Big Ten Board (Beta)

Let me know what you think .... that was a lot of research to check on that many teams, let me know if something seems amiss (LOL).

Erving walker is 5-8 so I don't think he's a big man. He also graduated. Think you were looking for Erik Murphy. UF

Great stuff Steve. Enjoyed reading this.

Thanks Steve, nice, nice job - what a great in-depth analysis. And to think I thought you were a football only guy. Over here in Richmond it is VCU basketball 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With Shaka Smart bringing back four starters, there is a lot of talk that his 2012 team may be a legitimate top 20 team and maybe a 4, 5 or 6 seed (especially if VCU jumps to the A-12). Until your article, I thought it was way too early to even think about stuff like that.
Loved your article, but do you realize that if the Mayan's are correct about the end of the world, your 2013 NCAA bracket predictions will be all for naught.

Good call on Minnesota, and as you are a Big 10 insider you are on top of that.

Keep an eye on the freshman Charles Buggs. He blew up late and had offers from Marquette, Miami, Arkansas, Clemson, among many others, but Tubby nabbed him from Hargrave. He had 15 in the prep national title game vs. Brewster.

I tend to think IU is a little bit overrated due to their defense, but there is certainly a good argument for them at the top.

Baylor is the real sleeper to win it all imo. On paper the losses look like too much to overcome, but I think the balance and depth will allow the Bears to compete for a Final 4 and who knows once you get there.

great write up!

Agreed on the defense about Indiana. They need to cut that average down 6-10 points to think they will be a serious NC contender. I think Crean now has a deep enough roster that he can play more guys and demand better effort. I'd look for Zeller to be more of a force in the paint this year, too. He was soft at times in the middle.

I am interested in seeing how the UCLA puzzle comes together. The Tony Parker verbal was curious because the have the Wear twins and Josh Smith already there.

Great article would of loved some more insight into Cuonzo and the UT program. Stokes and Maymen will be tough to handle this year though you are correct.

I know you can't mention all newcomers for all the teams, but you probably should note Kansas has a couple more top 50 type prospects becoming available in 2012-13. Ben McLemore was not eligible in 2011-12 but has been practicing with the Jayhawks, so he is likely to be somewhat beyond an ordinary freshman, even if he begins a little rusty. Kansas also has Andrew White coming in. If McLemore and Traylor are added to KU's 2012-13 class, then KU's class is maybe behind only UCLA, Kentucky and Arizona.

I like Craft a lot. He averaged about 8 a game this past year. If he can up his averages to, say, 12 points, 6 assists and 2 steals a game, yeah, he'd be in the running for A-A as a PG. The problem is most A-A teams just take the best 5 guys. A PG usually has to avg 20 ppg to be an A-A, unfortunately.

As long as they don't continue to ignore Zeller for long stretches on the offensive end...usually in the 2nd half...which for some reason, they did a lot last year, IU should be a force this season.

Thanks for the comments!