I think I’ll pass on doing a Big Ten football power rankings this week. As much as I love that my Illini are the second or third best team in the league right now, I’m just going to skip ahead and do the college basketball PR instead.
yes, I’m doing these 21 days ahead of Big Ten hoops media day. Besides, it seems like everyone is doing power rankings these days, and 99% of them totally suck. So it’s hard to distinguish your Big Ten power rankings from all the crap. If you really need to see a football PR go here. It’s pretty awesome, as they link up every team with a Star Wars character. (Off Tackle Empire)
3. Illinois=Han Solo Han is an offbeat, yet charismatic guy that does his own thing. Sometimes he’s a hero, sometimes he ends up frozen in suspended animation.
Ok two more, and then it’s on to my own hoops rankings.
8. Ohio State=Darth Vader The ultimate villian, hated by everyone. By the end, though, he’s more hapless than powerful.
4. Nebraska=Qui-Qon Jinn A well respected Jedi Master who gets whacked early on in the story, when his defense failed him on a visiting planet.
Ok, on to basketball season
#1 overall seed last year, and could be even better in 2011-12. (but they might still not survive to the elite 8 yet again) They have three players on the Wooden Award watch list. North Carolina has four, but no one else in the nation has even two. It’s a shame their fanbase is so BUCKNUTS for football, and doesn’t care enough to truly deserve what a great basketball team they have. While watching Rome burn to cinders on the gridiron, they’ll miss how blessed they are on the hardwood.
2. Wisconsin Badgers
Jordan Taylor is also on the Wooden Watch list. That’s the good news. Replacing Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil- that’s the bad news. But underrating Badger basketball in the Bo Ryan era is like trying to eat Indian food and not have digestive issues later. I’ve learned my lesson on this too many times the hard way. Bucky will be back near the top again
then a drop in talent…but they’ll be competitive….
3. Michigan Wolverines
A surprisingly break-through season last year. They dont have Darius Morris, but they still have Tim Hardaway Jr.
Will probably take a step down from last year, But because the league takes a bigger step back, they move up the pecking order. Could leapfrog Michigan if Branden Dawson is for real
5. Illinois Fighting Illini
Only here because I can’t consciously rank anyone else higher. The best case scenario is a repeat of the ’08-’09 team, when they came out of nowhere to make the tourney when expectations were minimal following the previous season, which set a school record for losses.
That’s when the infamous class (McCamey, Davis, Tisdale) were sophomores, and I would venture to say they peaked that season. It’s not their fault that there was LITERALLY no class both both behind them and ahead of them. But it kind of is their fault they didn’t go further the next two years when you consider 2/3 thought they were going to the NBA. If you’re going to play in the league, you need to show us more than that.
I knew Davis wasn’t going league after his junior year offseason. I knew McCamey wasn’t going league after the home game vs Purdue last season.
bubble at best….
They still have Robbie Hummel, so they’ll be decent. But they were such a two man team last season, and those two guys are now Boston Celtics
7. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Tubby Time=hot seat time? Another non-tourney year, uhm probably yes.
Hurtin’
8. Indiana Hoosiers
In Cody Zeller, they have one post player now. One more than they had last season. Watch Crean’s seat get hotter than a Kate Upton bikini photo shoot.
9. Northwestern Wildcats
Window to make the tourney has closed for awhile. But at least John Shurna can go down as the winnigest, and statistically best player in school history.
Wait till 2014
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
I knew Ed DeChellis would parlay one of the best seasons in school history into a new gig, but not a gig that was a big step down. Lost everyone from last year. Talor Battle is everyone, but they also lost their 2nd, 4th and 5th best players too
11. Iowa Hawkeyes
I believe in Fran Mccaffrey. Just not anytime soon
12. Nebraska Cornhuskers
I hear Doc Sadler is a really nice guy
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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