Big Ten Non-Conference Schedule Rankings (13 of 14 complete)

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SelectionSunday

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Based on the average NET ranking of definite non-conference opponents.

Big Ten Non-Conference Schedule Rankings (MSU schedule yet to be released)
1 Maryland (162.9)
2 Indiana (167.09)
3 Purdue (176)
4 Michigan (181)
5 Iowa (191.2)
6 Wisconsin (192.222)
7 Nebraska (197.111)
8 Illinois (198.1)
9 Penn State (205.111)
10 Rutgers (217.181)
11 Northwestern (227)
12 Ohio State (232.444)
13 Minnesota (232.9)

Games vs. NCAA Qualifiers
Maryland (4) -- vs. Tennessee (7), UCLA (11), vs. Providence (24)/Miami (47), Saint Peter's (105)

Indiana (3) -- @ Kansas (3), vs. Arizona (4), North Carolina (17)

Iowa (3) -- vs. Duke (10), Iowa State (41), @ Seton Hall (48)

Ohio State (3) -- @ Duke (10), vs. North Carolina (17), vs. San Diego State (30)

Illinois (2) -- vs. UCLA (11), vs. Texas (16)

Michigan (2) -- vs. Kentucky (9), vs. North Carolina (17)

Nebraska (2) -- vs. Memphis (31)/Seton Hall (48), @ Creighton (51)

Purdue (2) -- vs. Davidson (46), Marquette (50)

Rutgers (2) -- @ Miami (47), Seton Hall (48)

Minnesota (1) -- @ Virginia Tech (22)

Wisconsin (1) -- @ Marquette (50)

Northwestern (0)

Penn State (0)

Games vs. NET 300+ Opponents
Ohio State (6) -- Alabama A&M (320), Robert Morris (328), Saint Francis-PA (331), Charleston Southern (347), Maine (353), Eastern Illinois (356)

Minnesota (5) -- Central Michigan (318), Saint Francis-NY (321), Western Michigan (329), Chicago (340), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (352)

Rutgers (5) -- Coppin (301), Sacred Heart (323), Bucknell (334), Central Connecticut (345), Columbia (351)

Illinois (4) -- Alabama A&M (320), Bethune-Cookman (337), Eastern Illinois (356), Lindenwood (359)

Nebraska (4) -- Omaha (346), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (352), Maine (353), Queens (359)

Iowa (3) -- Bethune-Cookman (337), Omaha (346), Eastern Illinois (356)

Wisconsin (3) -- Grambling (304), Western Michigan (329), Green Bay (344)

Indiana (2) -- Little Rock (315), Bethune-Cookman (337)

Michigan (2) -- vs. Eastern Michigan (306), Central Michigan (318)

Penn State (2) -- Lafayette (319), Delaware State (357)

Purdue (2) -- Florida A&M (310), Milwaukee (333)

Maryland (1) -- Coppin (301)

Northwestern (1) -- Chicago (340)

Note, all Division I newbies are given a NET ranking of #359
 
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Gophers_4life said:
Does this matter at all? If we make the tourny, it will be for what we've done in conference.
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Very fair point.

If the Gophers win enough Big Ten games and beat the "right" teams in Big Ten play, it really wouldn't matter much except for seeding. What it comes down to for me (just an opinion) is I prefer the Gophers not put all their eggs in one basket (conference play). One or two quality non-conference wins can give a team a bit of a cushion on their resume heading into conference play. On paper, winning @ Virginia Tech would be a nice feather for the Gophers.
 
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Gophers_4life said:
Does this matter at all? If we make the tourny, it will be for what we've done in conference.
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Don't kid yourself.....when it comes down to it, if we are a bubble team the seeding committee will use our SOS against us.....in order to justify someone like Indiana getting in.

Geez.....I realize I sound like a jaded Gopher fan, but that's because I am one. :);)
 

Gophers_4life said:
Does this matter at all? If we make the tourny, it will be for what we've done in conference.
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As an example, look at Wake Forest last year. A really good 13-7 record in a down ACC. Pretty much everyone expects the Big Ten to be down compared to last year (though not to the extent the ACC found themselves in). So there's a good chance that the Big Ten will have less games that really help your metrics. WF had a cupcake non-conference SOS last year. They played a total of nine quad 4 games. Your power conference doesn't always make up for your non-conference. If WF plays a better non-conference, they would've put themselves in a pretty good position to make the NCAA tournament. Instead they found themselves in the NIT with only 9 losses at the end of the regular season.
 
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gopherguy15 said:
As an example, look at Wake Forest last year. A really good 13-7 record in a down ACC. Pretty much everyone expects the Big Ten to be down compared to last year (though not to the extent the ACC found themselves in). So there's a good chance that the Big Ten will have less games that really help your metrics. WF had a cupcake non-conference SOS last year. They played a total of nine quad 4 games. Your power conference doesn't always make up for your non-conference. If WF plays a better non-conference, they would've put themselves in a pretty good position to make the NCAA tournament. Instead they found themselves in the NIT with only 9 losses at the end of the regular season.
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13 wins in the ACC and found themselves on the outside of the bubble? That's messed up even with a weak schedule.
 

