Ben Johnson's Gophers picked to finish 14th in the unofficial Big Ten men's hoops preseason media poll

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Marcus:

Unofficial 2021 Big Ten media preseason poll(first-place votes in parenthesis):

1. Michigan 373 (13)

2. Purdue 373 (12)

3. Illinois 320 (3)

4. Ohio State 316

5. Maryland 269

6. Michigan State 262

7. Indiana 219

8. Rutgers 208

9. Iowa 150

10. Wisconsin 149

11. Nebraska 105

T-12. Northwestern 81

T-12. Penn State 81

14. Minnesota 34

Player of the year (votes):

Kofi Cockburn, Illinois (11)

Jaden Ivey, Purdue (5)

E.J. Liddell, Ohio State (4)

Hunter Dickinson, Michigan (3)

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (3)

Trevion Williams, Purdue (2)

Freshman of the year (votes):

Caleb Houstan, Michigan (20)

Max Christie, Michigan State (7)

Bryce McGowens, Nebraska (1)

First-team all-Big Ten (votes):

Kofi Cockburn, Illinois (27)

E.J. Liddell, Ohio State (26)

Hunter Dickinson, Michigan (25)

Jaden Ivey, Purdue (21)

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (20)

Also receiving votes:Trevion Williams, Purdue (10); Eric Ayala, Maryland (4); Andre Curbelo, Illinois (2); DeVante Jones, Michigan (2); Geo Baker, Rutgers (1); Ron Harper, Jr., Rutgers (1); Caleb Houstan, Michigan (1)

www.startribune.com

Gophers men's hoops picked to finish last by Big Ten writers

Michigan is early favorite to defend last year's championship.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 



It's going to be a long year but we know that going in. I'm completely checked out on the Vikings even though they're OK this year.

Rebuilds give you something new to cheer for and watch for. I'm exciting to see all the new players and see how Ben coaches our offense (specifically).
 

34 points? At least it wasn't unanimous, that would have been 28.

Which voter(s) voted the Gophers not last is the question.
 


How do the points work for the votes? Like 1st place is worth 28? Last place is worth 2? I'm honestly curious.
 

bruster said:
Not only are the Gophers last... they distance between them and those above...

Going to be a loooong year
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How is Penn State and Northwestern that far above us in your eyes?
 

It's the easy vote to put them last and makes sense. The more I look at the roster (the more maroon and gold my goggles get) and knowing the staff, I still think they finish in the 10th-12th range. They are old and shoot the ball at a decent clip and that will help transition for this year. I think Penn State and NW finish 13-14
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
How do the points work for the votes? Like 1st place is worth 28? Last place is worth 2? I'm honestly curious.
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I'm assuming it's 14 pts for 1st place, 13 for 2nd, etc. 28 voters so almost everyone picked the Gophers last.
 





The Athletic chimes in with their analysis of the poll, and their picks:

14. Minnesota: Richard Pitino was sent packing, and 10 transfers followed him out the door. Now Johnson, a Minneapolis native whom Pitino hired for his first staff at Minnesota and who most recently worked as an assistant at Xavier, is picking up the pieces. He’s compiled a mishmash roster of low-major and mid-major transfers. All told, as Blue Ribbon put it this preseason, the Gophers have 14 players from 13 different schools from 10 different states who played at six different levels last year (DI, DII, DIII, NJCAA, prep school and high school). Every win should be cherished.

theathletic.com

Michigan, Purdue headline official unofficial Big Ten basketball media poll, plus my picks for 2021-22

The fifth annual preseason poll also tabs Illinois center Kofi Cockburn as player of the year and Michigan's Caleb Houstan as top freshman.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
The Athletic chimes in with their analysis of the poll, and their picks:

14. Minnesota: Richard Pitino was sent packing, and 10 transfers followed him out the door. Now Johnson, a Minneapolis native whom Pitino hired for his first staff at Minnesota and who most recently worked as an assistant at Xavier, is picking up the pieces. He’s compiled a mishmash roster of low-major and mid-major transfers. All told, as Blue Ribbon put it this preseason, the Gophers have 14 players from 13 different schools from 10 different states who played at six different levels last year (DI, DII, DIII, NJCAA, prep school and high school). Every win should be cherished.

