Link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...ons-maryland-has-the-pieces-to-raise-a-banner
1.
MARYLAND TERRAPINS
Almost every season some team becomes a Final Four team thanks largely to multiple players who could've reasonably entered the NBA Draft returning to school. Last season, for instance, Wisconsin and Kentucky both checked that box. And this season it could be Maryland, which will be led by Melo Trimble and Jake Layman, both of whom delayed pro careers to try to win a Big Ten championship and then some.
2.
MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
A backcourt of Bryn Forbes, Eron Harris and Denzel Valentine is talented enough to keep Michigan State at or near the top of the Big Ten despite the losses of Travis Trice and Branden Dawson. And here's the scary part: The Spartans could be even better next season -- after that top-ranked recruiting class enrolls and starts working with future Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.
3.
INDIANA HOOSIERS
For all the mess Tom Crean has dealt with recently, here's the truth: He's made three of the past four NCAA Tournaments, advanced to the Sweet 16 twice in that span, and recruited well enough to have a team ranked 13th in this season's preseason Top 25 (and one). I think that gets lost sometimes.
4.
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue missed the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and 2014, which had the fan base restless after they'd watched the Boilermakers make the Field of 68 each of the previous six seasons. But now things are settled. Matt Painter's team finished tied for third in the Big Ten last season before making the NCAA Tournament, and a top-five finish and return trip to the Big Dance seems probable thanks largely to the return of A.J. Hammons and Rapheal Davis, the latter of whom is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
5.
WISCONSIN BADGERS
It's never easy to lose two pros like Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker -- not to mention rotation players such as Traevon Jackson, Josh Gasser and Duje Dukan -- in the same year. But Bo Ryan has a way of making what should be a difficult transition look simple, and that's the main reason why he'll likely have Wisconsin in the top five of the Big Ten for the 15th straight year. (Note to Wisconsin fans: I, personally, have Wisconsin in the top four, as you'll see in the matrix below, because, yes, I'm well aware Ryan has never finished outside of the top four of the Big Ten standings. But my colleagues -- with the exceptions of Jon Rothstein and Jerry Palm -- think less of the Badgers and out-voted me. So please direct your anger in their direction.)
6.
MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
Two of Michigan's top three scorers last season -- namely Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton Jr. -- each competed in fewer than 20 of a possible 32 games, which was among the reasons the Wolverines limped to a 16-16 record. But every important piece from that roster is back. So John Beilein should guide Michigan to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in six seasons.
7.
IOWA HAWKEYES
Jarrod Uthoff is A) one of four returning starters for Iowa, B) among the obvious snubs of our list of the Top 100 (and one) college basketball players, and C) the main reason why the Hawkeyes have a decent chance to make the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season under Fran McCaffery. With some good fortune, they could crack the top four of the Big Ten.
8.
OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Losing players early to the NBA Draft is the biggest obstacle to any high-major program trying to maintain a certain level of success, and it's especially difficult when the lost player is someone nobody thought you'd possibly lose when the season began -- like D'Angelo Russell. Yes, everybody knew Russell was talented. But nobody projected him as a one-and-done star. And that unexpected loss for which Ohio State couldn't plan might have the Buckeyes' string of seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances in jeopardy.
9.
ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
It's hard not to feel bad for John Groce, the fourth-year coach whose past two seasons have been riddled with injuries, and now it's more of the same. The Illini have already lost Tracy Abrams for the season to a torn Achilles. Leron Black is out three more weeks with a knee injury. Jalen Coleman-Lands is recovering from a leg injury. Jaylon Tate is recovering from a concussion. And Kendrick Nunn is expected to miss roughly two months after having surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb. What a mess.
10.
NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS
The Wildcats won't start 1-10 in the Big Ten again like they did last season, I'm almost certain. But that elusive first trip to the NCAA Tournament is still a year or two away, probably. To be clear, it's coming, and Chris Collins will be the coach who creates it. But it's unlikely to come this season.
11.