I don't really buy the whole B1G will be down argument. The B1G is filled with a bunch of mediocre teams and no great teams every season, including last season. It will be the same again this season.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
I don't really buy the whole B1G will be down argument. The B1G is filled with a bunch of mediocre teams and no great teams every season, including last season. It will be the same again this season.
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I get your opinion on mediocre teams, but the conference will be down from a talent standpoint. I doubt we have two lottery picks playing in the conference this year. They also aren’t being replaced. Mich State and some others didn’t fill very well like they normally do. Maybe it’ll be the same and the teams themselves will hold up because of the coaching and cohesion, but the conference will lack high end talent this year
 

Gophers_4life said:
Does this matter at all? If we make the tourny, it will be for what we've done in conference.
Click to expand...

If we don't go undefeated in OOC(assuming 1/2 losses), we'll need at least 13 B1G wins to feel good about making it IMO. Even then I wouldn't feel great about it.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
I get your opinion on mediocre teams, but the conference will be down from a talent standpoint. I doubt we have two lottery picks playing in the conference this year. They also aren’t being replaced. Mich State and some others didn’t fill very well like they normally do. Maybe it’ll be the same and the teams themselves will hold up because of the coaching and cohesion, but the conference will lack high end talent this year
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Who thought Murray, Ivey, and Davis were going to be lottery picks when they arrived on their campuses? The other power conferences lose just as much if not more players to the NBA after every season.

Several B1G teams are reloading with high end talent. Ohio St, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are all ranked in the top 11 for incoming recruiting classes. Last season only 1 school (Michigan) was ranked in the top 11.

It's college. Top talent leaves every season, and a new crop rises to the top. Younger Murray is expected to help fill the void of his older brother. Purdue and Wisconsin are good every year despite who they lose.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Who thought Murray, Ivey, and Davis were going to be lottery picks when they arrived on their campuses? The other power conferences lose just as much if not more players to the NBA after every season.

Several B1G teams are reloading with high end talent. Ohio St, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are all ranked in the top 11 for incoming recruiting classes. Last season only 1 school (Michigan) was ranked in the top 11.

It's college. Top talent leaves every season, and a new crop rises to the top. Younger Murray is expected to help fill the void of his older brother. Purdue and Wisconsin are good every year despite who they lose.
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Are you expecting those freshman to make Ohio St, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan top teams in the nation immediately? That's fine if you are, but I certainly don't think so this year. You have to remember that the Big Ten is coming off an historic back-to-back 9 bids to the NCAA tournament. Those predicting a down year compared to last season aren't saying the conference is going to nosedive. I'm just of the belief that the Big Ten lost too much and simply didn't replace well enough to be at that level again. We can't point to a single preseason national championship contender out of the Big Ten this year. Maybe Illinois has the highest ceiling, but I see a lot of solid teams, with none in the top tier of college basketball as of today. Instead of 9 bids, I'd guess we're at somewhere around 7 by season's end. But I'll be happy to be proven wrong if the Big Ten has another 9 bid season and high seeds in the tourney.
 



gopherguy15 said:
Are you expecting those freshman to make Ohio St, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan top teams in the nation immediately? That's fine if you are, but I certainly don't think so this year. You have to remember that the Big Ten is coming off an historic back-to-back 9 bids to the NCAA tournament. Those predicting a down year compared to last season aren't saying the conference is going to nosedive. I'm just of the belief that the Big Ten lost too much and simply didn't replace well enough to be at that level again. We can't point to a single preseason national championship contender out of the Big Ten this year. Maybe Illinois has the highest ceiling, but I see a lot of solid teams, with none in the top tier of college basketball as of today. Instead of 9 bids, I'd guess we're at somewhere around 7 by season's end. But I'll be happy to be proven wrong if the Big Ten has another 9 bid season and high seeds in the tourney.
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They're not bringing in only freshman though. And many of these teams are still returning a good amount of talent. The large number of teams in the NCAA tournament was more to do with the lack of bubble teams nationally last season. The B1G is always near the top in number of teams in the NCAA tournament, but they rarely have teams that advance deep into the tournament.

I agree with much of what you wrote. The difference between 7 teams or 9 teams in the tournament isn't much most years. I think it's possible the top 7 may be better this season compared to last, because those teams were very flawed last season.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Who thought Murray, Ivey, and Davis were going to be lottery picks when they arrived on their campuses? The other power conferences lose just as much if not more players to the NBA after every season.

Several B1G teams are reloading with high end talent. Ohio St, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are all ranked in the top 11 for incoming recruiting classes. Last season only 1 school (Michigan) was ranked in the top 11.

It's college. Top talent leaves every season, and a new crop rises to the top. Younger Murray is expected to help fill the void of his older brother. Purdue and Wisconsin are good every year despite who they lose.
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Most mocks I saw had them in the first round. Ivey was lottery in most of them. I’ll be shocked if someone fills those. Kris Murray gets some love, but no one coming in will be at that level right away. I also don’t see any of last years freshman jumping up it either.

