Rush The Court

The “Way-Too-Early” part of doing power rankings predicting the next Big Ten season is even more difficult this year. That’s because those players who declare for the NBA Draft but do not sign with an agent can decide to return to school as late as the last week in May. So even though it’s likely that things will change between now and early summer, here’s our early rundown of how things look heading into next season.

1. Michigan State: Even if Deyonta Davis decides to leave after his freshman season, Michigan State has another loaded class coming to East Lansing. Miles Bridges and Josh Langford should be special from the start, and even though the losses of Denzel Valentine, Bryn Forbes and Matt Costello will sting, the returns of Eron Harris, Gavin Schilling and Alvin Ellis should lessen the blow considerably.
2. Wisconsin: After an underwhelming junior season, it just doesn’t seem likely that Nigel Hayes will leave Madison early. Even if he does depart, though, four other starters will be back as the program gets a full offseason with Greg Gard leading the way. Expect the Badgers to once again be in the mix for the Big Ten crown.
3. Indiana: We know that Yogi Ferrell is finished (graduation) but we don’t know for sure about Troy Williams, Thomas Bryant or OG Anunoby. Chances are the Hoosiers won’t slip much if at least two of those three come back along with expected returnees James Blackmon, Jr. and Robert Johnson.
4. Michigan: There’s a lot to like here with potentially all five starters returning to Ann Arbor next season. The keys seems to be whether Zak Irvin can be consistent for a full season and whether Marc Donnal can make additional strides. If they can, the Wolverines should be a Top 25 team.
5. Maryland: The Terrapins placement here depends on whether Melo Trimble returns to College Park. If so, he and Dion Wiley’s return from injury makes the Terrpains a dark horse Big Ten title threat. If he does not, Maryland will slide back into the middle of the pack.
6. Purdue: Vince Edwards and Caleb Swanigan have already put their names into the NBA Draft, but both would be wise to stay in school at least one more year. Matt Painter has had good success on the transfer market, so expect him to snag at least one graduate transfers this spring. Otherwise, the Boilermakers will need freshman Carsen Edwards to be solid from the start.
7. Penn State: This is probably higher than most will rank the Nittany Lions, but a loaded freshman class combined with the returns of Shep Garner and Josh Reaves could mean that 2016-17 is the year that Penn State finally breaks through.
8. Ohio State: The Buckeyes should have had their top nine scorers returning to Columbus, but three freshmen decided to transfer. There are simply too many question marks surrounding depth in Columbus to rank Ohio State any higher right now.
9. Nebraska: The returns of Andrew White, Glynn Watson and Tai Webster are a nice starting point. The Huskers will miss Shavon Shields and Benny Parker, but Louisville transfer Anton Gill will help mitigate that loss. Nebraska should be a fringe NCAA/NIT type team next season.
10. Northwestern: Had the Wildcats avoided injuries this season, it’s reasonable to believe they could have taken more strides forward. Chris Collins brings Vic Law back from injury and still has talent at his disposal despite losing Alex Olah and Tre Demps. Dererk Pardon or freshman Barrett Benson will need to replicate Olah’s production in the paint or Northwestern could really struggle next season.
11. Iowa: It looks like the Hawkeyes will be in rebuilding mode next season. Fran McCaffery loses four senior starters and possibly a fifth if Peter Jok decides to stay in the NBA Draft pool. That means players like Dom Uhl, Nicholas Baer and Ahmad Wagner need to take several massive steps forward for Iowa to make its fourth straight NCAA Tournament.
12. Illinois: Illinois should be higher than 12th place on paper, but do we really know how good Tracy Abrams will be after missing two seasons in a row? Or whether Mike Thorne will be granted an extra year of eligibility? Throw in the disappointments that Kendrick Nunn, Jaylon Tate and Leron Black were all involved in different legal problems this season, and there are just too many question marks in Champaign right now to justify a higher placement.
13. Minnesota: Richard Pitino’s Gophers ended their 2015-16 campaign about as poorly as any power conference team in college basketball. Reinforcements are coming, though, with transfers Reggie Lynch and Davonte Fitzgerald available to man the paint. But there’s still quite a bit of work ahead for Richard Pitino in Minneapolis.
14. Rutgers: Corey Sanders and Jonathan Laurent are solid building blocks for new head coach Steve Pikiell. If Deshawn Freeman can come back and play like he did for seven games last season, Rutgers could surprise a few teams.