Big Ten early NBA entrants/How would Big Ten look?

[SelectionSunday]

For a moment let's assume every Big Ten player that has declared for the draft does not return (work with me here). That means no McCamey for Illinois, no Harris for Michigan, no Turner for Ohio State, no Battle for Penn State and no Johnson & Moore for Purdue. Adding that to what teams have returning and what we know/assume/guess about their recruiting classes, how might the Big Ten preseason predictions look? Here's one guess.

1. Michigan State (no-brainer)
2. Ohio State (still a ton of experienced talent + #1 recruiting class)
3. Wisconsin (Leuer, Taylor, Nankivil + Bo = spot near the top once again)
4. Illinois (will Illini play to talent level or underachieve once again?)
5. Minnesota (bump Gophs ahead of Illinois if land Joseph but too many unknowns to pick higher )
6. Northwestern (even if field is still 65, a healthy Coble means a legit shot at 1st NCAA bid)
7. Purdue (would be the biggest unknown heading into the season)
8. Michigan (somehow, I suspect Beilein will field a competitive team despite no Harris & Sims)
9. Indiana (Pacing Tom will start getting serious heat if Hoosiers finish 9th in Year 3)
10. Iowa (as long as Cole, Gatens, May & Payne return, Hawkeyes should avoid cellar)
11. Penn State (Nitts wouldn't only lose Battle but also Babb)

 

[mnboiler]

I know I'm a Boilermaker so therefore I'm biased but I think Purdue is better than 7. They still have Hummel, who IMO would be the best player in the B10, they would still have Jackson and still have Barlow. Bade would have a year until his belt and the Boilermakers would have basically 3 other bigs coming in(one a redshirt freshmen). DJ Byrd really played well at the end of the season, which I know is a very small sample of games. Smith will still be able shot the 3. Both of Purdue guards coming in next year should be really good.

Now they wouldn't challenge for the B10 title, but I would put them ahead of Northwestern for sure.