect, by the time they do so, their chance at a tournament run may already have vanished.
Junior Chris Hill, who was projected to provide the Spartans with a solid point presence this season and to progress into a veritable star, has stood still and done neither, lowering his scoring average from 13.7 points per game in his sophomore campaign to 13.3 this season. Freshman Brandon Cotton, touted as one of the Big Ten’s most promising freshmen, only made it through three games before Izzo booted him from the team, citing personal problems. Perhaps the only pleasant surprise in East Lansing has been 6-foot-11 sophomore center Paul Davis, who is emerging as a potent inside force, averaging 15.1 points and 6.6 boards per game.
6. Iowa
Boasting one of the more experienced, senior-laden frontcourts in the conference, the Hawkeyes could pose potential matchup problems for many teams in the Big Ten this season. Jared Reiner, Glen Worley and Sean Sonderleiter all played an integral role on last year’s team, and the three seniors will be looking to improve upon Iowa’s mediocre 7-9 conference record in 2002-03.
In the Hawkeye backcourt, senior Brody Boyd and sophomore Pierre Pierce will be expected to continue stretching opposing defenses. Thus far, the two have combined to average more than a third of the team’s scoring output, and they are two of the few Hawkeyes who have proven they can consistently knock down the three.
Pierce, who was forced to redshirt last season due to legal problems stemming from an assault charge, has emerged as the team’s go-to player on the offensive end. He and the other Hawkeyes will not only be looking to bounce back from a down year, but may be playing to save head coach Steve Alford’s job — as many believe he is currently sitting on the proverbial coaching “hot seat.”
7. Minnesota
There’s not a much better horse in the nation to ride this season than Minnesota’s freshman power forward Kris Humphries. Deceivingly large for 6-foot-8, the McDonald’s All-American has been pushing his competition around, racking up an impressive nine double-doubles in his first 13 collegiate games. Humphries has posted more than 20 points in every game but one, averaging a Big Ten-best 23.2 points per game; he also has brought down 10.6 rebounds per game, enough to easily lead the Big Ten and to rank in the top five nationally.
Complementing Humphries on the Gopher front line, 3-point-slinging 6-foot-8 forward Michael Bauer recently became one of three active players in the Big Ten to score 1000 points in a career. Ben Johnson and Maurice Hargrow provide the Gophers with scoring options in the backcourt, averaging 12.1 and 12.8 points per game, respectively. Adam Boone, whose 4.9 assists per game rank in the top five in the Big Ten, has run the point capably.
Minnesota has looked solid so far this year; but don’t place bets yet. The Golden Gophers have made an art form of late collapses over the past four years, going 11-29 in their final 10 games since the 1999-2000 season.
8. Northwestern
Better known for their academic prowess, the improved Wildcats are hoping to make some noise in the basketball realm. Quietly, Bill Carmody’s squad boasts one of the Big Ten’s best backcourt combinations in T.J. Parker and Jitim Young. Parker, the younger brother of San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, is the cat-quick quarterback of the Wildcats’ Princeton-style offensive attack. Last season the Frenchman led Northwestern in minutes played and assists, while finishing second in scoring to his backcourt mate Young.
A 6-foot-2 senior, Young has started every game in his Northwestern career. If the Wildcats are to improve upon their 3-13 conference finish of a year ago, it will be on the strength of Young’s scoring and leadership. Mohammed Hachad and sharpshooter Evan Seacat round out the backcourt rotation.
Up front, Carmody will look for production out of a trio of Croatians: 6-foot-8 Davor Duvancic, 6-foot-9 Ivan Tolic and 6-foot-8 Vedran Vukusic. Vince Scott, a 6-foot-10 freshman, also sees time. For Northwestern to move into the middle of the Big Ten pack, it will need to find a scoring threat in the post. If not, it could be another long season in Evanston.
9. Penn State
After finishing last in the Big Ten with a 2-14 conference record last season, Penn State (8-5, 2-0) has won its first two conference games for the first time since the 1995-96 season and currently shares the Big Ten lead with No. 18 Wisconsin (11-2, 2-0).
Seven-foot forward Jan Jagla was named Big Ten player of the week for the second time this season after averaging 20 points and 8.5 rebounds in Penn State’s two conference victories. Jagla, who ranks in the top five in the Big Ten in scoring (17.4 points per game), rebounding (8.7 per game), and blocks (1.62 per game), posted a career-high 28 points in the Nittany Lions’ conference opener against Minnesota.
Over the last seven seasons, 79 percent of Big Ten teams that won their first two conference games have finished with a conference record over .500. In three of the last four seasons, a team that opened conference play 2-0 has earned at least a share of the Big Ten title.
But let’s not jump on the bandwagon quite yet. Penn State’s two conference wins came against Minnesota (8-5, 0-1) and Ohio State (8-7, 0-2), two of the weaker teams in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have not proven themselves against the Big Ten’s top programs or beaten a ranked opponent this season, and they have already lost to New Mexico, Rutgers, the EA Sports All Stars and Nike Elite.
10. Indiana
Indiana’s trip out of the gate this season has provided case-study proof that one man a team does not make. Shooting guard Bracey Wright has done everything that could be expected of a returning superstar, averaging 20.2 points, 5.8 boards, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game in the first half. Wright has twice garnered Big Ten Player of the Week honors and hit a career high note when he posted 39 points against the University of North Texas Dec. 29, draining six of eight shots from the 3-point arc.
Unfortunately for Wright, the Hoosiers have very little going for them beyond his hot hand. Head coach Mike Davis, whose job status is looking justifiably insecure just two seasons after making it to the National Championship game, has surrounded Wright with a typically undisciplined squad. Shooting a paltry 40.2 percent from the field (by far the worst mark in the Big Ten), the Hoosiers have already found a way to lose three games this season by more than 30 points. A combination of haphazard ball movement and shots that appear to be mainly improvisational call into question whether Davis has his team playing any sort of organized offense whatsoever. Indiana is no better on the defensive side of the ball, having allowed 69.7 points per game — good enough for second worst in the Big Ten.
11. Ohio State
After finishing over .500 in conference play for four consecutive seasons, Ohio State (8-7, 0-2) dropped to 7-9 in the Big Ten last season, and its conference woes have continued.
The Buckeyes have fallen to the bottom of the Big Ten with blowout losses against Illinois (10-3, 1-1) and Penn State (8-5, 2-0). In each defeat, Ohio State lost by more than 15 points, as the Illini downed the Buckeyes by 22 and the Nittany Lions won by 17.
The Buckeyes have struggled on both ends of the court, ranking eighth in the Big Ten in points scored and points allowed and 10th in scoring margin. Though Ohio State has maintained a winning record, the team has already dropped seven games, including losses to San Francisco, San Diego State and the EA Sports All Stars.
A bright spot for the Buckeyes has been the play of guard Tony Stockman, who leads the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game. Stockman has emerged as a complete player, ranking among the top five players in the Big Ten in steals (1.93 per game) and 3-point shooting (2.13 per game).
