CBSSports Preseason Rankings: Michigan And Big Ten Breakdown

Earlier this week, CBS Sports released several lists look at the upcoming college basketball season.  Not only did they break down some of the elite teams, but they took a look at the best players across the nation and named their preseason All-American picks and their Top 100 players in the country.  Now, I don't make it a habit of responding to every preseason hype list or ranking, but I thought the way CBS laid out the rankings was quite interesting and I wanted to respond.

Their preview post had three parts; Preseason All-Americans, Top 100 Players, and Final Four Predictions. I'm only going to respond to the first two because responding to every expert's Final Four picks is simply ludicrous   Most of them will be off and it would simply take too much time to analyze each pick.  However, I thought the selections in the All-American and Top 100 players lists were pretty interesting and something I wanted to analyze.  So here are where Michigan and the Big Ten teams stacked up on both lists:

Previewing Big Ten Basketball: Indiana

My Big Ten basketball previews began a long time ago, but we're finally getting to the teams that are going to play the biggest roles in the 2012-2013 season.  Teams like Minnesota should be improved, but many of the teams that we've looked at such as Illinois, Nebraska, and Penn State shouldn't be major factors next year.  This time we're looking at Indiana, who is probably the hottest and most hyped team in the country right now.  They raced back to relevance last season, return a very talented bunch, and are bringing in a great recruiting class.  These factors are the primary reasons that they are currently projected as the #1 team in the nation by ESPN and as the favorite to win the Big Ten.


Most will point to last season as Indiana's return to relevance, but in reality, it began a lot earlier.  Since Tom Crean was hired on April 1, 2008 to be Indiana's head coach, he has really done a good job on the recruiting trail.  He's brought in great recruits in each one of his classes so far, despite bad performances in each of his first three seasons.  Getting in big-time names, even to a program like Indiana, is very difficult under those circumstances.  However, if you look at Indiana's projected 2012 starting lineup, they're well dispersed in Crean's recruiting classes.

• Jordan Hulls - 2009 class
• Christian Watford - 2009 class
• Victor Oladipo - 2010 class
• Will Sheehey - 2010 class
• Cody Zeller - 2011 class

Most of the experienced and successful teams are dispersed over several recruiting classes, but what makes this and Indiana's 2011-2012 season so impressive was the radical transformation for the Hoosiers.  Over Crean's first three seasons, Indiana beat only three teams that finished 6th or better in the Big Ten and recorded a 2-24 record against ranked teams.  Not many would have predicted that Indiana would have a great 2011-2012 season, which really shows the talent in Crean's recruiting classes.