All based on fairly limited amount of watching these teams play. And sorted by pre-season personal perception of the quality of the teams.
Purdue - Before season I thought they were very good. Today I think they are even better. It would be incredible to steal a game for them. Unlikely
Michigan - Before season I thought they were, with Purdue, the two top teams in the conference. Today, hard to understand what is going on. We play them once in Ann Arbor and can, for now, believe we have a good chance of winning
Illinois - I thought they could be the disappointment of the season. The Michigan State of this year. Admittedly there was a ton of wishful thinking there. They lost of Marquette without Cockburn, lost badly to Cincy with Cockburn. Have been solid since. Plummer is for real and with Frazier a huge threat to put up points on the board fast. Better than us as a team for sure, but legit to think we can steal one
Ohio State - Shaky start, even if not losing much, having more trouble beating teams than expected. And then they beat Duke. Better than us, we only play them in Columbus. Hard to think we'll get a win
Maryland - I thought the addition of Wahab and Russell looked good on paper. Gave them an inside presence and a true point guard. Thought they could be better than last year. So far from the truth. Today they are worse than us and it's reasonable to think we can sweep them
Michigan State - More or less at the quality level today that I thought they would be. Tough, we might not be better than them but 100% legit to think we can steal one from them
Indiana - Also more or less at the quality level I thought they would be. More balanced roster than last year. Time probably helps them get better. But not convinced they are better than us. We play them once, at home and if it were today I'd feel we were favorites
Iowa - Thought they were at our level. Still do, even if Keegan Murray is incredible. Less impressed with keeping it close against Purdue on the road with Murray than others. It happens. Beyond Murray what they have is some experience, which helps a lot of course. But not a ton of talent. Still we only play them at the tough Carver-Hawkeye. We might be winless against them
Wisconsin - Definitely better than I thought they would be. Davis is the Keegan Murray of Wisconsin. The other Davis, like Bohannon, is probably on his 10th year of college. Like Iowa, what they lack in raw talent, they have in experience. But, unlike Iowa, they don't go for fast and furious. They play methodically to minimize their weaknesses. They have limited strengths anyway. They are not better than us, even if they are not worse either. A split is a reasonable expectation
Rutgers - Thought they were marginally worse than us this season. They are worse, but not just marginally. Thought it was reasonable to think about splitting games. Now think a sweep is reasonable
Nebraska - Thought they were worse than us and they are. But they have decent talent and a split would be likely. Still do. They are kind of like Northwestern 2021. Will keep it close but lose a lot.
Penn State - Think they are what they were supposed to be. They will not be blown out by many teams as at this level blown outs are not that common. But they'll lose a lot. If we are as mature as we can and should be, we sweep them
Minnesota - I really thought they'd win like 3 games. Now I think they'll win 6. What they've done is nothing short of amazing and a great job by the new coach. Unselfish collective, patient basketball can make mediocre talent yield good results. They have not had a tough schedule at all, but they've had their challenges. And keep winning. I remember Depaul 2020 beating Garza/Iowa, Boston College, Carr/Oturu Minnestota, Texas Tech, and even us. Charlie Moore and Paul Reed looked good. And then they won 3 Big East games. Of course their coach was terrible. I guess the point is I keep waiting for MN to be DePaul 2020 when the conference starts. But maybe they are not, and we won't sweep them as I thought we'd easily do.
Overall I do not think the B1G is stronger or weaker than expected. It is, for sure, weaker than last year though. And we are better, hopefully a lot better. Is is it January yet?
Purdue - Before season I thought they were very good. Today I think they are even better. It would be incredible to steal a game for them. Unlikely
Michigan - Before season I thought they were, with Purdue, the two top teams in the conference. Today, hard to understand what is going on. We play them once in Ann Arbor and can, for now, believe we have a good chance of winning
Illinois - I thought they could be the disappointment of the season. The Michigan State of this year. Admittedly there was a ton of wishful thinking there. They lost of Marquette without Cockburn, lost badly to Cincy with Cockburn. Have been solid since. Plummer is for real and with Frazier a huge threat to put up points on the board fast. Better than us as a team for sure, but legit to think we can steal one
Ohio State - Shaky start, even if not losing much, having more trouble beating teams than expected. And then they beat Duke. Better than us, we only play them in Columbus. Hard to think we'll get a win
Maryland - I thought the addition of Wahab and Russell looked good on paper. Gave them an inside presence and a true point guard. Thought they could be better than last year. So far from the truth. Today they are worse than us and it's reasonable to think we can sweep them
Michigan State - More or less at the quality level today that I thought they would be. Tough, we might not be better than them but 100% legit to think we can steal one from them
Indiana - Also more or less at the quality level I thought they would be. More balanced roster than last year. Time probably helps them get better. But not convinced they are better than us. We play them once, at home and if it were today I'd feel we were favorites
Iowa - Thought they were at our level. Still do, even if Keegan Murray is incredible. Less impressed with keeping it close against Purdue on the road with Murray than others. It happens. Beyond Murray what they have is some experience, which helps a lot of course. But not a ton of talent. Still we only play them at the tough Carver-Hawkeye. We might be winless against them
Wisconsin - Definitely better than I thought they would be. Davis is the Keegan Murray of Wisconsin. The other Davis, like Bohannon, is probably on his 10th year of college. Like Iowa, what they lack in raw talent, they have in experience. But, unlike Iowa, they don't go for fast and furious. They play methodically to minimize their weaknesses. They have limited strengths anyway. They are not better than us, even if they are not worse either. A split is a reasonable expectation
Rutgers - Thought they were marginally worse than us this season. They are worse, but not just marginally. Thought it was reasonable to think about splitting games. Now think a sweep is reasonable
Nebraska - Thought they were worse than us and they are. But they have decent talent and a split would be likely. Still do. They are kind of like Northwestern 2021. Will keep it close but lose a lot.
Penn State - Think they are what they were supposed to be. They will not be blown out by many teams as at this level blown outs are not that common. But they'll lose a lot. If we are as mature as we can and should be, we sweep them
Minnesota - I really thought they'd win like 3 games. Now I think they'll win 6. What they've done is nothing short of amazing and a great job by the new coach. Unselfish collective, patient basketball can make mediocre talent yield good results. They have not had a tough schedule at all, but they've had their challenges. And keep winning. I remember Depaul 2020 beating Garza/Iowa, Boston College, Carr/Oturu Minnestota, Texas Tech, and even us. Charlie Moore and Paul Reed looked good. And then they won 3 Big East games. Of course their coach was terrible. I guess the point is I keep waiting for MN to be DePaul 2020 when the conference starts. But maybe they are not, and we won't sweep them as I thought we'd easily do.
Overall I do not think the B1G is stronger or weaker than expected. It is, for sure, weaker than last year though. And we are better, hopefully a lot better. Is is it January yet?
