Input from GopherHolers: How would you tier the Big Ten

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SelectionSunday

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If you were to put B1G teams into four tiers (strongest to weakest) for the upcoming season, how would you split them up? Here's what I came up with, but I'm interested to hear what others think now that we pretty much know how the 2012-13 rosters will look.

Long story short, am trying to formulate who has the toughest/easiest conference schedules, with the idea being it'll help me determine my preseason order of finish in the B1G. Teams are listed alphabetically by tier. I struggled primarily with differentiating between teams in Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Tier 1 = Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State
Tier 2 = Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Tier 3 = Illinois, Iowa, Purdue
Tier 4 = Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State

You must have 3 teams in each tier. Thanks in advance.
 

SelectionSunday said:
If you were to put B1G teams into four tiers (strongest to weakest) for the upcoming season, how would you split them up? Here's what I came up with, but I'm interested to hear what others think now that we pretty much know how the 2012-13 rosters will look.

Long story short, am trying to formulate who has the toughest/easiest conference schedules, with the idea being it'll help me determine my preseason order of finish in the B1G. Teams are listed alphabetically by tier. I struggled primarily with differentiating between teams in Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Tier 1 = Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State
Tier 2 = Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Tier 3 = Illinois, Iowa, Purdue
Tier 4 = Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State

You must have 3 teams in each tier. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Tier 1 - Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State
Tier 2 - Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin
Tier 3 - Illinois, Iowa, Purdue
Tier 4 - Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State

Personally, I wouldn't make the tiers be of equal size, but I can see how it would make things easier if you're trying to determine strength of schedule. I would put Ohio State as the 4th team in Tier 1, Minnesota and Wisconsin in Tier 2, Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, and Purdue in Tier 3, and Nebraska and Penn State on the bottom in Tier 4.

Also, thank you for stimulating basketball discussion. I am so excited for this upcoming season, but it's gonna be another 4 months with little to talk about, so thanks for making this thread.
 

My maroon and gold colored glasses have us in the top three and if I could have dropped BR and the skunks further I would have. #1 Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota #2Michigan State, Ohio State, Iowa #3Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue #4Northwestern, Nebraska,Penn State The teams with the most experience coming back are the first three in that order. Indiana will have a new point guard, Michigan will have to replace two experienced guards/small forward and we have to find a replacement for Ralph.
 

Tier 1- Indiana, Michigan, Michigan St.
Tier 2- Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio St.
Tier 3- Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin
Tier 4- Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn St.
Hard to decide whether to put Iowa or Wisconsin in the 2nd tier but I think Wisconsin will really miss Taylor and expect Iowa to be very much improved and could kind of suprise some people.
 

Tier please disappear into a state wide canyon - WI, IA
 


Tier 1: Indiana Michigan Michigan St
Tier 2: Ohio State Wisconsin Illinois
Tier 3: Minnesota Purdue Iowa
Tier 4: Northwestern Nebraska Penn St
 

Tier 1: Indiana, Michigan, OSU, MSU
Tier 2: Minnesota, Wisconsin
Tier 3: Purdue, Illinois, Iowa
Tier 4: Northwestern, Nebraska, Penn State
 

Tier 1: Indiana Michigan Michigan St
Tier 2: Ohio State Wisconsin Illinois
Tier 3: Minnesota Purdue Iowa
Tier 4: Northwestern Nebraska Penn St

This, except any of the top 3 could include OSU. There should be 4 teams on top.
 

Tier 1 IU, scUM, OSU
Tier2 Sparty, Minny, wisky
Tier3 Iowa, NW, Purdue
Tier4 Illinois, Nebraska, Teacherleavethosekidsalone university
I'm not sure why some of you have the illini in tier2, they lost Leonard, fell farther than we did, they have Brandon Paul, but he'll have to do his best Taylor Battle impression and than some for them to make the dance
 



1. Indiana, Mich State, Mich...
2. Minn, O State, Iowa...
3. Wis, IL, Purdy...
4. NW, PS and Neb
Indiana should be loaded. Mich State will be well coached with enough talent. I think the Gophers will be tougher than Mich but will MN defend the 3 this coming year consistently? OState will miss their NBA grads, Iowa is on the rise, Wisky will not be the same team without Taylor and Il is rebuilding without their big fella.

As Cayman said, good to continue this dialogue in the absence of recruiting commitments.
 

Tier 1 = Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State
Tier 2 = Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana
Tier 3 = Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue
Tier 4 = Nebraska, Illinois, Penn State

This is the wrong year to be expecting the demise of the Badgers. Just remember the name George Marshall.

Should be a great year in the Big 10.
 





GVBadger said:
Tier 1 = Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State
Tier 2 = Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana
Tier 3 = Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue
Tier 4 = Nebraska, Illinois, Penn State



This is the wrong year to be expecting the demise of the Badgers. Just remember the name George Marshall.

