As if things weren't going to be hard enough next season for the UW men's basketball team, the Big Ten just got a bit more competitive.

While the Badgers will have to overcome the losses of departed seniors Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor, they will now also have to deal with a new face in the conference. And I'm not talking about highly touted recruit Eric Gordon — he could play for either Indiana or Illinois.

I write of Minnesota's new head coach, Tubby Smith. It might not be an immediate Kelvin Sampson-like impact, but Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan is going to have his hands full with his border rival.

For starters, the Gophers are not going to be the underachieving team they have been for the past eight years during the Dan Monson era. While Minnesota may not be NCAA tournament-quality next season, it will be easy to see the impact Smith will make right away as he will be working with basically the same lineup interim head coach Jim Molinari did in 2006-07.

Over the past 14 years, Smith has won 20 or more games as a head coach so there's plenty of reason to believe Minnesota won't finish as badly as it did this past season (9-22, ninth in the Big Ten).

"There's already a new confidence there and we haven't even practiced yet," freshman guard Kevin Payton said in a University of Minnesota release. "Just from him being in the room talking to us and the history he has made is incredible, so it's great having him."

But the way in which Smith is going to impact the Big Ten the most — especially from Wisconsin's perspective — is recruiting.

Just by namesake alone, Smith should be able to hold down state recruits, which isn't exactly music to Badger fans' ears. Wisconsin's been snatching recruits from the Land of 10,000 Lakes for the past couple of years.

First it was Kammron Taylor, next season it will be incoming recruit Jon Leurer, a top-ranked power forward. Furthermore, Ryan has already received verbal commitments from Minnesota natives center Jared Berggren and guard Jordan Taylor (no relation to Kammron) for 2008.

Don't expect too many more Minnesota recruits coming to UW with Smith at the helm.

"We have a few Minnesota players on the team now," Smith said at a press conference last Friday. "But the key is making sure we keep the best players in the state and in the surrounding areas here."

However, Smith's move to Minnesota is rather puzzling. While he was certainly on the outs at Kentucky after failing to reach the Final Four since 1998, why bolt to a school that has failed to recover from its academic scandal that got head coach Clem Haskins fired nearly a decade ago?

If Smith were to pick any open Big Ten coaching job, the obvious choice would seem to be Michigan. Like the Gophers, the Wolverines haven't exactly recovered from scandals of their own. Still, Michigan is in somewhat of a better position than Minnesota; Tommy Amaker could recruit — coaching was his only downfall.

Nevertheless, Minnesota is a good fit for Smith. He won't have the pressure of high expectations like he did at Kentucky. Somehow, a national championship and 10 straight trips to the NCAA tournament wasn't enough for Wildcat fans. The most losses Kentucky ever had under Smith's belt was 13, but the UK bluegrass gave him the nickname "10-loss Tubby" since he had double-digit losses in half of his seasons in Lexington.

At Minnesota, Gopher fans would be extremely satisfied with that sort of production.

While Smith is sure to have an impact on the Big Ten, he's only the first wave of some new head coaches in the conference.

Michigan will be looking for a big name to replace Amaker and match Minnesota's signing of Smith. Washington State's Tony Bennett, UNLV's Lon Kruger, West Virginia's John Beilein, Xavier's Sean Miller and ESPN analysts Rick Majerus and Steve Lavin are being discussed as possible candidates, according to ESPN.com's Andy Katz.

Also, a shake-up from Steve Alford's mediocrity will help Iowa. While he made a completely lateral move by going to New Mexico, a change should help both sides.

All of this will make for a much more difficult Big Ten season next year for Wisconsin; like the Badgers really want to hear that after losing one of its most successful duos in Taylor and Tucker, following their disappointing second-round upset loss.

Michael is a senior double majoring in journalism and communication arts. Any questions or comments can be sent to [email protected].