November 9 , 2006

Ohio State were given the ultimate thumbs up and the favorites tag for the Big Ten 2006-07 men’s basketball season by the media with Wisconsin and Illinois sitting in behind, respectively. With most teams having lost a lot of marquee and talented players, the Big Ten has a "open look" to it this season after the incredibly strong top to bottom Conference that it was last year.

Last season’s conference win gave Ohio State its second title in the last five years, after sharing first place in 2002 and now the Buckeyes aim to win back-to-back conference crowns for the first time since the 1991 and 1992 campaigns under the guidance of coach Thad Matta. The Buckeyes concluded the 2006 Big Ten season one game ahead of Illinois and Iowa, ending the Illini’s hopes of winning a share of a third straight conference title. One week later, the Hawkeyes would knock off top-seeded Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament championship game to earn their second conference tournament title. The Buckeyes return five lettermen and one starter from a team that finished with a 26-6 overall record and 12-4 conference mark. Ohio State,however, will have to do without the services of star freshman Greg Oden from the beginning of the year. Olsen who was named as part of the Preseason All-Big Ten Team is not expected to be ready to go until around the start of the new year.

But do not let all the hala balou of the press make this appear a one horse race. Wisconsin return four starters and three of its top four scorers from last season and of all the Big Ten teams, Wisconsin has the most experience. The Badgers tied for fourth in the Big Ten standings last year with a 9-7 mark and 19-12 overall record, while advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight season and fifth time under head coach Bo Ryan. Wisconsin can once again call upon the services of forward Alando Tucker who enters the 2006-07 season with 1,501 points in his career and was named the Preseason Player of the Year after walking away with the Big Ten scoring title last season where he averaged 20 PPG. That achievement led Tucker to become the first Badger to lead the Big Ten in scoring since Don Rehfeldt won consecutive crowns in 1949 and 1950.

Illinois returns three starters from last year’s squad and under the leadership of head coach Bruce Weber, the Fighting Illini will look to go one better after finishing in a tie for second-place, just one game out of first, in the Big Ten standings with an 11-5 conference mark and 26-7 overall record. Illinois will once again look to return to the NCAA Tournament and if successful, that would give the Illini their eighth consecutive appearance. Illinois along with Duke are the only teams in the nation to win at least 25 games each of the last six seasons, which is the longest such streak in Big Ten history.

Kelvin Sampson takes over at Indiana from Mike Davis but this team is in transition and will not figure come season’s end. The Hoosiers season in terms of where they end up falls on the shoulders of D.J. White who made the Preseason All-Big Ten Team.

Iowa have a lot of newcomers and roles to fill and Steve Alford has his work cut out after Iowa won 25 games and the Conference Tournament championship last year. Adam Haluska surprisingly made the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. I say a surprise because Haluska hasn’t played a game in the conference yet.

Michigan are able to return four seniors, one is a fifth-year senior, and Tommy Amaker will be relying on those players to play up to their potential if the Wolverines are to be competitive.

Tom Izzo’s Michigan State have a different look this season. They have become a more youthful bigger team which will ultimately lead to a better rebounding and shot-blocking team, but losing four starters from last season hurts. The loss of Shannon Brown is huge and this year is all about learning and competing with inexperienced youth before the Spartans can return to former coaches, fans and media expectations.

Purdue had a bench load of guys out last season injured who are able to return this time around. Look out for Carl Landry (brother of Wisconsin’s Marcus Landry) and David Teague who are reported to be more than useful. Teague is the only guy on Matt Painter’s team that has played an NCAA Tournament game and he and Landry will provide the Boilermakers with a solid one-two punch. Chris Lutz and Chris Kramer will play their parts as well this season in helping out in regards to Carl Landry getting double-teamed down low.

Minnesota have no seniors on their team and will have to rely on junior center Spencer Tollackson, junior forward Dan Coleman and junior transfer Lawrence McKenzie. It will be McKenzie’s fourth year in college basketball, as well as Coleman’s, and both of them are going to have to play like seniors if the Gophers are to get anything out of the season.

Northwestern have five freshmen and a transfer to go with seniors Tim Doyle, Vince Scott and Sterling Williams as the basis for their team this season. Coach Bill Carmody’s biggest problem lays not with his defense but who is going to be scoring the majority of points on offense. Senior guard/forward Tim Doyle will have to revert from being a facilitator to the number one or two scoring option.

The NIT provided Penn State’s players invariably experience last year as it was the first time that the Nittany Lions had been to the postseason in five years. Penn State’s senior guard Ben Luber logged a lot of minutes last year and big things are expected from Luber this time around. Junior guard/forward Geary Claxton who made the Preseason All-Big Ten Team is described by coach Ed DeChellis as a very good basketball player who makes the other guys on the team better by getting them easy shots