MINNESOTA GOPHERS
Minnesota hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since firing Tubby Smith in March 2013, and there aren't a lot of reasons to think that'll change this season. But the good news is that the Gophers have a top-15 recruiting class set to enroll before the 2016-17 season. So there's some optimism that the future will be better than the recent past.
12.
NEBRASKA HUSKERS
Some of the momentum sparked by that surprising trip to the 2014 NCAA Tournament is gone because of last season's 13-18 record. But Tim Miles is still a quality coach with the resources to get things turned back in the right direction -- although the turning isn't likely to happen this season unless Shavon Shields carries the Huskers, and that homecourt advantage is truly an advantage like it was two years ago.
13.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
I suppose, in theory, there's a scenario where somebody could win consistently at Penn State, but I'm not sure how it would be done or whom could actually do it. Just a tough, tough job. So don't be surprised when Pat Chambers finishes outside of the top 10 of the Big Ten standings for the fifth consecutive season, and, honestly, you probably shouldn't blame him either.
14.
RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS
Speaking of tough jobs, Rutgers certainly qualifies. It's been a tough Big East job, a tough American Athletic Conference job (briefly), and, now, it's a terrible Big Ten job held by Eddie Jordan, who will likely finish last in the league again. And did you realize the Scarlet Knights haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 1991?
BIGGEST MOVE FROM LAST SEASON: One of the things I noticed, after I predicted the order of finish here, is that the order of teams shouldn't really change too drastically from last season. The teams that were good last season should, for the most part, be good this season. And the teams that were bad last season should, for the most part, be bad this season. That's interesting. But one possible exception to this is Indiana. The Hoosiers finished tied for seventh in the Big Ten last season, and I could actually see them winning the league this season, which would obviously be a fairly big move.
BOLD PREDICTION: Maryland's Robert Carter was omitted from our Top 100 (and one) college basketball players rankings. So the bold prediction here is that he'll make that omission look silly. I really do think he could end up being the second best player on a team that wins a national title. It's just that he missed last season while sitting out as a transfer from Georgia Tech, and there's an out-of-sight/out-of-mind thing in play.
CBS SPORTS PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM
1.
Almost every season some team becomes a Final Four team thanks largely to multiple players who could've reasonably entered the NBA Draft returning to school. Last season, for instance, Wisconsin and Kentucky both checked that box. And this season it could be Maryland, which will be led by Melo Trimble and Jake Layman, both of whom delayed pro careers to try to win a Big Ten championship and then some.
2.
A backcourt of Bryn Forbes, Eron Harris and Denzel Valentine is talented enough to keep Michigan State at or near the top of the Big Ten despite the losses of Travis Trice and Branden Dawson. And here's the scary part: The Spartans could be even better next season -- after that top-ranked recruiting class enrolls and starts working with future Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.
3.
For all the mess Tom Crean has dealt with recently, here's the truth: He's made three of the past four NCAA Tournaments, advanced to the Sweet 16 twice in that span, and recruited well enough to have a team ranked 13th in this season's preseason Top 25 (and one). I think that gets lost sometimes.
4.
Purdue missed the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and 2014, which had the fan base restless after they'd watched the Boilermakers make the Field of 68 each of the previous six seasons. But now things are settled. Matt Painter's team finished tied for third in the Big Ten last season before making the NCAA Tournament, and a top-five finish and return trip to the Big Dance seems probable thanks largely to the return of A.J. Hammons and Rapheal Davis, the latter of whom is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
5.
It's never easy to lose two pros like Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker -- not to mention rotation players such as Traevon Jackson, Josh Gasser and Duje Dukan -- in the same year. But Bo Ryan has a way of making what should be a difficult transition look simple, and that's the main reason why he'll likely have Wisconsin in the top five of the Big Ten for the 15th straight year. (Note to Wisconsin fans: I, personally, have Wisconsin in the top four, as you'll see in the matrix below, because, yes, I'm well aware Ryan has never finished outside of the top four of the Big Ten standings. But my colleagues -- with the exceptions of Jon Rothstein and Jerry Palm -- think less of the Badgers and out-voted me. So please direct your anger in their direction.)
6.