Should be a great year in the Big 10.
Click to expand...


Indiana in tier two and Wisky in tier one. What are you smoking?
 

1: Ind, Mich, MSU, OSU
2: WI, MN, Ill
3: Iowa, Pur, NW
4: PSU, Neb
 

XMan said:
Indiana in tier two and Wisky in tier one. What are you smoking?
Click to expand...

Badgers have beaten Indiana 10 times in a row, Bo is 14-3 against Crean. Those numbers tend to give you a little confidence.

When all is said and done, it will probably be the best team Bo has had at Wisconsin.

It is easy to see the Badgers finishing ahead of Indiana. Even that may not be good enough to win the Big 10. Going to be a great year.
 

Our final unofficial scorecard: Michigan the B1G favorite

Thanks to those who chimed in with 3 teams in each of the 4 tiers. Combining our nine participants, we came up with a final order of:

1. Michigan
2. Indiana
3. Michigan State
4. Ohio State
5. Minnesota
6. Wisconsin
7. Iowa
T-8. Illinois
T-8. Purdue
10. Northwestern
T-11. Nebraska
T-11. Penn State

Within the next week & after looking at each team's B1G slate, I'll crunch the numbers and come up with my summer 2012 B1G standings projection. Projections, of course, are subject to change (1) once we hit Midnight Madness and again (2) just prior to the start of the conference season.
 

GVBadger said:
When all is said and done, it will probably be the best team Bo has had at Wisconsin.
Click to expand...

Silly. I'm not saying Becky won't have a good team (they will, and will probably finish ahead of Minnesota in the Big Ten), but there is no way this version will be better than the 07-08 squad, or the 04-05 for that matter.
 

Tier 1: Gophers, Kentucky, Miami Heat
Tier 2: None worthy
Tier 3: See Tier 2
Tier 4: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan St.
Tier 5: Apple Valley HS
 

Tier one--Wisconsin, Indiana, OhioSt
Tier two--MichSt, Minny, Michigan
Tier three--Iowa, Purdue, Illinois
Tier four--Northwestern, PennSt, Nebraska

This upcoming season really intrigues me more than any in recent years. Several of the top level teams have lost top level contributors. Draymond Green, Jordan Taylor, Sullinger & Buford, even Novak and Douglass are all gone. There are reasons to like what certain teams return:

OSU brings back a great PG in Craft and a dynamic scorer in Thomas.
Indiana brings back everyone.
Wisconsin has a very seasoned front court with Berggren, Evans, and Bruisewitz.
Minnesota has Mbakwe and an improved Williams.

But I personally have questions for most that could make for difficulty for anyone making predictions.

Does Indiana improve defensively or can they outscore them?
Is George Marshall good enough to run WI's offense?
What do OSU's role players give to help Craft & Thomas?
Are Michigan's highly touted fresh going to step in and be as good as the hype?
How does Izzo replace the leadership and all-around ability of Draymond?
As much as I like what Minny and Iowa showed last year, will they win games on the road to move into the top tier?
Can Painter work magic with a new group?

I went with Wisconsin because I know what they have at 4 starting positions and with Bo's success with PGs after a year in his system I am convinced that Marshall will be good enough. If Dekker comes in with anything additional they could be spectacular.
 

Each tier in no particular order:
1) tOSU, MSU, I4
2) Becky, Mich, Minn
3) NW, Iowa, Ill
4) Pur, PSU, Neb
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Each tier in no particular order:
1) tOSU, MSU, I4
2) Becky, Mich, Minn
3) NW, Iowa, Ill
4) Pur, PSU, Neb
Click to expand...

I've been curious about this for awhile, why is Indiana referred to as I4? I've googled it multiple times and never seen the term I4 used as an abbreviation for Indiana anywhere else but here.
 

Cayman said:
I've been curious about this for awhile, why is Indiana referred to as I4? I've googled it multiple times and never seen the term I4 used as an abbreviation for Indiana anywhere else but here.
Click to expand...

(by the way, I doubt I'll have I4 at #1, maybe not #2 in the Big Ten)

 




GVBadger said:
Badgers have beaten Indiana 10 times in a row, Bo is 14-3 against Crean. Those numbers tend to give you a little confidence.

When all is said and done, it will probably be the best team Bo has had at Wisconsin.

It is easy to see the Badgers finishing ahead of Indiana. Even that may not be good enough to win the Big 10. Going to be a great year.
Click to expand...

dumbass.
 

From what we have seen so far: (in no particular order)
1)Indiana, Michigan, OSU
2)MSU, MN, Ill, Wisc
3)Purdue, Nebraska, Iowa, NW
4)Penn State
 


Revisiting this from a few months ago, today I'd go:

Tier 1: Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State
Tier 2: Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota
Tier 3: Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin
Tier 4: Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue
 

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