ESPN way-too-early MBB top 25
"Way-too-early" being the operative phrase.
Three Big Ten teams in the top 10 and 7 overall, but definitely not ordered how you'd think... Will these teams be that good?
5. Iowa
7. Wisconsin
10. michigan state
22. ohio state
23. Indiana
25. Rutgers
Michigan is among their "next in line" group, so top 30, I guess? I can see anywhere from top 30 to top 15 with this roster. I think top 10 may be ambitious, but hey - what do I know?
Non-con teams Michigan has on their schedule:
2. Villanova (Empire Classic, NYC)
3. Baylor (Empire Classic, NYC)
16. @Oregon
MSU way overrated. No Winston and probably no Tillman, that was a strong majority of their team the past 2 years. Ohio State lost pretty much everyone so they're also way overrated. Indiana I'll believe it when I see it. Big Ten looks to be pretty down overall
Even if Tillman goes Watts/Henry/Hauser is a strong core with solid pieces around and a couple good recruits coming in.
Plus Izzo said today that - if healthy - looks like Langford will return.
I think Wisconsin could be very solid. They may be the favorite. I know, Iowa probably should be - but it's Iowa. I want to see them prove it.
I'll wait and see on Watts. He had his moments but overall was very inefficient as a freshman. And I wouldn't expect much out of Langford coming off of 2 straight season ending injuries, and he wasn't even that good to begin with. MSU is not a top 10 team.
So you think MSU w/ Tillman ranked #10 is "way overrated"?
That's the article you reacted to with that projected rotation.
I'll admit to not reading the article because I think these articles are dumb. If Tillman comes back I could maybe see MSU as a top 10 team but I think Winston is just such a huge loss for them and he papered over a lot of their flaws. But I guess we'll see. I don't think Tillman will come back, I think he's too smart for that.
Watts is not going to come in a replace Winston. Winston was a much better scorer and a way better passer. Tillman will be a HUGE loss defensively
MSU will be a solid defensive team, but yeah, no Winston and no Tillman will have a bigger effect than people think.
OSU is heavily relying on a handful of upward transfers to play at the same level they did or else they're screwed.
Agreed about Indiana. They're gonna be mediocre despite their talent until proven otherwise.
Iowa isn't going to be a top 10 team unless they seriously improve defensively
Sigh. Seems like we have said the same exact thing every single year for two decades straight.
Iowa should be really really good since they're returning mostly everybody, including Garza. Definitely should be Big Ten favorites. MSU is way overrated until they prove otherwise. Gonna be tough without Winston.
I don't see Iowa being able to compete on a national level until their defense is at least top 50. They've barely been a top 100 defensive under Fran
Seems odd that they were even able to come to this conclusion for a top 25 “guess”. Iowa will be good, as mentioned, especially with Garza. But can they even play defense? How do you hold a top 5 spot if you have an off night of shooting? Wisconsin, OSU, Indy, MSU all appear to be complete shots in the dark based on...nothing? Literally, you could put Michigan in pretty much any of these spots and I would be just as confused and it would make the same amount of sense (not much) as it does as is.