Two of Michigan's top three scorers last season -- namely Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton Jr. -- each competed in fewer than 20 of a possible 32 games, which was among the reasons the Wolverines limped to a 16-16 record. But every important piece from that roster is back. So John Beilein should guide Michigan to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in six seasons.
7.
Jarrod Uthoff is A) one of four returning starters for Iowa, B) among the obvious snubs of our list of the Top 100 (and one) college basketball players, and C) the main reason why the Hawkeyes have a decent chance to make the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season under Fran McCaffery. With some good fortune, they could crack the top four of the Big Ten.
8.
Losing players early to the NBA Draft is the biggest obstacle to any high-major program trying to maintain a certain level of success, and it's especially difficult when the lost player is someone nobody thought you'd possibly lose when the season began -- like D'Angelo Russell. Yes, everybody knew Russell was talented. But nobody projected him as a one-and-done star. And that unexpected loss for which Ohio State couldn't plan might have the Buckeyes' string of seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances in jeopardy.
9.
It's hard not to feel bad for John Groce, the fourth-year coach whose past two seasons have been riddled with injuries, and now it's more of the same. The Illini have already lost Tracy Abrams for the season to a torn Achilles. Leron Black is out three more weeks with a knee injury. Jalen Coleman-Lands is recovering from a leg injury. Jaylon Tate is recovering from a concussion. And Kendrick Nunn is expected to miss roughly two months after having surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb. What a mess.
10.
The Wildcats won't start 1-10 in the Big Ten again like they did last season, I'm almost certain. But that elusive first trip to the NCAA Tournament is still a year or two away, probably. To be clear, it's coming, and Chris Collins will be the coach who creates it. But it's unlikely to come this season.
11.
Minnesota hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since firing Tubby Smith in March 2013, and there aren't a lot of reasons to think that'll change this season. But the good news is that the Gophers have a top-15 recruiting class set to enroll before the 2016-17 season. So there's some optimism that the future will be better than the recent past.
12.
Some of the momentum sparked by that surprising trip to the 2014 NCAA Tournament is gone because of last season's 13-18 record. But Tim Miles is still a quality coach with the resources to get things turned back in the right direction -- although the turning isn't likely to happen this season unless Shavon Shields carries the Huskers, and that homecourt advantage is truly an advantage like it was two years ago.
13.
I suppose, in theory, there's a scenario where somebody could win consistently at Penn State, but I'm not sure how it would be done or whom could actually do it. Just a tough, tough job. So don't be surprised when Pat Chambers finishes outside of the top 10 of the Big Ten standings for the fifth consecutive season, and, honestly, you probably shouldn't blame him either.
14.
Speaking of tough jobs, Rutgers certainly qualifies. It's been a tough Big East job, a tough American Athletic Conference job (briefly), and, now, it's a terrible Big Ten job held by Eddie Jordan, who will likely finish last in the league again. And did you realize the Scarlet Knights haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 1991?
BIGGEST MOVE FROM LAST SEASON: One of the things I noticed, after I predicted the order of finish here, is that the order of teams shouldn't really change too drastically from last season. The teams that were good last season should, for the most part, be good this season. And the teams that were bad last season should, for the most part, be bad this season. That's interesting. But one possible exception to this is Indiana. The Hoosiers finished tied for seventh in the Big Ten last season, and I could actually see them winning the league this season, which would obviously be a fairly big move.
BOLD PREDICTION: Maryland's Robert Carter was omitted from our Top 100 (and one) college basketball players rankings. So the bold prediction here is that he'll make that omission look silly. I really do think he could end up being the second best player on a team that wins a national title. It's just that he missed last season while sitting out as a transfer from Georgia Tech, and there's an out-of-sight/out-of-mind thing in play.
CBS SPORTS PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM
- G: Yogi Ferrell (Indiana)
- G: Melo Trimble (Maryland)
- G: Denzel Valentine (Michigan State)
- F: Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin)
- F: A.J. Hammons (Purdue)
- Melo Trimble (Maryland)
- Mark Turgeon (Maryland)
