2010-2011 Big 10 Basketball Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds | Sportsbookbuzz.com

2010-2011 Big 10 Basketball Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds

Three teams finished tied for the best regular-season record in the Big Ten last year at 14-4: the Purdue Boilermakers, Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan State Spartans.

Purdue was considered one of the favorites to go all the way this season until Robbie Hummel tore his ACL. But with two of the Big Ten’s top ten scorers from last season returning (E’Twaun Moore, and JaJuan Johnson), this will be an difficult lineup to defend against. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference Tournament last season. Coach Thad Matta adds a strong recruiting class to a good core for the Buckeyes, but they will miss the conference’s leading scorer last year, Evan Turner. Tom Izzo’s decision to stay at Michigan State instead of bolting for the NBA was huge for the Spartans; with Izzo at the helm, the Spartans are always dangerous.

Finishing in fourth were the Wisconsin Badgers, who had a conference record of 13-5 last season. Last year’s leading scorer on the team, senior forward Jon Leuer, returns to lead what should be a strong Wisconsin team in 200.

The Illinois Fighting Illini finished fifth in the Big Ten with a 10-7 conference record, while the Minnesota Gophers finished sixth at 9-9. Illinois keeps most of their team together, including their leading scorer last season (Demetri McCamey), and could take a step forward this season with more consistent play. Minnesota, on the other hand, will have holes to fill, with two of their three leading scorers from last season no longer on the team.

Despite a 20-14 overall record, the Northwestern Wildcats finished just 7-11 in conference play to end up tied for seventh place with the Michigan Wolverines. Northwestern loses Kevin Coble, but forward John Shurna returns (18+ PPG last season) to lead a promising young team. Michigan will look to rebuild this year, with both of last season’s leading scorers (Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims) gone.

The Indiana Hoosiers and the Iowa Hawkeyes finished tied for ninth place in the Big Ten last season with conference records of 4-14. Indiana returns a young core that may take a step forward with last season’s experience, while Iowa will have to weather a storm of de-commits and transfers. The last-place Penn State Nittany Lions (3-15 conference) will have another long season, but received some great news in leading scorer Talor Battle’s decision to return for his senior year.