theathletic.com

Michigan, Purdue headline official unofficial Big Ten basketball media poll, plus my picks for 2021-22

The fifth annual preseason poll also tabs Illinois center Kofi Cockburn as player of the year and Michigan's Caleb Houstan as top freshman.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Go Gophers!!
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that sums it up very well
 





Gopherfan84 said:
It's the easy vote to put them last and makes sense. The more I look at the roster (the more maroon and gold my goggles get) and knowing the staff, I still think they finish in the 10th-12th range. They are old and shoot the ball at a decent clip and that will help transition for this year. I think Penn State and NW finish 13-14
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Northwestern has six of their top seven players back from a team that won 6 games in the league last year. Veteran team with some talent.

Hard to see Minnesota winning 6 games in the league this year. Shooting the ball at a decent clip in lesser leagues is not the same as doing it against Big Ten teams.
 

combes1 said:
Northwestern has six of their top seven players back from a team that won 6 games in the league last year. Veteran team with some talent.

Hard to see Minnesota winning 6 games in the league this year. Shooting the ball at a decent clip in lesser leagues is not the same as doing it against Big Ten teams.
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6 games all year.
 

combes1 said:
Northwestern has six of their top seven players back from a team that won 6 games in the league last year. Veteran team with some talent.

Hard to see Minnesota winning 6 games in the league this year. Shooting the ball at a decent clip in lesser leagues is not the same as doing it against Big Ten teams.
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I think look Kopp will be huge loss for them, plus they still don't defend well. I still don't think NW wins more than 6-7 this year either. I also don't think the conference is nearly as deep as last season. Wins will be easier to come by in the middle of the pack than last year. Last years team was atrocious shooting and defensively (at the end of the year). I think this years team will do both of those better and can see them winning at least five to six games. That's not a big gap.
 
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I think it's possible they finish above NW and Penn State and I wouldn't be shocked, but I wouldn't pick them to.
 

if you're looking for a bright spot - the expectations cannot get any lower. There is no pressure on this team. I hope Johnson tells them to just go out there, play hard and have fun.

the way to evaluate this team is not on wins and losses. they will be - or should be - evaluated on effort, making in-game adjustments, and showing improvement from the start of the season to the end.

yeah, some wins would be nice. but this season is not about winning per se - it's about setting a new direction for the program.
 


Gopherfan84 said:
How is Penn State and Northwestern that far above us in your eyes?
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NW has alot back, they lost Kopp, but they had a log jam at his spot. They still have Bouie, Berry, Nance, Beran, Jones, Greer are okay off the bench, they have one top 100 guy and two other guy towards the bottom of the top 150 coming in as Freshman. Not world beaters, but they have enough where I would think they could finish ahead of Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin, let alone us and Penn State
 


combes1 said:
Northwestern has six of their top seven players back from a team that won 6 games in the league last year. Veteran team with some talent.

Hard to see Minnesota winning 6 games in the league this year. Shooting the ball at a decent clip in lesser leagues is not the same as doing it against Big Ten teams.
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I'd take 5 B1G wins in a heartbeat.
 

Fleckoff said:
NW has alot back, they lost Kopp, but they had a log jam at his spot. They still have Bouie, Berry, Nance, Beran, Jones, Greer are okay off the bench, they have one top 100 guy and two other guy towards the bottom of the top 150 coming in as Freshman. Not world beaters, but they have enough where I would think they could finish ahead of Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin, let alone us and Penn State
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Nice breakdown and all fair points. After the top 6-7 this year I could see the rest play out on any way and not be too surprised.
 


Surprised a gopher freshman isn't nominated for freshman of the year given that they will likely get heavy minutes out of necessity.
 

I think there will be two raucous upper tier B1G upsets at Williams this year.
 


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