Purdue lost all their guards and didn’t replace them. They are well coached but I think they won’t be as good as last year. Illinois is young and won’t be an upgrade with their transfers imo, Indiana added some nice pieces. Rutgers didn’t replace Harper Jr with anything, Michigan State added some freshman guards but didn’t replace Christie’s scoring. Michigan brought in guys, we will see if Howard can get them to gel. NW lost their best guy to UNC, Nebby will be worse, and I think I’m general the conference will be worse. It’s why I think the gophers have a legit chance to finish 8-10th this year even after the injuries
 

I feel like median net ranking of opponents would be better than mean.

To me there isn’t much difference between net of 250 and net of 320
But to the mean it is huge
 


SelectionSunday said:
Updated August 17th with Michigan numbers. MSU only school yet to announce non-league slate.
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You have Illinois only playing UCLA and Texas. The UCLA game is the first of a four team tourney. Illinois will play either Baylor or Virginia in the second game.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
Most mocks I saw had them in the first round. Ivey was lottery in most of them. I’ll be shocked if someone fills those. Kris Murray gets some love, but no one coming in will be at that level right away. I also don’t see any of last years freshman jumping up it either.

Purdue lost all their guards and didn’t replace them. They are well coached but I think they won’t be as good as last year. Illinois is young and won’t be an upgrade with their transfers imo, Indiana added some nice pieces. Rutgers didn’t replace Harper Jr with anything, Michigan State added some freshman guards but didn’t replace Christie’s scoring. Michigan brought in guys, we will see if Howard can get them to gel. NW lost their best guy to UNC, Nebby will be worse, and I think I’m general the conference will be worse. It’s why I think the gophers have a legit chance to finish 8-10th this year even after the injuries
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I was at an Illinois practice this summer. Illinois is loaded. Based on early viewing, their 10th man was the highest ranked recruit in Ohio and the 11th man (although he may not stay there) was the star of the French U-18 national team this summer.
 

combes1 said:
I was at an Illinois practice this summer. Illinois is loaded. Based on early viewing, their 10th man was the highest ranked recruit in Ohio and the 11th man (although he may not stay there) was the star of the French U-18 national team this summer.
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It’ll be interesting to watch them gel. Underwood knows his stuff, just has to get them all to come together. I don’t know if he can do that. Awesome hearing you were able to be at a practice. Luck or do you get to many others? Fun deal either way
 

Gopherfan84 said:
Most mocks I saw had them in the first round. Ivey was lottery in most of them. I’ll be shocked if someone fills those. Kris Murray gets some love, but no one coming in will be at that level right away. I also don’t see any of last years freshman jumping up it either.

Purdue lost all their guards and didn’t replace them. They are well coached but I think they won’t be as good as last year. Illinois is young and won’t be an upgrade with their transfers imo, Indiana added some nice pieces. Rutgers didn’t replace Harper Jr with anything, Michigan State added some freshman guards but didn’t replace Christie’s scoring. Michigan brought in guys, we will see if Howard can get them to gel. NW lost their best guy to UNC, Nebby will be worse, and I think I’m general the conference will be worse. It’s why I think the gophers have a legit chance to finish 8-10th this year even after the injuries
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Christie averaged 9 points per game.
 

combes1 said:
You have Illinois only playing UCLA and Texas. The UCLA game is the first of a four team tourney. Illinois will play either Baylor or Virginia in the second game.
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I exclude opponents that aren’t certainties.
 

builtbadgers said:
Christie averaged 9 points per game.
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And was their second leading scorer. Teams game planned for him, so I think it’ll make a difference. Not irreplaceable, but some growth will be needed
 
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Gopherfan84 said:
And was their leading scorer. Teams game planned for him, so I think it’ll make a difference. Not irreplaceable, but some growth will be needed
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Gabe Brown was their leading scorer at 11.6. Christie tied for second at 9.3 with Marcus Bingham.
 


This squad needs teams to practice with before the B1G schedule. I suspect this will be another tough year for the Gophers, but we are headed in the right direction with recruiting. We will be a force to contend with in due time.

Trust the process.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
And was their second leading scorer. Teams game planned for him, so I think it’ll make a difference. Not irreplaceable, but some growth will be needed
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Not scoffing at 9.3 but they have no where to go but up. 7th place is a lousy season at MSU. They were 8th the year before but made the final 4 without Christie.
 


builtbadgers said:
Not scoffing at 9.3 but they have no where to go but up. 7th place is a lousy season at MSU. They were 8th the year before but made the final 4 without Christie.
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Agreed, 7th is terrible for them. Bad chemistry, but also some lack of actual scoring imo. I think this years team lacks that scoring, but if cohesive can win more as true with any team imo. Izzo got some dudes coming in the upcoming years if he wants to keep doing it
 

MSU's record may not show it because their non-conference schedule is going to be hellacious, but I think Sparty will be better this season. Questions up front, but even without Christie (definitely a tough loss) there's a nice blend of talented guards, wings, and shooters (Hoggard, Walker, Akins, Hall, Brooks, Holloman).

If they get the Joey Hauser that showed up in the NCAA Tournament, that would help, too. Finally looked like the player they thought they were getting from Marquette. He can't be the invisible man like he was for most of last season.
 

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