Big 10 Predictions: Gophers to Finish 5th

With Big 10 play beginning on Thursday, here’s one person’s predictions for how the Big 10 will shape up.

1. Ohio State. In my opinion, it’s Ohio State against the field. Barring injuries, the Buckeyes should be a lock to win the Big 10. With strong inside and outside play, a deep bench, and well-coached by Jim Foster, the Buckeyes might be a Final Four participant in March. We’ll find out how good OSU is in their first 3 conference games, as they open against Penn State, Purdue, and Michigan State, all of these teams are expected to finish in the top half of the Big 10 this year. Ohio State’s only loss so far this season was to Notre Dame, 66-62.
2. Michigan State. The Spartans return their top 5 scorers from a year ago and they have a nice combination of inside and outside players. MSU’s biggest wins this season are over Notre Dame, 82-73 in overtime, and Boston College, 82-78 in overtime. MSU tunes up for its conference opener with a December 29 game at national power Connecticut. This team is a bit of an enigma, struggling to beat Detroit Mercy (73-64), a team the Gophers pummeled, and barely beating Texas A & M-Corpus Christi (62-56).
3. Purdue. The Boilermakers finished 2nd in the Big 10 last year. They lost a great player in Shereka Wright, but they also had a strong freshman class last year and have another this year.
4. Penn State. As if their non-conference schedule wasn’t tough enough, the Nittany Lions (5-5) get to open their conference schedule against Big 10 favorite Ohio State. Penn State made it to the Elite Eight in last year’s NCAA tourney, but lost last year’s Big 10 Player of the Year, Kelly Mazzante. Leading this year’s team is Tanisha Wright, probably the conference’s 2nd best player behind the Gophers’ Janel McCarville. Penn State will again be a guard-oriented team, but their inside game is only average. The Nittany Lions own a win over then-ranked No. 2 North Carolina, but they’ve lost to the state of Texas (Texas, Texas Tech, and Baylor), Duke, and Villanova, all expected to be NCAA tourney teams.
5. Minnesota. The Gophers are a team that could finish as high as 2nd or as low as 5th in this year’s Big 10 race. Any of these positions should qualify them for a 4th straight NCAA tourney appearance. Gopher fans should remember that the team finished 6th in last year’s Big 10 standings, but peaked at the end of the year with a roll that landed them in the Final Four. This is a team that did not win the Big 10 regular season title or Big 10 tournament title in the Lindsay Whalen era. I don’t expect that to change with this year’s version, although it’s something to shoot for. Gopher fans should pay more attention to whether this team can improve steadily and become more consistent as it prepares for another possible post-season run.
6. Iowa. The Hawkeyes were undefeated in non-conference action and they’re now nationally-ranked, but their schedule has been a bit soft and that may catch up to them in conference play. The Hawkeyes made the NCAA tourney last year and they could make it again this year if they can finish 6th or better in the conference.
7. Illinois. It’s hard to figure out this team. They have victories over nationally-ranked UCLA and Lousiana Tech (on the road), but they were blasted by UW-Green Bay, 72-43.
8. Michigan. Cheryl Burnett is a good coach, but her team is too young to make a mark on this year’s Big 10 race.
9. Indiana. With the season-ending injury to preseason all-conference pick Jenny Demuth, the Hoosiers should finish near the bottom of this year’s Big 10 standings. This team might be able to win some games with their solid defense.
10. Wisconsin. Another team with a good coach (Lisa Stone) that can hope to win a maximum of 4 or 5 conference games, but probably not.
11. Northwestern. Not a Big 10 caliber team, at least not yet. New coach Beth Combs is in for a long year. The Wildcats could win 1, maybe 2 conference games.

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