B1G Time Mediocrity

By Jacob Lipnik on February 1, 2015

After being arguably the best basketball conference in the country for two years running, the Big Ten has become mediocre.

And it’s not only not the best conference, it’s not even in the discussion. The Big 12, the Pac-12, the ACC, the Big East, maybe even the SEC—each of these leagues boasts a deeper field of good, tournament-worthy, championship-potential teams. Besides Wisconsin—the Big Ten’s lone beacon of light this season, sitting at 18-2 and fifth in the country—the Big Ten is a stockpile of mediocrity. In the most recent AP top 25, the conference was represented by just three teams, with only one, Wisconsin, in the top 15. This week, after multiple losses, Indiana is likely to drop out of the top 25; while Ohio State, after an impressive week, will probably enter the field, the conference will still be left with only three ranked teams at the start of February.

What’s more, although in his latest bracketology ESPN’s Joe Lunardi predicts a respectable six Big Ten teams to make the NCAA Tournament field, at this point he only has two teams seeded higher than seventh in their region. That’s half as many as last season, when the Big Ten was represented by a 1, 2, 4, and 6 seed. And if you want to go by the numbers instead of the human element, things don’t look any better. Kenpom.com, which ranks teams based on advanced statistical analysis, has only three teams in the top 30, two less than the conference had at the end of last season.

Finally, the conference standings themselves speak louder than any rankings do. After Wisconsin, who sits comfortably in first place, seven teams are tied for second in the loss column. You might have noticed that that’s half the conference. Half the conference is currently tied for second—the perfect picture of mediocrity.

via ESPN.com

This mediocrity begs an important question: how did the conference become so average?

The answer isn’t too complicated. The Big Ten is worse because its best teams from last season lost a lot of good players. Last year’s regular season champion, Michigan, lost three guys to the NBA, one to graduation, one to transfer, and now one, Caris LeVert, to a season-ending injury. Last year’s conference tournament champion, Michigan State, also lost its two best and most important players to graduation, Keith Appling and Adreian Payne. Ohio State, who finished fifth, lost do-everything senior Aaron Craft, as well as playmakers Laquinton Ross and Lenzelle Smith, Jr.; Iowa, the median of sorts in the conference at 9-9 in Big Ten play, lost star point guard Devyn Marble. Even Maryland, a newcomer to the league, was victim to a pile of transfers—a freshman, Melo Trimble, is the main reason they’re in the second place discussion.

With so much attrition, it’s no wonder the B1G is having a down year. Added to the problem is the fact that almost none of these teams was able to replenish their cupboard with new talent. Only two teams, Ohio State and Maryland, had top 15 recruiting classes; it’s no surprise they’re two of the three teams in the conference that will be in the top 25 this week. However, teams like Michigan, Michigan State, and Iowa weren’t able to bring in the level of talent or experience that they lost. So, combine a huge drop off from the teams at the top of the conference with the mild improvement of former bottom feeders like Purdue and Indiana, as well as the underwhelming performance of Nebraska, who returned almost everybody, and there you have a conference filled with mediocrity across the board.

This will be perhaps the most compelling storyline in the Big Ten this season. Who will climb out of this mediocrity and emerges as the clear second best team? It could be anyone.

But for now, the Big Ten is Wisconsin, and then everybody else. It looks like everyone will be counting on the Badgers to end the conference’s 15 year title drought.

 

 

 

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