The Big Ten men’s basketball season is several weeks away from beginning, but the NCAA college basketball season tipped off on Friday. Several Big Ten teams lost their top players to the NBA Draft or graduation, which allows for other teams to ascend to the top of the conference.
The usual NCAA Tournament teams will be expected to perform at a high level, like Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin are all used to. However, teams such as Maryland, Purdue and Indiana will be expected to finish stronger. There are some bottom feeders that will be looking to make a run at the Big Ten tournament and surprise some teams.
Talented players have returned to their team for the 2015-16 season. Maryland’s Melo Trimble will lead the Terrapins, who are ranked third in the USA Today’s Coaches Poll. Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell, Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine and Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig all return to lead their teams this season.
Caleb Swanigan at Purdue, Diamond Stone of Maryland and Illinois’ Jalen Coleman headline a talented core of freshmen that will have an impact on the 2015-16 season. Indiana landed Thomas Bryant and Michigan State brought in Deyonta Davis. The list of talented young players goes on, but let’s get to the Big Ten preseason basketball predictions.
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